Chapter 23 of Black Jack is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of Black Jack is here in full — 201 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more. The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry. "Cut in between 'em, girl. You can handle 'em. I can't!"
Chapter 23 of Black Jack is here in full — 201 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.
only a very short time before
From this reading “The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.”
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading “"Cut in between 'em, girl.”
the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading “The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.”
be in charge of, act on, or dispose of
From this reading “You can handle 'em.”
a tree with limbs cut back to promote a more bushy growth of foliage
From this reading “The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.”
English actress (1847-1928)
From this reading “The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.”
lacking a sense of security or affording no ease or reassurance
From this reading “The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.”
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading “The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.”
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 The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.
only a very short time before
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading "Cut in between 'em, girl.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading You can handle 'em.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I can't!"
without stop or interruption
From this reading The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading "Cut in between 'em, girl.
a female human offspring
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
a quad with a square body
From this reading "Cut in between 'em, girl.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.
a young female
From this reading "Cut in between 'em, girl.
be in charge of, act on, or dispose of
From this reading You can handle 'em.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I can't!"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Cut in between 'em, girl.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
a particular point in time
From this reading The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.
a tree with limbs cut back to promote a more bushy growth of foliage
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
English actress (1847-1928)
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
lacking a sense of security or affording no ease or reassurance
From this reading The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading The uneasy wait continued for a moment or more.
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading The whisper of Joe Pollard to his daughter barely reached the ear of Terry.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You can handle 'em.
Chapter 23 of Black Jack by Max Brand holds 201 sentences, grouped into 41 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 23 holds 201 sentences of Black Jack, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of Black Jack by Max Brand exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 201 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 23 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.
