Chapter 28 of Drome is here in full — 336 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXVIII
Chapter 28 of Drome is here in full — 336 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster. I could scarcely believe my eyes. Nothing but the empty air. The monster had vanished. "What's the matter?" came the sudden voice of Rhodes.
Chapter 28 of Drome is here in full — 336 sentences across 68 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/67 · 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.
aroused or activated
From this reading “THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.”
coming down or downward
From this reading “THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.”
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading “THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.”
inflected form of “grab” — take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of
From this reading “THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.”
past form of “jerk” — pull, or move with a sudden movement
From this reading “THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.”
an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
From this reading “THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.”
a pistol with a revolving cylinder (usually having six chambers for bullets)
From this reading “THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.”
British colonial financier and statesman in South Africa
From this reading “THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.”
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 “Nothing but the empty air.”
In this reading “THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.”
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 MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading Nothing but the empty air.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
aroused or activated
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading I could scarcely believe my eyes.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Nothing but the empty air.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "What's the matter?" came the sudden voice of Rhodes.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading I could scarcely believe my eyes.
coming down or downward
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
make void or empty of contents
From this reading Nothing but the empty air.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
opinion or judgment
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
past form of “flash” — gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
inflected form of “grab” — take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The monster had vanished.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
past form of “jerk” — pull, or move with a sudden movement
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading "What's the matter?" came the sudden voice of Rhodes.
an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
in motion
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Nothing but the empty air.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "What's the matter?" came the sudden voice of Rhodes.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
above and across; more than
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
a pistol with a revolving cylinder (usually having six chambers for bullets)
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
British colonial financier and statesman in South Africa
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
only a very short time before
From this reading I could scarcely believe my eyes.
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
happening without warning or in a short space of time
From this reading "What's the matter?" came the sudden voice of Rhodes.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
having passed out of existence
From this reading The monster had vanished.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading "What's the matter?" came the sudden voice of Rhodes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "What's the matter?" came the sudden voice of Rhodes.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading THE MOVING EYES I jerked out my revolver; I reached over and gave Rhodes a shake that would have awakened Epimenides himself; then I grabbed the electric light and flashed it upon the descending monster.
Chapter 28 of Drome by John Martin Leahy holds 336 sentences, grouped into 68 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 28 holds 336 sentences of Drome, unabridged, divided into 68 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 28 of Drome by John Martin Leahy exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 336 sentences, grouped into 68 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 68 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 68 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 28 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 Drome by John Martin Leahy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4729 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #71716 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #71716, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 394 minutes of reading across 946 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Drome section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Drome 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 Drome, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
