Chapter 17 of The Cost is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Cost is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it. "She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent. "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back. And I'll not open this subject with Dumont. Maybe he'll never speak of it to me."
Chapter 17 of The Cost is here in full — 190 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
only a very short time before
From this reading “Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.”
on the far side of; further than
From this reading “Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.”
without or almost without hope
From this reading “"She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent.”
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading “Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.”
by chance
From this reading “Maybe he'll never speak of it to me."”
a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation
From this reading “Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.”
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.”
the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
From this reading “And I'll not open this subject with Dumont.”
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 Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
later than; following
From this reading "She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading "She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
only a very short time before
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
on the far side of; further than
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
without or almost without hope
From this reading "She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading And I'll not open this subject with Dumont.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Maybe he'll never speak of it to me."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
and nothing more
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
go away from a place
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading "She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
by chance
From this reading Maybe he'll never speak of it to me."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Maybe he'll never speak of it to me."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Maybe he'll never speak of it to me."
not any; not one
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading And I'll not open this subject with Dumont.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Maybe he'll never speak of it to me."
To move from a closed position.
From this reading And I'll not open this subject with Dumont.
a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
precisely, exactly
From this reading "She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent.
cut with a saw
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
express in speech
From this reading Maybe he'll never speak of it to me."
the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
From this reading And I'll not open this subject with Dumont.
carry out
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Merriweather made no reply beyond a smile so faint that Culver barely saw it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "I'll get the money just before I leave and take it back.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading And I'll not open this subject with Dumont.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading "She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Maybe he'll never speak of it to me."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "She was right, after all," thought Culver, less despondent.
in the company of; together with
From this reading And I'll not open this subject with Dumont.
Chapter 17 of The Cost by David Graham Phillips holds 190 sentences, grouped into 38 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 17 holds 190 sentences of The Cost, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Cost by David Graham Phillips exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 190 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 17 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 Cost by David Graham Phillips on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5059 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #478 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #478, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 421 minutes of reading across 1012 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Cost section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Cost 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 Cost, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
