Chapter 21 of Second String 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 XXI
Chapter 21 of Second String is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE EMPTY PLACE. Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile. "Yes, yes, he's a hard fellow. He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable. Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
Chapter 21 of Second String 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.
make void or empty of contents
From this reading “THE EMPTY PLACE.”
the act of forcing out someone or something
From this reading “Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.”
light informal conversation for social occasions
From this reading “Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.”
incapable of being avoided or prevented
From this reading “He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.”
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading “Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.”
inflected form of “rub” — move over something with pressure
From this reading “Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.”
feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses
From this reading “Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.”
disgraceful gossip about the private lives of other people
From this reading “He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.”
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 “Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.”
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 Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
up to the breast
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings
From this reading He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.
make void or empty of contents
From this reading THE EMPTY PLACE.
the act of forcing out someone or something
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
a boy or man
From this reading "Yes, yes, he's a hard fellow.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
light informal conversation for social occasions
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading "Yes, yes, he's a hard fellow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Yes, yes, he's a hard fellow.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.
incapable of being avoided or prevented
From this reading He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading THE EMPTY PLACE.
inflected form of “rub” — move over something with pressure
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
disgraceful gossip about the private lives of other people
From this reading He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
the act of someone who picks up or takes something
From this reading He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE EMPTY PLACE.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He's hard on us; hard in taking a course that makes scandal inevitable.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Meriton High Street will be breast-high in gossip about the midnight expulsion in a few hours.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Belfield rubbed his hands against one another with a rueful smile.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes, yes, he's a hard fellow.
Chapter 21 of Second String by Anthony Hope 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 21 holds 414 sentences of Second String, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of Second String by Anthony Hope 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 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 Second String by Anthony Hope on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9221 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38796 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38796, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1845 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Second String section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of Second String 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 Second String, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
