Chapter 9 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square is here in full — 223 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square is here in full — 223 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Two men sat over a table when my father entered. One of them got up. He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him. You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church. He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
Chapter 9 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square is here in full — 223 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/44 · 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.
with no effort to conceal
From this reading “He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.”
with self-possession (especially in times of stress)
From this reading “He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.”
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.”
done or made or performed with purpose and intent
From this reading “You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.”
plural of “feature” — a prominent attribute or aspect of something
From this reading “He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.”
the outside boundary or surface of something
From this reading “He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.”
imposing in size or bulk or solidity
From this reading “He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.”
a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
From this reading “You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.”
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 Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
someone who is the first to think of or make something
From this reading You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
with no effort to conceal
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
with self-possession (especially in times of stress)
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship
From this reading You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
done or made or performed with purpose and intent
From this reading You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
plural of “feature” — a prominent attribute or aspect of something
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.
the outside boundary or surface of something
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading One of them got up.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
characteristic of humanity
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
imposing in size or bulk or solidity
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
the force of workers available
From this reading Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading One of them got up.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One of them got up.
above and across; more than
From this reading Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
From this reading You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading One of them got up.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading You thought the Artificer had designed him for a priest of the church.
the shaved crown of a monk's or priest's head
From this reading He had the massive features and the fringe of hair around his bald head like a tonsure.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading One of them got up.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
at the time that
From this reading Two men sat over a table when my father entered.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading He was a strange human creature, when you stood and looked calmly at him.
Chapter 9 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square by Melville Davisson Post holds 223 sentences, grouped into 45 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 9 holds 223 sentences of The Sleuth of St. James's Square, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square by Melville Davisson Post exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 223 sentences, grouped into 45 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 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 45 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 9 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 Sleuth of St. James's Square by Melville Davisson Post on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5594 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2861 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2861, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 466 minutes of reading across 1119 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Sleuth of St. James's Square section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Sleuth of St. James's Square 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 Sleuth of St. James's Square, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
