Chapter 39 of Within an Inch of His Life is here in full — 262 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter 39 of Within an Inch of His Life is here in full — 262 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Involuntarily, you mean?" "Quite by my own free will! Just ask the sergeant." The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth. Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
Chapter 39 of Within an Inch of His Life is here in full — 262 sentences across 53 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/52 · 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 building or group of buildings used to house military personnel
From this reading “Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.”
a tight-fitting headdress
From this reading “The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.”
against your will
From this reading “"Involuntarily, you mean?"”
completely unclothed
From this reading “The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.”
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading “Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.”
made known or told about; especially presented in a formal account
From this reading “The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.”
any of several noncommissioned officer ranks in the Army or Air Force or Marines ranking above a corporal
From this reading “Just ask the sergeant."”
acceptance of despair
From this reading “Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.”
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 Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Just ask the sergeant."
a building or group of buildings used to house military personnel
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading "Quite by my own free will!
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
a tight-fitting headdress
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
grant freedom to; free from confinement
From this reading "Quite by my own free will!
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
against your will
From this reading "Involuntarily, you mean?"
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
and nothing more
From this reading Just ask the sergeant."
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading "Involuntarily, you mean?"
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "Quite by my own free will!
completely unclothed
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading "Quite by my own free will!
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading "Quite by my own free will!
made known or told about; especially presented in a formal account
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
any of several noncommissioned officer ranks in the Army or Air Force or Marines ranking above a corporal
From this reading Just ask the sergeant."
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
acceptance of despair
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Just ask the sergeant."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
having come into contact
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Trumence came himself to our barrack, and said, 'I surrender as a prisoner.
a fact that has been verified
From this reading The sergeant stepped forward, touched his cap, and reported,-- "That is the naked truth.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "Quite by my own free will!
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Involuntarily, you mean?"
Chapter 39 of Within an Inch of His Life by Emile Gaboriau holds 262 sentences, grouped into 53 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 39 holds 262 sentences of Within an Inch of His Life, unabridged, divided into 53 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 39 of Within an Inch of His Life by Emile Gaboriau exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 262 sentences, grouped into 53 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 53 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 53 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 39 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 Within an Inch of His Life by Emile Gaboriau on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10818 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3336 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3336, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2164 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Within an Inch of His Life section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Within an Inch of His Life 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 Within an Inch of His Life, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
