Chapter 30 of The pretender: A story of the Latin Quarter is here in full — 394 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXX
Chapter 30 of The pretender: A story of the Latin Quarter is here in full — 394 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_. Did I wave it in the air? Did I do a war-dance of delight? No. I looked at it with sober sadness. The struggle was over.
Chapter 30 of The pretender: A story of the Latin Quarter is here in full — 394 sentences across 79 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/78 · 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.
examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition
From this reading “A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.”
a written order directing a bank to pay money
From this reading “A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.”
a sum of money paid or a claim discharged
From this reading “A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.”
emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being
From this reading “No. I looked at it with sober sadness.”
not affected by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)
From this reading “No. I looked at it with sober sadness.”
make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading “The struggle was over.”
fill with high spirits; fill with optimism
one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
From this reading “Did I wave it in the air?”
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 “A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.”
In this reading “A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.”
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “No. I looked at it with sober sadness.”
on everybody's mind
In this reading “Did I wave it in the air?”
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 A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading Did I wave it in the air?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading No. I looked at it with sober sadness.
examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
a written order directing a bank to pay money
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
an odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
give pleasure to or be pleasing to
From this reading Did I do a war-dance of delight?
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Did I wave it in the air?
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Did I do a war-dance of delight?
plural of “dollar” — the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 cents
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
ten 10s
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Did I wave it in the air?
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading No. I looked at it with sober sadness.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
not any; not one
From this reading No. I looked at it with sober sadness.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Did I do a war-dance of delight?
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
above and across; more than
From this reading The struggle was over.
a sum of money paid or a claim discharged
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
euphemisms for death (based on an analogy between lying in a bed and in a tomb)
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
conforming to the established language usage of educated native speakers
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
(of fluids) moving or issuing in a stream
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being
From this reading No. I looked at it with sober sadness.
in a serial manner
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
not affected by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)
From this reading No. I looked at it with sober sadness.
make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading The struggle was over.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
fill with high spirits; fill with optimism
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Did I do a war-dance of delight?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The struggle was over.
one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
From this reading Did I wave it in the air?
freshwater duck of Eurasia and northern Africa related to mallards and teals
From this reading A CHEQUE AND A CHECK One morning I received a cheque for nine hundred dollars from Widgeon & Co.--payment for _The Great Quietus_, now running serially in the _Uplift_.
in the company of; together with
From this reading No. I looked at it with sober sadness.
Chapter 30 of The pretender: A story of the Latin Quarter by Robert W. (Robert William) Service holds 394 sentences, grouped into 79 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 30 holds 394 sentences of The pretender: A story of the Latin Quarter, unabridged, divided into 79 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 30 of The pretender: A story of the Latin Quarter by Robert W. (Robert William) Service exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 394 sentences, grouped into 79 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 79 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 79 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 30 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The pretender: A story of the Latin Quarter, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
