Chapter IV of The Phantom Town Mystery, ““Desperate Dick”,” is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter IV of The Phantom Town Mystery, ““Desperate Dick”,” is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car. In it were two boys. “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.” “It is Dick!” Dora exclaimed gleefully.
Chapter IV of The Phantom Town Mystery, ““Desperate Dick”,” is here in full — 114 sentences across 23 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/22 · 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.
a hired hand who tends cattle and performs other duties on horseback
From this reading ““One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.””
a process of becoming deeper and more profound
From this reading “Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.”
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading “Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.”
in a joyous and gleeful manner
From this reading “Dora exclaimed gleefully.”
past form of “peer” — look searchingly
From this reading “Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.”
a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance
From this reading “Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.”
third-person singular of “resemble” — appear like; be similar or bear a likeness to
From this reading ““One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.””
inflected form of “skip” — bypass
From this reading “Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.”
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 “In it were two boys.”
In this reading “Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.”
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 “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
in addition
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
the event of one object coming closer to another
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading In it were two boys.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
a hired hand who tends cattle and performs other duties on horseback
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
a process of becoming deeper and more profound
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
someone who is a detective
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dora exclaimed gleefully.
the time of day immediately following sunset
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading Dora exclaimed gleefully.
plural of “girl” — a young female
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
in a joyous and gleeful manner
From this reading Dora exclaimed gleefully.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In it were two boys.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading In it were two boys.
offensive term for a person of German descent
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
past form of “peer” — look searchingly
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
third-person singular of “resemble” — appear like; be similar or bear a likeness to
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
inflected form of “skip” — bypass
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “One of them resembles Jerry,” Mary said, “but the other one is also a cowboy, so it can’t be Dick.”
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Skipping to the vine-covered back porch, the two girls peered through the deepening dusk at the approaching car.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading In it were two boys.
Chapter 4 of The Phantom Town Mystery by Carol Norton holds 114 sentences, grouped into 23 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 4 holds 114 sentences of The Phantom Town Mystery, unabridged, divided into 23 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Phantom Town Mystery by Carol Norton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 114 sentences, grouped into 23 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 23 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 23 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 4 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 Phantom Town Mystery by Carol Norton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3745 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #43699 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #43699, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 312 minutes of reading across 749 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Phantom Town Mystery section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 31 chapters of The Phantom Town Mystery 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 Phantom Town Mystery, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
