Chapter 26 of The Betrayal is here in full — 158 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Betrayal is here in full — 158 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
FRIEND OR ENEMY? There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone. I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off. Then I sat up in my chair with a start. My cigarette had burnt out, my coffee was cold.
Chapter 26 of The Betrayal is here in full — 158 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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.
ruined by overcooking
From this reading “My cigarette had burnt out, my coffee was cold.”
finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading “I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.”
a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans
From this reading “My cigarette had burnt out, my coffee was cold.”
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading “There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.”
past form of “doze” — sleep lightly or for a short period of time
From this reading “I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.”
an opposing military force
From this reading “FRIEND OR ENEMY?”
inflected form of “rap” — strike sharply
From this reading “I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.”
a request to be present
From this reading “There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.”
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 I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
Having no one else present.
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
ruined by overcooking
From this reading My cigarette had burnt out, my coffee was cold.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading Then I sat up in my chair with a start.
finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans
From this reading My cigarette had burnt out, my coffee was cold.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading My cigarette had burnt out, my coffee was cold.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
past form of “dine” — have supper; eat dinner
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
past form of “doze” — sleep lightly or for a short period of time
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
an opposing military force
From this reading FRIEND OR ENEMY?
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading FRIEND OR ENEMY?
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading My cigarette had burnt out, my coffee was cold.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Then I sat up in my chair with a start.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
not any; not one
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading FRIEND OR ENEMY?
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading My cigarette had burnt out, my coffee was cold.
above and across; more than
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
inflected form of “rap” — strike sharply
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Then I sat up in my chair with a start.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
yielding readily to pressure or weight
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Then I sat up in my chair with a start.
a request to be present
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then I sat up in my chair with a start.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There came no summons from Rowchester, and I dined alone.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Then I sat up in my chair with a start.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading My cigarette had burnt out, my coffee was cold.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading I must have dozed over my after-dinner cigarette, for at first that soft rapping seemed to come to me from a long way off.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Then I sat up in my chair with a start.
Chapter 26 of The Betrayal by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim holds 158 sentences, grouped into 32 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 158 sentences of The Betrayal, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Betrayal by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 158 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 Betrayal by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6547 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #16998 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #16998, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 545 minutes of reading across 1310 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Betrayal section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Betrayal 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 Betrayal, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
