Chapter 17 of The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu is here in full — 95 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu is here in full — 95 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Nayland Smith returned from the telephone. Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke. “No news, Petrie,” he said, shortly. “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.” I glanced up from my notes.
Chapter 17 of The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu is here in full — 95 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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.
British statesman famous for his oratory; pleaded the cause of the American colonists in British Parliament and defended the parliamentary system (1729-1797)
From this reading “Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.”
inflected form of “creep” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading ““It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.””
(of time) having passed or slipped by
From this reading “Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.”
an opening into or through something
From this reading ““It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.””
capable of being reached only with great difficulty or not at all
From this reading ““It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.””
for a short time
From this reading ““No news, Petrie,” he said, shortly.”
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading “Nayland Smith returned from the telephone.”
being four more than twenty
From this reading “Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.”
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.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
British statesman famous for his oratory; pleaded the cause of the American colonists in British Parliament and defended the parliamentary system (1729-1797)
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
inflected form of “creep” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
(of time) having passed or slipped by
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Nayland Smith returned from the telephone.
past form of “glance” — throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading I glanced up from my notes.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “No news, Petrie,” he said, shortly.
an opening into or through something
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I glanced up from my notes.
capable of being reached only with great difficulty or not at all
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
moving to the inside of something
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading I glanced up from my notes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Nayland Smith returned from the telephone.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
information about recent and important events
From this reading “No news, Petrie,” he said, shortly.
not any; not one
From this reading “No news, Petrie,” he said, shortly.
plural of “note” — a brief written record
From this reading I glanced up from my notes.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “No news, Petrie,” he said, shortly.
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading Nayland Smith returned from the telephone.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “No news, Petrie,” he said, shortly.
for a short time
From this reading “No news, Petrie,” he said, shortly.
from a time in the past until now
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
Rhodesian statesman who declared independence of Zimbabwe from Great Britain (born in 1919)
From this reading Nayland Smith returned from the telephone.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds
From this reading Nayland Smith returned from the telephone.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Nayland Smith returned from the telephone.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “It must have crept into some inaccessible hole to die.”
being four more than twenty
From this reading Nearly twenty-four hours had elapsed since the awful death of Burke.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading I glanced up from my notes.
Chapter 17 of The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer holds 95 sentences, grouped into 19 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 17 holds 95 sentences of The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 95 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 17 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 Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4055 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1183 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1183, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 337 minutes of reading across 811 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu 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 Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
