Chapter 23 of The secret of the old mill is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The secret of the old mill is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother. He switched off the flashlight. The room was in darkness. Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring. By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.
Chapter 23 of The secret of the old mill is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading “THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.”
plural of “crack” — a long narrow opening
From this reading “Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.”
past form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading “THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.”
-ing form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading “By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.”
a small portable battery-powered electric lamp
From this reading “He switched off the flashlight.”
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading “Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.”
an alert and refreshed state
From this reading “Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.”
past form of “switch” — change over, change around, as to a new order or sequence
From this reading “He switched off the flashlight.”
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.
cause to stop operating by disengaging a switch
In this reading “He switched off the flashlight.”
In this reading “By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.”
In this reading “THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.”
In this reading “By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.”
In this reading “Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.”
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 Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.
Directly under; in or to a lower position than.
From this reading By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.
next to; at the side of
From this reading THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.
a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
plural of “crack” — a long narrow opening
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
past form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.
-ing form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading The room was in darkness.
a small portable battery-powered electric lamp
From this reading He switched off the flashlight.
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
From this reading THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.
an alert and refreshed state
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He switched off the flashlight.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The room was in darkness.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He switched off the flashlight.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading The room was in darkness.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
past form of “switch” — change over, change around, as to a new order or sequence
From this reading He switched off the flashlight.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE ALARM Frank crouched on the floor beside his brother.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Immediately he could see a glow of light through one of the cracks in the flooring.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading By crouching close to the floor he could see through the cracks into the room beneath.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The room was in darkness.
Chapter 23 of The secret of the old mill by Franklin W. Dixon holds 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 23 holds 136 sentences of The secret of the old mill, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The secret of the old mill by Franklin W. Dixon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The secret of the old mill, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
