Chapter 9 of The Barrel Mystery is here in full — 50 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Barrel Mystery is here in full — 50 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?' I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia. "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.' He spoke the last word significantly. "'Did you understand English then?'
Chapter 9 of The Barrel Mystery is here in full — 50 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/10 · 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.
plural of “direction” — a line leading to a place or point
From this reading “"'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'”
to or in any or all places
From this reading “"'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'”
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading “I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.”
plural of “italian” — a native or inhabitant of Italy
From this reading “"'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'”
a crime syndicate in the United States; organized in families; believed to have important relations to the Sicilian Mafia
From this reading “I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.”
be successful; achieve a goal
From this reading “THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'”
plural of “ramification” — the act of branching out or dividing into branches
From this reading “I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.”
in a statistically significant way
From this reading “He spoke the last word significantly.”
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.
the final statement in a verbal argument
In this reading “He spoke the last word significantly.”
In this reading “THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "'Did you understand English then?'
unlike in nature or quality or form or degree
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
plural of “direction” — a line leading to a place or point
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
an Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries
From this reading "'Did you understand English then?'
to or in any or all places
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
set up or found
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He spoke the last word significantly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.
plural of “italian” — a native or inhabitant of Italy
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
evidencing the possession of inside information
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
immediately past
From this reading He spoke the last word significantly.
a crime syndicate in the United States; organized in families; believed to have important relations to the Sicilian Mafia
From this reading I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.
be successful; achieve a goal
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.
plural of “place” — a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.
plural of “ramification” — the act of branching out or dividing into branches
From this reading I inquired, not quite knowing the ramifications of the Mafia.
in a statistically significant way
From this reading He spoke the last word significantly.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading He spoke the last word significantly.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading "'Did you understand English then?'
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
From this reading "'Did you understand English then?'
up to a particular time
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading He spoke the last word significantly.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading "'I found Italians everywhere, and would get directions from them until I found some _friends_.'
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading THE SOCIETY "'How could you manage in so many different places without knowing the language?'
Chapter 9 of The Barrel Mystery by William J. (William James) Flynn holds 50 sentences, grouped into 10 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 9 holds 50 sentences of The Barrel Mystery, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Barrel Mystery by William J. (William James) Flynn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 50 sentences, grouped into 10 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 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 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 9 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 Barrel Mystery by William J. (William James) Flynn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2843 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #42010 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #42010, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 236 minutes of reading across 569 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Barrel Mystery section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of The Barrel Mystery 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 Barrel Mystery, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
