Chapter 17 of A Modern Madonna is here in full — 364 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of A Modern Madonna is here in full — 364 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?" Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her. "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago." He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier. He was nowhere in sight.
Chapter 17 of A Modern Madonna is here in full — 364 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/72 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a line of approach
From this reading “He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.”
a building where travelers can pay for lodging and meals and other services
From this reading “He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.”
an insignificant place
From this reading “He was nowhere in sight.”
Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)
From this reading “THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"”
a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats
From this reading “He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.”
limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous
From this reading “THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"”
a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
From this reading “Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.”
a track or mark left by something that has passed
From this reading “THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.”
at or in the front
In this reading “He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.”
seek information from
In this reading “He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.”
at or within a reasonable distance for seeing
In this reading “He was nowhere in sight.”
In this reading “He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
in the past
From this reading "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago."
a line of approach
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago."
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago."
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
a building where travelers can pay for lodging and meals and other services
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"
and nothing more
From this reading "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago."
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
a particular point in time
From this reading "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago."
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
an insignificant place
From this reading He was nowhere in sight.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921)
From this reading THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"
a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
with speed
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous
From this reading THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"
an instance of visual perception
From this reading He was nowhere in sight.
the season of growth
From this reading "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago."
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"
in or at that place or location
From this reading "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
a track or mark left by something that has passed
From this reading THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "He was down there at the spring just a moment ago."
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He was not there now, and Margaret went quickly down the steps and looked up and down the avenue in front of the hotel and down to the pier.
in or at the place that
From this reading THE TRAIL OF THE SERPENT "Where is Philip?"
which person or people
From this reading Margaret put the question in a low, tense voice to Mrs. Pennybacker who had followed her.
Chapter 17 of A Modern Madonna by Caroline Abbot Stanley holds 364 sentences, grouped into 73 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 17 holds 364 sentences of A Modern Madonna, unabridged, divided into 73 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of A Modern Madonna by Caroline Abbot Stanley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 364 sentences, grouped into 73 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 73 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 73 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 17 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
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Yes. All 7951 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57418 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57418, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1591 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Modern Madonna section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of A Modern Madonna to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Modern Madonna, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
