Chapter 17 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters is here in full — 91 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters is here in full — 91 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SURPRISES. "Halt!" The command came like the crack of a pistol. Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery. In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
Chapter 17 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters is here in full — 91 sentences across 19 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 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.
large but transportable armament
From this reading “Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.”
a tube through which a bullet travels when a gun is fired
From this reading “In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.”
a knife that can be fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon
From this reading “In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.”
light automatic rifle
From this reading “In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.”
inflected form of “grip” — hold fast or firmly
From this reading “In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.”
cause to stop
From this reading “"Halt!"”
a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading “Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.”
plural of “surprise” — the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading “SURPRISES.”
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 “The command came like the crack of a pistol.”
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 command came like the crack of a pistol.
large but transportable armament
From this reading Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.
being joined in close association
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
a tube through which a bullet travels when a gun is fired
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
a knife that can be fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The command came like the crack of a pistol.
light automatic rifle
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
the shore of a sea or ocean
From this reading Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.
an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
From this reading The command came like the crack of a pistol.
become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
From this reading The command came like the crack of a pistol.
a lining applied to the edge of a garment for ornamentation or strengthening
From this reading Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.
inflected form of “grip” — hold fast or firmly
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
cause to stop
From this reading "Halt!"
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading The command came like the crack of a pistol.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The command came like the crack of a pistol.
a firearm that is held and fired with one hand
From this reading The command came like the crack of a pistol.
a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.
plural of “surprise” — the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading SURPRISES.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The command came like the crack of a pistol.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
always the same; showing a single form or character in all occurrences
From this reading Facing Ned stood a sentry in the uniform of the Coast Artillery.
in the company of; together with
From this reading In his hands he gripped a carbine with a sinister-looking, blue-steel bayonet attached to its barrel.
Chapter 17 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters by John Henry Goldfrap holds 91 sentences, grouped into 19 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 17 holds 91 sentences of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters, unabridged, divided into 19 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters by John Henry Goldfrap exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 91 sentences, grouped into 19 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 19 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 19 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 17 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 Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters by John Henry Goldfrap on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3124 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54496 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54496, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 260 minutes of reading across 625 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters 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 Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
