Chapter XX of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys, “A Card from the Underworld,” is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter XX of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys, “A Card from the Underworld,” is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting: "Extra! Extra! All about the radio studio murder!" The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
Chapter XX of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys, “A Card from the Underworld,” is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 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.
accepted or habitual practice
From this reading “The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.”
represented as greater than is true or reasonable
From this reading “The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.”
more than is needed, desired, or required
From this reading “"Extra!”
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading “Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:”
plural of “newspaper” — a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements
From this reading “The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.”
medium for communication
From this reading “All about the radio studio murder!"”
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading “Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:”
workplace for the teaching or practice of an art
From this reading “All about the radio studio murder!"”
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.
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 newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading All about the radio studio murder!"
(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 All about the radio studio murder!"
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
From this reading Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
plural of “companion” — a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
accepted or habitual practice
From this reading The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
represented as greater than is true or reasonable
From this reading The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
more than is needed, desired, or required
From this reading "Extra!
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
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 Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading All about the radio studio murder!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
plural of “newspaper” — a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements
From this reading The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
medium for communication
From this reading All about the radio studio murder!"
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
workplace for the teaching or practice of an art
From this reading All about the radio studio murder!"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading All about the radio studio murder!"
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The newspapers, as is their custom, had exaggerated a little.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Long before Johnny and his companions were awake, newsboys were shouting:
Chapter 20 of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell holds 173 sentences, grouped into 35 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 20 holds 173 sentences of The Arrow of Fire: A Mystery Story for Boys, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 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 173 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 20 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.
