Chapter XX of The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket, “Blind Man’s Buff in Fearful Earnest,” is here in full — 126 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter XX of The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket, “Blind Man’s Buff in Fearful Earnest,” is here in full — 126 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness. “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead. But that astounded youth only gasped: “Joe!” “Tom!
Chapter XX of The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket, “Blind Man’s Buff in Fearful Earnest,” is here in full — 126 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
someone who attacks
From this reading ““Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.”
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading “But that astounded youth only gasped:”
plural of “combatant” — someone who fights (or is fighting)
From this reading “For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.”
past form of “gasp” — breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
From this reading “But that astounded youth only gasped:”
past form of “growl” — to utter or emit low dull rumbling sounds
From this reading ““Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.”
plural of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading “For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.”
in a strenuous manner; strongly or vigorously
From this reading “For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.”
the covering (usually paper or cellophane) in which something is wrapped
From this reading ““Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.”
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 “For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.”
In this reading “For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.”
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 For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
weapons considered collectively
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
someone who attacks
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock
From this reading But that astounded youth only gasped:
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But that astounded youth only gasped:
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
plural of “combatant” — someone who fights (or is fighting)
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
inflected form of “fight” — be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
past form of “gasp” — breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
From this reading But that astounded youth only gasped:
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
past form of “growl” — to utter or emit low dull rumbling sounds
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Joe!”
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
and nothing more
From this reading But that astounded youth only gasped:
plural of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
in a strenuous manner; strongly or vigorously
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading But that astounded youth only gasped:
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
male cat
From this reading “Tom!
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading For a few seconds the two combatants fought strenuously in the darkness.
the covering (usually paper or cellophane) in which something is wrapped
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading “Now, I’ve got you!” growled the assailant, wrapping his arms around young Captain Halstead.
a young person (especially a young man or boy)
From this reading But that astounded youth only gasped:
Chapter 20 of The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock holds 126 sentences, grouped into 26 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 126 sentences of The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 126 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 Motor Boat Club at Nantucket by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3734 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40605 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40605, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 311 minutes of reading across 747 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Motor Boat Club at Nantucket 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 Motor Boat Club at Nantucket, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
