Chapter 25 of The Spruce Street Tragedy is here in full — 79 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXV
Chapter 25 of The Spruce Street Tragedy is here in full — 79 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A SURPRISE PARTY. Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light. He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards. Presently he shoved one aside, and then another, and another. "Now, one of you come here," he said.
Chapter 25 of The Spruce Street Tragedy is here in full — 79 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/15 · 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.
(used in the plural) the stage of a theater
From this reading “He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.”
small room on a ship or boat where people sleep
From this reading “He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.”
a flammable hydrocarbon oil used as fuel in lamps and heaters
From this reading “Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.”
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading “He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.”
an artificial source of visible illumination
From this reading “Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.”
plural of “match” — lighter consisting of a thin piece of wood or cardboard tipped with combustible chemical; ignites with friction
From this reading “Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.”
past form of “shove” — come into rough contact with while moving
From this reading “Presently he shoved one aside, and then another, and another.”
deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon
From this reading “Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.”
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.
a lamp that burns oil (as kerosine) for light
In this reading “Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.”
fall or descend to a lower place or level
In this reading “He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.”
In this reading “A SURPRISE PARTY.”
In this reading “"Now, one of you come here," he said.”
pursue or resume
In this reading “Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.”
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 SURPRISE PARTY.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Presently he shoved one aside, and then another, and another.
on or to one side
From this reading Presently he shoved one aside, and then another, and another.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
(used in the plural) the stage of a theater
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
small room on a ship or boat where people sleep
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "Now, one of you come here," he said.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading "Now, one of you come here," he said.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
a flammable hydrocarbon oil used as fuel in lamps and heaters
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
an artificial source of visible illumination
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
plural of “match” — lighter consisting of a thin piece of wood or cardboard tipped with combustible chemical; ignites with friction
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Presently he shoved one aside, and then another, and another.
above and across; more than
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
an organization to gain political power
From this reading A SURPRISE PARTY.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
in the near future
From this reading Presently he shoved one aside, and then another, and another.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Now, one of you come here," he said.
past form of “shove” — come into rough contact with while moving
From this reading Presently he shoved one aside, and then another, and another.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
From this reading A SURPRISE PARTY.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He dropped down on his knees at the back of the cabin, and ran his hand over the boards.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Presently he shoved one aside, and then another, and another.
inflected form of “take” — carry out
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Pete Coffey now took up a kerosene lamp and some matches, but he did not strike a light.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Now, one of you come here," he said.
Chapter 25 of The Spruce Street Tragedy by Norman L. [Publisher] Munro holds 79 sentences, grouped into 16 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 25 holds 79 sentences of The Spruce Street Tragedy, unabridged, divided into 16 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 25 of The Spruce Street Tragedy by Norman L. [Publisher] Munro exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 79 sentences, grouped into 16 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 16 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 16 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 25 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 Spruce Street Tragedy by Norman L. [Publisher] Munro on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3839 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #46523 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #46523, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 319 minutes of reading across 768 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Spruce Street Tragedy section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Spruce Street Tragedy 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 Spruce Street Tragedy, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
