Chapter 1 of Smoke of the .45 is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Smoke of the .45 is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT. September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage. The first of the cold rains had fallen. Round-up time was past. The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
Chapter 1 of Smoke of the .45 is here in full — 147 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.
domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age
From this reading “The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.”
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading “THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.”
-ing form of “gray” — make grey
From this reading “September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.”
plural of “pasture” — a field covered with grass or herbage and suitable for grazing by livestock
From this reading “The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.”
plural of “rain” — water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading “The first of the cold rains had fallen.”
a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom
From this reading “September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.”
the month following August and preceding October
From this reading “September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.”
lacking brightness or color; dull
From this reading “September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.”
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 first of the cold rains had fallen.”
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.
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
an orange of low brightness and saturation
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age
From this reading The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
From this reading The first of the cold rains had fallen.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
opinion or judgment
From this reading THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading The first of the cold rains had fallen.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading The first of the cold rains had fallen.
destroyed or killed
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
-ing form of “gray” — make grey
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
plural of “hill” — a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
having or showing profound knowledge
From this reading THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.
the act of departing
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.
move something or somebody to a lower position
From this reading The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
in motion
From this reading The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The first of the cold rains had fallen.
the time that has elapsed
From this reading Round-up time was past.
plural of “pasture” — a field covered with grass or herbage and suitable for grazing by livestock
From this reading The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
plural of “rain” — water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere
From this reading The first of the cold rains had fallen.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Round-up time was past.
a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
the month following August and preceding October
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
lacking brightness or color; dull
From this reading September had come and gone, leaving the desert brown and somber against the graying sage.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Round-up time was past.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Round-up time was past.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The cattle left in the hills were moving down to lower pastures.
belonging to which person
From this reading THROUGH WHOSE EYES I LEARNED TO LOVE THE DESERT.
Chapter 1 of Smoke of the .45 by Harry Sinclair Drago holds 147 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 1 holds 147 sentences of Smoke of the .45, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Smoke of the .45 by Harry Sinclair Drago exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 147 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 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 Smoke of the .45 by Harry Sinclair Drago on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5164 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #63072 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #63072, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 430 minutes of reading across 1033 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Smoke of the .45 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of Smoke of the .45 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 Smoke of the .45, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
