Chapter 2 of Beyond the Black River is here in full — 509 sentences across 102 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Beyond the Black River is here in full — 509 sentences across 102 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus. 'We never heard them till they were on us. Mitra, how can anything move so silently?' 'They're devils,' mumbled the frontiersman. 'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.
Chapter 2 of Beyond the Black River is here in full — 509 sentences across 102 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/101 · 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.
plural of “devil” — (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading “'They're devils,' mumbled the frontiersman.”
possessive form of “fellow” — a boy or man
From this reading “'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.”
past form of “groan” — indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure
From this reading “'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.”
the middle of a stream
From this reading “'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.”
Hindu god of friendship and alliances; usually invoked together with Varuna as a supporter of heaven and earth
From this reading “Mitra, how can anything move so silently?'”
past form of “mumble” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading “'They're devils,' mumbled the frontiersman.”
without speaking
From this reading “Mitra, how can anything move so silently?'”
past form of “sneak” — to go stealthily or furtively
From this reading “'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.”
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 “'We never heard them till they were on us.”
advance stealthily or unnoticed
In this reading “'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.”
In this reading “'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
any thing at all
From this reading Mitra, how can anything move so silently?'
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading 'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Mitra, how can anything move so silently?'
separate with or as if with an instrument
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
plural of “devil” — (Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
From this reading 'They're devils,' mumbled the frontiersman.
possessive form of “fellow” — a boy or man
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading 'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.
a man who lives on the frontier
From this reading 'They're devils,' mumbled the frontiersman.
past form of “groan” — indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading 'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading 'We never heard them till they were on us.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mitra, how can anything move so silently?'
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading 'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.
the middle of a stream
From this reading 'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.
Hindu god of friendship and alliances; usually invoked together with Varuna as a supporter of heaven and earth
From this reading Mitra, how can anything move so silently?'
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Mitra, how can anything move so silently?'
past form of “mumble” — talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice
From this reading 'They're devils,' mumbled the frontiersman.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading 'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading 'We never heard them till they were on us.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading 'We never heard them till they were on us.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
without speaking
From this reading Mitra, how can anything move so silently?'
past form of “sneak” — to go stealthily or furtively
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Mitra, how can anything move so silently?'
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading 'We never heard them till they were on us.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading 'We never heard them till they were on us.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading 'They're devils,' mumbled the frontiersman.
The passage at the back of the mouth.
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
up to a particular time
From this reading 'We never heard them till they were on us.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading 'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading 'We never heard them till they were on us.
the act of observing; taking a patient look
From this reading 'They must have been watching us from the time we left midstream.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading 'Sneaked up in the water and cut the other fellow's throat,' groaned Balthus.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading 'We never heard them till they were on us.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading 'We never heard them till they were on us.
Chapter 2 of Beyond the Black River by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard holds 509 sentences, grouped into 102 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 2 holds 509 sentences of Beyond the Black River, unabridged, divided into 102 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Beyond the Black River by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 509 sentences, grouped into 102 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 102 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 102 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 Beyond the Black River by Robert E. (Robert Ervin) Howard on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1520 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #42254 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #42254, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 126 minutes of reading across 304 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Beyond the Black River section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 3 chapters of Beyond the Black River 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 Beyond the Black River, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
