Chapter 4 of The Clue is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Clue is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson. “Kitty French came to my door and called to me. Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.” “And then you went into the library?” “Yes; I had no idea Madeleine was dead.
Chapter 4 of The Clue is here in full — 417 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
past form of “assemble” — create by putting components or members together
From this reading “Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.””
on a floor below
From this reading “Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.””
savory dressings for salads; basically of two kinds: either the thin French or vinaigrette type or the creamy mayonnaise type
From this reading “Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.””
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading “Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.””
a social unit living together
From this reading “Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.””
an indirect suggestion
From this reading ““What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.”
the combined stakes of the betters
From this reading ““Kitty French came to my door and called to me.”
a room where books are kept
From this reading ““And then you went into the library?””
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 ““What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.”
In this reading “Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.””
In this reading ““And then you went into the library?””
In this reading “Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.””
to come or go into
In this reading ““And then you went into the 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.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “Kitty French came to my door and called to me.
any thing at all
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
past form of “assemble” — create by putting components or members together
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “Kitty French came to my door and called to me.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “Kitty French came to my door and called to me.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading “Yes; I had no idea Madeleine was dead.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading “Kitty French came to my door and called to me.
on a floor below
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
savory dressings for salads; basically of two kinds: either the thin French or vinaigrette type or the creamy mayonnaise type
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
(of persons) excessively affected by emotion
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading “Kitty French came to my door and called to me.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
a social unit living together
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “Yes; I had no idea Madeleine was dead.
an indirect suggestion
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading “And then you went into the library?”
the combined stakes of the betters
From this reading “Kitty French came to my door and called to me.
a room where books are kept
From this reading “And then you went into the library?”
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yes; I had no idea Madeleine was dead.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Kitty French came to my door and called to me.
a form of address for a man
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “Kitty French came to my door and called to me.
not any; not one
From this reading “Yes; I had no idea Madeleine was dead.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “And then you went into the library?”
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Kitty French came to my door and called to me.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “And then you went into the library?”
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth
From this reading Her excited voice made me think something was wrong, and, dressing hastily, I came downstairs, to find many of the household already assembled.”
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes; I had no idea Madeleine was dead.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “What was the first intimation you had that anything had happened?” asked Mr. Benson.
Chapter 4 of The Clue by Carolyn Wells holds 417 sentences, grouped into 84 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 4 holds 417 sentences of The Clue, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Clue by Carolyn Wells exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 417 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 Clue by Carolyn Wells on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4223 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54869 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54869, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 351 minutes of reading across 845 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Clue section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Clue 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 Clue, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
