Chapter 6 of John Baring's House is here in full — 223 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of John Baring's House is here in full — 223 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand. When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat. They commanded her to bring back “the paper.” What paper? Was it the will she had written for the poor old woman?
Chapter 6 of John Baring's House is here in full — 223 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/44 · 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.
highly skilled
From this reading “When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.”
an administrative unit of government
From this reading “When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.”
past form of “command” — be in command of
From this reading “They commanded her to bring back “the paper.””
daughter of George VI who became the Queen of England and Northern Ireland in 1952 on the death of her father (1926-)
From this reading “ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.”
a notable achievement
From this reading “When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.”
an artificial source of visible illumination
From this reading “ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.”
the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements
From this reading “ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.”
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading “ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.”
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 “When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.”
a woman who is old
In this reading “Was it the will she had written for the poor old woman?”
In this reading “ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.”
In this reading “When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.”
put down in writing; of texts, musical compositions, etc.
In this reading “When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.”
bring back to the point of departure
In this reading “They commanded her to bring back “the paper.””
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 When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
highly skilled
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading They commanded her to bring back “the paper.”
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading They commanded her to bring back “the paper.”
an administrative unit of government
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
past form of “command” — be in command of
From this reading They commanded her to bring back “the paper.”
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
daughter of George VI who became the Queen of England and Northern Ireland in 1952 on the death of her father (1926-)
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
a notable achievement
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Was it the will she had written for the poor old woman?
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
undertake a journey or trip
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
an artificial source of visible illumination
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
immediately past
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Was it the will she had written for the poor old woman?
a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
From this reading They commanded her to bring back “the paper.”
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading Was it the will she had written for the poor old woman?
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
the act of causing something to move up and down (or back and forth) with quick movements
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
not in physical motion
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They commanded her to bring back “the paper.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
From this reading ANOTHER VAIN JOURNEY Elizabeth stood still, the lamp shaking in her hand.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Was it the will she had written for the poor old woman?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What paper?
at the time that
From this reading When at last she had taken the few steps between her and her bureau and had set down the lamp it seemed to her that she had accomplished a great feat.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Was it the will she had written for the poor old woman?
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Was it the will she had written for the poor old woman?
set down in writing in any of various ways
From this reading Was it the will she had written for the poor old woman?
Chapter 6 of John Baring's House by Elsie Singmaster holds 223 sentences, grouped into 45 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 6 holds 223 sentences of John Baring's House, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of John Baring's House by Elsie Singmaster exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 223 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 6 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 John Baring's House by Elsie Singmaster on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2100 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56416 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56416, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 175 minutes of reading across 420 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through John Baring's House section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of John Baring's House 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 John Baring's House, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
