Chapter 7 of The Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of The Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories is here in full — 403 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Come down off of that! Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped. “Come down, I say!” This the little boys were reluctant to do. They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
Chapter 7 of The Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories is here in full — 403 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.
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading “This the little boys were reluctant to do.”
terminate
From this reading “Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.”
to an extreme degree
From this reading “They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.”
past form of “gasp” — breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
From this reading “Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.”
a man of refinement
From this reading “They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.”
feeling or showing extreme anger
From this reading “They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.”
plural of “neck” — the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body
From this reading “Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.”
unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom
From this reading “This the little boys were reluctant to do.”
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 “This the little boys were reluctant to do.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading ““Come down off of that!”
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.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading This the little boys were reluctant to do.
terminate
From this reading Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “Come down off of that!
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading “Come down off of that!
to an extreme degree
From this reading They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
past form of “gasp” — breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
From this reading Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.
a man of refinement
From this reading They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Come down, I say!”
feeling or showing extreme anger
From this reading They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
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 They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading This the little boys were reluctant to do.
plural of “neck” — the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body
From this reading Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “Come down off of that!
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading “Come down off of that!
unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom
From this reading This the little boys were reluctant to do.
express in words
From this reading “Come down, I say!”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Come down off of that!
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading This the little boys were reluctant to do.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They knew their father as an exceedingly irate gentleman.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This the little boys were reluctant to do.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading This the little boys were reluctant to do.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Do you want to break your necks?” he gasped.
Chapter 7 of The Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories by Vaughan Kester holds 403 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 7 holds 403 sentences of The Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of The Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories by Vaughan Kester exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 403 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 7 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 Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories by Vaughan Kester on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6531 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52563 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52563, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 544 minutes of reading across 1307 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of The Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories 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 Hand of the Mighty, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
