Chapter 12 of Smoke of the .45 is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Smoke of the .45 is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor. Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down. Her appearance prompted him to plain speaking. “Listen, girl,” he said. “There’s somethin’ wrong.
Chapter 12 of Smoke of the .45 is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/14 · 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.
expected hopefully
From this reading “Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down.”
possessive form of “eldorado” — an imaginary place of great wealth and opportunity; sought in South America by 16th-century explorers
third-person singular of “explain” — make plain and comprehensible
From this reading “MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.”
“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 “MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.”
popular aquarium fish
From this reading “MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.”
an event that involves rising to a higher point (as in altitude or temperature or intensity etc.)
From this reading “MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.”
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading “MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.”
past form of “prompt” — give an incentive for action
From this reading “Her appearance prompted him to plain speaking.”
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 “Her appearance prompted him to plain speaking.”
lower someone's spirits; make downhearted
In this reading “Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down.”
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.
outward or visible aspect of a person or thing
From this reading Her appearance prompted him to plain speaking.
expected hopefully
From this reading Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down.
a youthful male person
From this reading Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down.
put or send forth
From this reading Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down.
possessive form of “eldorado” — an imaginary place of great wealth and opportunity; sought in South America by 16th-century explorers
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
third-person singular of “explain” — make plain and comprehensible
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
set up or found
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
a young female
From this reading “Listen, girl,” he said.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Listen, girl,” he said.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Molly awaited him, but the boy found her cast down.
“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 MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
hear with intention
From this reading “Listen, girl,” he said.
popular aquarium fish
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
an event that involves rising to a higher point (as in altitude or temperature or intensity etc.)
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
according to the clock
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
reception room in an inn or club where visitors can be received
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
From this reading Her appearance prompted him to plain speaking.
past form of “prompt” — give an incentive for action
From this reading Her appearance prompted him to plain speaking.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Listen, girl,” he said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “There’s somethin’ wrong.
the utterance of intelligible speech
From this reading Her appearance prompted him to plain speaking.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “There’s somethin’ wrong.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading MOLLY EXPLAINS Two o’clock found Johnny mounting the stairs to the Eldorado’s parlor.
not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth
From this reading “There’s somethin’ wrong.
Chapter 12 of Smoke of the .45 by Harry Sinclair Drago holds 72 sentences, grouped into 15 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 12 holds 72 sentences of Smoke of the .45, unabridged, divided into 15 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Smoke of the .45 by Harry Sinclair Drago exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 72 sentences, grouped into 15 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 15 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 15 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 12 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.
