Chapter 4 of Cole of Spyglass Mountain is here in full — 250 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Cole of Spyglass Mountain is here in full — 250 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot. Girls had meant little to him. There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two. This was different. In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
Chapter 4 of Cole of Spyglass Mountain is here in full — 250 sentences across 50 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/50 · 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 hardy cabbage with coarse curly leaves that do not form a head
From this reading “In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.”
any of the short curved hairs that grow from the edges of the eyelids
From this reading “In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.”
past form of “fumble” — feel about uncertainly or blindly
From this reading “THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.”
(Old Testament) Moses' successor who led the Israelites into the Promised Land; best remembered for his destruction of Jericho
From this reading “THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.”
possessive form of “joshua” — (Old Testament) Moses' successor who led the Israelites into the Promised Land; best remembered for his destruction of Jericho
moderate in type or degree or effect or force; far from extreme
From this reading “There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.”
plural of “strap” — an elongated leather strip (or a strip of similar material) for binding things together or holding something in position
From this reading “THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.”
a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly
From this reading “In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.”
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 “In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.”
In this reading “THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.”
suffer from a disease that kills shoots
In this reading “There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.”
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 There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
matters of personal concern
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
a hardy cabbage with coarse curly leaves that do not form a head
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
a pair who associate with one another
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
unlike in nature or quality or form or degree
From this reading This was different.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
plural of “ear” — the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
any of the short curved hairs that grow from the edges of the eyelids
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
plural of “finger” — any of the terminal members of the hand (sometimes excepting the thumb)
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
A hot glowing body of ignited gas produced by fire.
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
past form of “fumble” — feel about uncertainly or blindly
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
plural of “girl” — a young female
From this reading Girls had meant little to him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Girls had meant little to him.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
plural of “heel” — the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Girls had meant little to him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
(Old Testament) Moses' successor who led the Israelites into the Promised Land; best remembered for his destruction of Jericho
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
possessive form of “joshua” — (Old Testament) Moses' successor who led the Israelites into the Promised Land; best remembered for his destruction of Jericho
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Girls had meant little to him.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
inflected form of “mean” — mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading Girls had meant little to him.
moderate in type or degree or effect or force; far from extreme
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
above and across; more than
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
plural of “strap” — an elongated leather strip (or a strip of similar material) for binding things together or holding something in position
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This was different.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Girls had meant little to him.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This was different.
a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly
From this reading In the winking of an eyelash Joshua Cole was head over heels in love.
in the company of; together with
From this reading THE GYPO QUEEN JOSHUA’S fingers fumbled with the straps of the roller-skates, and his ears felt hot.
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading There had been a couple or more mild affairs, but the flame had died down within a day or two.
Chapter 4 of Cole of Spyglass Mountain by Arthur Preston Hankins holds 250 sentences, grouped into 50 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 4 holds 250 sentences of Cole of Spyglass Mountain, unabridged, divided into 50 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Cole of Spyglass Mountain by Arthur Preston Hankins exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 250 sentences, grouped into 50 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 50 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 50 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 4 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 Cole of Spyglass Mountain by Arthur Preston Hankins on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6035 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #74690 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #74690, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 502 minutes of reading across 1207 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Cole of Spyglass Mountain section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of Cole of Spyglass Mountain 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 Cole of Spyglass Mountain, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
