Chapter 16 of The Old Tobacco Shop is here in full — 346 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Old Tobacco Shop is here in full — 346 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers. They spread out behind him in a wide line. With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly. The party by the wall held their breath in terror. Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.
Chapter 16 of The Old Tobacco Shop is here in full — 346 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/69 · 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.
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading “CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.”
a group of followers or enthusiasts
From this reading “CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.”
a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)
From this reading “CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.”
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading “CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.”
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading “Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.”
marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed
From this reading “With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly.”
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading “The party by the wall held their breath in terror.”
a quiet or hushed tone of voice
From this reading “CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.”
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 “With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly.”
In this reading “Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.”
move outward
In this reading “They spread out behind him in a wide line.”
make oneself visible; take action
In this reading “With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly.”
In this reading “CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.”
In this reading “Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.”
In this reading “The party by the wall held their breath in terror.”
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 CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading They spread out behind him in a wide line.
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading The party by the wall held their breath in terror.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The party by the wall held their breath in terror.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
a group of followers or enthusiasts
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading The party by the wall held their breath in terror.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading They spread out behind him in a wide line.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading They spread out behind him in a wide line.
a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
the force of workers available
From this reading Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.
without a sound
From this reading With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading They spread out behind him in a wide line.
an organization to gain political power
From this reading The party by the wall held their breath in terror.
being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish
From this reading Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.
a separate part of a whole
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
From this reading Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
distribute or disperse widely
From this reading They spread out behind him in a wide line.
marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed
From this reading With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly.
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading With a stealthy step they came forward noiselessly.
not in physical motion
From this reading Nearer and nearer came the seven men, still in perfect silence.
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading The party by the wall held their breath in terror.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The party by the wall held their breath in terror.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They spread out behind him in a wide line.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
a quiet or hushed tone of voice
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
From this reading The party by the wall held their breath in terror.
having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
From this reading They spread out behind him in a wide line.
in the company of; together with
From this reading CAPTAIN LINGO AND A FINE PIECE OF HEAD-WORK The man with the ear-rings muttered something in a fierce undertone to his six followers.
Chapter 16 of The Old Tobacco Shop by William Bowen holds 346 sentences, grouped into 70 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 16 holds 346 sentences of The Old Tobacco Shop, unabridged, divided into 70 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Old Tobacco Shop by William Bowen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 346 sentences, grouped into 70 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 70 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 70 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 16 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 Tobacco Shop by William Bowen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4345 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26977 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26977, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 362 minutes of reading across 869 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Old Tobacco Shop section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Old Tobacco Shop 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 Tobacco Shop, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
