Chapter 6 of The Secret of Chimneys is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of The Secret of Chimneys is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Then he entered the car again and drove away. The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half. He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches. There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree. It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.
Chapter 6 of The Secret of Chimneys is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
Roman general under Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars; repudiated his wife for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra; they were defeated by Octavian at Actium (83-30 BC)
From this reading “It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.”
United States architect who designed the first important skyscraper with a skeleton (1846-1912)
From this reading “He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.”
-ing form of “choose” — pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives
From this reading “There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.”
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading “There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.”
with intention; in an intentional manner
From this reading “There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.”
a notable achievement
From this reading “It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.”
any creature of exceptional size
From this reading “There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.”
past form of “halt” — cause to stop
From this reading “There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.”
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 “The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.”
In this reading “There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.”
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 The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.
anew
From this reading Then he entered the car again and drove away.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Then he entered the car again and drove away.
Roman general under Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars; repudiated his wife for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra; they were defeated by Octavian at Actium (83-30 BC)
From this reading It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Then he entered the car again and drove away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
United States architect who designed the first important skyscraper with a skeleton (1846-1912)
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading Then he entered the car again and drove away.
-ing form of “choose” — pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives
From this reading There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.
with intention; in an intentional manner
From this reading There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.
a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
From this reading Then he entered the car again and drove away.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading Then he entered the car again and drove away.
divisible by two
From this reading It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.
indicating exactness or preciseness
From this reading The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.
a notable achievement
From this reading It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.
the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
From this reading There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.
any creature of exceptional size
From this reading There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.
past form of “halt” — cause to stop
From this reading There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then he entered the car again and drove away.
unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope
From this reading There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.
the capital and largest city of England; located on the Thames in southeastern England; financial and industrial and cultural center
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
From this reading The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.
held or filled or in use
From this reading The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.
tending to return to an earlier state
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
precisely, exactly
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Then he entered the car again and drove away.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then he entered the car again and drove away.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading There again he halted the car, and choosing a giant of the forest he deliberately climbed the huge tree.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was something of a feat, even for Anthony.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading He made a détour to the right, returning to London by way of Burnham Beeches.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading The whole business had occupied exactly one minute and a half.
Chapter 6 of The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie holds 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 6 holds 405 sentences of The Secret of Chimneys, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 6 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 Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7349 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65238 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65238, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1470 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Secret of Chimneys section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Secret of Chimneys 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 Secret of Chimneys, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
