Chapter 13 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary. “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station. No precautions avail. It smites them like the lightning from the sky. The fear of it walks everywhere.
Chapter 13 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
use to one's advantage
From this reading “No precautions avail.”
superlative of “black” — being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading ““Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.”
(of goods and merchandise) marked or labeled by a distinctive word or symbol indicating exclusive rights
From this reading ““The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.”
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading “It smites them like the lightning from the sky.”
plural of “merchant” — a businessperson engaged in retail trade
From this reading ““The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.”
plural of “official” — a worker who holds or is invested with an office
From this reading ““The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.”
plural of “precaution” — a precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.
From this reading “No precautions avail.”
plural of “walk” — the act of traveling by foot
From this reading “The fear of it walks everywhere.”
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 ““Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.”
In this reading “It smites them like the lightning from the sky.”
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 “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
use to one's advantage
From this reading No precautions avail.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
superlative of “black” — being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
(of goods and merchandise) marked or labeled by a distinctive word or symbol indicating exclusive rights
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
to or in any or all places
From this reading The fear of it walks everywhere.
be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event
From this reading The fear of it walks everywhere.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading It smites them like the lightning from the sky.
in a grave and sober manner
From this reading “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It smites them like the lightning from the sky.
abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light
From this reading It smites them like the lightning from the sky.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading It smites them like the lightning from the sky.
the force of workers available
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
plural of “merchant” — a businessperson engaged in retail trade
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
not any; not one
From this reading No precautions avail.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
plural of “official” — a worker who holds or is invested with an office
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
and nothing more
From this reading “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
plural of “precaution” — a precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.
From this reading No precautions avail.
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
a person who is head of an administrative department of government
From this reading “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading It smites them like the lightning from the sky.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It smites them like the lightning from the sky.
a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose
From this reading “The branded men have not been coolies, but officials, merchants, people of station.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading It smites them like the lightning from the sky.
in or at that place or location
From this reading “Ah, there is only the blackest darkness,” gravely replied the secretary.
plural of “walk” — the act of traveling by foot
From this reading The fear of it walks everywhere.
Chapter 13 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea by Ralph Delahaye Paine holds 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 420 sentences of The adventures of Captain O'Shea, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of The adventures of Captain O'Shea by Ralph Delahaye Paine exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 The adventures of Captain O'Shea by Ralph Delahaye Paine on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6959 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #73510 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #73510, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 579 minutes of reading across 1392 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The adventures of Captain O'Shea section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The adventures of Captain O'Shea 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 The adventures of Captain O'Shea, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
