Chapter 6 of A Second Coming is here in full — 151 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of A Second Coming is here in full — 151 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BLACKLEG The foreman shrugged his shoulders. He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes. Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested. 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.' 'But my little girl's ill!'
Chapter 6 of A Second Coming is here in full — 151 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/30 · 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 person who requests or seeks something such as assistance or employment or admission
From this reading “He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.”
past form of “avoid” — stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
From this reading “He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.”
put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose
From this reading “'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'”
a person who exercises control over workers
From this reading “THE BLACKLEG The foreman shrugged his shoulders.”
possessive form of “girl” — a young female
From this reading “'But my little girl's ill!'”
the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure
From this reading “Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.”
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading “THE BLACKLEG The foreman shrugged his shoulders.”
smaller than normal for its kind
From this reading “He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.”
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 “He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.”
a youthful female person
In this reading “'But my little girl's ill!'”
In this reading “He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.”
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.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
take a court case to a higher court for review
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
a person who requests or seeks something such as assistance or employment or admission
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
past form of “avoid” — stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike
From this reading THE BLACKLEG The foreman shrugged his shoulders.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
the prevailing context that influences the performance or the outcome of a process
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
lacking in liveliness or animation
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
divisible by two
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
opinion or judgment
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
a person who exercises control over workers
From this reading THE BLACKLEG The foreman shrugged his shoulders.
possessive form of “girl” — a young female
From this reading 'But my little girl's ill!'
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading THE BLACKLEG The foreman shrugged his shoulders.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading 'But my little girl's ill!'
having or showing interest; especially curiosity or fascination or concern
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
United States labor leader (born in Ireland) who helped to found the Industrial Workers of the World (1830-1930)
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading 'But my little girl's ill!'
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading 'But my little girl's ill!'
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading THE BLACKLEG The foreman shrugged his shoulders.
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading THE BLACKLEG The foreman shrugged his shoulders.
to a small degree or extent
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
spreading out in different directions or distributed irregularly
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BLACKLEG The foreman shrugged his shoulders.
smaller than normal for its kind
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
used to ask for information about something
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
during the time that
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He avoided looking at the applicant, an undersized man, with straggling black beard and dull eyes.
inflected form of “wear” — be dressed in
From this reading Even now, while pressing his appeal, he wore an air of being but slightly interested.
buildings for carrying on industrial labor
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading 'You know, Jones, what the conditions of employ were--keep on the works.'
Chapter 6 of A Second Coming by Richard Marsh holds 151 sentences, grouped into 31 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 6 holds 151 sentences of A Second Coming, unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of A Second Coming by Richard Marsh exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 151 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 6 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.
Common questions about reading A Second Coming by Richard Marsh on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4506 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38156 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38156, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 375 minutes of reading across 902 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Second Coming section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of A Second Coming 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 Second Coming, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
