Chapter 13 of Priscilla's Spies is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of Priscilla's Spies is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay. Beneath him lay his boat. The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her. She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay. Her sails and gear lay in confusion on her thwarts.
Chapter 13 of Priscilla's Spies is here in full — 215 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/43 · 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.
Roman general under Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars; repudiated his wife for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra; they were defeated by Octavian at Actium (83-30 BC)
From this reading “Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.”
the act of suspending something (hanging it from above so it moves freely)
From this reading “Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.”
a toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion
From this reading “Her sails and gear lay in confusion on her thwarts.”
a projection or ridge that suggests a keel
From this reading “She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.”
a place where a craft can be made fast
From this reading “She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.”
wharf usually built parallel to the shoreline
From this reading “Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.”
plural of “rope” — a strong line
From this reading “She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.”
plural of “thwart” — a crosspiece spreading the gunnels of a boat; used as a seat in a rowboat
From this reading “Her sails and gear lay in confusion on her thwarts.”
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.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
Roman general under Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars; repudiated his wife for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra; they were defeated by Octavian at Actium (83-30 BC)
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
Directly under; in or to a lower position than.
From this reading Beneath him lay his boat.
a small vessel for travel on water
From this reading Beneath him lay his boat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
disorder resulting from a failure to behave predictably
From this reading Her sails and gear lay in confusion on her thwarts.
the act of suspending something (hanging it from above so it moves freely)
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
the boundary of a surface
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
divisible by two
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
quickly or rapidly (often used as a combining form)
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
past form of “float” — be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
a toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion
From this reading Her sails and gear lay in confusion on her thwarts.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Beneath him lay his boat.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Her sails and gear lay in confusion on her thwarts.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
a projection or ridge that suggests a keel
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Beneath him lay his boat.
staying power
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
a place where a craft can be made fast
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
above and across; more than
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
wharf usually built parallel to the shoreline
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
plural of “rope” — a strong line
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
plural of “sail” — a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel
From this reading Her sails and gear lay in confusion on her thwarts.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
sustained or maintained by aid (as distinct from physical support)
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
United States clockmaker who introduced mass production (1785-1859)
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
plural of “thwart” — a crosspiece spreading the gunnels of a boat; used as a seat in a rowboat
From this reading Her sails and gear lay in confusion on her thwarts.
the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She was supported on an even keel by the mooring ropes made fast from her bow and stern to bollards on the quay.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Thomas Antony Kinsella sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the quay.
but in spite of that
From this reading The tide was flowing, but it had not yet floated her.
Chapter 13 of Priscilla's Spies by George A. Birmingham holds 215 sentences, grouped into 43 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 13 holds 215 sentences of Priscilla's Spies, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of Priscilla's Spies by George A. Birmingham exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 215 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 13 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 Priscilla's Spies by George A. Birmingham on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5408 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #21394 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #21394, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 450 minutes of reading across 1082 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Priscilla's Spies section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of Priscilla's Spies 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 Priscilla's Spies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
