Chapter 1 of The White Gauntlet 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 I
Chapter 1 of The White Gauntlet is here in full — 433 sentences across 87 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid. ________________________________________________________________________ THE WHITE GAUNTLET, BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID. Volume One, Chapter I. A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone. 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
Chapter 1 of The White Gauntlet 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.
without advance planning
From this reading “A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.”
take exception to
From this reading “'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.”
come together
From this reading “'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.”
past form of “encounter” — come together
From this reading “A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.”
to offer or accept a challenge
From this reading “The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid.”
a country person
From this reading “'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.”
Scottish philosopher of common sense who opposed the ideas of David Hume (1710-1796)
From this reading “The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid.”
plural of “stick” — an implement consisting of a length of wood
From this reading “'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.”
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 “'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.”
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 A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.
without advance planning
From this reading A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.
Having no one else present.
From this reading A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid.
take exception to
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
a subdivision of a written work; usually numbered and titled
From this reading Volume One, Chapter I.
a state in which you want to learn more about something
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
come together
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
past form of “encounter” — come together
From this reading A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.
divisible by two
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
a group of persons together in one place
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
to offer or accept a challenge
From this reading The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid.
a laborer who moves from place to place as demanded by employment
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
a young female
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Volume One, Chapter I.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Volume One, Chapter I.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
a country person
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
Scottish philosopher of common sense who opposed the ideas of David Hume (1710-1796)
From this reading The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
plural of “stick” — an implement consisting of a length of wood
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
plural of “ti” — a light strong grey lustrous corrosion-resistant metallic element used in strong lightweight alloys (as for airplane parts); the main sources are rutile and ilmenite
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading 'Tis an encounter to challenge curiosity--even though she be but a gipsy, or a peasant girl gathering sticks.
the amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object
From this reading Volume One, Chapter I.
a Caucasian
From this reading The White Gauntlet, by Captain Mayne Reid.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.
the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
From this reading A woman in a wood--encountered accidentally, and alone.
Chapter 1 of The White Gauntlet by Mayne Reid 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 1 holds 433 sentences of The White Gauntlet, unabridged, divided into 87 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The White Gauntlet by Mayne Reid 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 1 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 White Gauntlet by Mayne Reid on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9053 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35702 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35702, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1811 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The White Gauntlet section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 22 chapters of The White Gauntlet 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 White Gauntlet, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
