Chapter 12 of The Blue Lights: A Detective Story is here in full — 247 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Blue Lights: A Detective Story is here in full — 247 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library. A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him. Mr. Stapleton sat grimly in an arm chair. There was no one else in the room. "My wife!
Chapter 12 of The Blue Lights: A Detective Story is here in full — 247 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/49 · 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.
movement that causes the formation of a curve
From this reading “A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.”
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading “Mr. Stapleton sat grimly in an arm chair.”
an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation
From this reading “When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.”
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading “When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.”
in a grim implacable manner
From this reading “Mr. Stapleton sat grimly in an arm chair.”
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading “A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.”
a room where books are kept
From this reading “When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.”
past form of “summon” — call in an official matter, such as to attend court
From this reading “A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.”
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 “When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.”
In this reading “When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.”
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 When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading Mr. Stapleton sat grimly in an arm chair.
movement that causes the formation of a curve
From this reading A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading Mr. Stapleton sat grimly in an arm chair.
an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was no one else in the room.
in a grim implacable manner
From this reading Mr. Stapleton sat grimly in an arm chair.
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
a room where books are kept
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
a form of address for a man
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "My wife!
not any; not one
From this reading There was no one else in the room.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading There was no one else in the room.
above and across; more than
From this reading A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading There was no one else in the room.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Mr. Stapleton sat grimly in an arm chair.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mr. Stapleton sat grimly in an arm chair.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
past form of “summon” — call in an official matter, such as to attend court
From this reading A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There was no one else in the room.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was no one else in the room.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A doctor, hastily summoned, was bending over him.
at the time that
From this reading When Richard Duvall returned to consciousness, an hour later, he lay upon a couch in Mr. Stapleton's library.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading "My wife!
Chapter 12 of The Blue Lights: A Detective Story by Frederic Arnold Kummer holds 247 sentences, grouped into 50 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 12 holds 247 sentences of The Blue Lights: A Detective Story, unabridged, divided into 50 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Blue Lights: A Detective Story by Frederic Arnold Kummer exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 247 sentences, grouped into 50 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 50 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 50 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 12 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 Blue Lights: A Detective Story by Frederic Arnold Kummer on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4683 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38577 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38577, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 390 minutes of reading across 937 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Blue Lights: A Detective Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Blue Lights: 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 Blue Lights: A Detective Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
