Chapter 21 of The Family on Wheels is here in full — 101 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Family on Wheels is here in full — 101 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE RETURN TO MORAINVILLE. As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered: "Now I know the secret. Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly." Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.
Chapter 21 of The Family on Wheels is here in full — 101 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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.
(baseball) playing the position of catcher on a baseball team
From this reading “As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:”
a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church
From this reading “As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:”
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading “As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:”
plural of “note” — a brief written record
From this reading “As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:”
an extended fictional work in prose; usually in the form of a story
From this reading “As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:”
established or decided beyond dispute or doubt
From this reading “Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.”
deliver by singing
From this reading “Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."”
plural of “worshiper” — someone who admires too much to recognize faults
From this reading “Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.”
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 “As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:”
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 Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
(baseball) playing the position of catcher on a baseball team
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
plural of “finger” — any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb)
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
the act of departing
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Now I know the secret.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "Now I know the secret.
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
Dutch colonist who bought Manhattan from the Native Americans for the equivalent of $24 (1580-1638)
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE RETURN TO MORAINVILLE.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
plural of “note” — a brief written record
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
an extended fictional work in prose; usually in the form of a story
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "Now I know the secret.
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading THE RETURN TO MORAINVILLE.
Something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
From this reading "Now I know the secret.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
established or decided beyond dispute or doubt
From this reading Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.
deliver by singing
From this reading Cæsar is going to sing '_Minuit Chrétien_,' he knows it perfectly."
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE RETURN TO MORAINVILLE.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading THE RETURN TO MORAINVILLE.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading As the first sweet notes fell from Cæsar's fingers, the congregation turned their heads to see what this novel music meant, and Nadine, catching Abel's arm, whispered:
plural of “worshiper” — someone who admires too much to recognize faults
From this reading Then a great silence settled upon the worshipers.
Chapter 21 of The Family on Wheels by J. Macdonald (James Macdonald) Oxley holds 101 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 holds 101 sentences of The Family on Wheels, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Family on Wheels by J. Macdonald (James Macdonald) Oxley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 101 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 21 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 Family on Wheels by J. Macdonald (James Macdonald) Oxley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2277 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #55891 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #55891, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 189 minutes of reading across 456 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Family on Wheels section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of The Family on Wheels 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 Family on Wheels, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
