Chapter 12 of Foes is here in full — 277 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Foes is here in full — 277 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill. There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain. Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun. The road was wet and shone. Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
Chapter 12 of Foes is here in full — 277 sentences across 56 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/55 · 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.
European herb somewhat resembling celery widely naturalized in Britain coastal regions and often cultivated as a potherb
From this reading “Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill.”
English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
From this reading “Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.”
plural of “lake” — a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading “Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.”
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading “There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.”
being or dressed in clothes that are worn or torn
From this reading “Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.”
plural of “shaft” — a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
From this reading “Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.”
plural of “stretch” — a large and unbroken expanse or distance
From this reading “Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.”
showing a brooding ill humor
From this reading “Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.”
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 There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
European herb somewhat resembling celery widely naturalized in Britain coastal regions and often cultivated as a potherb
From this reading Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
English botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1743-1820)
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill.
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
plural of “cloud” — any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill.
posing no difficulty; requiring little effort
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
the act of departing
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
inflected form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
plural of “lake” — a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill.
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
select carefully from a group
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
being or dressed in clothes that are worn or torn
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading The road was wet and shone.
inflected form of “ride” — sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
From this reading Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill.
plural of “shaft” — a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading The road was wet and shone.
behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
plural of “stretch” — a large and unbroken expanse or distance
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
showing a brooding ill humor
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
move fast, noisily, and heavily
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two days later Alexander rode to Black Hill.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The road was wet and shone.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Now Black Alan must pick his way, and now there held long stretches of easy going.
covered or soaked with a liquid such as water
From this reading The road was wet and shone.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
in the company of; together with
From this reading There had been in the night a storm with thunder and lightning, wind and rain.
but in spite of that
From this reading Huge, ragged banks of clouds yet hung sullen in the air, though with lakes of blue between and shafts of sun.
Chapter 12 of Foes by Mary Johnston holds 277 sentences, grouped into 56 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 277 sentences of Foes, unabridged, divided into 56 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Foes by Mary Johnston exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 277 sentences, grouped into 56 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 56 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 56 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 Foes by Mary Johnston on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7467 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #16554 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #16554, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1494 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Foes section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of Foes 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 Foes, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
