Chapter 4 of The Black Bar is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Black Bar is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Mark looked at him in horror. "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder. "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders. "I'm very sorry, of course. We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
Chapter 4 of The Black Bar is here in full — 407 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
move up and down repeatedly
From this reading “"Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.”
in a vicious manner
From this reading “"How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.”
believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of others
From this reading “"How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.”
possessive form of “doctor” — a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading “"Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.”
inflected form of “forget” — dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
From this reading “"Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.”
intense and profound fear
From this reading “Mark looked at him in horror.”
in an indignant manner
From this reading “"Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.”
shake, as from cold
From this reading “"How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.”
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 "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Mark looked at him in horror.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
move up and down repeatedly
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
in a vicious manner
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
education imparted in a series of lessons or meetings
From this reading "I'm very sorry, of course.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of others
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
possessive form of “doctor” — a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
plural of “fellow” — a boy or man
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
inflected form of “forget” — dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Mark looked at him in horror.
intense and profound fear
From this reading Mark looked at him in horror.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm very sorry, of course.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Mark looked at him in horror.
in an indignant manner
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Mark looked at him in horror.
attach a tag or label to
From this reading Mark looked at him in horror.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "I'm very sorry, of course.
plural of “order” — (often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
except for; apart from
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
shake, as from cold
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
From this reading "I'm very sorry, of course.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
precisely as stated
From this reading "I'm very sorry, of course.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We did all we could to save the poor fellows, but they died, and there's an end of them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Who's brutally cynical?" cried Bob, indignantly, and forgetting all the doctor's orders.
in the company of; together with
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "How can you be so brutally cynical?" he said, with a shudder.
Chapter 4 of The Black Bar by George Manville Fenn holds 407 sentences, grouped into 82 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 4 holds 407 sentences of The Black Bar, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Black Bar by George Manville Fenn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 407 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 4 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 Black Bar by George Manville Fenn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5367 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21326 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21326, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 447 minutes of reading across 1074 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Black Bar section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The Black Bar 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 Black Bar, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
