Chapter 21 of Murder in the Gilded Cage is here in full — 345 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of Murder in the Gilded Cage is here in full — 345 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE RAID My telephone rang persistently. I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers. “Perutkin speaking!” the voice boomed. “Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!” The words were a command.
Chapter 21 of Murder in the Gilded Cage is here in full — 345 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/69 · 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.
past form of “boom” — make a resonant sound, like artillery
From this reading ““Perutkin speaking!” the voice boomed.”
an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
From this reading “The words were a command.”
extreme fatigue
From this reading “I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.”
a large entrance or reception room or area
From this reading ““Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!””
in a persistent manner
From this reading “THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.”
search without warning, make a sudden surprise attack on
From this reading “THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.”
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading “THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.”
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading “THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.”
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 ““Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!””
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 I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!”
past form of “boom” — make a resonant sound, like artillery
From this reading “Perutkin speaking!” the voice boomed.
an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
From this reading The words were a command.
extreme fatigue
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
plural of “finger” — any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb)
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
and nothing more
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
a large entrance or reception room or area
From this reading “Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!”
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!”
come together
From this reading “Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!”
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading “Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
in a persistent manner
From this reading THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Perutkin speaking!” the voice boomed.
search without warning, make a sudden surprise attack on
From this reading THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
the utterance of intelligible speech
From this reading “Perutkin speaking!” the voice boomed.
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE RAID My telephone rang persistently.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nineteen and one
From this reading “Meet me in the lobby of the Biltmore in twenty minutes!”
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading “Perutkin speaking!” the voice boomed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The words were a command.
in the company of; together with
From this reading I had just waked out of a sleep of exhaustion and reached for it with sleep-numbed fingers.
the words that are spoken
From this reading The words were a command.
Chapter 21 of Murder in the Gilded Cage by Samuel Spewack holds 345 sentences, grouped into 69 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 21 holds 345 sentences of Murder in the Gilded Cage, unabridged, divided into 69 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of Murder in the Gilded Cage by Samuel Spewack exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 345 sentences, grouped into 69 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 69 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 69 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 21 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 Murder in the Gilded Cage by Samuel Spewack on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5309 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #77069 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #77069, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 442 minutes of reading across 1062 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Murder in the Gilded Cage section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Murder in the Gilded Cage 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 Murder in the Gilded Cage, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
