Chapter 9 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"We may have a long vigil," the editor warned. "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust." Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes. Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry. "See anyone?" she whispered, scanning the street below.
Chapter 9 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 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.
a bell tower; usually stands alone unattached to a building
From this reading “Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.”
ruin completely
From this reading “"In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."”
a person responsible for the editorial aspects of publication; the person who determines the final content of a text (especially of a newspaper or magazine)
From this reading “"We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.”
-ing form of “maintain” — cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading “Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.”
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading “Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.”
in a restless manner
From this reading “Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.”
the process of translating photographs into a digital form that can be recognized by a computer
From this reading “"See anyone?" she whispered, scanning the street below.”
a period of sleeplessness
From this reading “"We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.”
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 “Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.”
In this reading “Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.”
In this reading “"We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.”
In this reading “"In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."”
be shown or be found to be
In this reading “"In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."”
in reality or actuality
In this reading “"In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."”
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 "We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
any person at all
From this reading "See anyone?" she whispered, scanning the street below.
a bell tower; usually stands alone unattached to a building
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading "See anyone?" she whispered, scanning the street below.
ruin completely
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
all through a period, or at some point within it
From this reading Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.
a person responsible for the editorial aspects of publication; the person who determines the final content of a text (especially of a newspaper or magazine)
From this reading "We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.
a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.
after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
offensive term for a person of German descent
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
become part of; become a member of a group or organization
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
has a good chance of being the case or of coming about
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
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 "We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.
-ing form of “maintain” — cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
used to say something is possible, or to give permission
From this reading "We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
in a restless manner
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
the process of translating photographs into a digital form that can be recognized by a computer
From this reading "See anyone?" she whispered, scanning the street below.
an elaborate and systematic plan of action
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading "See anyone?" she whispered, scanning the street below.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "See anyone?" she whispered, scanning the street below.
uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination
From this reading Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading "See anyone?" she whispered, scanning the street below.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
the cardinal number that is the sum of nineteen and one
From this reading Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.
a period of sleeplessness
From this reading "We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.
past form of “warn” — notify of danger, potential harm, or risk
From this reading "We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
look attentively
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We may have a long vigil," the editor warned.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading "See anyone?" she whispered, scanning the street below.
which person or people
From this reading Penny stirred restlessly, and finally went to join Jerry who was maintaining a watch from the belfry.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading "In fact, this whole scheme is likely to turn out a bust."
the words that are spoken
From this reading Few words were spoken during the next twenty minutes.
Chapter 9 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt holds 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 9 holds 415 sentences of The Clock Strikes Thirteen, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Clock Strikes Thirteen by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 415 sentences, grouped into 83 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 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 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 9 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 Clock Strikes Thirteen by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3792 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34403 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34403, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 316 minutes of reading across 759 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Clock Strikes Thirteen section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Clock Strikes Thirteen 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 Clock Strikes Thirteen, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
