Chapter 20 of The Stowmarket Mystery is here in full — 115 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Stowmarket Mystery is here in full — 115 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat. On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer. The messages were from Holden, Naples. The first: "Johnson arrived here this morning." The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."
Chapter 20 of The Stowmarket Mystery is here in full — 115 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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 “chicken” — the flesh of a chicken used for food
From this reading “CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.”
past form of “cool” — make cool or cooler
From this reading “CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.”
possessive form of “johnson” — English writer and lexicographer (1709-1784)
From this reading “The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."”
plural of “message” — a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading “The messages were from Holden, Naples.”
a port and tourist center in southwestern Italy; capital of the Campania region
From this reading “The messages were from Holden, Naples.”
an establishment maintained at public expense in order to provide housing for the poor and homeless
From this reading “The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."”
plural of “register” — an official written record of names or events or transactions
From this reading “The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."”
plural of “telegram” — a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading “On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.”
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 dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
past form of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading The first: "Johnson arrived here this morning."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
plural of “chicken” — the flesh of a chicken used for food
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship
From this reading The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."
-ing form of “concern” — be relevant to
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
past form of “cool” — make cool or cooler
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
a police officer who investigates crimes
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
a room used for dining
From this reading On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading The first: "Johnson arrived here this morning."
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
set up or found
From this reading On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The messages were from Holden, Naples.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading The first: "Johnson arrived here this morning."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The messages were from Holden, Naples.
English writer and lexicographer (1709-1784)
From this reading The first: "Johnson arrived here this morning."
possessive form of “johnson” — English writer and lexicographer (1709-1784)
From this reading The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."
plural of “message” — a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading The messages were from Holden, Naples.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The first: "Johnson arrived here this morning."
plural of “motive” — the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
a port and tourist center in southwestern Italy; capital of the Campania region
From this reading The messages were from Holden, Naples.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
an establishment maintained at public expense in order to provide housing for the poor and homeless
From this reading The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."
(law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked
From this reading The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
make reference to
From this reading The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."
plural of “register” — an official written record of names or events or transactions
From this reading The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."
plural of “table” — a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
plural of “telegram” — a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading The first: "Johnson arrived here this morning."
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading CONCERNING CHICKENS, AND MOTIVES The detective cooled off by the time they reached Brett's flat.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The second: "Johnson's proceedings refer to poorhouse and church registers."
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading On the dining-room tables they found two telegrams and a Remington type-writer.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The messages were from Holden, Naples.
Chapter 20 of The Stowmarket Mystery by Louis Tracy holds 115 sentences, grouped into 23 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 20 holds 115 sentences of The Stowmarket Mystery, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Stowmarket Mystery by Louis Tracy exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 115 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 20 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 Stowmarket Mystery by Louis Tracy on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5201 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #14853 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #14853, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 433 minutes of reading across 1041 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Stowmarket Mystery section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of The Stowmarket Mystery 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 Stowmarket Mystery, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
