Chapter XVIII of Agent Nine Solves His First Case, “Meager Hopes ★,” is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XVIII of Agent Nine Solves His First Case, “Meager Hopes ★,” is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words. “Say that again, Barney. There must be some mistake.” “There was,” grinned the sergeant. “Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.
Chapter XVIII of Agent Nine Solves His First Case, “Meager Hopes ★,” is here in full — 113 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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.
American Revolutionary leader and patriot; an organizer of the Boston Tea Party and signer of the Declaration of Independence (1722-1803)
From this reading ““Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.”
past form of “dare” — take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading “Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.”
inflected form of “grin” — to draw back the lips and reveal the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or snarl
From this reading ““There was,” grinned the sergeant.”
English poet (born in 1930)
From this reading “Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.”
possessive form of “officer” — any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
the force of policemen and officers
From this reading “Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.”
perplexed (as if being expected to know something that you do not know)
From this reading ““Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.”
any of several noncommissioned officer ranks in the Army or Air Force or Marines ranking above a corporal
From this reading “Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.”
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.
a lawman with the rank of sergeant
In this reading “Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.”
In this reading “Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.”
In this reading “There must be some mistake.””
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 “Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.
American Revolutionary leader and patriot; an organizer of the Boston Tea Party and signer of the Declaration of Independence (1722-1803)
From this reading “Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.
anew
From this reading “Say that again, Barney.
Having no one else present.
From this reading “Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Say that again, Barney.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading There must be some mistake.”
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.
past form of “dare” — take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
a boy or man
From this reading “Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.
inflected form of “grin” — to draw back the lips and reveal the teeth, in a smile, grimace, or snarl
From this reading “There was,” grinned the sergeant.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
English poet (born in 1930)
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading “Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading There must be some mistake.”
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading There must be some mistake.”
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
possessive form of “officer” — any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
the force of policemen and officers
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
perplexed (as if being expected to know something that you do not know)
From this reading “Condon Adams made a mistake in questioning that fellow alone.
express in words
From this reading “Say that again, Barney.
any of several noncommissioned officer ranks in the Army or Air Force or Marines ranking above a corporal
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading There must be some mistake.”
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Say that again, Barney.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There must be some mistake.”
in spite of the fact that
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “There was,” grinned the sergeant.
the words that are spoken
From this reading Merritt Hughes stared hard at the police sergeant as though he dared not believe the officer’s words.
Chapter 18 of Agent Nine Solves His First Case by Graham M. Dean holds 113 sentences, grouped into 23 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 18 holds 113 sentences of Agent Nine Solves His First Case, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of Agent Nine Solves His First Case by Graham M. Dean exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 113 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 18 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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Project Gutenberg eBook #44351, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 232 minutes of reading across 558 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Agent Nine Solves His First Case, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
