Chapter 5 of Prentice Mulford's story is here in full — 115 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Prentice Mulford's story is here in full — 115 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SAN FRANCISCO IN 1856. The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight. It was the first land we had seen for four months. We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us. The ship was tied up to the wharf.
Chapter 5 of Prentice Mulford's story is here in full — 115 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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.
past form of “anchor” — fix firmly and stably
From this reading “We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us.”
the month following July and preceding September
From this reading “The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.”
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading “The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.”
maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)
From this reading “We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us.”
past form of “sail” — traverse or travel on (a body of water)
From this reading “The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.”
bound or secured closely
From this reading “The ship was tied up to the wharf.”
a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats
From this reading “The ship was tied up to the wharf.”
someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
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 “It was the first land we had seen for four months.”
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
In this reading “The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.”
In this reading “We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us.”
at or within a reasonable distance for seeing
In this reading “The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SAN FRANCISCO IN 1856.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
past form of “anchor” — fix firmly and stably
From this reading We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
the month following July and preceding September
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
sloping land (especially the slope beside a body of water)
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SAN FRANCISCO IN 1856.
a movable barrier in a fence or wall
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)
From this reading We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading SAN FRANCISCO IN 1856.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
the land on which real estate is located
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us.
plural of “month” — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
on one occasion
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
past form of “sail” — traverse or travel on (a body of water)
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SAN FRANCISCO IN 1856.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
transport commercially
From this reading The ship was tied up to the wharf.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
bound or secured closely
From this reading The ship was tied up to the wharf.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The ship was tied up to the wharf.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading The ship was tied up to the wharf.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading We sailed into the harbor, anchored, and the San Francisco of 1856 lay before us.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading It was the first land we had seen for four months.
a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats
From this reading The ship was tied up to the wharf.
someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
From this reading The _Wizard_ sailed through a great bank of fog one August morning and all at once the headlands of the Golden Gate came in sight.
Chapter 5 of Prentice Mulford's story by Prentice Mulford holds 115 sentences, grouped into 23 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 5 holds 115 sentences of Prentice Mulford's story, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Prentice Mulford's story by Prentice Mulford exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 115 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 5 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.
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Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Prentice Mulford's story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Prentice Mulford's story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
