Chapter 8 of Marching Sands is here in full — 241 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Marching Sands is here in full — 241 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face. It was still quite warm. The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago. Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold. With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.
Chapter 8 of Marching Sands is here in full — 241 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/48 · 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.
given to or marked by the consumption of alcohol
From this reading “Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.”
a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
From this reading “With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.”
having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect
From this reading “DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.”
past form of “straighten” — straighten up or out; make straight
From this reading “With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.”
past form of “survey” — consider in a comprehensive way
From this reading “With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.”
the starting point for a new state or experience
From this reading “Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.”
the act of making something tighter
From this reading “With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.”
migratory
From this reading “Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.”
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 priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.”
In this reading “Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.”
In this reading “DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.”
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 priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
in the past
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
given to or marked by the consumption of alcohol
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
mat together and make felt-like
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
From this reading With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was still quite warm.
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
plural of “lip” — either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.
a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
with considerable certainty; without much doubt
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading It was still quite warm.
not in physical motion
From this reading It was still quite warm.
having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
past form of “straighten” — straighten up or out; make straight
From this reading With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.
past form of “survey” — consider in a comprehensive way
From this reading With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading The priest could not have killed himself more than a few minutes ago.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading DELABAR LEAVES Gray stooped and felt the dead man's face.
the starting point for a new state or experience
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
the act of making something tighter
From this reading With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.
migratory
From this reading Probably Delabar, in his drunken wandering, had put his foot across the threshold.
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading It was still quite warm.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was still quite warm.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With a tightening of the lips, Gray straightened and surveyed the inn.
Chapter 8 of Marching Sands by Harold Lamb holds 241 sentences, grouped into 49 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 8 holds 241 sentences of Marching Sands, unabridged, divided into 49 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Marching Sands by Harold Lamb exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 241 sentences, grouped into 49 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 49 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 49 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 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.
