Chapter 12 of The Captain's Toll-Gate is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Captain's Toll-Gate is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun. There, on the upper step." Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him. "Are you hurt?" she said. "Can you speak?"
Chapter 12 of The Captain's Toll-Gate is here in full — 414 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
well in the past; former
From this reading “The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.”
be the source of pain
From this reading “"Are you hurt?" she said.”
a person with African ancestry, "Negro" and "Negroid" are archaic and pejorative today
From this reading “The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.”
of a yellow-green color similar to that of an unripe olive
From this reading “The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.”
select carefully from a group
From this reading “The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.”
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading “There, on the upper step."”
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading “Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.”
the topmost one of two
From this reading “There, on the upper step."”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Are you hurt?" she said.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "Can you speak?"
well in the past; former
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
be the source of pain
From this reading "Are you hurt?" she said.
a particular point in time
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
a person with African ancestry, "Negro" and "Negroid" are archaic and pejorative today
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
of a yellow-green color similar to that of an unripe olive
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading There, on the upper step."
select carefully from a group
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
express in speech
From this reading "Can you speak?"
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading There, on the upper step."
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There, on the upper step."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
the brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The moment the negro had departed Olive said: "Pick up that air-gun.
the topmost one of two
From this reading There, on the upper step."
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Then she went to her uncle and sat down by him.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Are you hurt?" she said.
Chapter 12 of The Captain's Toll-Gate by Frank R. Stockton holds 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 414 sentences of The Captain's Toll-Gate, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Captain's Toll-Gate by Frank R. Stockton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 414 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Captain's Toll-Gate by Frank R. Stockton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5406 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #13356 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #13356, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 450 minutes of reading across 1082 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Captain's Toll-Gate section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The Captain's Toll-Gate 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 Captain's Toll-Gate, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
