Chapter 40 of The story of Don Miff 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 XL
Chapter 40 of The story of Don Miff is here in full — 224 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons. One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door. “Well,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.” “Any serious cases?” “Yes; one more than serious.
Chapter 40 of The story of Don Miff 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.
plural of “case” — an occurrence of something
From this reading ““Any serious cases?””
a public square with room for pedestrians
From this reading “On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.”
get by special effort
From this reading “One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.”
plural of “spring” — the season of growth
From this reading “One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.”
plural of “supply” — an amount of something available for use
From this reading “One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.”
plural of “surgeon” — a physician who specializes in surgery
From this reading “On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.”
possessive form of “taylor” — United States composer and music critic (1885-1966)
someone who visits
From this reading ““Well,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.””
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.
In this reading “On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.”
at or in the front
In this reading “One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.”
In this reading “On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.”
In this reading “One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.”
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 On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading “Any serious cases?”
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading “Well,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.”
plural of “case” — an occurrence of something
From this reading “Any serious cases?”
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
compelled forcibly by an outside agency
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading “Well,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Well,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading “Yes; one more than serious.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading “Well,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
a public square with room for pedestrians
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
get by special effort
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
advancing or becoming higher or greater in degree or value or status
From this reading “Well,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Well,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.”
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
concerned with work or important matters rather than play or trivialities
From this reading “Any serious cases?”
plural of “spring” — the season of growth
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
plural of “supply” — an amount of something available for use
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
plural of “surgeon” — a physician who specializes in surgery
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
possessive form of “taylor” — United States composer and music critic (1885-1966)
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading “Yes; one more than serious.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
in or at that place or location
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
someone who visits
From this reading “Well,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading One of them was on duty there; the other had driven in from Taylor’s Springs to procure supplies, and his ambulance-wagon stood in front of the door.
(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,” said the visitor, rising, “I must hurry back.”
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes; one more than serious.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading On the piazza of a house in Harrisonburg sat two young surgeons.
Chapter 40 of The story of Don Miff by Virginius Dabney 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 40 holds 224 sentences of The story of Don Miff, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 40 of The story of Don Miff by Virginius Dabney 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 40 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.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The story of Don Miff, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
