Words in Arithmetic Progressions

Inspired by this page, I have long sought similar phenomena.

The basic idea is like this. An arithmetic progression is a sequence of equally spaced integers: a, a+b, a+2b, a+3b, ... , a+nb. For example, 4,10,16,22,28,34. If we take a text, and remove all spaces and punctuation, we can consider it as simply a long sequence of letters, each determined by its position in this sequence. We consider subsequences of this sequence that correspond to sequences of integers in arithmetic progressions, and then look for words spelled by consecutive letters in such a subsequence.

This is all equivalent to writing the text out with a fixed column width, and then looking for words that can be read vertically.

A few results are shown below.

The Bible

Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop

hegroundwherenothinggrowsandeverythingdecayswhot
hinkofsuchthingsasthesewhothinkofthemproperlyIme
anYouhavebeenintothechurchIamgoingtherenowthechi
ldrepliedTheresanoldwelltheresaidthesextonrightu
nderneaththebelfryadeepdarkechoingwellFortyyeara
goyouhadonlytoletdownthebuckettillthefirstknotin
theropewasfreeofthewindlassandyouhearditsplashin
ginthecolddullwaterBylittleandlittlethewaterfell
awaysothatintenyearafterthatasecondknotwasmadean
dyoumustunwindsomuchropeorthebucketswungtightand
emptyattheendIntenyearstimethewaterfellagainanda
thirdknotwasmadeIntenyearsmorethewelldriedupandn
owifyoulowerthebuckettillyourarmsaretiredandleto
utnearlyallthecordyoullhearitofasuddenclankingan
drattlingonthegroundbelowwithasoundofbeingsodeep
andsofardownthatyourheartleapsintoyourmouthandyo

Dickens, A Christmas Carol

hmakesthemcheatsYoumaybeanundiges
tedbitofbeefablotofmustardacrumbo
fcheeseafragmentofanunderdonepota
toTheresmoreofgravythanofgraveabo
utyouwhateveryouareScroogewasnotm
uchinthehabitofcrackingjokesnordi
dhefeelinhisheartbyanymeanswaggis
hthenThetruthisthathetriedtobesma
rtasameansofdistractinghisownatte
ntionandkeepingdownhisterrorforth
espectresvoicedisturbedtheverymar
rowinhisbonesTositstaringatthosef
ixedglazedeyesinsilenceforamoment
wouldplayScroogefelttheverydeucew
ithhimTherewassomethingveryawfult
oointhespectresbeingprovidedwitha
ninfernalatmosphereofitsownScroog

Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz

llSoOzbroughtapairoftinsmithsshearsandcutasmallsq
uareholeintheleftsideoftheTinWoodmansbreastThengo
ingtoachestofdrawershetookoutaprettyheartmadeenti
relyofsilkandstuffedwithsawdustIsntitabeautyheask
edItisindeedrepliedtheWoodmanwhowasgreatlypleased
ButisitakindheartOhveryansweredOzHeputtheheartint
heWoodmansbreastandthenreplacedthesquareoftinsold
eringitneatlytogetherwhereithadbeencutTheresaidhe
nowyouhaveaheartthatanymanmightbeproudofImsorryIh
adtoputapatchonyourbreastbutitreallycouldntbehelp
edNevermindthepatchexclaimedthehappyWoodmanIamver
ygratefultoyouandshallneverforgetyourkindnessDont
speakofitrepliedOzThentheTinWoodmanwentbacktohisf
riendswhowishedhimeveryjoyonaccountofhisgoodfortu
neTheLionnowwalkedtotheThroneRoomandknockedatthed
oorComeinsaidOzIhavecomeformycourageannouncedtheL
ionenteringtheroomVerywellansweredthelittlemanIwi

Wells, The Time Machine

tytoletthemgivetheirl
essonsinlittledoseswh
entheyfeltinclinedAnd
verylittledosesIfound
theywerebeforelongfor
Inevermetpeoplemorein
dolentormoreeasilyfat
iguedAqueerthingIsoon
discoveredaboutmylitt
lehostsandthatwasthei
rlackofinterestTheywo
uldcometomewitheagerc
riesofastonishmentlik
echildrenbutlikechild
rentheywouldsoonstope
xaminingmeandwanderaw
ayaftersomeothertoyTh

Shelley, Frankenstein

etohellishrageandgnashingof
teethInflamedbypainIvowedet
ernalhatredandvengeancetoal
lmankindButtheagonyofmywoun
dovercamememypulsespausedan
dIfaintedForsomeweeksIledam
iserablelifeinthewoodsendea
vouringtocurethewoundwhichI
hadreceivedTheballhadentere
dmyshoulderandIknewnotwheth
erithadremainedthereorpasse
dthroughatanyrateIhadnomean
sofextractingitMysufferings
wereaugmentedalsobytheoppre
ssivesenseoftheinjusticeand
ingratitudeoftheirinflictio
nMydailyvowsroseforrevengea
deepanddeadlyrevengesuchasw

Dickens, Little Dorrit

aslargeacapacityanda
sgenuineatasteforswi
ndlingwillsucceedasw
ellPardonmebutIthink
youreallyhavenoideah
owthehumanbeeswillsw
armtothebeatingofany
oldtinkettleinthatfa
ctliesthecompleteman
ualofgoverningthemWh
entheycanbegottobeli
evethatthekettleisma
deofthepreciousmetal
sinthatfactliesthewh
olepowerofmenlikeour