Chapter 24 of The Highflyers is here in full — 370 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIV
Chapter 24 of The Highflyers is here in full — 370 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Potter went home, but not to bed. He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor. Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse. Now he dusted them off and placed them on the counter. He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
Chapter 24 of The Highflyers is here in full — 370 sentences across 74 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/74 · 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.
commanding attention
From this reading “He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.”
the musical director of a choir
From this reading “He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.”
the state of something that has been unused and neglected
From this reading “Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.”
past form of “dust” — remove the dust from
From this reading “Now he dusted them off and placed them on the counter.”
being in focus or brought into focus
From this reading “He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.”
do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly
From this reading “Potter went home, but not to bed.”
a depository for goods
From this reading “Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.”
past form of “stray” — move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
From this reading “Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.”
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.
reach a destination, either real or abstract
In this reading “He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.”
In this reading “Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.”
extend or stretch out to a greater or the full length
In this reading “He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.”
return home
In this reading “Potter went home, but not to bed.”
In this reading “Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.”
In this reading “Now he dusted them off and placed them on the counter.”
put clothing on one's body
In this reading “Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.”
In this reading “He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.”
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 arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
later than; following
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
past form of “allow” — make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
an orderly arrangement
From this reading He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
commanding attention
From this reading He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
past form of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading Potter went home, but not to bed.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Potter went home, but not to bed.
the musical director of a choir
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
get or gather together
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
table consisting of a horizontal surface over which business is transacted
From this reading Now he dusted them off and placed them on the counter.
the state of something that has been unused and neglected
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
remove the dust from
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
past form of “dust” — remove the dust from
From this reading Now he dusted them off and placed them on the counter.
a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
formed or conceived by the imagination
From this reading He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
being in focus or brought into focus
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading Potter went home, but not to bed.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
a particular point in time
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Potter went home, but not to bed.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now he dusted them off and placed them on the counter.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Now he dusted them off and placed them on the counter.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
situated in a particular spot or position
From this reading Now he dusted them off and placed them on the counter.
do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly
From this reading Potter went home, but not to bed.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
A flat horizontal plane used to hold books or scrolls in a library.
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
a depository for goods
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
past form of “stray” — move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
occupy a large, elongated area
From this reading He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Fact after fact had strayed into his storehouse, to be put on a shelf and to be allowed to collect the dust of disuse.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Now he dusted them off and placed them on the counter.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Potter went home, but not to bed.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Potter went home, but not to bed.
in or at the place that
From this reading He had arrived at a moment where attention must be focused upon Cantor.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He had not fancied they would stretch out into such an arresting array.
Chapter 24 of The Highflyers by Clarence Budington Kelland holds 370 sentences, grouped into 74 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 24 holds 370 sentences of The Highflyers, unabridged, divided into 74 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 24 of The Highflyers by Clarence Budington Kelland exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 370 sentences, grouped into 74 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 74 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 74 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 24 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 Highflyers by Clarence Budington Kelland on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7525 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46252 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #46252, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1505 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Highflyers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Highflyers 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 Highflyers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
