Chapter 4 of The Perilous Seat is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Perilous Seat is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
PARENTAL JUSTICE Theria was gone. Yet in the room the awkward silence held. Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment. “I wanted,” faltered Dryas, “oh, I wanted you to be proud.” “I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.
Chapter 4 of The Perilous Seat is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading ““I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.”
causing inconvenience
From this reading “Yet in the room the awkward silence held.”
past form of “beckon” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading “Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.”
past form of “falter” — be unsure or weak
From this reading ““I wanted,” faltered Dryas, “oh, I wanted you to be proud.””
not accessible to view
From this reading “Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.”
with loyalty; in a loyal manner
From this reading ““I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.”
designating the generation of organisms from which hybrid offspring are produced
From this reading “PARENTAL JUSTICE Theria was gone.”
an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion
From this reading “Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.”
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 “Yet in the room the awkward silence held.”
In this reading “Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.”
In this reading “Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading “I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
causing inconvenience
From this reading Yet in the room the awkward silence held.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “I wanted,” faltered Dryas, “oh, I wanted you to be proud.”
past form of “beckon” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading “I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
mountain avens
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
past form of “falter” — be unsure or weak
From this reading “I wanted,” faltered Dryas, “oh, I wanted you to be proud.”
at or to or toward the front
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
destroyed or killed
From this reading PARENTAL JUSTICE Theria was gone.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading Yet in the room the awkward silence held.
not accessible to view
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I wanted,” faltered Dryas, “oh, I wanted you to be proud.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Yet in the room the awkward silence held.
the quality of being just or fair
From this reading PARENTAL JUSTICE Theria was gone.
with loyalty; in a loyal manner
From this reading “I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.
a particular point in time
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “I wanted,” faltered Dryas, “oh, I wanted you to be proud.”
designating the generation of organisms from which hybrid offspring are produced
From this reading PARENTAL JUSTICE Theria was gone.
feeling self-respect or pleasure in something by which you measure your self-worth; or being a reason for pride
From this reading “I wanted,” faltered Dryas, “oh, I wanted you to be proud.”
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Yet in the room the awkward silence held.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.
Identical; not different.
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading Yet in the room the awkward silence held.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
past form of “start” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Yet in the room the awkward silence held.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading PARENTAL JUSTICE Theria was gone.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then by some hidden sympathy Nikander’s hand beckoned to Dryas and Dryas himself started forward at the same moment.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading “I wanted,” faltered Dryas, “oh, I wanted you to be proud.”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading PARENTAL JUSTICE Theria was gone.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading “I would have been proud anyway,” said Nikander loyally.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet in the room the awkward silence held.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “I wanted,” faltered Dryas, “oh, I wanted you to be proud.”
Chapter 4 of The Perilous Seat by Caroline Dale Snedeker holds 147 sentences, grouped into 30 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 4 holds 147 sentences of The Perilous Seat, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Perilous Seat by Caroline Dale Snedeker exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 147 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 4 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 Perilous Seat by Caroline Dale Snedeker on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7007 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #67050 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #67050, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 583 minutes of reading across 1402 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Perilous Seat section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Perilous Seat 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 Perilous Seat, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
