Chapter 2 of The Owl Taxi is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Owl Taxi is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses. Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light. Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight. Perhaps after all he had been mistaken. When the door was opened the feet impatiently pushed out again.
Chapter 2 of The Owl Taxi is here in full — 249 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/49 · 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.
a solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides)
From this reading “GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.”
an agenda of things to do
From this reading “GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.”
goods carried by a large vehicle
From this reading “Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.”
the state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states by: relatively low density and viscosity
From this reading “GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.”
shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
From this reading “Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.”
with impatience; in an impatient manner
From this reading “When the door was opened the feet impatiently pushed out again.”
wrong in e.g. opinion or judgment
From this reading “Perhaps after all he had been mistaken.”
moving as on a slippery surface
From this reading “Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.”
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.
a lamp that burns illuminating gas
In this reading “GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.”
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.”
at or within a reasonable distance for seeing
In this reading “Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.”
In this reading “GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.”
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 GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
later than; following
From this reading Perhaps after all he had been mistaken.
anew
From this reading When the door was opened the feet impatiently pushed out again.
(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 Perhaps after all he had been mistaken.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Perhaps after all he had been mistaken.
next to; at the side of
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
a solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides)
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
an agenda of things to do
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading When the door was opened the feet impatiently pushed out again.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
goods carried by a large vehicle
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
the state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states by: relatively low density and viscosity
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
plural of “house” — a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
with impatience; in an impatient manner
From this reading When the door was opened the feet impatiently pushed out again.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
an artificial source of visible illumination
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
wrong in e.g. opinion or judgment
From this reading Perhaps after all he had been mistaken.
not any; not one
From this reading Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
by chance
From this reading Perhaps after all he had been mistaken.
past form of “push” — move with force
From this reading When the door was opened the feet impatiently pushed out again.
a space reserved for sitting (as in a theater or on a train or airplane)
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
past form of “show” — give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.
moving as on a slippery surface
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life
From this reading Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Slipping out of his seat he opened the door to have a better look at his gruesome freight.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading GREG'S FIRST FARE Greg had come to a stop beside a gas lamp in a long block of little houses.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.
at the time that
From this reading When the door was opened the feet impatiently pushed out again.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading Not a soul was in sight, and no window showed a light.
Chapter 2 of The Owl Taxi by Hulbert Footner holds 249 sentences, grouped into 50 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 2 holds 249 sentences of The Owl Taxi, unabridged, divided into 50 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Owl Taxi by Hulbert Footner exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 249 sentences, grouped into 50 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 50 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 50 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 2 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 Owl Taxi by Hulbert Footner on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6509 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57088 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57088, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 542 minutes of reading across 1302 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Owl Taxi section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of The Owl Taxi 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 Owl Taxi, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
