Chapter 2 of The Door into Infinity is here in full — 445 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Door into Infinity is here in full — 445 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness. A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs. Then they vanished suddenly from sight. "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!" Inspector Campbell exclaimed.
Chapter 2 of The Door into Infinity is here in full — 445 sentences across 89 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/89 · 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.
shining intensely
From this reading “He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.”
United States mythologist (1904-1987)
From this reading “He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.”
maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)
From this reading “"There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"”
the person who steers a ship
From this reading “He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.”
a high ranking police officer
From this reading “Inspector Campbell exclaimed.”
past form of “peer” — look searchingly
From this reading “He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.”
a pesticide in suspension or solution; intended for spraying
From this reading “He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.”
of imposing height; especially standing out above others
From this reading “A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.”
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 “A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.”
In this reading “A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.”
In this reading “Then they vanished suddenly from sight.”
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 A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
at or in the front
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
shining intensely
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
United States mythologist (1904-1987)
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
plural of “cliff” — a steep high face of rock
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading Inspector Campbell exclaimed.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Then they vanished suddenly from sight.
maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)
From this reading "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
the person who steers a ship
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
not accessible to view
From this reading "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"
a high ranking police officer
From this reading Inspector Campbell exclaimed.
having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior
From this reading "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"
plural of “light” — (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
in motion
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
an open or empty space in or between things
From this reading "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"
a set of two similar things considered as a unit
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
past form of “peer” — look searchingly
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
having a point
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading Then they vanished suddenly from sight.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading "There must be a hidden opening or harbor of some kind in the cliffs!"
move hurridly
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
a pesticide in suspension or solution; intended for spraying
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
successive (without a break)
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Then they vanished suddenly from sight.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then they vanished suddenly from sight.
in or at that place or location
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then they vanished suddenly from sight.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading He pointed ahead, and Campbell and the helmsman peered through the blinding spray and darkness.
in the direction of
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
of imposing height; especially standing out above others
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
having passed out of existence
From this reading Then they vanished suddenly from sight.
United States actress and singer (1896-1977)
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading A pair of low lights were moving at high speed on the waters there, straight toward the towering black cliffs.
Chapter 2 of The Door into Infinity by Edmond Hamilton holds 445 sentences, grouped into 89 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 2 holds 445 sentences of The Door into Infinity, unabridged, divided into 89 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Door into Infinity by Edmond Hamilton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 445 sentences, grouped into 89 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 89 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 89 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 2 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 Door into Infinity by Edmond Hamilton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 899 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32847 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32847, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 74 minutes of reading across 180 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Door into Infinity section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of The Door into Infinity 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 Door into Infinity, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
