Chapter 31 of The Cask is here in full — 360 sentences across 72 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of The Cask is here in full — 360 sentences across 72 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep. The atmosphere was sultry and tense. Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm. The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active. And then an idea suddenly occurred to him.
Chapter 31 of The Cask is here in full — 360 sentences across 72 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/72 · 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.
an event that involves rising to a higher point (as in altitude or temperature or intensity etc.)
From this reading “Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.”
state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options
From this reading “LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.”
with strained or eager attention
From this reading “The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.”
the common people generally
From this reading “Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.”
worried and uneasy
From this reading “The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.”
sexually exciting or gratifying
From this reading “The atmosphere was sultry and tense.”
a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
From this reading “The atmosphere was sultry and tense.”
past form of “toss” — throw or toss with a light motion
From this reading “The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.”
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 “Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.”
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 Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
tending to become more severe or wider in scope
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading And then an idea suddenly occurred to him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The atmosphere was sultry and tense.
a particular environment or surrounding influence
From this reading The atmosphere was sultry and tense.
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
of black tinged with blue
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being)
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
an event that involves rising to a higher point (as in altitude or temperature or intensity etc.)
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
plural of “cloud” — any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.
a police officer who investigates crimes
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options
From this reading LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading And then an idea suddenly occurred to him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading And then an idea suddenly occurred to him.
with strained or eager attention
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
a white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily; occurs in rare earth minerals and is usually classified as a rare earth
From this reading LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.
the common people generally
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.
inflected form of “occur” — come to pass
From this reading And then an idea suddenly occurred to him.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
make a promise or commitment
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
worried and uneasy
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading And then an idea suddenly occurred to him.
sexually exciting or gratifying
From this reading The atmosphere was sultry and tense.
a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
From this reading The atmosphere was sultry and tense.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The atmosphere was sultry and tense.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading And then an idea suddenly occurred to him.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Great masses of blue-black clouds climbing the south-western sky seemed to promise a storm.
past form of “toss” — throw or toss with a light motion
From this reading The detective tossed from side to side, his body restless, his mind intently awake and active.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading LA TOUCHE’S DILEMMA That night La Touche could not sleep.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The atmosphere was sultry and tense.
Chapter 31 of The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts holds 360 sentences, grouped into 72 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 31 holds 360 sentences of The Cask, unabridged, divided into 72 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 360 sentences, grouped into 72 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 72 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 72 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 31 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 Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7868 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59854 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59854, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1574 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Cask section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of The Cask 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 Cask, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
