Chapter 21 of The Mercenary is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Mercenary is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE DRAGON'S GORGE. Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night. Night and the forest could save him and his handful. Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way. Nigel prayed, but with him to pray was to labour.
Chapter 21 of The Mercenary is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 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.
possessive form of “dragon” — a creature of Teutonic mythology; usually represented as breathing fire and having a reptilian body and sometimes wings
From this reading “THE DRAGON'S GORGE.”
render capable or able for some task
From this reading “Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.”
overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself
From this reading “THE DRAGON'S GORGE.”
a small number or amount
From this reading “Night and the forest could save him and his handful.”
plural of “horseman” — a man skilled in equitation
From this reading “Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.”
a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
From this reading “Nigel prayed, but with him to pray was to labour.”
past form of “pray” — address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading “Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night.”
in a swift manner
From this reading “Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.”
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.
In this reading “Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night.”
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 Night and the forest could save him and his handful.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Nigel prayed, but with him to pray was to labour.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Night and the forest could save him and his handful.
possessive form of “dragon” — a creature of Teutonic mythology; usually represented as breathing fire and having a reptilian body and sometimes wings
From this reading THE DRAGON'S GORGE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
render capable or able for some task
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading Night and the forest could save him and his handful.
overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself
From this reading THE DRAGON'S GORGE.
a small number or amount
From this reading Night and the forest could save him and his handful.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Night and the forest could save him and his handful.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Night and the forest could save him and his handful.
plural of “horseman” — a man skilled in equitation
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
From this reading Nigel prayed, but with him to pray was to labour.
take somebody somewhere
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
engage in
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night.
address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading Nigel prayed, but with him to pray was to labour.
past form of “pray” — address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading Nigel Charteris prayed for the fall of night.
except for; apart from
From this reading Night and the forest could save him and his handful.
in a swift manner
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE DRAGON'S GORGE.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Nigel prayed, but with him to pray was to labour.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Nigel prayed, but with him to pray was to labour.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading Night and the forest would enable Elspeth to lead them to the Wartburg more swiftly than any horsemen could make their way.
Chapter 21 of The Mercenary by W. J. Eccott holds 105 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 holds 105 sentences of The Mercenary, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Mercenary by W. J. Eccott exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 105 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 21 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 Mercenary by W. J. Eccott on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5752 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40567 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40567, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 479 minutes of reading across 1151 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mercenary section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Mercenary 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 Mercenary, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
