Chapter 12 of The Old Blood is here in full — 221 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 Old Blood is here in full — 221 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE GUNS SPEAK Was the war making her mad? Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house. She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood! She had accepted an offer of marriage in Henriette's name! How was she to explain?
Chapter 12 of The Old Blood is here in full — 221 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.
generally approved or compelling recognition
From this reading “She had accepted an offer of marriage in Henriette's name!”
the act of overcoming or outdoing
From this reading “Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.”
continually recurring to the mind
From this reading “Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.”
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading “Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.”
showing your contempt by derision
From this reading “She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!”
a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
From this reading “She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!”
resist doing something
From this reading “Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.”
the act of doing or performing again
From this reading “Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.”
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 “She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!”
In this reading “She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!”
In this reading “Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.”
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 Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
generally approved or compelling recognition
From this reading She had accepted an offer of marriage in Henriette's name!
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading She had accepted an offer of marriage in Henriette's name!
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
the act of overcoming or outdoing
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
plural of “ear” — the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
make plain and comprehensible
From this reading How was she to explain?
plural of “gun” — a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading THE GUNS SPEAK Was the war making her mad?
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
continually recurring to the mind
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She had accepted an offer of marriage in Henriette's name!
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading THE GUNS SPEAK Was the war making her mad?
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How was she to explain?
moving rapidly or performed quickly or in great haste
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
used when the thing doing the action is also its object
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
roused to anger
From this reading THE GUNS SPEAK Was the war making her mad?
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
the act that results in something coming to be
From this reading THE GUNS SPEAK Was the war making her mad?
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)
From this reading She had accepted an offer of marriage in Henriette's name!
showing your contempt by derision
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
used to form the superlative
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading She had accepted an offer of marriage in Henriette's name!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
make available or accessible, provide or furnish
From this reading She had accepted an offer of marriage in Henriette's name!
(of games) engaged in
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
resist doing something
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
the act of doing or performing again
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
From this reading She had played a lie; she had made a mockery of a man in his most serious mood!
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
express in speech
From this reading THE GUNS SPEAK Was the war making her mad?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE GUNS SPEAK Was the war making her mad?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading How was she to explain?
in the direction of
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading THE GUNS SPEAK Was the war making her mad?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE GUNS SPEAK Was the war making her mad?
an affirmative
From this reading Her "Yes!" was repeating itself in Helen's ears in a haunting, beating refrain as she hurried toward the house.
Chapter 12 of The Old Blood by Frederick Palmer holds 221 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 221 sentences of The Old Blood, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Old Blood by Frederick Palmer exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 221 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 Old Blood by Frederick Palmer on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5341 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36329 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36329, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 445 minutes of reading across 1069 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Old Blood section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of The Old Blood 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 Old Blood, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
