Chapter 5 of The Deaves Affair is here in full — 295 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of The Deaves Affair is here in full — 295 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan. The second man favoured him with a sly wink. "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth. "They're layin' for you." This meant nothing to Evan.
Chapter 5 of The Deaves Affair is here in full — 295 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/59 · 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.
king of Wessex; defeated the Vikings and encouraged writing in English (849-899)
From this reading “THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.”
a solid food prepared from the pressed curd of milk
From this reading “"Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.”
a restaurant where food is cooked on a grill
From this reading “THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.”
tell false information to for fun
From this reading “"Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.”
(astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided
From this reading “THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.”
imposing in size or bulk or solidity
From this reading “THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.”
marked by skill in deception
From this reading “The second man favoured him with a sly wink.”
signal by winking
From this reading “The second man favoured him with a sly wink.”
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 “THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.”
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 The second man favoured him with a sly wink.
declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
king of Wessex; defeated the Vikings and encouraged writing in English (849-899)
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
a solid food prepared from the pressed curd of milk
From this reading "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
a place off to the side of an area
From this reading "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
a social unit living together
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The second man favoured him with a sly wink.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "They're layin' for you."
a restaurant where food is cooked on a grill
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The second man favoured him with a sly wink.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
tell false information to for fun
From this reading "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "They're layin' for you."
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The second man favoured him with a sly wink.
(astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
imposing in size or bulk or solidity
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading This meant nothing to Evan.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
the opening through which food is taken in and vocalizations emerge
From this reading "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
past form of “murmur” — speak softly or indistinctly
From this reading "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading This meant nothing to Evan.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "Cheese it, kid," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading The second man favoured him with a sly wink.
marked by skill in deception
From this reading The second man favoured him with a sly wink.
an alloy of iron with small amounts of carbon; widely used in construction; mechanical properties can be varied over a wide range
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "They're layin' for you."
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This meant nothing to Evan.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
which person or people
From this reading THE HAPPY LITTLE FAMILY At the Deaves mansion next morning it was Alfred who opened the massive steel grill to admit Evan.
signal by winking
From this reading The second man favoured him with a sly wink.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The second man favoured him with a sly wink.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "They're layin' for you."
Chapter 5 of The Deaves Affair by Hulbert Footner holds 295 sentences, grouped into 59 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 5 holds 295 sentences of The Deaves Affair, unabridged, divided into 59 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of The Deaves Affair by Hulbert Footner exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 295 sentences, grouped into 59 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 59 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 59 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 5 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 Deaves Affair by Hulbert Footner on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7031 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31361 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31361, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 585 minutes of reading across 1407 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Deaves Affair section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Deaves Affair 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 Deaves Affair, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
