1896
PERSONS.
The Master .
The Millionaire .
His Pupil .
A Girl , his Daughter.
A Young Lieutenant .
An Old Pressman .
A workshop in the midst of a vast city and high above it. Wide windows command the roofs that shelter a million people and the harbor to which has come for generations the tribute of a world. A high wind sweeps freely round; it causes the defiant flaunting of a myriad flags — but the same flag always, and it will bring at intervals great swirling clouds of dun and pungent smoke. Outside the harbor one sees an aggregation of enormous ironclads, whose flag is not the flag above the roofs all round about: the clouds of smoke, too, will come from that same quarter, for the smoke is to be the smoke of battle.
The room is cumbered with the varied apparatus of science, and through every window the air is seen to be cut by the black lines of multitudes of wires that radiate to every point of the compass.
The Master, a grave, self-absorbed man of thirty-five, stands looking out at one of the windows. No one can be sure of what he sees, or of his seeing anything at all; it can only be certain that his hands, with corded veins and half-purpled nails, are strained in a motionless and viselike grip behind his back.
( a young fellow of twenty ).
Contains
8 words
in
1 sentence
using
40 chars
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( his arm in a sling ).
Contains
11 words
in
1 sentence
using
47 chars
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Contains
7 words
in
1 sentence
using
37 chars
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( his hand in his pocket ).
Contains
9 words
in
1 sentence
using
43 chars
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Contains
7 words
in
1 sentence
using
42 chars
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Contains
6 words
in
1 sentence
using
31 chars
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Contains
8 words
in
1 sentence
using
43 chars
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Contains
1 word
in
1 sentence
using
8 chars
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Contains
22 words
in
3 sentences
using
121 chars
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[From the sea there comes suddenly a dull roar; the battle-ships are at once half-lost in their own smoke. The Master gives a quick start.]
Contains
11 words
in
2 sentences
using
62 chars
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Contains
27 words
in
3 sentences
using
136 chars
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( to the Master ).
Contains
15 words
in
2 sentences
using
86 chars
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Contains
81 words
in
5 sentences
using
421 chars
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[A shell from the sea flies in a long curve through the air and explodes disastrously not half a mile away. There is a feeble response from shore. And from the roofs of the city, black with people, thousands of invoking arms and thousands of imploring voices are sent upward to the Master's tower.]
Contains
8 words
in
3 sentences
using
38 chars
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10 words
in
1 sentence
using
55 chars
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Contains
6 words
in
1 sentence
using
34 chars
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Contains
11 words
in
1 sentence
using
62 chars
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10 words
in
1 sentence
using
66 chars
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Contains
17 words
in
2 sentences
using
82 chars
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25 words
in
1 sentence
using
116 chars
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Contains
10 words
in
1 sentence
using
49 chars
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13 words
in
2 sentences
using
64 chars
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Contains
16 words
in
4 sentences
using
79 chars
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( sweeping his hand aside ).
Contains
72 words
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3 sentences
using
351 chars
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20 words
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2 sentences
using
92 chars
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8 words
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2 sentences
using
31 chars
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9 words
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2 sentences
using
41 chars
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Contains
9 words
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2 sentences
using
52 chars
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Contains
8 words
in
1 sentence
using
50 chars
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Contains
31 words
in
4 sentences
using
146 chars
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Contains
64 words
in
4 sentences
using
361 chars
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Contains
5 words
in
1 sentence
using
26 chars
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( turning slowly ).
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23 words
in
2 sentences
using
113 chars
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Contains
5 words
in
1 sentence
using
36 chars
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( looking through his glass ).
Contains
40 words
in
3 sentences
using
214 chars
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[Another dull roar is heard, and again a great smoke-cloud obscures the harbor. The wind sweeps over the populous roofs at a wilder pace and bears the fumes of battle with it. The flags below flaunt with a fiercer defiance, but one of them, not a furlong distant, now flaps all torn and shredded in the gale. A shell strikes the proud building above which it rises.]
Contains
68 words
in
8 sentences
using
394 chars
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Contains
26 words
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3 sentences
using
132 chars
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Contains
11 words
in
1 sentence
using
58 chars
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Contains
11 words
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1 sentence
using
61 chars
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Contains
7 words
in
1 sentence
using
39 chars
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Contains
8 words
in
1 sentence
using
34 chars
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( to the Pupil , with a melancholy smile which ignores the others ).
Contains
10 words
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2 sentences
using
48 chars
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[A wild tumult of yells ascends from the street. And there is a medley of scuffles and cries on the other side of the workshop door.]
Contains
23 words
in
2 sentences
using
120 chars
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Contains
35 words
in
5 sentences
using
183 chars
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( ironically ).
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16 words
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2 sentences
using
75 chars
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8 words
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2 sentences
using
38 chars
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( hastening to his side and speaking in a low, hurried tone ).
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36 words
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3 sentences
using
181 chars
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( with an embarrassed smile ).
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47 words
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2 sentences
using
243 chars
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6 words
in
1 sentence
using
29 chars
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( aloud, to the Girl ).
Contains
6 words
in
1 sentence
using
29 chars
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[The Girl scans the harbor; then she looks into the Master's face and silently shrinks away.]
( to himself ).
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17 words
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3 sentences
using
77 chars
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Contains
20 words
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2 sentences
using
80 chars
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[The Girl looks at him with a startled admiration; then she lays a detaining hand upon his arm.]
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15 words
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1 sentence
using
68 chars
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21 words
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1 sentence
using
94 chars
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2 words
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2 sentences
using
14 chars
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[Renewed disorder outside the door. Cries of "Hold him back!" "No favor must be shown!" "He cannot enter unless we enter too!" The Pressman precipitates himself into the room, with torn clothes and bleeding face.]
