Chapter XXX of The Secret of the Reef, “The Last of the Wreck,” is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXX of The Secret of the Reef, “The Last of the Wreck,” is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened. He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes. “Is it dark?” he asked. “How long have I slept?” “It is not dark yet.
Chapter XXX of The Secret of the Reef, “The Last of the Wreck,” is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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 relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading “He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.”
United States educator who worked to improve race relations and educational opportunities for Black Americans (1875-1955)
From this reading “He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.”
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading “Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.”
to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open
From this reading “Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.”
a storage compartment for clothes and valuables; usually it has a lock
From this reading “He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.”
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading ““How long have I slept?””
inflected form of “slip” — move stealthily
From this reading “He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.”
not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading “Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.”
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 “Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.”
take off with ease or speed
In this reading “He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.”
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.”
In this reading “He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.”
In this reading “Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.”
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.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “Is it dark?” he asked.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
United States educator who worked to improve race relations and educational opportunities for Black Americans (1875-1955)
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading “Is it dark?” he asked.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
opinion or judgment
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
From this reading Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “How long have I slept?”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “How long have I slept?”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “How long have I slept?”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Is it dark?” he asked.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “Is it dark?” he asked.
to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open
From this reading Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.
a storage compartment for clothes and valuables; usually it has a lock
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading “How long have I slept?”
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading “It is not dark yet.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading “How long have I slept?”
inflected form of “slip” — move stealthily
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
having a supporting base
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.
not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.
at the time that
From this reading Thick fog lay upon the water when Jimmy wakened.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He slipped off the locker and, standing with his bent head among the deckbeams, looked at Bethune with heavy eyes.
but in spite of that
From this reading “It is not dark yet.
Chapter 30 of The Secret of the Reef by Harold Bindloss holds 196 sentences, grouped into 40 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 30 holds 196 sentences of The Secret of the Reef, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 30 of The Secret of the Reef by Harold Bindloss exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 196 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 30 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 the Reef by Harold Bindloss on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5791 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35823 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35823, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 482 minutes of reading across 1159 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Secret of the Reef section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 32 chapters of The Secret of the Reef 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 the Reef, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
