Chapter 25 of Crooked Trails and Straight is here in full — 228 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXV
Chapter 25 of Crooked Trails and Straight is here in full — 228 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him. "Don't you move," the boy warned. "What does this tommyrot mean?" the sheepman demanded angrily. "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch. That's what it means."
Chapter 25 of Crooked Trails and Straight is here in full — 228 sentences across 46 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/45 · 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.
with anger
From this reading “"What does this tommyrot mean?" the sheepman demanded angrily.”
move up and down repeatedly
From this reading “BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.”
a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading “BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.”
flat tableland with steep edges
From this reading “BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.”
farm consisting of a large tract of land along with facilities needed to raise livestock (especially cattle)
From this reading “"It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.”
the sport of sitting on the back of a horse while controlling its movements
From this reading “BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.”
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading “BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.”
past form of “warn” — notify of danger, potential harm, or risk
From this reading “"Don't you move," the boy warned.”
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.
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 BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
with anger
From this reading "What does this tommyrot mean?" the sheepman demanded angrily.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
move up and down repeatedly
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
a youthful male person
From this reading "Don't you move," the boy warned.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
past form of “demand” — request urgently and forcefully
From this reading "What does this tommyrot mean?" the sheepman demanded angrily.
the form of “do” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "What does this tommyrot mean?" the sheepman demanded angrily.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Don't you move," the boy warned.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
set up or found
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
past form of “happen” — come to pass
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading "What does this tommyrot mean?" the sheepman demanded angrily.
thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
flat tableland with steep edges
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "Don't you move," the boy warned.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
farm consisting of a large tract of land along with facilities needed to raise livestock (especially cattle)
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
the sport of sitting on the back of a horse while controlling its movements
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
a man who raises (or tends) sheep
From this reading "What does this tommyrot mean?" the sheepman demanded angrily.
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That's what it means."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Don't you move," the boy warned.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading "What does this tommyrot mean?" the sheepman demanded angrily.
caused to fall to the ground
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
pretentious or silly talk or writing
From this reading "What does this tommyrot mean?" the sheepman demanded angrily.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
past form of “warn” — notify of danger, potential harm, or risk
From this reading "Don't you move," the boy warned.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading BOB TAKES A HAND Fendrick, riding on Mesa Verde, met Bob Cullison, and before he knew what had happened found a gun thrown on him.
in the company of; together with
From this reading "It means that you are coming back with me to the ranch.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Don't you move," the boy warned.
Chapter 25 of Crooked Trails and Straight by William MacLeod Raine holds 228 sentences, grouped into 46 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 25 holds 228 sentences of Crooked Trails and Straight, unabridged, divided into 46 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 25 of Crooked Trails and Straight by William MacLeod Raine exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 228 sentences, grouped into 46 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 46 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 46 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 25 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.
