Chapter 1 of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys is here in full — 206 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys is here in full — 206 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight. The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black. There was no moon. The stars burned queer bright holes in the blue-black glass. The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
Chapter 1 of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys is here in full — 206 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/41 · 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.
largest city in Illinois; a bustling Great Lakes port that extends 26 miles along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan
From this reading “The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.”
the skilled practice of a practical occupation
From this reading “The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.”
past form of “glide” — move smoothly and effortlessly
From this reading “The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.”
plural of “hole” — an opening into or through something
From this reading “The stars burned queer bright holes in the blue-black glass.”
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading “The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.”
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.”
a small wave on the surface of a liquid
From this reading “The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.”
only a very short time before
From this reading “The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.”
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 “The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.”
In this reading “The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.”
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 The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
of black tinged with blue
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading The stars burned queer bright holes in the blue-black glass.
treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point
From this reading The stars burned queer bright holes in the blue-black glass.
past form of “cause” — give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
largest city in Illinois; a bustling Great Lakes port that extends 26 miles along the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
an odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
the skilled practice of a practical occupation
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
past form of “glide” — move smoothly and effortlessly
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
plural of “hole” — an opening into or through something
From this reading The stars burned queer bright holes in the blue-black glass.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The stars burned queer bright holes in the blue-black glass.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading There was no moon.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
not any; not one
From this reading There was no moon.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading The stars burned queer bright holes in the blue-black glass.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
a small wave on the surface of a liquid
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
only a very short time before
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
plural of “star” — (astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading The stars burned queer bright holes in the blue-black glass.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was no moon.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading The long, low craft that glided through the water caused scarce a ripple.
United States actress and singer (1896-1977)
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The waters of Lake Michigan were like glass, smooth glass, miles of it, blue-black.
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago New York It was midnight.
Chapter 1 of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell holds 206 sentences, grouped into 42 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 1 holds 206 sentences of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 206 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 1 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 Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4592 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #43263 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #43263, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 382 minutes of reading across 919 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys 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 Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
