Chapter 2 of Twenty-Five Ghost Stories is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Twenty-Five Ghost Stories is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Really, it would not do to humor such fancies. So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience. I was puzzling where to put a seven of spades. ‘Where can it go?’ I murmured to myself.
Chapter 2 of Twenty-Five Ghost Stories is here in full — 424 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
a round fastener sewn to shirts and coats etc to fit through buttonholes
From this reading “So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.”
turn aside; turn away from
From this reading “So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.”
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading “So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.”
plural of “fancy” — something many people believe that is false
From this reading ““Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.”
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading ““Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.”
a person employed to carry luggage and supplies
From this reading “So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.”
not clear to the understanding
From this reading “I was puzzling where to put a seven of spades.”
plural of “spade” — a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
From this reading “I was puzzling where to put a seven of spades.”
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 “So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.”
In this reading “So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.”
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 So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
a flexible container with a single opening
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
a round fastener sewn to shirts and coats etc to fit through buttonholes
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading ‘Where can it go?’
a game played with playing cards
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
turn aside; turn away from
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.
using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
plural of “fancy” — something many people believe that is false
From this reading “Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
a contest with rules to determine a winner
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading ‘Where can it go?’
a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
From this reading “Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
past form of “murmur” — speak softly or indistinctly
From this reading I murmured to myself.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
used when the speaker is also the object of the action
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
arrange in a container
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
a person employed to carry luggage and supplies
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
past form of “proceed” — continue talking
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading I was puzzling where to put a seven of spades.
not clear to the understanding
From this reading I was puzzling where to put a seven of spades.
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading “Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.
the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
From this reading I was puzzling where to put a seven of spades.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
plural of “spade” — a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
From this reading I was puzzling where to put a seven of spades.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading “Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
the act of someone who picks up or takes something
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.
having come into contact
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was puzzling where to put a seven of spades.
in or at the place that
From this reading I was puzzling where to put a seven of spades.
in the company of; together with
From this reading So I touched the electric button, asked the porter to bring me a table, and taking from my bag a pack of cards, proceeded to divert myself with a game of patience.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading “Really, it would not do to humor such fancies.
Chapter 2 of Twenty-Five Ghost Stories by W. Bob (West Bob) [Editor] Holland holds 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 2 holds 424 sentences of Twenty-Five Ghost Stories, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Twenty-Five Ghost Stories by W. Bob (West Bob) [Editor] Holland exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 424 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 2 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 Twenty-Five Ghost Stories by W. Bob (West Bob) [Editor] Holland on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2958 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #53419 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #53419, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 246 minutes of reading across 592 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Twenty-Five Ghost Stories section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of Twenty-Five Ghost Stories 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 Twenty-Five Ghost Stories, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
