Chapter XXX of Billy Mink, “Billy Trails His Breakfast,” is here in full — 41 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXX of Billy Mink, “Billy Trails His Breakfast,” is here in full — 41 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend. _Billy Mink._ Billy Mink had overslept. This was very unusual for Billy. Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast. But this morning Billy had overslept.
Chapter XXX of Billy Mink, “Billy Trails His Breakfast,” is here in full — 41 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/8 · 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 short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading “_Billy Mink._ Billy Mink had overslept.”
a person who operates a farm
From this reading “Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast.”
the quality of being warmhearted and considerate and humane and sympathetic
From this reading “Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.”
the expensive fur of a mink
From this reading “_Billy Mink._ Billy Mink had overslept.”
inflected form of “oversleep” — sleep longer than intended
From this reading “_Billy Mink._ Billy Mink had overslept.”
having intellectual depth
From this reading “Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.”
not usual or common or ordinary
From this reading “This was very unusual for Billy.”
be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious
From this reading “Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.”
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.
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 Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading _Billy Mink._ Billy Mink had overslept.
confined by bonds
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
eat an early morning meal
From this reading Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But this morning Billy had overslept.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
a person who operates a farm
From this reading Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading _Billy Mink._ Billy Mink had overslept.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
the quality of being warmhearted and considerate and humane and sympathetic
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
the expensive fur of a mink
From this reading _Billy Mink._ Billy Mink had overslept.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading But this morning Billy had overslept.
inflected form of “oversleep” — sleep longer than intended
From this reading _Billy Mink._ Billy Mink had overslept.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This was very unusual for Billy.
having intellectual depth
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
not usual or common or ordinary
From this reading This was very unusual for Billy.
under normal conditions
From this reading Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast.
precisely as stated
From this reading This was very unusual for Billy.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This was very unusual for Billy.
the act of observing; taking a patient look
From this reading Usually he was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast.
be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Thoughtful kindness in the end Is bound to win for you a friend.
Chapter 30 of Billy Mink by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess holds 41 sentences, grouped into 9 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 30 holds 41 sentences of Billy Mink, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 30 of Billy Mink by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 41 sentences, grouped into 9 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 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 9 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 30 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 Billy Mink by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1407 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65308 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65308, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 117 minutes of reading across 282 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Billy Mink section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Billy Mink 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 Billy Mink, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
