Chapter V of Molly, the Drummer Boy, “And Now We Come to Molly,” is here in full — 179 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter V
Chapter V of Molly, the Drummer Boy, “And Now We Come to Molly,” is here in full — 179 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill. “What do you want?” asked a man on duty. “I wish to join the army and fight the foe. I can drum.” “I hear that you can.
Chapter V of Molly, the Drummer Boy, “And Now We Come to Molly,” is here in full — 179 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
the act of overcoming or outdoing
From this reading “Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.”
limp and soiled as if dragged in the mud
From this reading “Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.”
a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
From this reading “Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.”
dug in
From this reading “Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.”
an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading ““I wish to join the army and fight the foe.”
(usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise
From this reading “Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.”
feeling hunger; feeling a need or desire to eat food
From this reading “Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.”
the possibility of future success
From this reading “Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.”
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 ““I wish to join the army and fight the foe.”
In this reading ““What do you want?” asked a man on duty.”
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 Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
a permanent organization of the military land forces of a nation or state
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “What do you want?” asked a man on duty.
the act of overcoming or outdoing
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
limp and soiled as if dragged in the mud
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
a youthful male person
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading I can drum.”
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “What do you want?” asked a man on duty.
a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading “What do you want?” asked a man on duty.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
dug in
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
From this reading “I wish to join the army and fight the foe.
an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading “I wish to join the army and fight the foe.
having sore or tired feet
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
(usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading “I hear that you can.
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
feeling hunger; feeling a need or desire to eat food
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I wish to join the army and fight the foe.
become part of; become a member of a group or organization
From this reading “I wish to join the army and fight the foe.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “What do you want?” asked a man on duty.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
the possibility of future success
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “I hear that you can.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “I wish to join the army and fight the foe.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading “What do you want?” asked a man on duty.
exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress
From this reading Footsore, weary, and hungry, a boy beating upon a drum, entered the headquarters of the bedraggled army entrenched on Prospect Hill.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “What do you want?” asked a man on duty.
hope for; have a wish
From this reading “I wish to join the army and fight the foe.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “What do you want?” asked a man on duty.
Chapter 5 of Molly, the Drummer Boy by Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa) Comstock holds 179 sentences, grouped into 36 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 179 sentences of Molly, the Drummer Boy, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Molly, the Drummer Boy by Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa) Comstock exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 179 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 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.
