Chapter 30 of Children of the Desert is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXX
Chapter 30 of Children of the Desert is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway. Where was he going? Where _could_ he go? That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river. But he could not go to his office now.
Chapter 30 of Children of the Desert is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading “That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.”
having come or been brought to a conclusion
From this reading “That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.”
a major road for any form of motor transport
From this reading “When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.”
plural of “office” — place of business where professional or clerical duties are performed
From this reading “That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.”
serving as or indicating the existence of a purpose or goal
From this reading “When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.”
under normal conditions
From this reading “That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.”
having passed out of existence
From this reading “When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.”
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 “That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.”
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
In this reading “When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.”
In this reading “When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.”
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 When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
the event consisting of the start of something
From this reading That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But he could not go to his office now.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Where _could_ he go?
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
having come or been brought to a conclusion
From this reading That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.
plural of “foot” — the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Where _could_ he go?
the act of departing
From this reading Where was he going?
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
a major road for any form of motor transport
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading But he could not go to his office now.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading But he could not go to his office now.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
place of business where professional or clerical duties are performed
From this reading But he could not go to his office now.
plural of “office” — place of business where professional or clerical duties are performed
From this reading That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
serving as or indicating the existence of a purpose or goal
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
in the near future
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But he could not go to his office now.
under normal conditions
From this reading That beginning he had made usually ended in the offices across the river.
having passed out of existence
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Where was he going?
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
at the time that
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
in or at the place that
From this reading Where was he going?
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading When Harboro went down the stairs and out of the house he had a purposeful air which vanished as soon as his feet were set on the highway.
Chapter 30 of Children of the Desert by Louis Dodge holds 194 sentences, grouped into 39 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 30 holds 194 sentences of Children of the Desert, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 30 of Children of the Desert by Louis Dodge exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 194 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 30 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 Desert by Louis Dodge on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3566 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26550 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26550, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 297 minutes of reading across 714 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Children of the Desert section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 31 chapters of Children of the Desert 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 Desert, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
