Chapter 14 of Heart of the West is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Heart of the West is here in full — 197 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Boys,” said Ranse, “I’m much obliged. I was hoping you would. But I didn’t like to ask.” Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him. That was merely their way of gently awaking their victim.
Chapter 14 of Heart of the West is here in full — 197 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.
English writer noted for early detective novels (1824-1889)
From this reading “Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.”
marked by a painfully slow and effortful manner
From this reading “Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.”
past form of “gallop” — ride at a galloping pace
From this reading “Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.”
-ing form of “hope” — expect and wish
From this reading “I was hoping you would.”
bulge outward
From this reading “Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.”
let for money
From this reading “Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.”
to an extreme or greatly exaggerated degree
From this reading “Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.”
plural of “yell” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading “Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.”
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 Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
later than; following
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading But I didn’t like to ask.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That was merely their way of gently awaking their victim.
exceptionally bad or displeasing
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading “Boys,” said Ranse, “I’m much obliged.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But I didn’t like to ask.”
English writer noted for early detective novels (1824-1889)
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But I didn’t like to ask.”
the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
marked by a painfully slow and effortful manner
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
past form of “gallop” — ride at a galloping pace
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
in a gradual manner
From this reading That was merely their way of gently awaking their victim.
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
-ing form of “hope” — expect and wish
From this reading I was hoping you would.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I was hoping you would.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Boys,” said Ranse, “I’m much obliged.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading But I didn’t like to ask.”
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 Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
and nothing more
From this reading That was merely their way of gently awaking their victim.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading “Boys,” said Ranse, “I’m much obliged.
under a moral obligation to do something
From this reading “Boys,” said Ranse, “I’m much obliged.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading That was merely their way of gently awaking their victim.
bulge outward
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Boys,” said Ranse, “I’m much obliged.
let for money
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
put a saddle on
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Boys,” said Ranse, “I’m much obliged.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That was merely their way of gently awaking their victim.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading That was merely their way of gently awaking their victim.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading But I didn’t like to ask.”
an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance
From this reading That was merely their way of gently awaking their victim.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was hoping you would.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading That was merely their way of gently awaking their victim.
to an extreme or greatly exaggerated degree
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading I was hoping you would.
plural of “yell” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading Half a dozen six-shooters began to pop—awful yells rent the air—Long Collins galloped wildly across Curly’s bed, dragging the saddle after him.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I was hoping you would.
Chapter 14 of Heart of the West by O. Henry holds 197 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 14 holds 197 sentences of Heart of the West, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Heart of the West by O. Henry exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 197 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 14 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.
