Chapter 31 of A Boy's Fortune is here in full — 60 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of A Boy's Fortune is here in full — 60 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A WANDERER IN FRANCE. A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons. His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling. It was clear by his appearance that he was not a French boy. There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
Chapter 31 of A Boy's Fortune is here in full — 60 sentences across 12 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/12 · 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.
covered with a layer of dust
From this reading “His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.”
a city in east-central France on the Rhone River; a principal producer of silk and rayon
From this reading “A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.”
English businessman who created a retail chain (1888-1964)
From this reading “His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.”
unpleasantly
From this reading “A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.”
pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance
From this reading “There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.”
plural of “reader” — a person who enjoys reading
From this reading “There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.”
past form of “toil” — work hard
From this reading “A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.”
someone who leads a wandering unsettled life
From this reading “A WANDERER IN FRANCE.”
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 “His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.”
In this reading “A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.”
In this reading “There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.”
In this reading “A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.”
In this reading “A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.”
In this reading “A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.”
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 WANDERER IN FRANCE.
outward or visible aspect of a person or thing
From this reading It was clear by his appearance that he was not a French boy.
cause to be bored
From this reading His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.
a youthful male person
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading It was clear by his appearance that he was not a French boy.
a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
rid of obstructions
From this reading It was clear by his appearance that he was not a French boy.
clothing in general
From this reading His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
covered with a layer of dust
From this reading His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.
with ease (“easy” is sometimes used informally for “easily”)
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading A WANDERER IN FRANCE.
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading It was clear by his appearance that he was not a French boy.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A WANDERER IN FRANCE.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was clear by his appearance that he was not a French boy.
conformity or harmony
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
a city in east-central France on the Rhone River; a principal producer of silk and rayon
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
English businessman who created a retail chain (1888-1964)
From this reading His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
a condition requiring relief
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
not any; not one
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It was clear by his appearance that he was not a French boy.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
above and across; more than
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
unpleasantly
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
plural of “reader” — a person who enjoys reading
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It was clear by his appearance that he was not a French boy.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
past form of “toil” — work hard
From this reading A boy toiled painfully over a country road but a few miles from the city of Lyons.
the act of going from one place to another
From this reading His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
someone who leads a wandering unsettled life
From this reading A WANDERER IN FRANCE.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading His clothes bore the marks of the dusty road over which he was travelling.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading There is no need of keeping up a mystery which my young readers will easily penetrate.
Chapter 31 of A Boy's Fortune by Horatio, Jr. Alger holds 60 sentences, grouped into 12 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 31 holds 60 sentences of A Boy's Fortune, unabridged, divided into 12 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of A Boy's Fortune by Horatio, Jr. Alger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 60 sentences, grouped into 12 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 12 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 12 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 31 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 A Boy's Fortune by Horatio, Jr. Alger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4381 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52017 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52017, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 365 minutes of reading across 877 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Boy's Fortune section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of A Boy's Fortune 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 A Boy's Fortune, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
