Chapter 20 of In the Van is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of In the Van is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HELEN'S DIARY. "Roche Lake, Madawaska River, March ----, 1814. "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way! Oh, why did I come? Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
Chapter 20 of In the Van is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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.
in addition to; as well as
From this reading “Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.”
a daily written record of (usually personal) experiences and observations
From this reading “HELEN'S DIARY.”
pull, as against a resistance
From this reading “Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.”
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading “HELEN'S DIARY.”
a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading “"Roche Lake, Madawaska River, March ----, 1814.”
march in a procession
From this reading “"Roche Lake, Madawaska River, March ----, 1814.”
a group of soldiers
From this reading “Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.”
exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress
From this reading “"One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!”
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 “"One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!”
In this reading “Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.”
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 "Roche Lake, Madawaska River, March ----, 1814.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
in addition to; as well as
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Oh, why did I come?
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
a daily written record of (usually personal) experiences and observations
From this reading HELEN'S DIARY.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Oh, why did I come?
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
pull, as against a resistance
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading HELEN'S DIARY.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
ten 10s
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Oh, why did I come?
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading "Roche Lake, Madawaska River, March ----, 1814.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Roche Lake, Madawaska River, March ----, 1814.
march in a procession
From this reading "Roche Lake, Madawaska River, March ----, 1814.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading Oh, why did I come?
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
above and across; more than
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading "Roche Lake, Madawaska River, March ----, 1814.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Roche Lake, Madawaska River, March ----, 1814.
having strength or power greater than average or expected
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
a group of soldiers
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
(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 Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
during the time that
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Oh, why did I come?
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading Harold is well and strong, and could have done without me; while I am a drag to him and the whole troop besides.
but in spite of that
From this reading "One hundred miles yet to face over this weary way!
Chapter 20 of In the Van by John Price-Brown holds 116 sentences, grouped into 24 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 20 holds 116 sentences of In the Van, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of In the Van by John Price-Brown exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 116 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 20 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 the Van by John Price-Brown on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5208 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35203 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35203, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 434 minutes of reading across 1042 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through In the Van section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of In the Van 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 the Van, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
