Chapter 23 of The Riddle of the Sands is here in full — 324 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Riddle of the Sands is here in full — 324 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach. A voice was approaching, hailing us. “Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.” “Ho-a,” I shouted, “where am I?” “Off Memmert,” came back.
Chapter 23 of The Riddle of the Sands is here in full — 324 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/64 · 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.
the event of one object coming closer to another
From this reading “A voice was approaching, hailing us.”
an area of sand sloping down to the water of a sea or lake
From this reading “A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.”
plural of “davy” — English chemist who was a pioneer in electrochemistry and who used it to isolate elements sodium and potassium and barium and boron and calcium and magnesium and chlorine (1778-1829)
From this reading ““Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.””
praise vociferously
From this reading ““Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.””
-ing form of “hail” — praise vociferously
From this reading “A voice was approaching, hailing us.”
past form of “paddle” — propel with a paddle
From this reading “A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.”
make believe with the intent to deceive
From this reading ““Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.””
the branch of military science dealing with detailed maneuvers to achieve objectives set by strategy
From this reading “A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.”
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 A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading “Ho-a,” I shouted, “where am I?”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
the event of one object coming closer to another
From this reading A voice was approaching, hailing us.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading “Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.”
an area of sand sloping down to the water of a sea or lake
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “Off Memmert,” came back.
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
plural of “davy” — English chemist who was a pioneer in electrochemistry and who used it to isolate elements sodium and potassium and barium and boron and calcium and magnesium and chlorine (1778-1829)
From this reading “Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.”
praise vociferously
From this reading “Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.”
-ing form of “hail” — praise vociferously
From this reading A voice was approaching, hailing us.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Ho-a,” I shouted, “where am I?”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Ho-a,” I shouted, “where am I?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Off Memmert,” came back.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
past form of “paddle” — propel with a paddle
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
make believe with the intent to deceive
From this reading “Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.”
past form of “push” — move with force
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading “Ho-a,” I shouted, “where am I?”
an instance of visual perception
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
the branch of military science dealing with detailed maneuvers to achieve objectives set by strategy
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A voice was approaching, hailing us.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading A voice was approaching, hailing us.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A voice was approaching, hailing us.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.”
in or at the place that
From this reading “Ho-a,” I shouted, “where am I?”
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading “Hail back,” whispered Davies; “pretend we’re a galliot.”
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading A Change of Tactics We pushed off without a word, and paddled out of sight of the beach.
Chapter 23 of The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers holds 324 sentences, grouped into 65 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 23 holds 324 sentences of The Riddle of the Sands, unabridged, divided into 65 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 324 sentences, grouped into 65 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 65 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 65 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 23 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 Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6235 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2360 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2360, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 519 minutes of reading across 1247 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Riddle of the Sands section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Riddle of the Sands 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 Riddle of the Sands, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
