Chapter 29 of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIX
Chapter 29 of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MR. CALTON'S CURIOSITY IS SATISFIED. There was not much sleep for Brian that night. He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed. He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
Chapter 29 of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is here in full — 135 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
eagerly desirous
From this reading “He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.”
a state in which you want to learn more about something
From this reading “CALTON'S CURIOSITY IS SATISFIED.”
move gently or carefully
From this reading “He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.”
greater in size or importance or degree
From this reading “He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.”
held or filled or in use
From this reading “He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.”
experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness
From this reading “He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.”
filled with satisfaction
From this reading “CALTON'S CURIOSITY IS SATISFIED.”
close enough to be walked to
From this reading “He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.”
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.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
eagerly desirous
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was not much sleep for Brian that night.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CALTON'S CURIOSITY IS SATISFIED.
a state in which you want to learn more about something
From this reading CALTON'S CURIOSITY IS SATISFIED.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
move gently or carefully
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading There was not much sleep for Brian that night.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
greater in size or importance or degree
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading CALTON'S CURIOSITY IS SATISFIED.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
a form of address for a man
From this reading MR.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading There was not much sleep for Brian that night.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading There was not much sleep for Brian that night.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading There was not much sleep for Brian that night.
held or filled or in use
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
filled with satisfaction
From this reading CALTON'S CURIOSITY IS SATISFIED.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading There was not much sleep for Brian that night.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading There was not much sleep for Brian that night.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was not much sleep for Brian that night.
plural of “thought” — the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
close enough to be walked to
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was not much sleep for Brian that night.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading He left Madge almost immediately, and went home, but he did not go to bed.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He felt too anxious and ill at ease to sleep, and passed the greater part of the night walking up and down his room, occupied with his own sad thoughts.
Chapter 29 of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume holds 135 sentences, grouped into 27 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 29 holds 135 sentences of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 29 of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 135 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 29 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 Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4582 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4223 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4223, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 381 minutes of reading across 917 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mystery of a Hansom Cab section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab 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 Mystery of a Hansom Cab, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
