Chapter 17 of Prentice Mulford's story is here in full — 146 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Prentice Mulford's story is here in full — 146 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
RED MOUNTAIN BAR. The California mining camp was ephemeral. Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years. Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation. Of such settlements, Red Mountain Bar was one.
Chapter 17 of Prentice Mulford's story is here in full — 146 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
damaged by decay; hence unsound and useless
From this reading “Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.”
lasting a very short time
From this reading “The California mining camp was ephemeral.”
past form of “flourish” — grow vigorously
From this reading “Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.”
the act of extracting ores or coal etc from the earth
From this reading “The California mining camp was ephemeral.”
plural of “settlement” — a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government
From this reading “Of such settlements, Red Mountain Bar was one.”
the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located)
From this reading “Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.”
a black garment (dress) worn by a widow as a sign of mourning
From this reading “Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.”
-ing form of “witness” — be a witness to
From this reading “Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.”
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 California mining camp was ephemeral.”
In this reading “Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.”
In this reading “Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.”
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 Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
(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 Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter
From this reading RED MOUNTAIN BAR.
(used of soaps or cleaning agents) having a substance (an abrasive or filler) added to increase effectiveness
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
a state in the western United States on the Pacific; the 3rd largest state; known for earthquakes
From this reading The California mining camp was ephemeral.
temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
From this reading The California mining camp was ephemeral.
plural of “change” — an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
damaged by decay; hence unsound and useless
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
lasting a very short time
From this reading The California mining camp was ephemeral.
past form of “flourish” — grow vigorously
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
past form of “found” — set up or found
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
all the people living at the same time or of approximately the same age
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
succulent herbaceous vegetation of pasture land
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
the activity of keeping something secret
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
possessive form of “man” — an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
the act of extracting ores or coal etc from the earth
From this reading The California mining camp was ephemeral.
a land mass that projects well above its surroundings; higher than a hill
From this reading RED MOUNTAIN BAR.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
many times at short intervals
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
above and across; more than
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading RED MOUNTAIN BAR.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
plural of “settlement” — a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government
From this reading Of such settlements, Red Mountain Bar was one.
the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located)
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Of such settlements, Red Mountain Bar was one.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The California mining camp was ephemeral.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The California mining camp was ephemeral.
a black garment (dress) worn by a widow as a sign of mourning
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
-ing form of “witness” — be a witness to
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
a late time of life
From this reading Often it was founded, built up, flourished, decayed, and had weeds and herbage growing over its site and hiding all of man’s work inside of ten years.
but in spite of that
From this reading Yet to one witnessing these changes it seemed the life of a whole generation.
Chapter 17 of Prentice Mulford's story by Prentice Mulford holds 146 sentences, grouped into 30 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 17 holds 146 sentences of Prentice Mulford's story, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Prentice Mulford's story by Prentice Mulford exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 146 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 17 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 Prentice Mulford's story by Prentice Mulford 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 Prentice Mulford's story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of Prentice Mulford's story 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 Prentice Mulford's story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
