Chapter 9 of The Spoilers of the Valley is here in full — 488 sentences across 98 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Spoilers of the Valley is here in full — 488 sentences across 98 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming. His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's. "Say,--by yiminy,--you some kid! You quiet Brenchfield's she-devil!" "And what about that?"
Chapter 9 of The Spoilers of the Valley is here in full — 488 sentences across 98 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/97 · 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.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading “The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.”
cheerful and bright
From this reading “The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.”
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading “His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.”
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading “His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.”
manner of acting or controlling yourself
From this reading “The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.”
tell false information to for fun
From this reading “"Say,--by yiminy,--you some kid!”
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading “You quiet Brenchfield's she-devil!"”
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "And what about that?"
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "And what about that?"
cheerful and bright
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.
of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
From this reading His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You quiet Brenchfield's she-devil!"
showing who or what does the action
From this reading "Say,--by yiminy,--you some kid!
manner of acting or controlling yourself
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
opinion or judgment
From this reading His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.
tell false information to for fun
From this reading "Say,--by yiminy,--you some kid!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading You quiet Brenchfield's she-devil!"
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
precisely, exactly
From this reading His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
express in words
From this reading "Say,--by yiminy,--you some kid!
a cruel woman
From this reading You quiet Brenchfield's she-devil!"
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading "Say,--by yiminy,--you some kid!
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading His big blue eyes stared right into Phil's.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "And what about that?"
at the time that
From this reading The Doings of Percival When Hanson returned that afternoon, his round face was beaming.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Say,--by yiminy,--you some kid!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Say,--by yiminy,--you some kid!
Chapter 9 of The Spoilers of the Valley by Robert Watson holds 488 sentences, grouped into 98 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 9 holds 488 sentences of The Spoilers of the Valley, unabridged, divided into 98 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Spoilers of the Valley by Robert Watson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 488 sentences, grouped into 98 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 98 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 98 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 Spoilers of the Valley by Robert Watson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7776 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #29588 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #29588, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1556 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Spoilers of the Valley section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The Spoilers of the Valley 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 Spoilers of the Valley, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
