Chapter 16 of The Ball of Fire is here in full — 168 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Ball of Fire is here in full — 168 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.” It was the ice man. He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy. “Yassum.” Mammy Emma.
Chapter 16 of The Ball of Fire is here in full — 168 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 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 youthful male person
From this reading “He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.”
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading “He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.”
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading “He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.”
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading “GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.””
water frozen in the solid state
From this reading “It was the ice man.”
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading “GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.””
plural of “sliver” — a small thin sharp bit or wood or glass or metal
From this reading “He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.”
past form of “wish” — hope for; have a wish
From this reading “He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.”
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.
a reception held in your own home
In this reading “GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.””
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 He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.”
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.”
a youthful male person
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mammy Emma.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.”
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.”
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.”
water frozen in the solid state
From this reading It was the ice man.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was the ice man.
an offensive term for a Black nursemaid in the southern U.S.
From this reading Mammy Emma.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading It was the ice man.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading GAIL AT HOME “I hear Miss Gail’s back home.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
plural of “sliver” — a small thin sharp bit or wood or glass or metal
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It was the ice man.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was the ice man.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
at the time that
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
past form of “wish” — hope for; have a wish
From this reading He had given her slivers of ice in the days when she had wished that she were a boy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yassum.”
Chapter 16 of The Ball of Fire by George Randolph Chester holds 168 sentences, grouped into 34 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 16 holds 168 sentences of The Ball of Fire, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Ball of Fire by George Randolph Chester exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 168 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 16 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 The Ball of Fire by George Randolph Chester on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5386 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62653 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62653, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 448 minutes of reading across 1078 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Ball of Fire section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of The Ball of Fire 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 The Ball of Fire, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
