Chapter 20 of Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters is here in full — 97 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters is here in full — 97 sentences across 20 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement: "I'm on their trail! Now I'm on their trail!" "What do you mean?" Tom insisted.
Chapter 20 of Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters is here in full — 97 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.
past form of “deliver” — deliver (a speech, oration, or idea)
From this reading “A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:”
past form of “insist” — be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
From this reading “Tom insisted.”
Jewish general who led the revolt of the Jews against the Romans and then wrote a history of those events (37-100)
From this reading “A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:”
weight to be borne or conveyed
From this reading “A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:”
the act of receiving
From this reading “A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:”
plural of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading “A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:”
a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc
From this reading “A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:”
a track or mark left by something that has passed
From this reading “"I'm on their trail!”
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 HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
showing who or what does the action
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
past form of “deliver” — deliver (a speech, oration, or idea)
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "What do you mean?"
apart from; not including
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
(of persons) excessively affected by emotion
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm on their trail!
past form of “insist” — be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
From this reading Tom insisted.
Jewish general who led the revolt of the Jews against the Romans and then wrote a history of those events (37-100)
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
weight to be borne or conveyed
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading "What do you mean?"
not one thing; not anything
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now I'm on their trail!"
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "I'm on their trail!
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
the act of receiving
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
plural of “second” — 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
moving very fast
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading "I'm on their trail!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
male cat
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
a track or mark left by something that has passed
From this reading "I'm on their trail!
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What do you mean?"
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading A HEAVY LOAD Josephus Baxter was so excited by the receipt of the letter which Koku delivered to him that for some seconds Tom Swift could get nothing out of him except the statement:
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "What do you mean?"
Chapter 20 of Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters by Victor Appleton holds 97 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 20 holds 97 sentences of Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters, unabridged, divided into 20 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters by Victor Appleton exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 97 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 20 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 Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters by Victor Appleton on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3008 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1363 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1363, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 250 minutes of reading across 602 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters 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 Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
