Chapter 2 of The Laughing Mill, and Other Stories is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Laughing Mill, and Other Stories is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
VI. Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair. He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation. At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off. "I want your sympathy," said he.
Chapter 2 of The Laughing Mill, and Other Stories is here in full — 413 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading “At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.”
the common people generally
From this reading “Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.”
a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
From this reading “He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.”
plural of “pace” — the rate of moving (especially walking or running)
From this reading “Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.”
causing physical or psychological pain
From this reading “He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.”
an idea that preoccupies the mind and holds the attention
From this reading “He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.”
become active
From this reading “He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.”
an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion
From this reading “"I want your sympathy," said he.”
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.
by a factor of three
In this reading “Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.”
in a lengthy or prolix manner
In this reading “At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.”
In this reading “Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.”
In this reading “Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.”
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 the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I want your sympathy," said he.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
the common people generally
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
plural of “pace” — the rate of moving (especially walking or running)
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
causing physical or psychological pain
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
an idea that preoccupies the mind and holds the attention
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
become active
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "I want your sympathy," said he.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion
From this reading "I want your sympathy," said he.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
the quality of a person's voice
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
hard to endure
From this reading He had the air of trying to rouse himself from a mood of painful preoccupation.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
(used of syllables) carrying no stress
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading VI.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading At length he spoke in a faint, unaccented tone, like a voice heard far off.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading "I want your sympathy," said he.
a Caucasian
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading Within about three paces of me he stopped, and passed his hand two or three times through the black and white masses of his hair.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "I want your sympathy," said he.
Chapter 2 of The Laughing Mill, and Other Stories by Julian Hawthorne holds 413 sentences, grouped into 83 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 413 sentences of The Laughing Mill, and Other Stories, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Laughing Mill, and Other Stories by Julian Hawthorne exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 413 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 Laughing Mill, and Other Stories by Julian Hawthorne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3718 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41592 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41592, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 309 minutes of reading across 744 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Laughing Mill, and Other Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Laughing Mill, 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 Laughing Mill, and Other Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
