Chapter 39 of The Keeper of the Door is here in full — 519 sentences across 104 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter 39 of The Keeper of the Door is here in full — 519 sentences across 104 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone. Olga had gone down again to the shore. She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said. He didn't mind? No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
Chapter 39 of The Keeper of the Door is here in full — 519 sentences across 104 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/103 · 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.
outer bark of the cork oak; used for stoppers for bottles etc.
From this reading “No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.”
a person who cares for persons or property
From this reading “No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.”
(used in combination) mentally oriented toward something specified
From this reading “No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.”
cut slightly, with a razor
From this reading “A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.”
make a promise or commitment
From this reading “No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.”
the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading “Olga had gone down again to the shore.”
an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading “A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.”
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading “She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said.”
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 A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
anew
From this reading Olga had gone down again to the shore.
(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 No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
Having no one else present.
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said.
outer bark of the cork oak; used for stoppers for bottles etc.
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He didn't mind?
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Olga had gone down again to the shore.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
a man of refinement
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Olga had gone down again to the shore.
a person who cares for persons or property
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Olga had gone down again to the shore.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
used when the woman or girl doing the action is also its object
From this reading She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said.
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 No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said.
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 No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
for more time
From this reading She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading He didn't mind?
(used in combination) mentally oriented toward something specified
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
cut slightly, with a razor
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
not any; not one
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Olga had gone down again to the shore.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
make a promise or commitment
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said.
the land along the edge of a body of water
From this reading Olga had gone down again to the shore.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Olga had gone down again to the shore.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading She wanted to be by herself a little longer, she said.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
at the time that
From this reading A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN When Nick returned to Redlands, he was alone.
in the company of; together with
From this reading No, Nick minded nothing, so long as all went well with her; and, on her promise that all should be well, he left her with Cork for guardian.
Chapter 39 of The Keeper of the Door by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell holds 519 sentences, grouped into 104 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 39 holds 519 sentences of The Keeper of the Door, unabridged, divided into 104 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 39 of The Keeper of the Door by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 519 sentences, grouped into 104 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 104 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 104 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 39 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 Keeper of the Door by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 15760 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15013 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15013, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 3152 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Keeper of the Door section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Keeper of the Door 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 Keeper of the Door, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
