Chapter XVII of Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery, “_A Door Opens_,” is here in full — 165 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XVII
Chapter XVII of Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery, “_A Door Opens_,” is here in full — 165 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull. Blood trickled down across his eyelids. His hold on his assailant’s knees loosened. As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order: “Come on!
Chapter XVII of Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery, “_A Door Opens_,” is here in full — 165 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 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.
possessive form of “assailant” — someone who attacks
lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
From this reading “The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.”
plural of “eyelid” — either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye
From this reading “Blood trickled down across his eyelids.”
possessive form of “flash” — a sudden intense burst of radiant energy
straightened out
From this reading “His hold on his assailant’s knees loosened.”
the bony skeleton of the head of vertebrates
From this reading “The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.”
inflected form of “slam” — close violently
From this reading “The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.”
past form of “trickle” — run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream
From this reading “Blood trickled down across his eyelids.”
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 “Blood trickled down across his eyelids.”
In this reading “As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:”
thick end of the handle
In this reading “The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.”
In this reading “As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:”
hold firmly
In this reading “His hold on his assailant’s knees loosened.”
appear or become visible; make a showing
In this reading ““Come on!”
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 butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Blood trickled down across his eyelids.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
possessive form of “assailant” — someone who attacks
From this reading His hold on his assailant’s knees loosened.
The red fluid that circulates in the heart and blood vessels.
From this reading Blood trickled down across his eyelids.
lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
From this reading The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “Come on!
the property created by the space between two objects or points
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Blood trickled down across his eyelids.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
plural of “eyelid” — either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye
From this reading Blood trickled down across his eyelids.
possessive form of “flash” — a sudden intense burst of radiant energy
From this reading The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
unpleasantly stern
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Blood trickled down across his eyelids.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading His hold on his assailant’s knees loosened.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading His hold on his assailant’s knees loosened.
straightened out
From this reading His hold on his assailant’s knees loosened.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading His hold on his assailant’s knees loosened.
(often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
a pistol with a revolving cylinder (usually having six chambers for bullets)
From this reading The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
the bony skeleton of the head of vertebrates
From this reading The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
inflected form of “slam” — close violently
From this reading The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The butt end of a revolver slammed against Flash’s skull.
past form of “trickle” — run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream
From this reading Blood trickled down across his eyelids.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading As if from a great distance he heard a harsh voice order:
Chapter 17 of Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery by Frank Bell holds 165 sentences, grouped into 33 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 165 sentences of Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery by Frank Bell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 165 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery by Frank Bell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3788 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #55693 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #55693, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 315 minutes of reading across 758 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery 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 Flash Evans and the Darkroom Mystery, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
