Chapter 10 of The Last Ditch is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of The Last Ditch is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
She gave him the little cross. "Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready. Don’t mind me. I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you." "I was very quiet."
Chapter 10 of The Last Ditch is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading “"Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.”
travel across or pass over
From this reading “She gave him the little cross.”
put on clothes
From this reading “"Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.”
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading “"Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.”
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading “"I was very quiet."”
completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress
From this reading “"Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.”
cause to become awake or conscious
From this reading “I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."”
the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading “I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."”
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.
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading "Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.
travel across or pass over
From this reading She gave him the little cross.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Don’t mind me.
put on clothes
From this reading "Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.
start firing a weapon
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading She gave him the little cross.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She gave him the little cross.
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading "Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading She gave him the little cross.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Don’t mind me.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading Don’t mind me.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading "I was very quiet."
completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress
From this reading "Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She gave him the little cross.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She gave him the little cross.
precisely as stated
From this reading "I was very quiet."
cause to become awake or conscious
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "I was very quiet."
at the time that
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "Hurry now and dress, and breakfast will be ready.
the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I shall be at the fire—" "I wonder that I did not waken when you did—that I did not hear you."
Chapter 10 of The Last Ditch by Will Levington Comfort holds 405 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 10 holds 405 sentences of The Last Ditch, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of The Last Ditch by Will Levington Comfort exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 405 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 10 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 Last Ditch by Will Levington Comfort on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5223 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46152 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #46152, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 435 minutes of reading across 1045 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Last Ditch section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The Last Ditch 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 Last Ditch, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
