Chapter 20 of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story is here in full — 287 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story is here in full — 287 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE NEXT MOVE. "Well, and what is it now?" Ravenspur asked. "You look as if you had seen a ghost. Is there anything new in this ghastly business?
Chapter 20 of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story is here in full — 287 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/57 · 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.
any thing at all
From this reading “Is there anything new in this ghastly business?”
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading “Is there anything new in this ghastly business?”
shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
From this reading “Is there anything new in this ghastly business?”
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading “"You look as if you had seen a ghost.”
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading “THE NEXT MOVE.”
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading “Is there anything new in this ghastly business?”
immediately following in time or order
From this reading “THE NEXT MOVE.”
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading “"You look as if you had seen a ghost.”
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 before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading "You look as if you had seen a ghost.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Well, and what is it now?"
any thing at all
From this reading Is there anything new in this ghastly business?
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "You look as if you had seen a ghost.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Ravenspur asked.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading Is there anything new in this ghastly business?
shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
From this reading Is there anything new in this ghastly business?
a mental representation of some haunting experience
From this reading "You look as if you had seen a ghost.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "You look as if you had seen a ghost.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "You look as if you had seen a ghost.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Is there anything new in this ghastly business?
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Well, and what is it now?"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Well, and what is it now?"
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading "You look as if you had seen a ghost.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading THE NEXT MOVE.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading Is there anything new in this ghastly business?
immediately following in time or order
From this reading THE NEXT MOVE.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "Well, and what is it now?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Ravenspur asked.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading "You look as if you had seen a ghost.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE NEXT MOVE.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Is there anything new in this ghastly business?
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Is there anything new in this ghastly business?
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading "Well, and what is it now?"
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "Well, and what is it now?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "You look as if you had seen a ghost.
Chapter 20 of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White holds 287 sentences, grouped into 58 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 20 holds 287 sentences of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story, unabridged, divided into 58 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 287 sentences, grouped into 58 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 58 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 58 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 20 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 Midnight Guest: A Detective Story by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6016 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56960 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56960, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 501 minutes of reading across 1204 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story 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 Midnight Guest: A Detective Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
