Chapter 17 of Captains of souls is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Captains of souls is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand. Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching. A waiter was passing. "Bring me a brandy," he said hoarsely, "a double brandy." Christina had only wanted water.
Chapter 17 of Captains of souls is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
past form of “blush” — turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
From this reading “He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.”
distilled from wine or fermented fruit juice
From this reading “"Bring me a brandy," he said hoarsely, "a double brandy."”
(used in the plural) a small metal weapon; worn over the knuckles on the back of the hand
From this reading “He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.”
in an anxiously nervous manner
From this reading “He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.”
inflected form of “rub” — move over something with pressure
From this reading “He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.”
a sudden muscle spasm; especially one caused by a nervous condition
From this reading “Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching.”
in an unpleasant way
From this reading “He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.”
a person whose occupation is to serve at table (as in a restaurant)
From this reading “A waiter was passing.”
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.
move the upper body backwards and down
In this reading “Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching.”
In this reading “Christina had only wanted water.”
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 A waiter was passing.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching.
past form of “blush” — turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
distilled from wine or fermented fruit juice
From this reading "Bring me a brandy," he said hoarsely, "a double brandy."
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading "Bring me a brandy," he said hoarsely, "a double brandy."
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
the protruding part of the lower jaw
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Christina had only wanted water.
intentionally conceived
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
increase twofold
From this reading "Bring me a brandy," he said hoarsely, "a double brandy."
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Christina had only wanted water.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
in a hoarse or husky voice
From this reading "Bring me a brandy," he said hoarsely, "a double brandy."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching.
(used in the plural) a small metal weapon; worn over the knuckles on the back of the hand
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
past form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Bring me a brandy," he said hoarsely, "a double brandy."
in an anxiously nervous manner
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
and nothing more
From this reading Christina had only wanted water.
(American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
From this reading A waiter was passing.
inflected form of “rub” — move over something with pressure
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Bring me a brandy," he said hoarsely, "a double brandy."
term of address for a man
From this reading Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
a feeling of stupefied astonishment
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
a sudden muscle spasm; especially one caused by a nervous condition
From this reading Sir John Maxton leaned back in his chair, his face twitching.
in an unpleasant way
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
a person whose occupation is to serve at table (as in a restaurant)
From this reading A waiter was passing.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading Christina had only wanted water.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A waiter was passing.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading Christina had only wanted water.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He stopped and blushed, conscious of their interest and stupefaction; squirmed unhappily in his chair, and rubbed his chin nervously with the knuckles of his hand.
Chapter 17 of Captains of souls by Edgar Wallace holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 17 holds 409 sentences of Captains of souls, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Captains of souls by Edgar Wallace exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 17 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 Captains of souls by Edgar Wallace on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7849 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #74687 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #74687, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1570 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Captains of souls section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of Captains of souls 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 Captains of souls, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
