Chapter 21 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 364 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter 21 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 364 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day. The captain and the subaltern had warned us. The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us. The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right. If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!
Chapter 21 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 364 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/72 · 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.
to make a rush at or sudden attack upon, as in battle
From this reading “SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.”
gathered together or made less diffuse
From this reading “The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.”
a person of German nationality
From this reading “The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.”
tiresomely long; seemingly without end
From this reading “SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.”
something lost (especially money lost at gambling)
From this reading “If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!”
-ing form of “occupy” — keep busy with
From this reading “If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!”
past form of “rage” — behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading “The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us.”
past form of “warn” — notify of danger, potential harm, or risk
From this reading “The captain and the subaltern had warned us.”
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.
at or in the front
In this reading “The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us.”
In this reading “SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.”
In this reading “The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us.”
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 The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The captain and the subaltern had warned us.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
intense and continuous artillery fire
From this reading The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading The captain and the subaltern had warned us.
to make a rush at or sudden attack upon, as in battle
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
gathered together or made less diffuse
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
considered likely or probable to happen or arrive
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
start firing a weapon
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us.
a person of German nationality
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The captain and the subaltern had warned us.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us.
tiresomely long; seemingly without end
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
something lost (especially money lost at gambling)
From this reading If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!
-ing form of “occupy” — keep busy with
From this reading If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
past form of “rage” — behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us.
precisely, exactly
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading The cannonade raged in front of us and all round us.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
a British commissioned army officer below the rank of captain
From this reading The captain and the subaltern had warned us.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The captain and the subaltern had warned us.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
past form of “warn” — notify of danger, potential harm, or risk
From this reading The captain and the subaltern had warned us.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The German fire was concentrated against a village below us, on our right.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!
used to ask for information about something
From this reading If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!
used to introduce two or more possibilities
From this reading SPINCOURT Heaven knows whether we expected to have to charge from the beginning to the end of that interminable day.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading If we were occupying it, what losses it would mean to us!
Chapter 21 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger holds 364 sentences, grouped into 73 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 21 holds 364 sentences of The Ordeal by Fire, unabridged, divided into 73 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 364 sentences, grouped into 73 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 73 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 73 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 21 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.
