Chapter 2 of Across the Plains, with Other Memories and is here in full — 137 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Across the Plains, with Other Memories and is here in full — 137 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter? Certainly not, he told me. Never. It would not do. They considered themselves too highly to accept.
Chapter 2 of Across the Plains, with Other Memories and is here in full — 137 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
consider or hold as true
From this reading “They considered themselves too highly to accept.”
carefully weighed
From this reading “They considered themselves too highly to accept.”
past form of “consult” — get or ask advice from
From this reading “Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?”
rules governing socially acceptable behavior
From this reading “Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?”
to a high degree or extent; favorably or with much respect
From this reading “They considered themselves too highly to accept.”
make available or accessible, provide or furnish
From this reading “Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?”
the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
From this reading “Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?”
a person whose occupation is to serve at table (as in a restaurant)
From this reading “Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?”
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 Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
consider or hold as true
From this reading They considered themselves too highly to accept.
a native or inhabitant of the United States
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading Certainly not, he told me.
carefully weighed
From this reading They considered themselves too highly to accept.
past form of “consult” — get or ask advice from
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading It would not do.
rules governing socially acceptable behavior
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
a boy or man
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
to a high degree or extent; favorably or with much respect
From this reading They considered themselves too highly to accept.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It would not do.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Certainly not, he told me.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Never.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Certainly not, he told me.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
make available or accessible, provide or furnish
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
perception by means of the eyes
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
used when the people doing the action are also its object
From this reading They considered themselves too highly to accept.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They considered themselves too highly to accept.
the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading Certainly not, he told me.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading They considered themselves too highly to accept.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
precisely as stated
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
a person whose occupation is to serve at table (as in a restaurant)
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Seeing he was a very honest fellow, I consulted him upon a point of etiquette: if one should offer to tip the American waiter?
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It would not do.
Chapter 2 of Across the Plains, with Other Memories and by Robert Louis Stevenson holds 137 sentences, grouped into 28 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 2 holds 137 sentences of Across the Plains, with Other Memories and, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Across the Plains, with Other Memories and by Robert Louis Stevenson exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 137 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 2 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 Across the Plains, with Other Memories and by Robert Louis Stevenson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2155 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #614 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #614, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 179 minutes of reading across 431 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Across the Plains, with Other Memories and section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Across the Plains, with Other Memories and 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 Across the Plains, with Other Memories and, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
