Chapter 15 of The Plunderers: A Novel is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of The Plunderers: A Novel is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly. “Ah--if!” exclaimed the man, nodding. “Do you promise?” “Yes!” answered Mr. Merriwether. He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
Chapter 15 of The Plunderers: A Novel is here in full — 409 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
past form of “abduct” — take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom
From this reading “He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.”
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading ““If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.”
produced by or subjected to forcing
From this reading ““If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.”
of an obscure nature
From this reading ““If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.”
having branches or flower heads that bend downward
From this reading ““Ah--if!” exclaimed the man, nodding.”
in a cheerful manner
From this reading ““If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.”
make a promise or commitment
From this reading ““Do you promise?””
male cat
From this reading “He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.”
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 ““If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.”
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.
past form of “abduct” — take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Ah--if!” exclaimed the man, nodding.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading “Yes!” answered Mr. Merriwether.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “Do you promise?”
a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs with yttrium
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading “Ah--if!” exclaimed the man, nodding.
produced by or subjected to forcing
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “Ah--if!” exclaimed the man, nodding.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
a form of address for a man
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
of an obscure nature
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
having branches or flower heads that bend downward
From this reading “Ah--if!” exclaimed the man, nodding.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
and nothing more
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
in a cheerful manner
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
make a promise or commitment
From this reading “Do you promise?”
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Ah--if!” exclaimed the man, nodding.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
male cat
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
(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 “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading He had made up his mind that Tom would not be abducted.
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes!” answered Mr. Merriwether.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “If you were only not so--er--well, so damned mysterious--” And Mr. Merriwether forced himself to smile pleasantly.
Chapter 15 of The Plunderers: A Novel by Edwin Lefevre holds 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 15 holds 409 sentences of The Plunderers: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of The Plunderers: A Novel by Edwin Lefevre exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 409 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 15 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 Plunderers: A Novel by Edwin Lefevre on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6578 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51970 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51970, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 548 minutes of reading across 1316 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Plunderers: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of The Plunderers: A Novel 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 Plunderers: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
