Chapter 10 of The Drummer Boy is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of The Drummer Boy is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"O George! how could you?" Frank began, with anguish in his voice. But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother. "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur. He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
Chapter 10 of The Drummer Boy is here in full — 401 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
extreme mental distress
From this reading “Frank began, with anguish in his voice.”
patterned with alternating squares of color
From this reading “But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.”
lacking in light; not bright or harsh
From this reading “He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.”
in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
From this reading “But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.”
comparative of “faint” — deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading “He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.”
a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
From this reading “"My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.”
a mild rebuke or criticism
From this reading “But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.”
experiencing or marked by or causing sadness or sorrow or discontent
From this reading “"My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.”
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 He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
(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 "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
extreme mental distress
From this reading Frank began, with anguish in his voice.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Frank began, with anguish in his voice.
a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.
patterned with alternating squares of color
From this reading But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading "O George! how could you?"
lacking in light; not bright or harsh
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
From this reading But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.
at any time
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
opinion or judgment
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
comparative of “faint” — deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
From this reading Frank began, with anguish in his voice.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading "O George! how could you?"
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Frank began, with anguish in his voice.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "O George! how could you?"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Frank began, with anguish in his voice.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
From this reading "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading "O George! how could you?"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
a mild rebuke or criticism
From this reading But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
up to a particular time
From this reading He looked at Frank with a faint and ever fainter smile of love, till his eyes grew dim.
experiencing or marked by or causing sadness or sorrow or discontent
From this reading "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Frank began, with anguish in his voice.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Frank began, with anguish in his voice.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading But he checked himself; he would not reproach his dying brother.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "O George! how could you?"
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading "My wife, you know!" was all the unhappy young man could murmur.
Chapter 10 of The Drummer Boy by J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge holds 401 sentences, grouped into 81 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 10 holds 401 sentences of The Drummer Boy, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of The Drummer Boy by J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 401 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 10 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 Drummer Boy by J. T. (John Townsend) Trowbridge on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4288 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #19999 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #19999, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 357 minutes of reading across 858 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Drummer Boy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of The Drummer Boy 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 Drummer Boy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
