Chapter 14 of Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army is here in full — 183 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army is here in full — 183 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE LAST DANCE. The blithest day of all the year has come. The graduating ball takes place to-night. The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow. In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.
Chapter 14 of Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army is here in full — 183 sentences across 37 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/36 · 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.
the act of acknowledging that someone has an occasion for celebration
From this reading “In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.”
a small group of indispensable persons or things
From this reading “In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.”
-ing form of “graduate” — receive an academic degree upon completion of one's studies
From this reading “The graduating ball takes place to-night.”
plural of “hide” — the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal)
From this reading “In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.”
third-person singular of “hover” — be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action
From this reading “The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.”
full of or characterized by joy
From this reading “The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.”
filled with great numbers crowded together
From this reading “The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.”
plural of “visitor” — someone who visits
From this reading “The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.”
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.
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 The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
(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 The blithest day of all the year has come.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
From this reading The graduating ball takes place to-night.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The blithest day of all the year has come.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading The blithest day of all the year has come.
the act of acknowledging that someone has an occasion for celebration
From this reading In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.
a small group of indispensable persons or things
From this reading In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.
an artistic form of nonverbal communication
From this reading THE LAST DANCE.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading The blithest day of all the year has come.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.
-ing form of “graduate” — receive an academic degree upon completion of one's studies
From this reading The graduating ball takes place to-night.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The blithest day of all the year has come.
plural of “hide” — the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal)
From this reading In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.
third-person singular of “hover” — be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
full of or characterized by joy
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
immediately past
From this reading THE LAST DANCE.
the location of something surrounded by other things
From this reading In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The blithest day of all the year has come.
above and across; more than
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading The graduating ball takes place to-night.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
From this reading In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.
plural of “take” — the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property
From this reading The graduating ball takes place to-night.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE LAST DANCE.
in or at that place or location
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading In the midst of all this gayety and congratulation there hides a core of sorrow.
filled with great numbers crowded together
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The graduating ball takes place to-night.
plural of “visitor” — someone who visits
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading The blithest day of all the year has come.
but in spite of that
From this reading The Point is thronged with joyous visitors, and yet over all there hovers a shadow.
Chapter 14 of Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army by Charles King holds 183 sentences, grouped into 37 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 14 holds 183 sentences of Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army, unabridged, divided into 37 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army by Charles King exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 183 sentences, grouped into 37 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 37 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 37 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 14 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 Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army by Charles King on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3284 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26137 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26137, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 273 minutes of reading across 657 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 16 chapters of Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army 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 Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories of Army, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
