Chapter 8 of Smoke of the .45 is here in full — 141 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Smoke of the .45 is here in full — 141 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words. “Give me his name! Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted. And obviously Johnny could not answer truthfully. He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.
Chapter 8 of Smoke of the .45 is here in full — 141 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 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.
of the present time and place
From this reading “STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.”
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading “STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.”
having the excitement and emotional appeal of melodrama
From this reading “STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.”
gather or bring together
From this reading “He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.”
unmistakably (“plain” is often used informally for “plainly”)
From this reading “And obviously Johnny could not answer truthfully.”
past form of “ponder” — reflect deeply on a subject
From this reading “He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.”
feel remorse for; feel sorry for; be contrite about
From this reading “STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.”
with truth
From this reading “And obviously Johnny could not answer truthfully.”
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 “STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.”
a man who is very old
In this reading “Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted.”
In this reading “He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.”
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.
later than; following
From this reading He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And obviously Johnny could not answer truthfully.
react verbally
From this reading And obviously Johnny could not answer truthfully.
events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading And obviously Johnny could not answer truthfully.
the act of determining the properties of something, usually by research or calculation
From this reading He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading “Give me his name!
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
of the present time and place
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
“Johnny” was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; “greyback” derived from their grey Confederate uniforms
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Give me his name!
having the excitement and emotional appeal of melodrama
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
gather or bring together
From this reading He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “Give me his name!
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading And obviously Johnny could not answer truthfully.
unmistakably (“plain” is often used informally for “plainly”)
From this reading And obviously Johnny could not answer truthfully.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.
go across or through
From this reading He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.
past form of “ponder” — reflect deeply on a subject
From this reading He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.
feel remorse for; feel sorry for; be contrite about
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
in a vehement outcry
From this reading Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted.
successive (without a break)
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
express in words
From this reading Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
with truth
From this reading And obviously Johnny could not answer truthfully.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted.
which person or people
From this reading Tell me who he was!” the old man shouted.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading He pondered lie after lie without finding one to pass muster.
the words that are spoken
From this reading STRAIGHT TALK Johnny had immediate cause to regret his melodramatic words.
Chapter 8 of Smoke of the .45 by Harry Sinclair Drago holds 141 sentences, grouped into 29 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 141 sentences of Smoke of the .45, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Smoke of the .45 by Harry Sinclair Drago exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 141 sentences, grouped into 29 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 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 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 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.
