Chapter 4 of Under Rocking Skies is here in full — 450 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Under Rocking Skies is here in full — 450 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail. Drew leaped toward her just in time. His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast. For an instant he held her there. "Hetty!
Chapter 4 of Under Rocking Skies is here in full — 450 sentences across 90 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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.
quickly and without warning
From this reading “She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.”
a short vivid experience
From this reading “His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.”
a short labored intake of breath with the mouth open
From this reading “She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.”
a motorboat with an outboard motor
From this reading “She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.”
a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports
From this reading “She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.”
moving as on a slippery surface
From this reading “His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.”
-ing form of “stumble” — walk unsteadily
From this reading “She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.”
increase in size, magnitude, number, or intensity
From this reading “She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.”
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 “She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.”
In this reading “For an instant he held her there.”
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 She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
quickly and without warning
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading For an instant he held her there.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
the front of the trunk from the neck to the abdomen
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
inflected form of “bring” — take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading Drew leaped toward her just in time.
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
a short vivid experience
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading For an instant he held her there.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
a short labored intake of breath with the mouth open
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading For an instant he held her there.
occupied or in the control of; often used in combination
From this reading For an instant he held her there.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Drew leaped toward her just in time.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Hetty!
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Drew leaped toward her just in time.
a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat)
From this reading For an instant he held her there.
and nothing more
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
past form of “leap” — move forward by leaps and bounds
From this reading Drew leaped toward her just in time.
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 She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
a motorboat with an outboard motor
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
especially of petals or leaves in bud; having margins rolled inward
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
moving as on a slippery surface
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
-ing form of “stumble” — walk unsteadily
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
increase in size, magnitude, number, or intensity
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
in or at that place or location
From this reading For an instant he held her there.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Drew leaped toward her just in time.
in the direction of
From this reading Drew leaped toward her just in time.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading His hand, flashing out, caught her as she was slipping from the rail, and brought her back against his breast.
in the company of; together with
From this reading She had turned abruptly just as they rolled down on a long swell, and, stumbling against the bitts, with a gasp fell outboard across the low rail.
Chapter 4 of Under Rocking Skies by L. Frank (Lewis Frank) Tooker holds 450 sentences, grouped into 90 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 4 holds 450 sentences of Under Rocking Skies, unabridged, divided into 90 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Under Rocking Skies by L. Frank (Lewis Frank) Tooker exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 450 sentences, grouped into 90 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 90 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 90 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 4 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 Under Rocking Skies by L. Frank (Lewis Frank) Tooker on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2743 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #55721 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #55721, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 228 minutes of reading across 549 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Under Rocking Skies section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of Under Rocking Skies 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 Under Rocking Skies, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
