Chapter 25 of A Sister of the Red Cross is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXV
Chapter 25 of A Sister of the Red Cross is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
STUNNED. Captain Keith slowly returned to Ladysmith. He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff. Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this? No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
Chapter 25 of A Sister of the Red Cross is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 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.
superlative of “black” — being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading “No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.”
make overcast or cloudy
From this reading “No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.”
the sensation produced by low temperatures
From this reading “He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.”
a feeling of faintness and of being ready to swoon
From this reading “He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.”
the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints
From this reading “Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?”
the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
From this reading “Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?”
not moving or operating freely
From this reading “He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.”
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading “STUNNED.”
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.
recover something or somebody that appeared to be lost
In this reading “Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?”
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 He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?
superlative of “black” — being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading Captain Keith slowly returned to Ladysmith.
make overcast or cloudy
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
the sensation produced by low temperatures
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
a feeling of faintness and of being ready to swoon
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints
From this reading Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Captain Keith slowly returned to Ladysmith.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Captain Keith slowly returned to Ladysmith.
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
not any; not one
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
From this reading Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?
on the contrary
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading Captain Keith slowly returned to Ladysmith.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Captain Keith slowly returned to Ladysmith.
not moving or operating freely
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
successive (without a break)
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading STUNNED.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
in or at that place or location
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Was he to get back his freedom at such a price as this?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Captain Keith slowly returned to Ladysmith.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading He was stunned: there were a coldness and faintness round his heart; but he walked straight and stiff.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading No; he would rather lie under the blackest cloud all his life.
Chapter 25 of A Sister of the Red Cross by L. T. Meade holds 204 sentences, grouped into 41 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 25 holds 204 sentences of A Sister of the Red Cross, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 25 of A Sister of the Red Cross by L. T. Meade exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 204 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 25 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 Sister of the Red Cross by L. T. Meade on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6452 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #47705 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #47705, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 537 minutes of reading across 1291 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Sister of the Red Cross section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of A Sister of the Red Cross 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 Sister of the Red Cross, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
