Chapter 23 of The Fire Trumpet is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Fire Trumpet is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Who's that? Ethel?" asked Hicks, returning. He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside. "Oh, yes. She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
Chapter 23 of The Fire Trumpet is here in full — 408 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
stopped up; clogged up
From this reading “She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.”
plural of “direction” — a line leading to a place or point
From this reading “He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.”
having ones attention or mind or energy engaged
From this reading “She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.”
a boy or man
From this reading “She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.”
plural of “hick” — a person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture
From this reading “Ethel?" asked Hicks, returning.”
plural of “native” — an indigenous person who was born in a particular place
From this reading “He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.”
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading “He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.”
tending to return to an earlier state
From this reading “Ethel?" asked Hicks, returning.”
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.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
In this reading “She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.”
temporarily
In this reading “He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.”
In this reading “She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.”
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 had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
(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 She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Ethel?" asked Hicks, returning.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
stopped up; clogged up
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
plural of “direction” — a line leading to a place or point
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
having ones attention or mind or energy engaged
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ethel?" asked Hicks, returning.
a boy or man
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
plural of “hick” — a person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture
From this reading Ethel?" asked Hicks, returning.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
a particular point in time
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
plural of “native” — an indigenous person who was born in a particular place
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
not any; not one
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh, yes.
on one occasion
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
tending to return to an earlier state
From this reading Ethel?" asked Hicks, returning.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Who's that?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
in or at that place or location
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He had left the room for a moment to give some directions to one of his natives outside.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Who's that?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading She was engaged to some fellow down there and then choked him off all at once, no one quite knew why.
an affirmative
From this reading "Oh, yes.
Chapter 23 of The Fire Trumpet by Bertram Mitford holds 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 23 holds 408 sentences of The Fire Trumpet, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Fire Trumpet by Bertram Mitford exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 408 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 23 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 Fire Trumpet by Bertram Mitford on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 13630 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36592 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36592, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2726 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Fire Trumpet section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of The Fire Trumpet 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 Fire Trumpet, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
