Chapter 24 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square is here in full — 221 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIV
Chapter 24 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square is here in full — 221 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Then there was some other mystery?” I ventured. He nodded his big head slowly. “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us. Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
Chapter 24 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square is here in full — 221 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.
Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence or deeply revered.
From this reading ““There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.”
used as intensifiers
From this reading “Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.””
any cognitive content held as true
From this reading ““There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.”
reflecting the fear or terror of one who is hunted
From this reading ““There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.”
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
From this reading ““Then there was some other mystery?””
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading “He nodded his big head slowly.”
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading ““There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.”
past form of “venture” — proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
From this reading “I ventured.”
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 Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence or deeply revered.
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
used as intensifiers
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
any cognitive content held as true
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading He nodded his big head slowly.
at any time
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He nodded his big head slowly.
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 nodded his big head slowly.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He nodded his big head slowly.
reflecting the fear or terror of one who is hunted
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I ventured.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
From this reading “Then there was some other mystery?”
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading He nodded his big head slowly.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading “Then there was some other mystery?”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading He nodded his big head slowly.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading “Then there was some other mystery?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading “Then there was some other mystery?”
in or at that place or location
From this reading “Then there was some other mystery?”
a special situation
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
plural of “turn” — a circular segment of a curve
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “There is an ancient belief,” he said, “that the hunted thing always turns on us.
past form of “venture” — proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
From this reading I ventured.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Then there was some other mystery?”
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
the form of “who” used as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading Well, if there was ever a man in this world on whom the hunted thing awfully turned, it was St. Alban.”
Chapter 24 of The Sleuth of St. James's Square by Melville Davisson Post holds 221 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 24 holds 221 sentences of The Sleuth of St. James's Square, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 24 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 221 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 24 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.
