Chapter 20 of Blindfolded is here in full — 212 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Blindfolded is here in full — 212 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight. At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity. “All safe?” I inquired. “It's all right,” said Barkhouse.
Chapter 20 of Blindfolded is here in full — 212 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
replying
From this reading “At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.”
an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
From this reading “AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.”
showing careful forethought
From this reading “At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.”
in a cheerful manner
From this reading “AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.”
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading “AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.”
the quality of being unclear or abstruse and hard to understand
From this reading “At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.”
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading “AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.”
any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message
From this reading “At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.”
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 At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
(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 “All safe?”
in spite of the fact that
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
replying
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
move towards
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It's all right,” said Barkhouse.
an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
showing careful forethought
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
in a cheerful manner
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I inquired.
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading I inquired.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It's all right,” said Barkhouse.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
the quality of being unclear or abstruse and hard to understand
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
precisely, exactly
From this reading “It's all right,” said Barkhouse.
free from danger or the risk of harm
From this reading “All safe?”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “It's all right,” said Barkhouse.
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
not known
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading AT THE BIDDING OF THE UNKNOWN The windows of Borton's shone cheerfully, although it was past midnight.
in the company of; together with
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading At our cautious approach a signal was given, and with the answering word a man appeared from the obscurity.
Chapter 20 of Blindfolded by Earle Ashley Walcott holds 212 sentences, grouped into 43 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 20 holds 212 sentences of Blindfolded, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Blindfolded by Earle Ashley Walcott exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 212 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 20 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 Blindfolded by Earle Ashley Walcott on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6401 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #7788 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #7788, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 533 minutes of reading across 1281 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Blindfolded section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 30 chapters of Blindfolded 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 Blindfolded, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
