Chapter 21 of The Black Patch is here in full — 233 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Black Patch is here in full — 233 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LADY WATSON'S STORY "My mother!" Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself. The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force. "Impossible!" "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
Chapter 21 of The Black Patch is here in full — 233 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 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.
moving forward
From this reading “"It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.”
the woman who guided Dante through Paradise in the Divine Comedy
From this reading “Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.”
the act of discovering something
From this reading “The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.”
fully extended especially in length
From this reading “"It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.”
so strong as to be irresistible
From this reading “The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.”
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading “The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.”
United States telephone engineer who assisted Alexander Graham Bell in his experiments (1854-1934)
From this reading “LADY WATSON'S STORY "My mother!"”
possessive form of “watson” — United States telephone engineer who assisted Alexander Graham Bell in his experiments (1854-1934)
From this reading “LADY WATSON'S STORY "My mother!"”
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.
In this reading “"It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.”
In this reading “The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.”
In this reading “Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.”
find unexpectedly
In this reading “The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.”
In this reading “Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.”
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 Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
moving forward
From this reading "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
the woman who guided Dante through Paradise in the Divine Comedy
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
the act of discovering something
From this reading The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
a powerful effect or influence
From this reading The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
From this reading "Impossible!"
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading LADY WATSON'S STORY "My mother!"
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading LADY WATSON'S STORY "My mother!"
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading LADY WATSON'S STORY "My mother!"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
fully extended especially in length
From this reading "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
so strong as to be irresistible
From this reading The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens accidentally
From this reading The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.
primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading LADY WATSON'S STORY "My mother!"
the activity of providing for or maintaining by supplying with money or necessities
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Beatrice stopped short at the door, and caught hold of a chair to support herself.
in the direction of
From this reading "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
consistent with fact or reality; not false
From this reading "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.
United States telephone engineer who assisted Alexander Graham Bell in his experiments (1854-1934)
From this reading "It is true," said Lady Watson, advancing towards her with outstretched arms.
possessive form of “watson” — United States telephone engineer who assisted Alexander Graham Bell in his experiments (1854-1934)
From this reading LADY WATSON'S STORY "My mother!"
in the company of; together with
From this reading The shock of this discovery came upon her with overwhelming force.
Chapter 21 of The Black Patch by Fergus Hume holds 233 sentences, grouped into 47 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 21 holds 233 sentences of The Black Patch, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Black Patch by Fergus Hume exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 233 sentences, grouped into 47 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 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 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 21 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 Patch by Fergus Hume on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5681 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #55305 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #55305, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 473 minutes of reading across 1137 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Black Patch section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Black Patch 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 Patch, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
