Chapter II of On the Brink of a Chasm, “A Man’s Revenge,” is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter II of On the Brink of a Chasm, “A Man’s Revenge,” is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily. Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room. Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him. “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered. “But she shall be mine—I swear it.
Chapter II of On the Brink of a Chasm, “A Man’s Revenge,” is here in full — 184 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
aroused to action
From this reading “Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.”
past form of “droop” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading “Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.”
to certain extent or degree
From this reading “Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.”
any liliaceous plant of the genus Lilium having showy pendulous flowers
From this reading “Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily.”
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading ““If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.”
to a small degree or extent
From this reading “Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.”
utter obscenities or profanities
From this reading ““But she shall be mine—I swear it.”
displeasing to the senses
From this reading “Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.”
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.
lily of eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans with broad funnel-shaped white flowers
In this reading “Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily.”
In this reading “Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.”
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 Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
aroused to action
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “But she shall be mine—I swear it.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily.
inflected form of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “But she shall be mine—I swear it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
past form of “droop” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
to certain extent or degree
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “But she shall be mine—I swear it.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily.
any liliaceous plant of the genus Lilium having showy pendulous flowers
From this reading Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily.
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 Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily.
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “But she shall be mine—I swear it.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
to a small degree or extent
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
utter obscenities or profanities
From this reading “But she shall be mine—I swear it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
displeasing to the senses
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading Her long neck slightly drooped as she walked down the room.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading Tarbot’s face as he watched her became more and more ugly; the devil was fairly aroused in him.
a Caucasian
From this reading Barbara looked like a beautiful white lily.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading “If I cannot have that woman for my wife I shall go under,” he muttered.
Chapter 2 of On the Brink of a Chasm by L. T. Meade holds 184 sentences, grouped into 37 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 2 holds 184 sentences of On the Brink of a Chasm, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of On the Brink of a Chasm by L. T. Meade exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 184 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 2 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through On the Brink of a Chasm section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in On the Brink of a Chasm, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
