Chapter 6 of The Ransom of Red Chief is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VI
Chapter 6 of The Ransom of Red Chief is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon. That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats. He shot Lester in the back.” “Shot him in the back?” “Yes, while he was hitchin’ his hoss.”
Chapter 6 of The Ransom of Red Chief is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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.
a youthful male person
From this reading “That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.”
provide as food
From this reading “That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.”
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading “That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.”
plural of “oat” — annual grass of Europe and North Africa; grains used as food and fodder (referred to primarily in the plural: “oats”)
From this reading “That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.”
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading ““Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon.”
the act of firing a projectile
From this reading “He shot Lester in the back.””
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading “That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.”
an affirmative
From this reading ““Yes, while he was hitchin’ his hoss.””
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.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading “Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon.
a youthful male person
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
provide as food
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
grass mowed and cured for use as fodder
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He shot Lester in the back.”
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Shot him in the back?”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading “Yes, while he was hitchin’ his hoss.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yes, while he was hitchin’ his hoss.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Yes, while he was hitchin’ his hoss.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
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 That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He shot Lester in the back.”
plural of “oat” — annual grass of Europe and North Africa; grains used as food and fodder (referred to primarily in the plural: “oats”)
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
expect, believe, or suppose
From this reading “Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon.
the act of firing a projectile
From this reading He shot Lester in the back.”
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading That boy I left in the feed store don’t know hay from oats.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Yes, while he was hitchin’ his hoss.”
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “Well, I’ll be ridin’ back, I reckon.
during the time that
From this reading “Yes, while he was hitchin’ his hoss.”
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes, while he was hitchin’ his hoss.”
Chapter 6 of The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry holds 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 6 holds 426 sentences of The Ransom of Red Chief, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 6 of The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 6 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 The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Ransom of Red Chief section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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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 The Ransom of Red Chief, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
