Chapter 3 of Molly, the Drummer Boy is here in full — 69 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Molly, the Drummer Boy is here in full — 69 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DEBBY TAKES HER OWN WAY. “Deborah?” “Yes ma’am.” “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?” Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
Chapter 3 of Molly, the Drummer Boy is here in full — 69 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 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.
open to or abounding in fresh air
From this reading ““Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?””
a feeling of disliking something or what someone is doing
From this reading “Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.”
having an eye or eyes or eyelike feature especially as specified; often used in combination
From this reading “Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.”
compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgive
From this reading ““Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?””
in an idle manner
From this reading “Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.”
a woman of refinement
past form of “pray” — address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading ““Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?””
plural of “sin” — estrangement from god
From this reading ““Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?””
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 “Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.”
In this reading “Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.”
In this reading “DEBBY TAKES HER OWN WAY.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.”
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.
open to or abounding in fresh air
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DEBBY TAKES HER OWN WAY.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Deborah?”
a feeling of disliking something or what someone is doing
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
in a serious manner
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
having an eye or eyes or eyelike feature especially as specified; often used in combination
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgive
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
a young female
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
an old form of “have”, used with “thou”
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading DEBBY TAKES HER OWN WAY.
in an idle manner
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
a narrow way or road
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
a woman of refinement
From this reading “Yes ma’am.”
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading DEBBY TAKES HER OWN WAY.
a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
past form of “pray” — address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
the act of searching for something
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
plural of “sin” — estrangement from god
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading DEBBY TAKES HER OWN WAY.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
the upper part of anything
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading DEBBY TAKES HER OWN WAY.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Mrs. Lane came down the long hall and eyed with disapproval the girl sitting idly on the top step of the porch.
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes ma’am.”
the day immediately before today
From this reading “Hast thou aired thy bed and prayed in private, earnestly seeking forgiveness for thy sins of yesterday?”
Chapter 3 of Molly, the Drummer Boy by Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa) Comstock holds 69 sentences, grouped into 14 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 3 holds 69 sentences of Molly, the Drummer Boy, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Molly, the Drummer Boy by Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa) Comstock exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 69 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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 3 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 Molly, the Drummer Boy by Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa) Comstock on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1076 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62589 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62589, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 89 minutes of reading across 216 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Molly, the Drummer Boy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of Molly, the Drummer Boy 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 Molly, the Drummer Boy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
