Chapter 7 of Crooked Trails and Straight is here in full — 202 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of Crooked Trails and Straight is here in full — 202 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure. The first impression Curly received was that of negligence. In places the roof sagged. A door in the rear hung from one hinge. More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.
Chapter 7 of Crooked Trails and Straight is here in full — 202 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 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 clay from which adobe bricks are made
From this reading “BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.”
(of hair) having curls or waves
From this reading “The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.”
a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other
From this reading “A door in the rear hung from one hinge.”
failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances
From this reading “The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.”
sheet glass cut in shapes for windows or doors
From this reading “More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.”
inflected form of “sag” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading “In places the roof sagged.”
a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts
From this reading “BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.”
filled with something
From this reading “More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.”
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 “More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.”
In this reading “The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.”
In this reading “BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.”
In this reading “A door in the rear hung from one hinge.”
In this reading “A door in the rear hung from one hinge.”
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 BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
the clay from which adobe bricks are made
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.
(of hair) having curls or waves
From this reading The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading A door in the rear hung from one hinge.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading A door in the rear hung from one hinge.
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.
a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other
From this reading A door in the rear hung from one hinge.
solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
inflected form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading A door in the rear hung from one hinge.
a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
From this reading The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In places the roof sagged.
shaped in the form of the letter L
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
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 BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
less than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.
failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances
From this reading The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading A door in the rear hung from one hinge.
sheet glass cut in shapes for windows or doors
From this reading More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.
a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
From this reading More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.
plural of “place” — a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading In places the roof sagged.
farm consisting of a large tract of land along with facilities needed to raise livestock (especially cattle)
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
the back of a military formation or procession
From this reading A door in the rear hung from one hinge.
conforming to the established language usage of educated native speakers
From this reading The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.
a protective covering that covers or forms the top of a building
From this reading In places the roof sagged.
inflected form of “sag” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading In places the roof sagged.
a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
filled with something
From this reading More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The first impression Curly received was that of negligence.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading BAD MEDICINE The house at the horse ranch was a long, low L-shaped adobe structure.
in the company of; together with
From this reading More than one broken pane of glass was stuffed with paper.
Chapter 7 of Crooked Trails and Straight by William MacLeod Raine holds 202 sentences, grouped into 41 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 7 holds 202 sentences of Crooked Trails and Straight, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Crooked Trails and Straight by William MacLeod Raine exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 202 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 7 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.
