Chapter 20 of The gold-stealers is here in full — 295 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The gold-stealers is here in full — 295 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically. 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry. 'Well, yes, with some crowding I think he might've.' 'Yet the boy said he had to squeeze his way through. Did you notice if the opening had been enlarged recently?
Chapter 20 of The gold-stealers is here in full — 295 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/59 · 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.
in a critical manner
From this reading “After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.”
a situation in which people or things are crowded together
From this reading “'Well, yes, with some crowding I think he might've.'”
like down or as soft as down
From this reading “After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.”
plural of “edge” — the boundary of a surface
From this reading “'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.”
(of an organ or body part) excessively enlarged as a result of increased size in the constituent cells
From this reading “Did you notice if the opening had been enlarged recently?”
past form of “examine” — consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning
From this reading “After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.”
in the recent past
From this reading “Did you notice if the opening had been enlarged recently?”
to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition
From this reading “'Yet the boy said he had to squeeze his way through.”
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 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
later than; following
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Did you notice if the opening had been enlarged recently?
earlier than; in front of
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
a youthful male person
From this reading 'Yet the boy said he had to squeeze his way through.
lacking funds
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
in a critical manner
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
a situation in which people or things are crowded together
From this reading 'Well, yes, with some crowding I think he might've.'
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Did you notice if the opening had been enlarged recently?
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
like down or as soft as down
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
plural of “edge” — the boundary of a surface
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
(of an organ or body part) excessively enlarged as a result of increased size in the constituent cells
From this reading Did you notice if the opening had been enlarged recently?
past form of “examine” — consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading 'Yet the boy said he had to squeeze his way through.
annoy continually or chronically
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
an opening into or through something
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading 'Well, yes, with some crowding I think he might've.'
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Did you notice if the opening had been enlarged recently?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'Well, yes, with some crowding I think he might've.'
an announcement containing information about an event
From this reading Did you notice if the opening had been enlarged recently?
an open or empty space in or between things
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
in the recent past
From this reading Did you notice if the opening had been enlarged recently?
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading 'Yet the boy said he had to squeeze his way through.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading 'Well, yes, with some crowding I think he might've.'
to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition
From this reading 'Yet the boy said he had to squeeze his way through.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
judge or regard; look upon; judge
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading 'Yet the boy said he had to squeeze his way through.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading After coming up Downy examined the opening in the rock critically.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading 'Well, yes, with some crowding I think he might've.'
in the company of; together with
From this reading 'Well, yes, with some crowding I think he might've.'
an affirmative
From this reading 'Well, yes, with some crowding I think he might've.'
but in spite of that
From this reading 'Yet the boy said he had to squeeze his way through.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading 'Do you think a man might have made his way through that hole before you broke the edges down?' he asked Harry.
Chapter 20 of The gold-stealers by Edward Dyson holds 295 sentences, grouped into 59 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 295 sentences of The gold-stealers, unabridged, divided into 59 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The gold-stealers by Edward Dyson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 295 sentences, grouped into 59 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 59 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 59 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 gold-stealers by Edward Dyson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4239 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #16903 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #16903, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 353 minutes of reading across 848 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The gold-stealers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The gold-stealers 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 gold-stealers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
