Chapter 20 of Ned Wilding's Disappearance is here in full — 97 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Ned Wilding's Disappearance is here in full — 97 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground. He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard. He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness. But the valise was gone. "Where in the world could it have disappeared to?"
Chapter 20 of Ned Wilding's Disappearance is here in full — 97 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.
the amount that many barrels might hold
From this reading “He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.”
plural of “box” — a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading “He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.”
past form of “crawl” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading “He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.”
structures collectively in which people are housed
From this reading “IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.”
especially of petals or leaves in bud; having margins rolled inward
From this reading “He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.”
a strong line
From this reading “He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.”
inflected form of “slip” — move stealthily
From this reading “He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.”
a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading “He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.”
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.
a house where rooms are rented
In this reading “IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.”
In this reading “IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.”
In this reading “He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.”
In this reading “"Where in the world could it have disappeared to?"”
In this reading “He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.”
In this reading “He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.”
lower (one's body) as by kneeling
In this reading “He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
the amount that many barrels might hold
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
plural of “box” — a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But the valise was gone.
a place off to the side of an area
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
past form of “crawl” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading "Where in the world could it have disappeared to?"
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
destroyed or killed
From this reading But the valise was gone.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
the solid part of the earth's surface
From this reading IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Where in the world could it have disappeared to?"
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
structures collectively in which people are housed
From this reading IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.
especially of petals or leaves in bud; having margins rolled inward
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
a strong line
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
inflected form of “slip” — move stealthily
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading IN THE LODGING HOUSE Ned felt around on the ground.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Where in the world could it have disappeared to?"
a small overnight bag for short trips
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading But the valise was gone.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading He got down on his knees and crawled about, looking among boxes and barrels, as well as he could in the darkness.
in or at the place that
From this reading "Where in the world could it have disappeared to?"
everything that exists anywhere
From this reading "Where in the world could it have disappeared to?"
a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading He thought the valise might have slipped from the rope and rolled away into some corner of the yard.
Chapter 20 of Ned Wilding's Disappearance by Allen Chapman holds 97 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 20 holds 97 sentences of Ned Wilding's Disappearance, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Ned Wilding's Disappearance by Allen Chapman exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 97 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 20 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 Ned Wilding's Disappearance by Allen Chapman on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3556 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37673 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37673, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 296 minutes of reading across 712 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Ned Wilding's Disappearance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of Ned Wilding's Disappearance 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 Ned Wilding's Disappearance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
