Chapter 26 of Hitting the line is here in full — 239 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of Hitting the line is here in full — 239 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MONTY RECEIVES CALLERS “Hi! There’s someone at a window around there!” The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration. A dozen questions met him. The crowd thronged in his wake.
Chapter 26 of Hitting the line is here in full — 239 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/47 · 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.
plural of “caller” — a social or business visitor
From this reading “MONTY RECEIVES CALLERS “Hi!”
a very intense and uncontrolled fire
From this reading “The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.”
having gaps or spaces
From this reading “The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.”
with excitement; in an excited manner
From this reading “The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.”
term of address for a disrespectful and annoying male
From this reading “The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.”
third-person singular of “receive” — get something; come into possession of
From this reading “MONTY RECEIVES CALLERS “Hi!”
having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
From this reading “The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.”
filled with great numbers crowded together
From this reading “The crowd thronged in his wake.”
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 small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.”
In this reading “There’s someone at a window around there!””
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’s someone at a window around there!”
higher than, or over, something
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading There’s someone at a window around there!”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading There’s someone at a window around there!”
the act of burning something
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
plural of “caller” — a social or business visitor
From this reading MONTY RECEIVES CALLERS “Hi!
a very intense and uncontrolled fire
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading The crowd thronged in his wake.
having gaps or spaces
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
From this reading A dozen questions met him.
with excitement; in an excited manner
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
any number of entities (members) considered as a unit
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
an expression of greeting
From this reading MONTY RECEIVES CALLERS “Hi!
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A dozen questions met him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The crowd thronged in his wake.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
term of address for a disrespectful and annoying male
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading A dozen questions met him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading MONTY RECEIVES CALLERS “Hi!
sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
plural of “question” — an instance of questioning
From this reading A dozen questions met him.
third-person singular of “receive” — get something; come into possession of
From this reading MONTY RECEIVES CALLERS “Hi!
having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
a person, without saying who
From this reading There’s someone at a window around there!”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There’s someone at a window around there!”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There’s someone at a window around there!”
filled with great numbers crowded together
From this reading The crowd thronged in his wake.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading The small junior dashed excitedly into the group at the front of the burning house, his voice shrill above the noise of the conflagration.
be awake, be alert, be there
From this reading The crowd thronged in his wake.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading There’s someone at a window around there!”
Chapter 26 of Hitting the line by Ralph Henry Barbour holds 239 sentences, grouped into 48 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 26 holds 239 sentences of Hitting the line, unabridged, divided into 48 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of Hitting the line by Ralph Henry Barbour exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 239 sentences, grouped into 48 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 48 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 48 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 26 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 Hitting the line by Ralph Henry Barbour on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5669 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #71181 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #71181, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 472 minutes of reading across 1134 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Hitting the line section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of Hitting the line 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 Hitting the line, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
