Chapter 12 of The Mail Carrier is here in full — 224 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Mail Carrier is here in full — 224 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
GEORGE AT THE WHEEL. “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.” “O, no,” answered the young pilot. “I am going to stand my regular watch to-night. Mr. Black is at the wheel, I suppose?
Chapter 12 of The Mail Carrier is here in full — 224 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/44 · 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.
in the past
From this reading ““WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.””
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading ““WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.””
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading “GEORGE AT THE WHEEL.”
operate an airplane
From this reading ““O, no,” answered the young pilot.”
in accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle
From this reading ““I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.”
be standing; be upright
From this reading ““I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.”
look attentively
From this reading ““I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.”
change directions as if revolving on a pivot
From this reading “GEORGE AT THE WHEEL.”
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.
in the past
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading “I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading “O, no,” answered the young pilot.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading GEORGE AT THE WHEEL.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading Mr. Black is at the wheel, I suppose?
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading GEORGE AT THE WHEEL.
the act of departing
From this reading “I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Mr. Black is at the wheel, I suppose?
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 “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
a form of address for a man
From this reading Mr. Black is at the wheel, I suppose?
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
not any; not one
From this reading “O, no,” answered the young pilot.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading “O, no,” answered the young pilot.
operate an airplane
From this reading “O, no,” answered the young pilot.
in accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle
From this reading “I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.
be standing; be upright
From this reading “I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.
express a supposition
From this reading Mr. Black is at the wheel, I suppose?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading GEORGE AT THE WHEEL.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
look attentively
From this reading “I am going to stand my regular watch to-night.
change directions as if revolving on a pivot
From this reading GEORGE AT THE WHEEL.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “WHY, George,” exclaimed the new-comer, “I thought you had turned in long ago.”
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading “O, no,” answered the young pilot.
Chapter 12 of The Mail Carrier by Harry Castlemon holds 224 sentences, grouped into 45 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 12 holds 224 sentences of The Mail Carrier, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Mail Carrier by Harry Castlemon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 224 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 12 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 Mail Carrier by Harry Castlemon on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3509 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56408 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56408, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 292 minutes of reading across 702 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mail Carrier section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Mail Carrier 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 Mail Carrier, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
