Chapter 26 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 362 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 362 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SOCIALISM Useful! I was making myself useful! The captain's words rang in my ears. I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared. Instead of which I filled a place well, to-day.
Chapter 26 of The Ordeal by Fire is here in full — 362 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.
possessive form of “captain” — an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading “The captain's words rang in my ears.”
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading “I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.”
in the recent past
From this reading “I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.”
not caught with the senses or the mind
From this reading “I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.”
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading “The captain's words rang in my ears.”
a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
From this reading “SOCIALISM Useful!”
past form of “suffer” — undergo or be subjected to
From this reading “I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.”
being of use or service
From this reading “SOCIALISM Useful!”
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 “I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.”
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 Instead of which I filled a place well, to-day.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
possessive form of “captain” — an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading The captain's words rang in my ears.
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
plural of “ear” — the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading The captain's words rang in my ears.
(usually followed by “with” or used as a combining form) generously supplied with
From this reading Instead of which I filled a place well, to-day.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I was making myself useful!
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The captain's words rang in my ears.
in place of, or as an alternative to
From this reading Instead of which I filled a place well, to-day.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
in the recent past
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
the act that results in something coming to be
From this reading I was making myself useful!
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
not caught with the senses or the mind
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading The captain's words rang in my ears.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading I was making myself useful!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Instead of which I filled a place well, to-day.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading Instead of which I filled a place well, to-day.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
inflected form of “ring” — sound loudly and sonorously
From this reading The captain's words rang in my ears.
past form of “remember” — recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
From this reading SOCIALISM Useful!
past form of “suffer” — undergo or be subjected to
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The captain's words rang in my ears.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Instead of which I filled a place well, to-day.
the act of using
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
being of use or service
From this reading SOCIALISM Useful!
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was making myself useful!
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Instead of which I filled a place well, to-day.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Instead of which I filled a place well, to-day.
which person or people
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
past form of “wonder” — have a wish or desire to know something
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
the words that are spoken
From this reading The captain's words rang in my ears.
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading I remembered how I had wondered quite lately what use my life was, and who in the world would have suffered by it, or missed me if I had disappeared.
Chapter 26 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger holds 362 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 26 holds 362 sentences of The Ordeal by Fire, unabridged, divided into 73 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Ordeal by Fire by Marcel Berger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 362 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 26 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.
