Chapter 26 of The Cromptons is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Cromptons is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from? Somebody must have given very freely. I never gave a thing except money. Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold. They had a pile from the Crompton House.
Chapter 26 of The Cromptons is here in full — 210 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
surprising greatly
From this reading “THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?”
a variety of bridge in which tricks made in excess of the contract are scored toward game; now generally superseded by contract bridge
From this reading “THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?”
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading “Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.”
in a free manner
From this reading “Somebody must have given very freely.”
a collection of objects laid on top of each other
From this reading “They had a pile from the Crompton House.”
disposed of to a purchaser
From this reading “Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.”
a person, without saying who
From this reading “Somebody must have given very freely.”
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
From this reading “THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?”
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 never gave a thing except money.
(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 THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.
surprising greatly
From this reading THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
a variety of bridge in which tricks made in excess of the contract are scored toward game; now generally superseded by contract bridge
From this reading THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.
a hollow device made of metal that makes a ringing sound when struck
From this reading Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.
plural of “come” — the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
From this reading THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They had a pile from the Crompton House.
apart from; not including
From this reading I never gave a thing except money.
in a free manner
From this reading Somebody must have given very freely.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading I never gave a thing except money.
acknowledged as a supposition
From this reading Somebody must have given very freely.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading They had a pile from the Crompton House.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Somebody must have given very freely.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading They had a pile from the Crompton House.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I never gave a thing except money.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.
(often followed by “of”) a large number or amount or extent
From this reading Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading I never gave a thing except money.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading Somebody must have given very freely.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading I never gave a thing except money.
a collection of objects laid on top of each other
From this reading They had a pile from the Crompton House.
100 senti equal 1 kroon in Estonia
From this reading Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.
disposed of to a purchaser
From this reading Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.
a person, without saying who
From this reading Somebody must have given very freely.
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
From this reading THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
From this reading Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They had a pile from the Crompton House.
a special situation
From this reading I never gave a thing except money.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Bell sent a lot to be sure, and it's all sold.
precisely as stated
From this reading Somebody must have given very freely.
in or at the place that
From this reading THE AUCTION "Astonishing, isn't it, where all the stuff comes from?
Chapter 26 of The Cromptons by Mary Jane Holmes holds 210 sentences, grouped into 42 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 26 holds 210 sentences of The Cromptons, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Cromptons by Mary Jane Holmes exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 210 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 Cromptons by Mary Jane Holmes on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5027 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #16138 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #16138, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 418 minutes of reading across 1006 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Cromptons section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of The Cromptons 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 Cromptons, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
