Chapter 26 of The Bartlett Mystery is here in full — 175 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Bartlett Mystery is here in full — 175 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses. "Crazy?" she questioned calmly. "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son. Rex would not have done it. After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
Chapter 26 of The Bartlett Mystery is here in full — 175 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
the negotiation of the terms of a transaction or agreement
From this reading “"Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.”
someone who bites
From this reading “THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.”
affected with madness or insanity
From this reading “"Crazy?" she questioned calmly.”
being in focus or brought into focus
From this reading “THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.”
past form of “question” — challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading “"Crazy?" she questioned calmly.”
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading “Rex would not have done it.”
destroyed physically or morally
From this reading “After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.”
a sound defeat
From this reading “After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.”
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 woman who is old
In this reading “"Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.”
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 "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
later than; following
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
anew
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
the negotiation of the terms of a transaction or agreement
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
someone who bites
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
with self-possession (especially in times of stress)
From this reading "Crazy?" she questioned calmly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
affected with madness or insanity
From this reading "Crazy?" she questioned calmly.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading Rex would not have done it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
being in focus or brought into focus
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Rex would not have done it.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
the collection of rules imposed by authority
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
and nothing more
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
past form of “question” — challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
From this reading "Crazy?" she questioned calmly.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading Rex would not have done it.
destroyed physically or morally
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Crazy?" she questioned calmly.
a male human offspring
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
a sound defeat
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading THE BITER BIT Mrs. Carshaw focused him again through her gold-rimmed eye-glasses.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading "Not a bit of it--merely an old woman bargaining for her son.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Rex would not have done it.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading After thrashing you he would have left you to the law, and, were the law to step in, you would surely be ruined.
Chapter 26 of The Bartlett Mystery by Louis Tracy holds 175 sentences, grouped into 35 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 26 holds 175 sentences of The Bartlett Mystery, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Bartlett Mystery by Louis Tracy exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 175 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 26 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 Bartlett Mystery by Louis Tracy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4959 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31949 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31949, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 413 minutes of reading across 992 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Bartlett Mystery section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of The Bartlett 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 Bartlett Mystery, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
