Chapter 1 of On Picket Duty, and Other Tales is here in full — 572 sentences across 115 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of On Picket Duty, and Other Tales is here in full — 572 sentences across 115 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ON PICKET DUTY. _WHAT_ air you thinkin' of, Phil? “My wife, Dick.” “So was I! Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
Chapter 1 of On Picket Duty, and Other Tales is here in full — 572 sentences across 115 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/114 · 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.
someone who is a detective
From this reading ““My wife, Dick.””
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading “ON PICKET DUTY.”
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading “Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?””
plural of “feller” — a person who fells trees
From this reading “Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?””
not divisible by two
From this reading “Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?””
a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading “ON PICKET DUTY.”
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading “Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?””
orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of
From this reading “Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?””
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 Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading _WHAT_ air you thinkin' of, Phil?
someone who is a detective
From this reading “My wife, Dick.”
the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force
From this reading ON PICKET DUTY.
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
plural of “feller” — a person who fells trees
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “So was I!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading “My wife, Dick.”
not divisible by two
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading _WHAT_ air you thinkin' of, Phil?
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading ON PICKET DUTY.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _WHAT_ air you thinkin' of, Phil?
a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading ON PICKET DUTY.
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading “So was I!
orally recite the letters of or give the spelling of
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _WHAT_ air you thinkin' of, Phil?
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “So was I!
used to ask for information about something
From this reading _WHAT_ air you thinkin' of, Phil?
at the time that
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading “My wife, Dick.”
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading Aint it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little women, when they get a quiet spell like this?”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading _WHAT_ air you thinkin' of, Phil?
Chapter 1 of On Picket Duty, and Other Tales by Louisa May Alcott holds 572 sentences, grouped into 115 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 1 holds 572 sentences of On Picket Duty, and Other Tales, unabridged, divided into 115 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of On Picket Duty, and Other Tales by Louisa May Alcott exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 572 sentences, grouped into 115 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 115 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 115 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 1 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 On Picket Duty, and Other Tales by Louisa May Alcott on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1122 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4960 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4960, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 93 minutes of reading across 225 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through On Picket Duty, and Other Tales section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of On Picket Duty, and Other Tales 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 On Picket Duty, and Other Tales, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
