Chapter 11 of The Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2) is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of The Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2) is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE CYPHER. ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it. ‘You are come for this letter.’ She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him. ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
Chapter 11 of The Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2) is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading “‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.”
a mathematical element that when added to another number yields the same number
From this reading “THE CYPHER.”
a boxlike container in a piece of furniture; made so as to slide in and out
From this reading “She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.”
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading “‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’”
past form of “snatch” — to grasp hastily or eagerly
From this reading “She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.”
plural of “tell” — a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer
From this reading “‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’”
a tendency to express warm and affectionate feeling
From this reading “‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.”
make physical contact with, come in contact with
From this reading “‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.”
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 “‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.”
In this reading “She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.”
In this reading “‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.”
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 ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
a mathematical element that when added to another number yields the same number
From this reading THE CYPHER.
a boxlike container in a piece of furniture; made so as to slide in and out
From this reading She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading ‘You are come for this letter.’
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
not any; not one
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.
past form of “snatch” — to grasp hastily or eagerly
From this reading She snatched it from the drawer and held it before him.
plural of “tell” — a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer
From this reading ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
a tendency to express warm and affectionate feeling
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE CYPHER.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading ‘You are come for this letter.’
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
make physical contact with, come in contact with
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
a fact that has been verified
From this reading ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
the act of using
From this reading ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
but in spite of that
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading ‘I KNOW what you are come for,’ said Margaret in a broken voice, which had yet no touch of tenderness in it.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading ‘It is no use to lie to me; your face tells me the truth.’
Chapter 11 of The Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2) by James Payn holds 144 sentences, grouped into 29 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 11 holds 144 sentences of The Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2), unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of The Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2) by James Payn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 144 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 11 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 Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2) by James Payn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2283 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #47965 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #47965, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 190 minutes of reading across 457 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2) section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2) 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 Talk of the Town, Volume 2 (of 2), each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
