Chapter 10 of Stories of a Western Town is here in full — 175 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of Stories of a Western Town is here in full — 175 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter. Jane read it twice. The paper rattled in her hands. “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.” She dropped her veil over her face.
Chapter 10 of Stories of a Western Town is here in full — 175 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 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.
a solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides)
From this reading ““Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.””
although something is true; in spite of
From this reading “There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.”
of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees
From this reading “There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.”
thrown into a state of agitated confusion; (“rattled” is an informal term)
From this reading “The paper rattled in her hands.”
marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
From this reading “There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.”
an unbroken series of events
From this reading “There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.”
two times
From this reading “Jane read it twice.”
a garment that covers the head and face
From this reading “She dropped her veil over her face.”
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.
anew
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
a solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides)
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
although something is true; in spite of
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
inflected form of “drop” — let fall to the ground
From this reading She dropped her veil over her face.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading She dropped her veil over her face.
destroyed or killed
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading The paper rattled in her hands.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Jane read it twice.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Jane read it twice.
a written message addressed to a person or organization
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
above and across; more than
From this reading She dropped her veil over her face.
a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
From this reading The paper rattled in her hands.
thrown into a state of agitated confusion; (“rattled” is an informal term)
From this reading The paper rattled in her hands.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading Jane read it twice.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
a general conscious awareness
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
used with I and we for the future, or to offer and suggest
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
an unbroken series of events
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The paper rattled in her hands.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
two times
From this reading Jane read it twice.
a garment that covers the head and face
From this reading She dropped her veil over her face.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
during the time that
From this reading “Tilly has moved while I was gone,” she said; “I never shall live in the block again.”
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
set down in writing in any of various ways
From this reading There must have been, despite her shrewd sense, an obtuse streak in Tilly, else she would never have written that letter.
Chapter 10 of Stories of a Western Town by Octave Thanet holds 175 sentences, grouped into 35 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 10 holds 175 sentences of Stories of a Western Town, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of Stories of a Western Town by Octave Thanet exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 175 sentences, grouped into 35 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 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 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 10 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 Stories of a Western Town by Octave Thanet on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2313 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2949 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2949, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 192 minutes of reading across 463 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Stories of a Western Town section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of Stories of a Western Town 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 Stories of a Western Town, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
