Chapter XII of Delaware Tom, “Dog Eat Dog,” is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XII
Chapter XII of Delaware Tom, “Dog Eat Dog,” is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost. The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments. His fate seemed indubitably sealed. But such was not to be, just then. A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
Chapter XII of Delaware Tom, “Dog Eat Dog,” is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 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 “blaze” — shine brightly and intensively
From this reading “The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.”
deprived of sight
From this reading “The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.”
with brightness
From this reading “The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.”
plural of “garment” — an article of clothing
From this reading “The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.”
an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
From this reading “A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.”
a cgs unit of magnetic flux equal to the flux perpendicular to an area of 1 square centimeter in a magnetic field of 1 gauss
From this reading “The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.”
make very hot and dry
From this reading “The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.”
established irrevocably
From this reading “His fate seemed indubitably sealed.”
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 “The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.”
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 sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading But such was not to be, just then.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
past form of “blaze” — shine brightly and intensively
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
deprived of sight
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
with brightness
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But such was not to be, just then.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
opinion or judgment
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
an event (or a course of events) that will inevitably happen in the future
From this reading His fate seemed indubitably sealed.
start firing a weapon
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
plural of “garment” — an article of clothing
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
someone employed to conduct others
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
in a manner or to a degree that could not be doubted
From this reading His fate seemed indubitably sealed.
an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
From this reading A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
and nothing more
From this reading But such was not to be, just then.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
a cgs unit of magnetic flux equal to the flux perpendicular to an area of 1 square centimeter in a magnetic field of 1 gauss
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading But such was not to be, just then.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
make very hot and dry
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
established irrevocably
From this reading His fate seemed indubitably sealed.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading His fate seemed indubitably sealed.
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
the place where something begins, where it springs into being
From this reading A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading But such was not to be, just then.
happening without warning or in a short space of time
From this reading A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading But such was not to be, just then.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The fire blazed up brightly—the smoke blinded his eyes—the heat began to scorch his garments.
male cat
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
not anticipated
From this reading A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The old guide, Tom Maxwell, gave himself up for lost.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading A sudden interruption came, from an utterly unlooked-for source.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading But such was not to be, just then.
Chapter 12 of Delaware Tom by Jos. E. (Joseph Edward) Badger holds 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 12 holds 405 sentences of Delaware Tom, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Delaware Tom by Jos. E. (Joseph Edward) Badger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 12 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 Delaware Tom by Jos. E. (Joseph Edward) Badger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2232 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66227 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66227, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 186 minutes of reading across 447 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Delaware Tom section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of Delaware Tom 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 Delaware Tom, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
