Chapter 15 of Black Jack is here in full — 141 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of Black Jack is here in full — 141 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out. The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older. "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now. "And they even started a little lynching party. But we stopped all that.
Chapter 15 of Black Jack is here in full — 141 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
make calm or still
From this reading “The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.”
to double the degree
From this reading “"There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.”
with gloom
From this reading “Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.”
putting a person to death by mob action without due process of law
From this reading “"And they even started a little lynching party.”
advanced in years; (“aged” is pronounced as two syllables)
From this reading “The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.”
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.”
dramatist of ancient Rome (born in Greece) whose comedies were based on works by Menander (190?-159 BC)
From this reading “"There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.”
English actress (1847-1928)
From this reading “Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.”
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 "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
(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 But we stopped all that.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
a youthful male person
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
make calm or still
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
to double the degree
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
divisible by two
From this reading "And they even started a little lynching party.
with gloom
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "And they even started a little lynching party.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
putting a person to death by mob action without due process of law
From this reading "And they even started a little lynching party.
engage in
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
advanced in years; (“aged” is pronounced as two syllables)
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
very light colored; highly diluted with white
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
an organization to gain political power
From this reading "And they even started a little lynching party.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
past form of “start” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading "And they even started a little lynching party.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading But we stopped all that.
having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
dramatist of ancient Rome (born in Greece) whose comedies were based on works by Menander (190?-159 BC)
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
English actress (1847-1928)
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading But we stopped all that.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "There was a great deal of talk," said Vance--he must make doubly sure of Terence now.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "And they even started a little lynching party.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The boy was pale, but perfectly calm, and he looked older, much older.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading But we stopped all that.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Vance went gloomily to the room of Terry and called him out.
Chapter 15 of Black Jack by Max Brand holds 141 sentences, grouped into 29 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 15 holds 141 sentences of Black Jack, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of Black Jack by Max Brand exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 141 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 15 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 Black Jack by Max Brand on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6131 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9925 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9925, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 510 minutes of reading across 1227 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Black Jack section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of Black Jack 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 Black Jack, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
