Chapter 13 of The crooked cross is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of The crooked cross is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment. Perhaps we were all too surprised to say anything. The calmest one of all was the oriental. His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive. Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
Chapter 13 of The crooked cross is here in full — 214 sentences across 43 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.
superlative of “calm” — not agitated; without losing self-possession
From this reading “The calmest one of all was the oriental.”
the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock
From this reading “His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.”
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading “We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.”
a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted
From this reading “Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.”
an indirect suggestion
From this reading “Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.”
having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily aroused or excited
From this reading “His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.”
denoting or characteristic of countries of the Far East
From this reading “The calmest one of all was the oriental.”
in disarray; extremely disorderly
From this reading “His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.”
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.
temporarily
In this reading “We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.”
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 We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
(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 Perhaps we were all too surprised to say anything.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
any thing at all
From this reading Perhaps we were all too surprised to say anything.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
make calm or still
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
superlative of “calm” — not agitated; without losing self-possession
From this reading The calmest one of all was the oriental.
overlaid or spread or topped with or enclosed within something; sometimes used as a combining form
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
an indirect suggestion
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily aroused or excited
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
a particular point in time
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
make or become more narrow or restricted
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
not any; not one
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The calmest one of all was the oriental.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
and nothing more
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
denoting or characteristic of countries of the Far East
From this reading The calmest one of all was the oriental.
a course of conduct
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
by chance
From this reading Perhaps we were all too surprised to say anything.
affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
in disarray; extremely disorderly
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
express in words
From this reading Perhaps we were all too surprised to say anything.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
be agreeable or acceptable to
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment
From this reading Perhaps we were all too surprised to say anything.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The calmest one of all was the oriental.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Only the narrow eyes gave any hint of feeling, and the glare in them was not a pleasant one.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Perhaps we were all too surprised to say anything.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading Perhaps we were all too surprised to say anything.
consistent with fact or reality; not false
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The calmest one of all was the oriental.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We Hear a Story—and—Discover It Is True No one spoke for a moment.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Perhaps we were all too surprised to say anything.
in the company of; together with
From this reading His black suit was rumpled and covered with dirt from the path, but his face was calm and impassive.
Chapter 13 of The crooked cross by Charles J. (Charles Judson) Dutton holds 214 sentences, grouped into 43 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 13 holds 214 sentences of The crooked cross, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of The crooked cross by Charles J. (Charles Judson) Dutton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 214 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 13 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 crooked cross by Charles J. (Charles Judson) Dutton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4312 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #73254 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #73254, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 359 minutes of reading across 863 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The crooked cross section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The crooked cross 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 crooked cross, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
