Chapter 9 of Sight Unseen is here in full — 240 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Sight Unseen is here in full — 240 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry. We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house. While the night was clear, the place lay in comparative darkness. Sperry stumbled over something, and muttered to himself. The rear porch lay in deep shadow.
Chapter 9 of Sight Unseen is here in full — 240 sentences across 48 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/48 · 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.
rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material
From this reading “We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.”
relating to or based on or involving comparison
From this reading “While the night was clear, the place lay in comparative darkness.”
past form of “emerge” — come out into view, as from concealment
From this reading “We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.”
plural of “key” — metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading ““In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.”
a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance
From this reading “The rear porch lay in deep shadow.”
something reduced to its minimal form
From this reading ““In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.”
United States engineer and inventor of the gyrocompass (1860-1930)
From this reading ““In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.”
past form of “stumble” — walk unsteadily
From this reading “Sperry stumbled over something, and muttered to himself.”
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 “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
an occurrence of something
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
rid of obstructions
From this reading While the night was clear, the place lay in comparative darkness.
relating to or based on or involving comparison
From this reading While the night was clear, the place lay in comparative darkness.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading While the night was clear, the place lay in comparative darkness.
relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
From this reading The rear porch lay in deep shadow.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
past form of “emerge” — come out into view, as from concealment
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
shoot down, of birds
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Sperry stumbled over something, and muttered to himself.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
plural of “key” — metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
past form of “lock” — fasten with a lock
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
past form of “mutter” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading Sperry stumbled over something, and muttered to himself.
make or become more narrow or restricted
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading While the night was clear, the place lay in comparative darkness.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
above and across; more than
From this reading Sperry stumbled over something, and muttered to himself.
the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading While the night was clear, the place lay in comparative darkness.
a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance
From this reading The rear porch lay in deep shadow.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
the back of a military formation or procession
From this reading The rear porch lay in deep shadow.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
From this reading The rear porch lay in deep shadow.
something reduced to its minimal form
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading Sperry stumbled over something, and muttered to himself.
United States engineer and inventor of the gyrocompass (1860-1930)
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
make square
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
past form of “stumble” — walk unsteadily
From this reading Sperry stumbled over something, and muttered to himself.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “In case the door is locked, I have a few skeleton keys,” said Sperry.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Sperry stumbled over something, and muttered to himself.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading While the night was clear, the place lay in comparative darkness.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We had reached the end of the narrow passage, and emerged into the square of brick and grass that lay behind the house.
during the time that
From this reading While the night was clear, the place lay in comparative darkness.
Chapter 9 of Sight Unseen by Mary Roberts Rinehart holds 240 sentences, grouped into 48 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 9 holds 240 sentences of Sight Unseen, unabridged, divided into 48 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Sight Unseen by Mary Roberts Rinehart exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 240 sentences, grouped into 48 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 48 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 48 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 9 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 Sight Unseen by Mary Roberts Rinehart on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2646 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1960 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1960, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 220 minutes of reading across 530 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Sight Unseen section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 11 chapters of Sight Unseen 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 Sight Unseen, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
