Chapter 20 of The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service is here in full — 142 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service is here in full — 142 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SECRET HIDING-PLACE. When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay. “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said. “I had company for a time, but he’s gone now.” “You came very near losing me, don’t you know!”
Chapter 20 of The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service is here in full — 142 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
eagerly desirous
From this reading “When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.”
someone who operates an aircraft
From this reading ““I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.”
temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
From this reading “When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.”
cause to be slowed down or delayed
From this reading “When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.”
plural of “haven” — a shelter serving as a place of safety or sanctuary
From this reading “When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.”
-ing form of “lose” — fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
From this reading ““You came very near losing me, don’t you know!””
plural of “machine” — any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks
From this reading “When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.”
Something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
From this reading “THE SECRET HIDING-PLACE.”
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.
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 “I had company for a time, but he’s gone now.”
(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 “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
eagerly desirous
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
someone who operates an aircraft
From this reading “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “I had company for a time, but he’s gone now.”
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “You came very near losing me, don’t you know!”
temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading “I had company for a time, but he’s gone now.”
cause to be slowed down or delayed
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You came very near losing me, don’t you know!”
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading “I had company for a time, but he’s gone now.”
set up or found
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
destroyed or killed
From this reading “I had company for a time, but he’s gone now.”
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
plural of “haven” — a shelter serving as a place of safety or sanctuary
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I had company for a time, but he’s gone now.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE SECRET HIDING-PLACE.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “You came very near losing me, don’t you know!”
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 When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
-ing form of “lose” — fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
From this reading “You came very near losing me, don’t you know!”
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
plural of “machine” — any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “You came very near losing me, don’t you know!”
a form of address for a man
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading “You came very near losing me, don’t you know!”
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading “I had company for a time, but he’s gone now.”
above and across; more than
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
Something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
From this reading THE SECRET HIDING-PLACE.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SECRET HIDING-PLACE.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
precisely as stated
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
at the time that
From this reading When the two machines reached the camp they found Mr. Havens very anxious over the long delay.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “I thought I had lost you all this time!” the aviator said.
Chapter 20 of The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service by Frank Walton holds 142 sentences, grouped into 29 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 20 holds 142 sentences of The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service by Frank Walton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 142 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 20 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 Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service by Frank Walton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3469 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50824 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50824, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 289 minutes of reading across 694 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service 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 Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
