Chapter 2 of Crooked Trails and Straight is here in full — 179 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Crooked Trails and Straight is here in full — 179 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Mac was nowhere in sight. Probably he had gone to get the horses. A sound broke the stillness of the desert.
Chapter 2 of Crooked Trails and Straight is here in full — 179 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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 act of encamping and living in tents in a camp
From this reading “CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.”
(of hair) having curls or waves
From this reading “CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.”
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading “A sound broke the stillness of the desert.”
a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
From this reading “Mac was nowhere in sight.”
an insignificant place
From this reading “Mac was nowhere in sight.”
inflected form of “rub” — move over something with pressure
From this reading “He sat up and rubbed his eyes.”
marked by exceptional merit
From this reading “CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.”
(poetic) tranquil silence
From this reading “A sound broke the stillness of the desert.”
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.
a man who is very old
In this reading “CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.”
at or within a reasonable distance for seeing
In this reading “Mac was nowhere in sight.”
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 A sound broke the stillness of the desert.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
lacking funds
From this reading A sound broke the stillness of the desert.
the act of encamping and living in tents in a camp
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
(of hair) having curls or waves
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading A sound broke the stillness of the desert.
opinion or judgment
From this reading He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Probably he had gone to get the horses.
destroyed or killed
From this reading Probably he had gone to get the horses.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Probably he had gone to get the horses.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
plural of “horse” — solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading Probably he had gone to get the horses.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
From this reading Mac was nowhere in sight.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
an insignificant place
From this reading Mac was nowhere in sight.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A sound broke the stillness of the desert.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
with considerable certainty; without much doubt
From this reading Probably he had gone to get the horses.
inflected form of “rub” — move over something with pressure
From this reading He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
marked by exceptional merit
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
an instance of visual perception
From this reading Mac was nowhere in sight.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading A sound broke the stillness of the desert.
(poetic) tranquil silence
From this reading A sound broke the stillness of the desert.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Probably he had gone to get the horses.
a source of difficulty
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
at the time that
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
in the company of; together with
From this reading CAMPING WITH OLD MAN TROUBLE The sun was shining in his face when Curly wakened.
Chapter 2 of Crooked Trails and Straight by William MacLeod Raine holds 179 sentences, grouped into 36 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 179 sentences of Crooked Trails and Straight, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Crooked Trails and Straight by William MacLeod Raine exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 179 sentences, grouped into 36 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 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 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 Crooked Trails and Straight by William MacLeod Raine on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6287 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26911 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26911, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 523 minutes of reading across 1258 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Crooked Trails and Straight section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 30 chapters of Crooked Trails and Straight 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 Crooked Trails and Straight, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
