Chapter 12 of The Silent Call is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Silent Call is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect. "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?" "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy. "There is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon race." "What?"
Chapter 12 of The Silent Call is here in full — 412 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
lacking courage; ignobly timid and faint-hearted
From this reading “"Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.”
struck with fear, dread, or consternation
From this reading “"Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.”
an opposing military force
From this reading “"Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.”
past form of “groan” — indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure
From this reading “"Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.”
any competition
From this reading “Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.”
stupefied or excited by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)
From this reading “Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.”
full and loud and deep
From this reading “Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.”
plural of “wife” — a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading “"Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"”
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.
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading "There is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon race."
a native or inhabitant of England prior to the Norman Conquest
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "There is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon race."
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
lacking courage; ignobly timid and faint-hearted
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
discovered or determined by scientific observation
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
struck with fear, dread, or consternation
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
an opposing military force
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
the act of departing
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
past form of “groan” — indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "There is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon race."
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
not any; not one
From this reading "There is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon race."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
above and across; more than
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
any competition
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
precisely, exactly
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
stupefied or excited by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
express in words
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
term of address for a man
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
full and loud and deep
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading "There is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon race."
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "There is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon race."
a special situation
From this reading "There is no such thing as an Anglo-Saxon race."
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Oh, I say!" groaned Sir Gordon, dismayed at this cowardly going over to the enemy.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What?"
in the company of; together with
From this reading Sir Gordon had ripped out "the Anglo-Saxon race" with something of its sonorous after-dinner effect.
plural of “wife” — a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Haven’t you discovered, Stuckley, that our wives are always right?"
Chapter 12 of The Silent Call by Edwin Milton Royle holds 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 12 holds 412 sentences of The Silent Call, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Silent Call by Edwin Milton Royle exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 412 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 12 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 Silent Call by Edwin Milton Royle on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7054 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #51611 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #51611, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 587 minutes of reading across 1411 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Silent Call section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Silent Call 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 Silent Call, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
