Chapter 12 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 257 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 257 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious. A fine rain had fallen. The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears. No danger threatened. No one would have thought we were at war.
Chapter 12 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 257 sentences across 52 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/51 · 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.
plural of “billet” — a short personal letter
From this reading “IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.”
plural of “cap” — a tight-fitting headdress
From this reading “The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.”
free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits
From this reading “The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.”
past form of “cock” — tilt or slant to one side
From this reading “The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.”
having or deserving or conferring glory
From this reading “IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.”
light soft moderately strong wood of spruce trees; used especially for timbers and millwork
From this reading “The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.”
(of flora or fauna) likely in the near future to become endangered
From this reading “No danger threatened.”
past form of “wander” — move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
From this reading “The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.”
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 “IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.”
In this reading “The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.”
In this reading “A fine rain had fallen.”
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 A fine rain had fallen.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading No one would have thought we were at war.
plural of “billet” — a short personal letter
From this reading IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.
plural of “cap” — a tight-fitting headdress
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
past form of “cock” — tilt or slant to one side
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury
From this reading No danger threatened.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.
plural of “ear” — the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading A fine rain had fallen.
being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
From this reading A fine rain had fallen.
having or deserving or conferring glory
From this reading IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading A fine rain had fallen.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading No one would have thought we were at war.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.
the force of workers available
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.
not any; not one
From this reading No danger threatened.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading No one would have thought we were at war.
above and across; more than
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading A fine rain had fallen.
light soft moderately strong wood of spruce trees; used especially for timbers and millwork
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading No one would have thought we were at war.
(of flora or fauna) likely in the near future to become endangered
From this reading No danger threatened.
precisely as stated
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
past form of “wander” — move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
From this reading No one would have thought we were at war.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading No one would have thought we were at war.
the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation
From this reading IN BILLETS The weather next day was glorious.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading No one would have thought we were at war.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The men now very clean and spruce, wandered about the village, with their caps cocked over their ears.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading No one would have thought we were at war.
Chapter 12 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger holds 257 sentences, grouped into 52 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 257 sentences of The Ordeal by Fire, unabridged, divided into 52 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 257 sentences, grouped into 52 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 52 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 52 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 Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 11806 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60166 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60166, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2362 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Ordeal by Fire section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of The Ordeal by Fire 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 Ordeal by Fire, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
