Chapter 12 of The Window-Gazer is here in full — 295 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Window-Gazer is here in full — 295 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee. "Mrs. Benis Hamilton Spence," she wrote. And then: "Mrs. B. Hamilton Spence." And then: "Mrs. Benis H. Spence." Over this last she sucked her pencil thoughtfully.
Chapter 12 of The Window-Gazer is here in full — 295 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/59 · 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.
in a serious manner
From this reading “Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.”
Irish mathematician (1806-1865)
From this reading “"Mrs. Benis Hamilton Spence," she wrote.”
hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading “Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.”
a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge
From this reading “Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.”
a thin cylindrical pointed writing implement; a rod of marking substance encased in wood
From this reading “Over this last she sucked her pencil thoughtfully.”
past form of “suck” — draw into the mouth by creating a practical vacuum in the mouth
From this reading “Over this last she sucked her pencil thoughtfully.”
in a thoughtful manner
From this reading “Over this last she sucked her pencil thoughtfully.”
the act of creating written works
From this reading “Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And then: "Mrs. B. Hamilton Spence."
aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil
From this reading And then: "Mrs. B. Hamilton Spence."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Mrs. Benis Hamilton Spence," she wrote.
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
in a serious manner
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
a nonmetallic univalent element that is normally a colorless and odorless highly flammable diatomic gas; the simplest and lightest and most abundant element in the universe
From this reading And then: "Mrs. Benis H. Spence."
Irish mathematician (1806-1865)
From this reading "Mrs. Benis Hamilton Spence," she wrote.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
immediately past
From this reading Over this last she sucked her pencil thoughtfully.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading "Mrs. Benis Hamilton Spence," she wrote.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
above and across; more than
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
a thin cylindrical pointed writing implement; a rod of marking substance encased in wood
From this reading Over this last she sucked her pencil thoughtfully.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Mrs. Benis Hamilton Spence," she wrote.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
past form of “suck” — draw into the mouth by creating a practical vacuum in the mouth
From this reading Over this last she sucked her pencil thoughtfully.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading And then: "Mrs. B. Hamilton Spence."
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Over this last she sucked her pencil thoughtfully.
in a thoughtful manner
From this reading Over this last she sucked her pencil thoughtfully.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
the act of creating written works
From this reading Desire Spence bent earnestly over the writing pad which lay open upon her knee.
inflected form of “write” — produce a literary work
From this reading "Mrs. Benis Hamilton Spence," she wrote.
Chapter 12 of The Window-Gazer by Isabel Ecclestone Mackay holds 295 sentences, grouped into 59 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 12 holds 295 sentences of The Window-Gazer, unabridged, divided into 59 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Window-Gazer by Isabel Ecclestone Mackay exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 295 sentences, grouped into 59 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 59 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 59 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 12 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 Window-Gazer by Isabel Ecclestone Mackay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7711 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4284 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4284, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1543 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Window-Gazer section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 38 chapters of The Window-Gazer 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 Window-Gazer, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
