Chapter 12 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story is here in full — 228 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story is here in full — 228 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long. He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him. Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment. "Poor charlatan!" he thought. "She is herself a 'good sort.'
Chapter 12 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story is here in full — 228 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/45 · 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.
a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house
From this reading “Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment.”
goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment
From this reading “He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.”
a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes
From this reading “"Poor charlatan!" he thought.”
perceiving things beyond the natural range of the senses
From this reading “He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.”
a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space
From this reading “He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.”
a half of an hour
From this reading “POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.”
sporadically and infrequently
From this reading “Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment.”
two (or more) slices of bread with a filling between them
From this reading “He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.”
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 "She is herself a 'good sort.'
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house
From this reading Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment.
goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes
From this reading "Poor charlatan!" he thought.
perceiving things beyond the natural range of the senses
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading "She is herself a 'good sort.'
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
a half of an hour
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading "She is herself a 'good sort.'
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "She is herself a 'good sort.'
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
in motion
From this reading Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
sporadically and infrequently
From this reading Occasionally he could hear her moving about the apartment.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading "Poor charlatan!" he thought.
possession of controlling influence
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
two (or more) slices of bread with a filling between them
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
(of persons) having the torso erect and legs bent with the body supported on the buttocks
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "She is herself a 'good sort.'
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading "She is herself a 'good sort.'
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading "Poor charlatan!" he thought.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
precisely as stated
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading POWER OF DARKNESS To Orme the next half-hour was very long.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading He seated himself upon the floor of the closet and ate the sandwich which the clairvoyant had brought him.
Chapter 12 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story by Bannister Merwin holds 228 sentences, grouped into 46 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 12 holds 228 sentences of The Girl and the Bill An American Story, unabridged, divided into 46 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Girl and the Bill An American Story by Bannister Merwin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 228 sentences, grouped into 46 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 46 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 46 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 12 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 Girl and the Bill An American Story by Bannister Merwin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5707 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #25799 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #25799, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 475 minutes of reading across 1142 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Girl and the Bill An American Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Girl and the Bill An American Story 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 Girl and the Bill An American Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
