Chapter XIII of The Black Star: A Detective Story, “Muggs—great Little Man,” is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XIII
Chapter XIII of The Black Star: A Detective Story, “Muggs—great Little Man,” is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door. Howard stepped over to them. “You—you——” Faustina was trying to speak. “Don’t say a word,” Verbeck whispered. “I understand everything.
Chapter XIII of The Black Star: A Detective Story, “Muggs—great Little Man,” is here in full — 131 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading “Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.”
English actor of stage and screen (1893-1943)
From this reading “Howard stepped over to them.”
walk impeded by some physical limitation or injury
From this reading “Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.”
the particular portion of space occupied by something
From this reading “Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.”
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading “Howard stepped over to them.”
hard to endure
From this reading ““You—you——” Faustina was trying to speak.”
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading “Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.”
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading ““Don’t say a word,” Verbeck whispered.”
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 ““Don’t say a word,” Verbeck whispered.”
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 Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Don’t say a word,” Verbeck whispered.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading “I understand everything.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
English actor of stage and screen (1893-1943)
From this reading Howard stepped over to them.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I understand everything.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
walk impeded by some physical limitation or injury
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
above and across; more than
From this reading Howard stepped over to them.
the particular portion of space occupied by something
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
express in words
From this reading “Don’t say a word,” Verbeck whispered.
express in speech
From this reading “You—you——” Faustina was trying to speak.
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading Howard stepped over to them.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Howard stepped over to them.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
hard to endure
From this reading “You—you——” Faustina was trying to speak.
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
From this reading “I understand everything.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Verbeck felt Faustina grow limp in his arms, and he waltzed her to a position near the wall and the door.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “You—you——” Faustina was trying to speak.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading “Don’t say a word,” Verbeck whispered.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading “Don’t say a word,” Verbeck whispered.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You—you——” Faustina was trying to speak.
Chapter 13 of The Black Star: A Detective Story by Johnston McCulley holds 131 sentences, grouped into 27 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 13 holds 131 sentences of The Black Star: A Detective Story, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of The Black Star: A Detective Story by Johnston McCulley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 131 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 13 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 Star: A Detective Story by Johnston McCulley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4892 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35833 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35833, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 407 minutes of reading across 979 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Black Star: A Detective Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of The Black Star: A Detective Story 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 Star: A Detective Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
