Chapter 23 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square is here in full — 224 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square is here in full — 224 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The girl stood staring at the thin packet. A single thought alone consumed her. “It is a message from--my--father.” She spoke almost in a whisper. The big Oriental replied immediately.
Chapter 23 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square is here in full — 224 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.
past form of “consume” — eat up completely, as with great appetite
From this reading “A single thought alone consumed her.”
a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading ““It is a message from--my--father.””
denoting or characteristic of countries of the Far East
From this reading “The big Oriental replied immediately.”
a collection of things wrapped or boxed together
From this reading “The girl stood staring at the thin packet.”
being or characteristic of a single thing or person
From this reading “A single thought alone consumed her.”
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
From this reading “The girl stood staring at the thin packet.”
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading “The girl stood staring at the thin packet.”
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading “She spoke almost in a whisper.”
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 single thought alone consumed her.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading She spoke almost in a whisper.
Having no one else present.
From this reading A single thought alone consumed her.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The girl stood staring at the thin packet.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The big Oriental replied immediately.
past form of “consume” — eat up completely, as with great appetite
From this reading A single thought alone consumed her.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading “It is a message from--my--father.”
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading “It is a message from--my--father.”
a young female
From this reading The girl stood staring at the thin packet.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading A single thought alone consumed her.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading The big Oriental replied immediately.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading She spoke almost in a whisper.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “It is a message from--my--father.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “It is a message from--my--father.”
a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading “It is a message from--my--father.”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “It is a message from--my--father.”
denoting or characteristic of countries of the Far East
From this reading The big Oriental replied immediately.
a collection of things wrapped or boxed together
From this reading The girl stood staring at the thin packet.
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading The big Oriental replied immediately.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She spoke almost in a whisper.
being or characteristic of a single thing or person
From this reading A single thought alone consumed her.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading She spoke almost in a whisper.
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
From this reading The girl stood staring at the thin packet.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading The girl stood staring at the thin packet.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The girl stood staring at the thin packet.
Having little thickness or extent.
From this reading The girl stood staring at the thin packet.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading A single thought alone consumed her.
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading She spoke almost in a whisper.
Chapter 23 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square by Melville Davisson Post holds 224 sentences, grouped into 45 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 23 holds 224 sentences of The Sleuth of St. James's Square, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square by Melville Davisson Post exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 224 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 23 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, unabridged. 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.
