Chapter 20 of The Valiants of Virginia is here in full — 266 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter 20 of The Valiants of Virginia is here in full — 266 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall. A big form was close behind him. "Hello. Up, I see. I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."
Chapter 20 of The Valiants of Virginia is here in full — 266 sentences across 54 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/53 · 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.
declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
From this reading “IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.”
the act of delivering or distributing something (as goods or mail)
From this reading “I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."”
brusque and surly and forbidding
From this reading “IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.”
an expression of greeting
From this reading “"Hello.”
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading “IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.”
The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions on one's way of life.
From this reading “I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."”
of greater importance or stature or rank
From this reading “I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."”
not in physical motion
From this reading “IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.”
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 “IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.”
In this reading “I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."”
In this reading “IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.”
In this reading “IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.”
In this reading “IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.”
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 IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading A big form was close behind him.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading A big form was close behind him.
the act of delivering or distributing something (as goods or mail)
From this reading I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading A big form was close behind him.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something
From this reading A big form was close behind him.
brusque and surly and forbidding
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
an expression of greeting
From this reading "Hello.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A big form was close behind him.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Up, I see.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions on one's way of life.
From this reading I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."
of greater importance or stature or rank
From this reading I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."
not in physical motion
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Up, I see.
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
not in physical motion
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
in or at that place or location
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading I took the liberty of bringing Major Bristow."
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Up, I see.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
at the time that
From this reading IN DEVIL-JOHN'S DAY He was still sitting motionless when there came a knock at the door and it opened to admit the gruff voice of Doctor Southall.
Chapter 20 of The Valiants of Virginia by Hallie Erminie Rives holds 266 sentences, grouped into 54 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 266 sentences of The Valiants of Virginia, unabridged, divided into 54 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Valiants of Virginia by Hallie Erminie Rives exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 266 sentences, grouped into 54 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 54 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 54 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 Valiants of Virginia by Hallie Erminie Rives on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6173 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #33963 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #33963, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 514 minutes of reading across 1235 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Valiants of Virginia section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Valiants of Virginia 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 Valiants of Virginia, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
