Chapter 26 of The Cost is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Cost is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Don't ask me. Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings. Don't keep me here. I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way. Got anything to suggest?"
Chapter 26 of The Cost is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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.
affected with madness or insanity
From this reading “I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.”
plural of “lake” — a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading “Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.”
plural of “offering” — something offered (as a proposal or bid)
From this reading “Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.”
-ing form of “rocket” — shoot up abruptly, like a rocket
From this reading “Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.”
marked by obliqueness or indirection in speech or conduct
From this reading “I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.”
the act of causing something to go (especially messages)
From this reading “I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.”
possessive form of “somebody” — a human being
From this reading “Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.”
make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading “Got anything to suggest?"”
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 I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
(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 Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
any thing at all
From this reading Got anything to suggest?"
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "Don't ask me.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
affected with madness or insanity
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Don't ask me.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Got anything to suggest?"
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading Don't keep me here.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Don't keep me here.
plural of “lake” — a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.
the world of commercial activity where goods and services are bought and sold
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Don't ask me.
plural of “offering” — something offered (as a proposal or bid)
From this reading Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.
plural of “order” — (often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
-ing form of “rocket” — shoot up abruptly, like a rocket
From this reading Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.
marked by obliqueness or indirection in speech or conduct
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
the act of causing something to go (especially messages)
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
possessive form of “somebody” — a human being
From this reading Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.
make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading Got anything to suggest?"
the act of someone who picks up or takes something
From this reading Somebody's rocketing Great Lakes--taking all offerings.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Got anything to suggest?"
the act of observing; taking a patient look
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading I'm having a hard enough time, watching this crazy market and sending our orders by the roundabout way.
Chapter 26 of The Cost by David Graham Phillips holds 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 26 holds 197 sentences of The Cost, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Cost by David Graham Phillips exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 197 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 26 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.
