Chapter 2 of Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective is here in full — 98 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective is here in full — 98 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
PROFESSOR DARLINGTON RUGGLES. It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment. The noted detective had outwitted him completely. It was humiliating, to say the least. "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
Chapter 2 of Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective is here in full — 98 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading “It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.”
a police officer who investigates crimes
From this reading “The noted detective had outwitted him completely.”
causing awareness of your shortcomings
From this reading “It was humiliating, to say the least.”
widely known and esteemed
From this reading “The noted detective had outwitted him completely.”
a feeling of righteous anger
From this reading “"This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.”
inflected form of “outwit” — beat through cleverness and wit
From this reading “The noted detective had outwitted him completely.”
a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
From this reading “"This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.”
United States telephone engineer who assisted Alexander Graham Bell in his experiments (1854-1934)
From this reading “It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.”
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 It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
the particular occupation for which you are trained
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading PROFESSOR DARLINGTON RUGGLES.
a police officer who investigates crimes
From this reading The noted detective had outwitted him completely.
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
set up or found
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The noted detective had outwitted him completely.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The noted detective had outwitted him completely.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
causing awareness of your shortcomings
From this reading It was humiliating, to say the least.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading It was humiliating, to say the least.
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
a particular point in time
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
widely known and esteemed
From this reading The noted detective had outwitted him completely.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
a feeling of righteous anger
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
inflected form of “outwit” — beat through cleverness and wit
From this reading The noted detective had outwitted him completely.
a human being
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university
From this reading PROFESSOR DARLINGTON RUGGLES.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading PROFESSOR DARLINGTON RUGGLES.
express in words
From this reading It was humiliating, to say the least.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was humiliating, to say the least.
United States telephone engineer who assisted Alexander Graham Bell in his experiments (1854-1934)
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It would be hard to find a more completely astounded person than the one calling himself Watson Wilks at that moment.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading "This is an outrage!" at length the young villain found voice to utter.
Chapter 2 of Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective by A. Frank Pinkerton holds 98 sentences, grouped into 20 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 2 holds 98 sentences of Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective by A. Frank Pinkerton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 98 sentences, grouped into 20 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 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 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 2 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 Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective by A. Frank Pinkerton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4163 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5901 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5901, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 346 minutes of reading across 833 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective 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 Dyke Darrel the Railroad Detective, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
