Chapter 4 of Mercenary is here in full — 436 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of Mercenary is here in full — 436 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck." Warren grunted in sour memory. "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means." He grunted again. "There wasn't a Telly team within a mile."
Chapter 4 of Mercenary is here in full — 436 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/87 · 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.
plural of “buff” — an ardent follower and admirer
From this reading “"Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."”
plural of “camera” — equipment for taking photographs (usually consisting of a lightproof box with a lens at one end and light-sensitive film at the other)
From this reading “"Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."”
aromatic Old World herb having aromatic threadlike foliage and seeds used as seasoning
From this reading “"Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."”
being in focus or brought into focus
From this reading “"Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."”
past form of “grunt” — issue a grunting, low, animal-like noise
From this reading “Warren grunted in sour memory.”
German arms manufacturer and inventor of a repeating rifle and pistol (1838-1914)
From this reading “"Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."”
an electronic device that receives television signals and displays them on a screen
From this reading “"Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."”
United States writer and poet (1905-1989)
From this reading “Warren grunted in sour memory.”
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 "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
anew
From this reading He grunted again.
(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 "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
for the reason that
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
the past participle of “be”
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
plural of “buff” — an ardent follower and admirer
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
plural of “camera” — equipment for taking photographs (usually consisting of a lightproof box with a lens at one end and light-sensitive film at the other)
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
aromatic Old World herb having aromatic threadlike foliage and seeds used as seasoning
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
being in focus or brought into focus
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
past form of “grunt” — issue a grunting, low, animal-like noise
From this reading Warren grunted in sour memory.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
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 "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
German arms manufacturer and inventor of a repeating rifle and pistol (1838-1914)
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
thing or person that acts to produce a particular effect or achieve an end
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information and knowledge.
From this reading Warren grunted in sour memory.
a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading "There wasn't a Telly team within a mile."
one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
a condition requiring relief
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
go sour or spoil
From this reading Warren grunted in sour memory.
a cooperative unit (especially in sports)
From this reading "There wasn't a Telly team within a mile."
an electronic device that receives television signals and displays them on a screen
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
in or at that place or location
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
United States writer and poet (1905-1989)
From this reading Warren grunted in sour memory.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "There wasn't a Telly team within a mile."
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading "There wasn't a Telly team within a mile."
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading "Had the Telly cameras been focused on Joe Mauser, there at the Little Big Horn, he would have been a month long sensation to the Telly buffs, with all that means."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Because he doesn't have luck, and in the dill you need luck."
Chapter 4 of Mercenary by Mack Reynolds holds 436 sentences, grouped into 88 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 4 holds 436 sentences of Mercenary, unabridged, divided into 88 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of Mercenary by Mack Reynolds exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 436 sentences, grouped into 88 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 88 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 88 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 4 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 Mercenary by Mack Reynolds on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1783 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #24370 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #24370, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 148 minutes of reading across 357 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mercenary section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 4 chapters of Mercenary 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 Mercenary, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
