Chapter 3 of Children of the Cliff is here in full — 43 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of Children of the Cliff is here in full — 43 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them. A band of fierce Indians was coming toward them. The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands. They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker. Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.
Chapter 3 of Children of the Cliff is here in full — 43 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/8 · 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 “bow” — a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
From this reading “The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.”
plural of “bush” — a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
From this reading “THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.”
inflected form of “cling” — come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation
From this reading “Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.”
past form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading “Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.”
comparative of “dark” — devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black
From this reading “They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.”
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading “A band of fierce Indians was coming toward them.”
make a painting
From this reading “The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.”
a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading “THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.”
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 “They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.”
In this reading “Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.”
In this reading “Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.”
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 THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
an unofficial association of people or groups
From this reading A band of fierce Indians was coming toward them.
at or toward the back of something
From this reading Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.
being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
From this reading They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.
the two together, not just one
From this reading Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.
plural of “bow” — a knot with two loops and loose ends; used to tie shoelaces
From this reading The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.
plural of “bush” — a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
From this reading Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.
inflected form of “cling” — come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation
From this reading Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading A band of fierce Indians was coming toward them.
past form of “crouch” — bend one's back forward from the waist on down
From this reading Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.
comparative of “dark” — devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black
From this reading They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.
plural of “face” — the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading A band of fierce Indians was coming toward them.
made afraid
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.
plural of “indian” — a native or inhabitant of India
From this reading A band of fierce Indians was coming toward them.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.
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 They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.
a particular point in time
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A band of fierce Indians was coming toward them.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.
make a painting
From this reading The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.
not move; be in a resting position
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
cut with a saw
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch
From this reading They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
(of a nose) blocked
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mavo clung to Teni, and both crouched behind the bushes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They had long black hair like Teni’s, but their skin was much darker.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The Indians had paint on their faces and bows in their hands.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
in the direction of
From this reading A band of fierce Indians was coming toward them.
a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A band of fierce Indians was coming toward them.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading THE TOWER As they stopped a moment to rest under some sage-bushes, they saw something which frightened them.
Chapter 3 of Children of the Cliff by Belle Wiley holds 43 sentences, grouped into 9 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 3 holds 43 sentences of Children of the Cliff, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Children of the Cliff by Belle Wiley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 43 sentences, grouped into 9 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 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 9 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 3 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 Children of the Cliff by Belle Wiley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 315 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58550 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58550, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 26 minutes of reading across 63 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Children of the Cliff section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of Children of the Cliff 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 Children of the Cliff, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
