Chapter 8 of Heart of the West is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Heart of the West is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat. Hurry up!’ “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money. “Solly wasn’t there. Neither was the smooth-haired lady.
Chapter 8 of Heart of the West is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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.
be on one's guard; be cautious or wary about; be alert to
From this reading ““As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.”
a police officer who investigates crimes
From this reading ““‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat.”
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading “Hurry up!’”
plural of “line” — a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading ““As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.”
fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
From this reading ““As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.”
plural of “palm” — the inner surface of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers
From this reading ““As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.”
a building where people go to eat
From this reading ““As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.”
a quantity of money
From this reading ““As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.”
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 “‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading “‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
be on one's guard; be cautious or wary about; be alert to
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
a police officer who investigates crimes
From this reading “‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat.
take in solid food
From this reading “‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
the act of departing
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry
From this reading Hurry up!’
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading Neither was the smooth-haired lady.
plural of “line” — a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
not one and not the other of two
From this reading Neither was the smooth-haired lady.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
plural of “palm” — the inner surface of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
a building where people go to eat
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading “‘I’m a detective,’ says I, ‘and I don’t eat.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
having hair that feels smooth
From this reading Neither was the smooth-haired lady.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Solly wasn’t there.
in the near future
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
a quantity of money
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
in or at that place or location
From this reading “Solly wasn’t there.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Hurry up!’
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “As soon as I got to the restaurant I felt in the lines of my palms that I should beware of a tall, red, damfool man, and I was going to lose a sum of money.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Solly wasn’t there.
Chapter 8 of Heart of the West by O. Henry holds 196 sentences, grouped into 40 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 8 holds 196 sentences of Heart of the West, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Heart of the West by O. Henry exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 196 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 8 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 Heart of the West by O. Henry on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5041 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1725 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1725, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 420 minutes of reading across 1009 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Heart of the West section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Heart of the West 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 Heart of the West, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
