Chapter 8 of The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
* * * * * His eyes opened. He drew a deep breath. A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air. "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?" This was a slender, foppish man, iron-grey.
Chapter 8 of The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/86 · 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.
made for or formed by carving (“carven” is archaic or literary)
From this reading “A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.”
a timepiece that shows the time of day
From this reading “A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.”
long and thin and often limp
From this reading “A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.”
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading “"He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"”
of hair color; pale yellowish to yellowish brown
From this reading “A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.”
being of delicate or slender build
From this reading “This was a slender, foppish man, iron-grey.”
great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading “A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.”
English writer and a central member of the Fabian Society (1858-1943)
From this reading “"He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"”
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 “He drew a deep breath.”
In this reading “A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.”
on everybody's mind
In this reading “A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.”
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 He drew a deep breath.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
any thing at all
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
next to; at the side of
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading He drew a deep breath.
made for or formed by carving (“carven” is archaic or literary)
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
a timepiece that shows the time of day
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
a place off to the side of an area
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading He drew a deep breath.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading He drew a deep breath.
opinion or judgment
From this reading * * * * * His eyes opened.
affecting extreme elegance in dress and manner
From this reading This was a slender, foppish man, iron-grey.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He drew a deep breath.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading * * * * * His eyes opened.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
the color of freshly broken cast iron
From this reading This was a slender, foppish man, iron-grey.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
long and thin and often limp
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading * * * * * His eyes opened.
writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature)
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
of hair color; pale yellowish to yellowish brown
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
being of delicate or slender build
From this reading This was a slender, foppish man, iron-grey.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
a thing, without saying which
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
(used in combination) affected by something overwhelming
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This was a slender, foppish man, iron-grey.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A tall, carved clock in the corner struck, and a man, a lank, sandy man beside him, seemed to have said something, for his voice was in the air.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
English writer and a central member of the Fabian Society (1858-1943)
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth
From this reading "He must have had some papers--if there is anything wrong--good God, Webb, what shall we do?"
Chapter 8 of The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon by Josephine Daskam Bacon holds 433 sentences, grouped into 87 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 8 holds 433 sentences of The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon, unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon by Josephine Daskam Bacon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 433 sentences, grouped into 87 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 87 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 87 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 8 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 Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon by Josephine Daskam Bacon on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5151 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #31202 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #31202, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 429 minutes of reading across 1031 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon 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 Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
