Chapter 7 of Marching Sands is here in full — 286 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VII
Chapter 7 of Marching Sands is here in full — 286 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted. The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices. Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light. He saw a peculiar room. It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.
Chapter 7 of Marching Sands is here in full — 286 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/57 · 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.
make a buzzing sound
From this reading “The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.”
as if with kid gloves; with caution or prudence or tact
From this reading “Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.”
possessive form of “gray” — a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading “THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.”
prudent
From this reading “THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.”
past form of “peer” — look searchingly
From this reading “Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.”
in a softened tone
From this reading “THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.”
hard strong durable yellowish-brown wood of teak trees; resistant to insects and to warping; used for furniture and in shipbuilding
From this reading “It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.”
having an intended meaning altered or misrepresented
From this reading “THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.”
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 “THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.”
In this reading “The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.”
In this reading “Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.”
In this reading “THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.”
In this reading “The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.”
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 THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.
past form of “appear” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
make a buzzing sound
From this reading The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.
as if with kid gloves; with caution or prudence or tact
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.
a natural or artificial enclosed space
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
past form of “climb” — go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
make void or empty of contents
From this reading It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.
apart from; not including
From this reading It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy
From this reading It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.
an alert and refreshed state
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
possessive form of “gray” — a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.
prudent
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.
the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
make or become more narrow or restricted
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.
beyond or deviating from the usual or expected
From this reading He saw a peculiar room.
past form of “peer” — look searchingly
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading He saw a peculiar room.
cut with a saw
From this reading He saw a peculiar room.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
comparative of “strong” — having strength or power greater than average or expected
From this reading The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.
in a softened tone
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
hard strong durable yellowish-brown wood of teak trees; resistant to insects and to warping; used for furniture and in shipbuilding
From this reading It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
having an intended meaning altered or misrepresented
From this reading THE DOOR IS GUARDED A subdued glow appeared above Gray's head, as the narrow stairs twisted.
plural of “voice” — the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading The glow grew stronger, and he caught the buzz of voices.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was empty of all furniture except a teakwood chair.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Cautiously he climbed to the head of the steps and peered into the chamber from which came the light.
Chapter 7 of Marching Sands by Harold Lamb holds 286 sentences, grouped into 58 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 286 sentences of Marching Sands, unabridged, divided into 58 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 7 of Marching Sands by Harold Lamb exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 286 sentences, grouped into 58 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 58 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 58 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 Marching Sands by Harold Lamb on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Marching Sands section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Marching Sands 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 Marching Sands, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
