Chapter XXI of Whispers at Dawn, “Christmas Eve,” is here in full — 163 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXI of Whispers at Dawn, “Christmas Eve,” is here in full — 163 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one: "Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me. It is for the good of all. You owe us more than you know. It is we who beautified your living quarters.
Chapter XXI of Whispers at Dawn, “Christmas Eve,” is here in full — 163 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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.
fail to do something; leave something undone
From this reading “"Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.”
deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
From this reading “The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:”
past form of “insist” — be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
From this reading “"Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.”
be obliged to pay or repay
From this reading “You owe us more than you know.”
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading “The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:”
housing available for people to live in
From this reading “It is we who beautified your living quarters.”
On the present night.
From this reading “"Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.”
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading “The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:”
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 “The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:”
housing available for people to live in
In this reading “It is we who beautified your living quarters.”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading It is for the good of all.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
past form of “arrive” — reach a destination; arrive by movement or progress
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It is we who beautified your living quarters.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
the first light of day
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
fail to do something; leave something undone
From this reading "Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It is for the good of all.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading It is for the good of all.
(Christian theology) a state of sanctification by God; the state of one who is under such divine influence
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
past form of “insist” — be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
From this reading "Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It is for the good of all.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading You owe us more than you know.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading It is we who beautified your living quarters.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading You owe us more than you know.
of an obscure nature
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
be obliged to pay or repay
From this reading You owe us more than you know.
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
housing available for people to live in
From this reading It is we who beautified your living quarters.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading You owe us more than you know.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
very small
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
On the present night.
From this reading "Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading You owe us more than you know.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading It is we who beautified your living quarters.
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
which person or people
From this reading It is we who beautified your living quarters.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The dawn of the day before Christmas arrived and with it, in Grace Krowl's tiny parlor, came the hoarse whisper of the mysterious one:
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Tonight," it insisted, "you will not fail me.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading It is we who beautified your living quarters.
Chapter 21 of Whispers at Dawn by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell holds 163 sentences, grouped into 33 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 21 holds 163 sentences of Whispers at Dawn, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 21 of Whispers at Dawn by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 163 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 21 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 Whispers at Dawn by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3942 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #43677 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #43677, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 328 minutes of reading across 789 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Whispers at Dawn section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Whispers at Dawn 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 Whispers at Dawn, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
