Chapter 18 of Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent is here in full — 101 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent is here in full — 101 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
GONE! The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk. "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said. "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone." The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
Chapter 18 of Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent is here in full — 101 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/20 · 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.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading “The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.”
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading “The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.”
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading “The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.”
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading “The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.”
comparative of “safe” — free from danger or the risk of harm
From this reading “"It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.”
plural of “shadow” — shade within clear boundaries
From this reading “The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.”
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading “"It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.”
uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination
From this reading “The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.”
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 words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.”
be restored
In this reading “The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.”
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 The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
Having no one else present.
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
earlier than; in front of
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
divisible by two
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
destroyed or killed
From this reading GONE!
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
plural of “head” — the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
and nothing more
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
comparative of “safe” — free from danger or the risk of harm
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
plural of “shadow” — shade within clear boundaries
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
in contact with each other or in proximity
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "Now that Drevenoff is gone for the night, we should have been alone."
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "It will be so much safer to have a man about the place, even though a sick one," she had said.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The two shadows remained with heads held close together for some little time.
the words that are spoken
From this reading The words of old Nanon, spoken only a few hours before, came back to Ashton-Kirk.
Chapter 18 of Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent by John T. (John Thomas) McIntyre holds 101 sentences, grouped into 21 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 18 holds 101 sentences of Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent by John T. (John Thomas) McIntyre exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 101 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 18 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 Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent by John T. (John Thomas) McIntyre on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4505 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #39940 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #39940, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 375 minutes of reading across 901 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent 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 Ashton-Kirk, Secret Agent, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
