Chapter 31 of On the Face of the Waters is here in full — 440 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of On the Face of the Waters is here in full — 440 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. So the strain of months was over on the Ridge. Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls. But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety. This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
Chapter 31 of On the Face of the Waters is here in full — 440 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/88 · 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 city in north central India
From this reading “Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.”
United States politician who proposed that individual territories be allowed to decide whether they would have slavery; he engaged in a famous series of debates with Abraham Lincoln (1813-1861)
From this reading “This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.”
plural of “punishment” — the act of punishing
From this reading “REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.”
possessive form of “queen” — the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading “Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.”
plural of “reward” — a recompense for worthy acts or retribution for wrongdoing
From this reading “REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.”
a long narrow natural elevation or striation
From this reading “So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.”
(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
From this reading “So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.”
information about recent and important events
From this reading “This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.”
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 But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
later than; following
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.
(psychiatry) a relatively permanent state of worry and nervousness occurring in a variety of mental disorders, usually accompanied by compulsive behavior or attacks of panic
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
a city in north central India
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
United States politician who proposed that individual territories be allowed to decide whether they would have slavery; he engaged in a famous series of debates with Abraham Lincoln (1813-1861)
From this reading This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
stupefied or excited by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
a healthy state of wellbeing free from disease
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
plural of “month” — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
not any; not one
From this reading This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
above and across; more than
From this reading So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.
a large and stately mansion
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
(American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
a human being
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
plural of “punishment” — the act of punishing
From this reading REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.
possessive form of “queen” — the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
plural of “reward” — a recompense for worthy acts or retribution for wrongdoing
From this reading REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.
a long narrow natural elevation or striation
From this reading So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.
(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
From this reading So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Delhi was taken; the Queen's health was being drunk night after night in the Palace of the Moghuls.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.
in or at that place or location
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
information about recent and important events
From this reading This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading So the strain of months was over on the Ridge.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading This was Kate Erlton; for there were no tidings of Jim Douglas.
the form of “who” used as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading But there was one person to whom the passing days brought a growing anxiety.
Chapter 31 of On the Face of the Waters by Flora Annie Webster Steel holds 440 sentences, grouped into 88 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 31 holds 440 sentences of On the Face of the Waters, unabridged, divided into 88 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of On the Face of the Waters by Flora Annie Webster Steel exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 440 sentences, grouped into 88 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 88 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 88 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 31 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 On the Face of the Waters by Flora Annie Webster Steel on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10147 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40140 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40140, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2030 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through On the Face of the Waters section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of On the Face of the Waters 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 On the Face of the Waters, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
