Chapter 20 of The Summit House Mystery is here in full — 114 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 Summit House Mystery is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn. Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left. The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight. "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?" Durgan asked.
Chapter 20 of The Summit House Mystery is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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.
an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals
From this reading “THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.”
serving as an essential component
From this reading “THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.”
an admission of misdeeds or faults
From this reading “THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.”
not still wet
From this reading “The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight.”
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading “Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.”
a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading “Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.”
past form of “pile” — arrange in stacks
From this reading “Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.”
the fine spores that contain male gametes and that are borne by an anther in a flowering plant
From this reading “The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight.”
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.
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.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Durgan asked.
an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
serving as an essential component
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
an admission of misdeeds or faults
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?"
the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
not still wet
From this reading The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
plural of “flower” — a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight.
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?"
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?"
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?"
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality
From this reading The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight.
a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
plural of “parent” — a father or mother; one who begets or one who gives birth to or nurtures and raises a child; a relative who plays the role of guardian
From this reading "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?"
past form of “pile” — arrange in stacks
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
the fine spores that contain male gametes and that are borne by an anther in a flowering plant
From this reading The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight.
precisely, exactly
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
having a supporting base
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
the rays of the sun
From this reading The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Hay, full of meadow flowers, was piled high to right and left.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading THE TERRIBLE CONFESSION Bertha and Durgan were standing in the broad central doorway of the barn.
which person or people
From this reading "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?"
in the company of; together with
From this reading The air was full of dried pollen, and golden with the level sunlight.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?"
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Do you know who it was that killed your parents?"
Chapter 20 of The Summit House Mystery by L. (Lily) Dougall holds 114 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 114 sentences of The Summit House Mystery, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Summit House Mystery by L. (Lily) Dougall exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 114 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 Summit House Mystery by L. (Lily) Dougall on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4087 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #55189 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #55189, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 340 minutes of reading across 818 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Summit House Mystery section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The Summit House 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 Summit House Mystery, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
