Chapter 9 of The Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto is here in full — 99 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto is here in full — 99 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road. At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly. Billy shot another glance around the car. A man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post. The two in the car evidently recognized their comrade.
Chapter 9 of The Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto is here in full — 99 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/19 · 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 short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading “Billy shot another glance around the car.”
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading “The two in the car evidently recognized their comrade.”
past form of “halt” — cause to stop
From this reading “At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.”
leave stranded or isolated with little hope of rescue
From this reading “THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.”
marked by elaborate rhetoric and elaborated with decorative details
From this reading “At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.”
affix in a public place or for public notice
From this reading “A man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post.”
generally approved or compelling recognition
From this reading “The two in the car evidently recognized their comrade.”
plural of “thief” — a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it
From this reading “THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.”
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 “THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.”
In this reading “Billy shot another glance around the car.”
In this reading “At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.”
In this reading “At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.”
In this reading “THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.”
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 man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post.
following the length of something from one end toward the other
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Billy shot another glance around the car.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading Billy shot another glance around the car.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
a short stout club used primarily by policemen
From this reading Billy shot another glance around the car.
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading The two in the car evidently recognized their comrade.
unmistakably (“plain” is often used informally for “plainly”)
From this reading The two in the car evidently recognized their comrade.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
a movable barrier in a fence or wall
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading Billy shot another glance around the car.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading A man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post.
past form of “halt” — cause to stop
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading A man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post.
leave stranded or isolated with little hope of rescue
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post.
marked by elaborate rhetoric and elaborated with decorative details
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading A man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post.
affix in a public place or for public notice
From this reading A man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
generally approved or compelling recognition
From this reading The two in the car evidently recognized their comrade.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
From this reading A man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post.
the act of firing a projectile
From this reading Billy shot another glance around the car.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading A man had stepped out of the shadow of the gate post.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The two in the car evidently recognized their comrade.
plural of “thief” — a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping it or selling it
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading THIEVES IN THE NIGHT The maroon car turned slowly and ran back along the road.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading The two in the car evidently recognized their comrade.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At the wrought-iron, ornate gate before the Sudds’ front steps it halted suddenly.
Chapter 9 of The Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto by Roy Rockwood holds 99 sentences, grouped into 20 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 9 holds 99 sentences of The Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto by Roy Rockwood exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 99 sentences, grouped into 20 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 20 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 20 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 9 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 Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto by Roy Rockwood on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3113 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50282 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50282, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 259 minutes of reading across 623 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto 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 Speedwell Boys and Their Racing Auto, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
