Chapter 2 of The High Hander is here in full — 432 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The High Hander is here in full — 432 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored. He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone. Persia lead Tesno into the parlor. She was taller than he had expected. She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
Chapter 2 of The High Hander is here in full — 432 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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 beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans
From this reading “He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.”
(usually plural) everything that is included in a collection and that is held or included in something
From this reading “Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.”
disregarded
From this reading “Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.”
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading “He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.”
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading “Persia lead Tesno into the parlor.”
an empire in southern Asia created by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC and destroyed by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC
From this reading “Persia lead Tesno into the parlor.”
a guided missile fired from land or shipboard against an airborne target
From this reading “Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.”
comparative of “tall” — great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading “She was taller than he had expected.”
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 “She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.”
In this reading “Persia lead Tesno into the parlor.”
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 wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
Having no one else present.
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
(usually plural) everything that is included in a collection and that is held or included in something
From this reading Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
put on clothes
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
considered likely or probable to happen or arrive
From this reading She was taller than he had expected.
(of materials or goods) brought to the desired final state
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
disregarded
From this reading Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Persia lead Tesno into the parlor.
take somebody somewhere
From this reading Persia lead Tesno into the parlor.
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 finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.
plural of “month” — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading Persia lead Tesno into the parlor.
an empire in southern Asia created by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC and destroyed by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC
From this reading Persia lead Tesno into the parlor.
with speed
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
past form of “remember” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
a guided missile fired from land or shipboard against an airborne target
From this reading Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was taller than he had expected.
having few parts; not complex or complicated or involved
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
comparative of “tall” — great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading She was taller than he had expected.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Persia lead Tesno into the parlor.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading She was taller than he had expected.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Persia lead Tesno into the parlor.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Sam Lester seemed content to be ignored.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading She was taller than he had expected.
inflected form of “wear” — be dressed in
From this reading She wore a simple, black, ankle-length dress, and he remembered that her husband had been dead less than three months.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading He finished his coffee quickly, muttered that he had paper work to do, and left them alone.
Chapter 2 of The High Hander by William Oliver Turner holds 432 sentences, grouped into 87 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 2 holds 432 sentences of The High Hander, unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The High Hander by William Oliver Turner exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 432 sentences, grouped into 87 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 87 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 87 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 2 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 High Hander by William Oliver Turner on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3857 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50939 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50939, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 321 minutes of reading across 772 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The High Hander section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The High Hander 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 High Hander, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
