Chapter 5 of In a Little Town is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of In a Little Town is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"I just had to slip over and tell you something." "Well, Martha!" he sighed. She stopped short, as if he had struck her. "'Martha'? What's the matter?
Chapter 5 of In a Little Town is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading “What's the matter?”
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading “She stopped short, as if he had struck her.”
past form of “sigh” — heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading “"Well, Martha!" he sighed.”
move stealthily
From this reading “"I just had to slip over and tell you something."”
a thing, without saying which
From this reading “"I just had to slip over and tell you something."”
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading “She stopped short, as if he had struck her.”
(used in combination) affected by something overwhelming
From this reading “She stopped short, as if he had struck her.”
express in words
From this reading “"I just had to slip over and tell you something."”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading She stopped short, as if he had struck her.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Well, Martha!" he sighed.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She stopped short, as if he had struck her.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading She stopped short, as if he had struck her.
and nothing more
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Well, Martha!" he sighed.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading What's the matter?
above and across; more than
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She stopped short, as if he had struck her.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading She stopped short, as if he had struck her.
past form of “sigh” — heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
From this reading "Well, Martha!" he sighed.
move stealthily
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
a thing, without saying which
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading She stopped short, as if he had struck her.
(used in combination) affected by something overwhelming
From this reading She stopped short, as if he had struck her.
express in words
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading What's the matter?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well, Martha!" he sighed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading What's the matter?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "I just had to slip over and tell you something."
Chapter 5 of In a Little Town by Rupert Hughes holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 5 holds 414 sentences of In a Little Town, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of In a Little Town by Rupert Hughes exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 5 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 In a Little Town by Rupert Hughes on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6199 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #29561 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #29561, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 516 minutes of reading across 1240 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through In a Little Town section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 15 chapters of In a Little Town 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 In a Little Town, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
