Chapter 1 of Never Come Midnight is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Never Come Midnight is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it! Jan Shortmire smiled. "You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter? Well, neither did I--until quite recently." "I see."
Chapter 1 of Never Come Midnight is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
a right or privilege that you are entitled to at birth
From this reading “Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!”
brought into existence
From this reading “Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!”
past form of “conceive” — have the idea for
From this reading “Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!”
an urgent or peremptory request
From this reading “Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!”
the first month of the year; begins 10 days after the winter solstice
From this reading “Jan Shortmire smiled.”
disciple of Jesus and leader of the Apostles; regarded by Catholics as the vicar of Christ on earth and first Pope
From this reading “"You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter?”
in the recent past
From this reading “Well, neither did I--until quite recently."”
lacking any legal or binding force
From this reading “Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!”
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.
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 Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
a right or privilege that you are entitled to at birth
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
brought into existence
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
past form of “conceive” — have the idea for
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
an urgent or peremptory request
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter?
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
at any time
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter?
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
the first month of the year; begins 10 days after the winter solstice
From this reading Jan Shortmire smiled.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter?
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
not one and not the other of two
From this reading Well, neither did I--until quite recently."
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
disciple of Jesus and leader of the Apostles; regarded by Catholics as the vicar of Christ on earth and first Pope
From this reading "You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter?
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading Well, neither did I--until quite recently."
in the recent past
From this reading Well, neither did I--until quite recently."
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading "I see."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Jan Shortmire smiled.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading Jan Shortmire smiled.
a male human offspring
From this reading "You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
up to a particular time
From this reading Well, neither did I--until quite recently."
lacking any legal or binding force
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
(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 Well, neither did I--until quite recently."
which person or people
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Across the void came a man who could not ever have been born--from a world that could never have been conceived--to demand his birthright of an Earth that would have to die to pay it!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You didn't know I had a son, did you, Peter?
Chapter 1 of Never Come Midnight by H. L. (Horace Leonard) Gold holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 1 holds 414 sentences of Never Come Midnight, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Never Come Midnight by H. L. (Horace Leonard) Gold exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 1 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 Never Come Midnight by H. L. (Horace Leonard) Gold on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1228 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51834 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51834, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 102 minutes of reading across 246 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Never Come Midnight section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of Never Come Midnight 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 Never Come Midnight, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
