Chapter 4 of Four Girls and a Compact is here in full — 251 sentences across 51 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Four Girls and a Compact is here in full — 251 sentences across 51 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
For the pump was a blue pump! A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61. The little old brown pump had blossomed out gayly, brilliantly. "Why!" Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
Chapter 4 of Four Girls and a Compact is here in full — 251 sentences across 51 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/50 · 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.
wait in hiding to attack
From this reading “Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.”
past form of “blossom” — produce or yield flowers
From this reading “The little old brown pump had blossomed out gayly, brilliantly.”
with brightness
From this reading “The little old brown pump had blossomed out gayly, brilliantly.”
a soft partly suppressed laugh
From this reading “Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.”
any amazing or wonderful occurrence
From this reading “A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.”
past form of “muse” — reflect deeply on a subject
From this reading “A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.”
close at hand
From this reading “Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.”
operate like a pump; move up and down, like a handle or a pedal
From this reading “For the pump was a blue pump!”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading For the pump was a blue pump!
wait in hiding to attack
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
on the far side of; further than
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
past form of “blossom” — produce or yield flowers
From this reading The little old brown pump had blossomed out gayly, brilliantly.
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading For the pump was a blue pump!
with brightness
From this reading The little old brown pump had blossomed out gayly, brilliantly.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading The little old brown pump had blossomed out gayly, brilliantly.
a soft partly suppressed laugh
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
enclose with a fence
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For the pump was a blue pump!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
in a joyous manner
From this reading The little old brown pump had blossomed out gayly, brilliantly.
shoot down, of birds
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
past form of “listen” — hear with intention
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The little old brown pump had blossomed out gayly, brilliantly.
any amazing or wonderful occurrence
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
past form of “muse” — reflect deeply on a subject
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
close at hand
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The little old brown pump had blossomed out gayly, brilliantly.
operate like a pump; move up and down, like a handle or a pedal
From this reading For the pump was a blue pump!
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
in a softened tone
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading For the pump was a blue pump!
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then a subdued chuckle reached her from some nearby ambush out beyond the fence.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading For the pump was a blue pump!
during the time that
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading "Why!"
shaped to fit by or as if by altering the contours of a pliable mass (as by work or effort)
From this reading A miracle had been wrought while she mused in the grass and listened to Old '61.
Chapter 4 of Four Girls and a Compact by Annie Hamilton Donnell holds 251 sentences, grouped into 51 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 4 holds 251 sentences of Four Girls and a Compact, unabridged, divided into 51 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Four Girls and a Compact by Annie Hamilton Donnell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 251 sentences, grouped into 51 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 51 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 51 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 4 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 Four Girls and a Compact by Annie Hamilton Donnell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1413 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9505 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9505, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 117 minutes of reading across 283 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Four Girls and a Compact section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Four Girls and a Compact 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 Four Girls and a Compact, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
