Chapter 28 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters is here in full — 69 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter 28 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters is here in full — 69 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HERC'S SUBTERFUGE. On down the dark passage dashed Herc. As he sped he extended both hands in front of him. For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush. It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
Chapter 28 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters is here in full — 69 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 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.
wait in hiding to attack
From this reading “For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.”
past form of “blunder” — commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake
From this reading “It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.”
in a cheerful manner
From this reading “It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.”
lively and spirited
From this reading “For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.”
relatively long in duration; tediously protracted
From this reading “As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.”
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
From this reading “It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.”
inflected form of “speed” — move hurridly
From this reading “As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.”
something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity
From this reading “HERC'S SUBTERFUGE.”
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 “On down the dark passage dashed Herc.”
at or in the front
In this reading “As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.”
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 It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.
wait in hiding to attack
From this reading For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.
past form of “blunder” — commit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
the two together, not just one
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
in a cheerful manner
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading On down the dark passage dashed Herc.
having gaps or spaces
From this reading On down the dark passage dashed Herc.
lively and spirited
From this reading For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading On down the dark passage dashed Herc.
relatively long in duration; tediously protracted
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading On down the dark passage dashed Herc.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading HERC'S SUBTERFUGE.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading For all he knew he might be dashing into an ambush.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading On down the dark passage dashed Herc.
the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading On down the dark passage dashed Herc.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
inflected form of “speed” — move hurridly
From this reading As he sped he extended both hands in front of him.
something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity
From this reading HERC'S SUBTERFUGE.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading On down the dark passage dashed Herc.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading It was all too plain now that the place into which he had so cheerfully blundered was of a sinister character.
Chapter 28 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters by John Henry Goldfrap holds 69 sentences, grouped into 14 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 28 holds 69 sentences of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 28 of The Dreadnought Boys in Home Waters by John Henry Goldfrap exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 69 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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 28 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.