( calling back ).
Contains
18 words
in
1 sentence
using
83 chars
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[He slams the door and braces himself against it. The Pupil hastens to strengthen his resistance.]
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6 words
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1 sentence
using
25 chars
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Contains
23 words
in
5 sentences
using
116 chars
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12 words
in
2 sentences
using
51 chars
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( recovering his breath, to the Master ).
Contains
23 words
in
6 sentences
using
116 chars
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8 words
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2 sentences
using
38 chars
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80 words
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6 sentences
using
385 chars
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8 words
in
1 sentence
using
46 chars
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Contains
25 words
in
3 sentences
using
104 chars
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( pinning him in his arms and throwing him back ).
Contains
17 words
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3 sentences
using
91 chars
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[Another cannonade from the sea. A shell explodes within a hundred yards of the Master's tower and tears to sudden tatters the flag that strains in the gale from his window-ledge.]
Contains
10 words
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2 sentences
using
48 chars
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Contains
10 words
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2 sentences
using
50 chars
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[The Master , standing at his table with a drooping head, takes a deep reluctant breath and applies a long slow pressure to one of the keys. There is a vast and instantaneous response. He remains standing in an unaltered attitude, but the others, hastening to the window, see what no man has ever seen before, and hear what no man has ever heard. New forces have been summoned from the water and from the air and find themselves for the first time face to face in the service of man. The darkened sky seems full of vast gleaming scimitars; the sea splits widely into a great yawning chasm; the land rocks, and immeasurable clouds compounded of smoke and of spray and of new things yet without a name reel madly over the town and past the tower: for the elements of the elements have been loosed at last, and in a wider way than one has ever dared to dream the work of creation has been undone.]
( exultingly, though nothing can yet be distinguished within the area where the cloud and the noise have alike been generated ).
Contains
10 words
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1 sentence
using
55 chars
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( dazed ).
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4 words
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1 sentence
using
20 chars
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( perversely ).
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1 word
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1 sentence
using
8 chars
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( trying to look toward the Master ).
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4 words
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1 sentence
using
17 chars
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( immovable, with eyes still downcast ).
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3 words
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1 sentence
using
19 chars
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( struggling to master his own awe ).
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6 words
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1 sentence
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25 chars
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31 words
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2 sentences
using
164 chars
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11 words
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2 sentences
using
51 chars
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Contains
31 words
in
2 sentences
using
159 chars
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Contains
17 words
in
3 sentences
using
88 chars
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[The Master raises his eyes for the first time and looks toward the Girl . She, all a-tremble, refuses to meet his gaze. Instead, she looks out toward the sea, from which the great cloud is lifting and blowing away. She sees only a mass of rolling billows upon which no single vestige of human life or of human craft is visible. With an hysterical shudder she clasps her hands across her eyes.]
Contains
20 words
in
3 sentences
using
105 chars
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[The Master drops his head sadly. At the same time a wild shout of triumph rises from the roofs and from the streets, and a thousand feet are heard to be swarming up the stairs.]
( with a mounting fear ).
Contains
6 words
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2 sentences
using
30 chars
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Contains
10 words
in
1 sentence
using
43 chars
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( without looking up ).
Contains
12 words
in
2 sentences
using
63 chars
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[The Girl , accompanied by her Father and the Lieutenant , retires through a small door on the other side.]
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7 words
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1 sentence
using
33 chars
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Contains
26 words
in
2 sentences
using
119 chars
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Contains
18 words
in
1 sentence
using
104 chars
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[The Master smiles a melancholy and ironical smile.]
Contains
25 words
in
2 sentences
using
124 chars
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Contains
11 words
in
2 sentences
using
58 chars
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Contains
1 word
in
1 sentence
using
4 chars
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Contains
31 words
in
1 sentence
using
174 chars
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Contains
8 words
in
1 sentence
using
34 chars
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Contains
1 word
in
1 sentence
using
8 chars
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Contains
37 words
in
1 sentence
using
190 chars
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Contains
17 words
in
2 sentences
using
90 chars
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Contains
1 word
in
1 sentence
using
9 chars
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Contains
23 words
in
1 sentence
using
126 chars
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Contains
8 words
in
2 sentences
using
38 chars
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( glancing sidewise toward the private door ).
Contains
3 words
in
1 sentence
using
13 chars
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[The Millionaire and the Lieutenant appear, leading back the Girl from the inner room.]
Contains
16 words
in
2 sentences
using
70 chars
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( advancing toward the Girl ).
Contains
11 words
in
3 sentences
using
57 chars
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( indignantly ).
Contains
18 words
in
1 sentence
using
75 chars
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( upon the verge of hysterics, as she clutches the Lieutenant's arm ).
Contains
17 words
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2 sentences
using
61 chars
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Contains
6 words
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1 sentence
using
22 chars
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Contains
18 words
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2 sentences
using
76 chars
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Contains
45 words
in
3 sentences
using
238 chars
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Contains
45 words
in
1 sentence
using
245 chars
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( sadly ).
Contains
2 words
in
1 sentence
using
8 chars
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Contains
11 words
in
2 sentences
using
55 chars
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Contains
14 words
in
2 sentences
using
72 chars
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[The sound of a key is heard in the outer door, and the scuffling and struggling is renewed.]
Contains
6 words
in
2 sentences
using
29 chars
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Contains
18 words
in
2 sentences
using
81 chars
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Contains
6 words
in
1 sentence
using
28 chars
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( retiring, with the others, to the inner room ).
Contains
9 words
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1 sentence
using
51 chars
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Contains
9 words
in
1 sentence
using
49 chars
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[The Master and his Pupil remain there alone, to oppose the wreckage threatened by a pressing and enthusiastic populace.]