Chapter 16 of The Caves of Fear is here in full — 169 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVI
Chapter 16 of The Caves of Fear is here in full — 169 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column. His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling. He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more. He had lost count. But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
Chapter 16 of The Caves of Fear is here in full — 169 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 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.
past form of “ache” — feel physical pain
From this reading “His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.”
a line of units following one after another
From this reading “The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.”
past form of “droop” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading “His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.”
past form of “retrace” — to go back over again
From this reading “He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.”
a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (“rick” and “wrick” are British)
From this reading “The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.”
a cylinder of calcium carbonate projecting upward from the floor of a limestone cave
From this reading “The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.”
temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work
From this reading “His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.”
uttering a loud inarticulate cry as of pain or excitement
From this reading “His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.”
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 “He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.”
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 Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
past form of “ache” — feel physical pain
From this reading His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
a line of units following one after another
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
determine the number or amount of
From this reading He had lost count.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
From this reading He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.
past form of “droop” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.
plural of “friend” — a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading He had lost count.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.
verbal abuse; a crude substitute for argument
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
not one, and not any
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
and not; used after a negative to add a second negative
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.
plural of “passage” — the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
a result
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
past form of “retrace” — to go back over again
From this reading He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.
a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (“rick” and “wrick” are British)
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
a cylinder of calcium carbonate projecting upward from the floor of a limestone cave
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.
the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
The passage at the back of the mouth.
From this reading His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading He had retraced his steps a dozen times or more.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading But none of the passages took him back to his friends, nor had his yelling of their names brought a response.
temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work
From this reading His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The Lake of Darkness Rick sat with his back against the cold surface of a stalagmite column.
uttering a loud inarticulate cry as of pain or excitement
From this reading His head drooped with weariness and his throat ached from yelling.
Chapter 16 of The Caves of Fear by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin holds 169 sentences, grouped into 34 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 16 holds 169 sentences of The Caves of Fear, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 16 of The Caves of Fear by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 169 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 16 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 Caves of Fear by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4739 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32269 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32269, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 394 minutes of reading across 948 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Caves of Fear section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Caves of Fear 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 Caves of Fear, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
