Chapter 25 of The Law-Breakers is here in full — 154 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXV
Chapter 25 of The Law-Breakers is here in full — 154 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night. Service was long since over in the old Meeting House. The traveling parson had come and gone. He had done his duty. He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
Chapter 25 of The Law-Breakers is here in full — 154 sentences across 31 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/30 · 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 group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church
From this reading “He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.”
-ing form of “lounge” — sit or recline comfortably
From this reading “He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.”
formed or united into a whole
From this reading “THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.”
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading “The traveling parson had come and gone.”
past form of “pray” — address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading “He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.”
past form of “preach” — deliver a sermon
From this reading “He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.”
the act of going from one place to another
From this reading “The traveling parson had come and gone.”
not neatly combed
From this reading “He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.”
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 The traveling parson had come and gone.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
make calm or still
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
a series of things depending on each other as if linked together
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The traveling parson had come and gone.
a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church
From this reading He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
having finished or arrived at completion
From this reading He had done his duty.
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading He had done his duty.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
destroyed or killed
From this reading The traveling parson had come and gone.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The traveling parson had come and gone.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had done his duty.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He had done his duty.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Service was long since over in the old Meeting House.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Service was long since over in the old Meeting House.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
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 Service was long since over in the old Meeting House.
-ing form of “lounge” — sit or recline comfortably
From this reading He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
a formally arranged gathering
From this reading Service was long since over in the old Meeting House.
formed or united into a whole
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Service was long since over in the old Meeting House.
above and across; more than
From this reading Service was long since over in the old Meeting House.
a person authorized to conduct religious worship
From this reading The traveling parson had come and gone.
the state prevailing during the absence of war
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
past form of “pray” — address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
past form of “preach” — deliver a sermon
From this reading He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
work done by one person or group that benefits another
From this reading Service was long since over in the old Meeting House.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading Service was long since over in the old Meeting House.
first day of the week; observed as a day of rest and worship by most Christians
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BROKEN CHAIN The peace of Sunday evening merged into the calm of night.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
the act of going from one place to another
From this reading The traveling parson had come and gone.
not neatly combed
From this reading He had read the service to the lounging, unkempt congregation, he had prayed over them, he had preached at them.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Service was long since over in the old Meeting House.
Chapter 25 of The Law-Breakers by Ridgwell Cullum holds 154 sentences, grouped into 31 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 25 holds 154 sentences of The Law-Breakers, unabridged, divided into 31 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 25 of The Law-Breakers by Ridgwell Cullum exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 154 sentences, grouped into 31 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 31 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 31 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 25 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 Law-Breakers by Ridgwell Cullum on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10144 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #29958 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #29958, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2029 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Law-Breakers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Law-Breakers 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 Law-Breakers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
