Chapter 20 of The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service is here in full — 145 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service is here in full — 145 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run. Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump. "That--that was a mean trick," growled Sam. "I'll even up with you for that, Dan Davis!" Dan laughed happily.
Chapter 20 of The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service is here in full — 145 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
possessive form of “animal” — a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.”
cud-chewing mammal used as a draft or saddle animal in desert regions
From this reading “Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.”
English navigator who explored the Arctic while searching for the Northwest Passage (1550-1605)
From this reading “"I'll even up with you for that, Dan Davis!"”
past form of “growl” — to utter or emit low dull rumbling sounds
From this reading “"That--that was a mean trick," growled Sam.”
round one's back by bending forward and drawing the shoulders forward
From this reading “Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.”
rest one's weight on one's knees
From this reading “Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.”
plural of “mummy” — informal terms for a mother
From this reading “CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.”
-ing form of “perspire” — excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin
From this reading “Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.”
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 “"That--that was a mean trick," growled Sam.”
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 CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
possessive form of “animal” — a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
a youthful male person
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
the particular occupation for which you are trained
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
cud-chewing mammal used as a draft or saddle animal in desert regions
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
the helmsman of a ship's boat or a racing crew
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'll even up with you for that, Dan Davis!"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
English navigator who explored the Arctic while searching for the Northwest Passage (1550-1605)
From this reading "I'll even up with you for that, Dan Davis!"
divisible by two
From this reading "I'll even up with you for that, Dan Davis!"
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
past form of “growl” — to utter or emit low dull rumbling sounds
From this reading "That--that was a mean trick," growled Sam.
in a joyous manner
From this reading Dan laughed happily.
round one's back by bending forward and drawing the shoulders forward
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'll even up with you for that, Dan Davis!"
rest one's weight on one's knees
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading Dan laughed happily.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading "That--that was a mean trick," growled Sam.
a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
plural of “mummy” — informal terms for a mother
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
inflected form of “permit” — consent to, give permission
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
-ing form of “perspire” — excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
a guided missile fired from land or shipboard against an airborne target
From this reading "That--that was a mean trick," growled Sam.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "That--that was a mean trick," growled Sam.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading CALLING ON THE MUMMIES For a full mile they made the red-headed boy run.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
a cunning or deceitful action or device
From this reading "That--that was a mean trick," growled Sam.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "I'll even up with you for that, Dan Davis!"
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Then, at Dan's command, a camel was made to kneel, and the perspiring coxswain was permitted to climb the animal's hump.
in the company of; together with
From this reading "I'll even up with you for that, Dan Davis!"
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "I'll even up with you for that, Dan Davis!"
Chapter 20 of The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service by Frank Gee Patchin holds 145 sentences, grouped into 29 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 145 sentences of The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service by Frank Gee Patchin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 145 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 Battleship Boys in Foreign Service by Frank Gee Patchin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3444 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #42940 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #42940, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 287 minutes of reading across 689 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 21 chapters of The Battleship Boys in Foreign Service 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 Battleship Boys in Foreign Service, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
