Chapter 4 of The Circular Staircase is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Circular Staircase is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WHERE IS HALSEY? Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination. Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint. “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake. “What do you mean?”
Chapter 4 of The Circular Staircase is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
without seeing or looking
From this reading “Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.”
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading “Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.”
the state of being intensely interested (as by awe or terror)
From this reading “Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.”
past form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.”
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading ““He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.”
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading ““He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.”
an uneasy psychological state
From this reading ““He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.”
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading ““He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.”
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 Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
for the reason that
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
without seeing or looking
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “What do you mean?”
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
the state of being intensely interested (as by awe or terror)
From this reading Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
past form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
the act of departing
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WHERE IS HALSEY?
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading WHERE IS HALSEY?
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading “What do you mean?”
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
an uneasy psychological state
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Gertrude gazed at the face in a kind of fascination.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Then she put out her hands blindly, and I thought she was going to faint.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “He has killed him!” she muttered almost inarticulately; and at that, because my nerves were going, I gave her a good shake.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “What do you mean?”
in or at the place that
From this reading WHERE IS HALSEY?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “What do you mean?”
Chapter 4 of The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart holds 136 sentences, grouped into 28 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 4 holds 136 sentences of The Circular Staircase, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 4 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 Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4811 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #434 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #434, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 400 minutes of reading across 963 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Circular Staircase section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of The Circular Staircase 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 Circular Staircase, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
