Chapter 29 of The breath of slander is here in full — 183 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIX
Chapter 29 of The breath of slander is here in full — 183 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
OLD FRIENDS. The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell. The door was opened by a pert-looking servant. Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there. “Yes,” the servant said shortly, “she did.”
Chapter 29 of The breath of slander is here in full — 183 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading “The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.”
a railcar where passengers ride
From this reading “The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.”
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading “Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there.”
past form of “live” — be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading “Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there.”
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading “The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.”
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading “The door was opened by a pert-looking servant.”
for a short time
From this reading ““Yes,” the servant said shortly, “she did.””
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.”
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 “The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.”
In this reading “OLD FRIENDS.”
at or in the front
In this reading “The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.”
pile up (debts or scores)
In this reading “The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.”
In this reading “Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there.”
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 The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The door was opened by a pert-looking servant.
a railcar where passengers ride
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading “Yes,” the servant said shortly, “she did.”
a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading The door was opened by a pert-looking servant.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading OLD FRIENDS.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
past form of “live” — be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading OLD FRIENDS.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading The door was opened by a pert-looking servant.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The door was opened by a pert-looking servant.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Yes,” the servant said shortly, “she did.”
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading The door was opened by a pert-looking servant.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Yes,” the servant said shortly, “she did.”
for a short time
From this reading “Yes,” the servant said shortly, “she did.”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Conway inquired if Miss Allan lived there.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The carriage stopped in front of a large, gaudy-looking house, and Doctor Conway ran up the steps and rang the bell.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The door was opened by a pert-looking servant.
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes,” the servant said shortly, “she did.”
Chapter 29 of The breath of slander by Ida Reade Allen holds 183 sentences, grouped into 37 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 29 holds 183 sentences of The breath of slander, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 29 of The breath of slander by Ida Reade Allen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 183 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 29 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 breath of slander by Ida Reade Allen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4688 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #76289 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #76289, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 390 minutes of reading across 938 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The breath of slander section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of The breath of slander 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 breath of slander, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
