Chapter 2 of Bye-Ways is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Bye-Ways is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Did you see his face?" "Quite well. It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention. He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him. I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
Chapter 2 of Bye-Ways is here in full — 416 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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 “near” or “close”) within the shortest distance
From this reading “It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.”
the act of hearing attentively
From this reading “It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.”
any loose flowing garment
From this reading “I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."”
make a dry crackling sound
From this reading “I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."”
filled with satisfaction
From this reading “He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.”
to a small degree or extent
From this reading “He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.”
inflected form of “slip” — move stealthily
From this reading “I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."”
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading “He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.”
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.
In this reading “I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."”
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 It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
(superlative of “near” or “close”) within the shortest distance
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "Did you see his face?"
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading "Did you see his face?"
the solid part of the earth's surface
From this reading I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading "Did you see his face?"
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
and nothing more
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
the act of hearing attentively
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading "Quite well.
any loose flowing garment
From this reading I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
make a dry crackling sound
From this reading I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
filled with satisfaction
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading "Did you see his face?"
to a small degree or extent
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
inflected form of “slip” — move stealthily
From this reading I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I knew he had heard the rustle of my robe as I slipped to the ground."
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading He was smiling slightly, too, as if something that had just happened had satisfied him.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
the act of observing; taking a patient look
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Quite well.
in the company of; together with
From this reading It was the face of a man watching and listening with the closest attention.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Did you see his face?"
Chapter 2 of Bye-Ways by Robert Hichens holds 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 2 holds 416 sentences of Bye-Ways, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Bye-Ways by Robert Hichens exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 416 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 2 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 Bye-Ways by Robert Hichens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5709 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33040 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33040, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 475 minutes of reading across 1142 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Bye-Ways section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of Bye-Ways 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 Bye-Ways, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
