Chapter 1 of The Bad Man: A Novel is here in full — 365 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Bad Man: A Novel is here in full — 365 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles. It would be better to stop down there. They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything. Sturgis had arranged things nicely. "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
Chapter 1 of The Bad Man: A Novel is here in full — 365 sentences across 73 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 46/73 · 5 reading units · Lines 226–230
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.
having fair knowledge of
From this reading “They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.”
disposed or placed in a particular kind of order
From this reading “Sturgis had arranged things nicely.”
straighten with a comb
From this reading “They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.”
found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
From this reading “"Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.”
in a nice way
From this reading “Sturgis had arranged things nicely.”
designed or carried out according to a plan
From this reading “"Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.”
a journey for some purpose (usually including the return)
From this reading “Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.”
carefully observant or attentive; on the lookout for possible danger
From this reading “They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.”
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 Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.
having fair knowledge of
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
(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 Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
disposed or placed in a particular kind of order
From this reading Sturgis had arranged things nicely.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.
having undesirable or negative qualities
From this reading Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It would be better to stop down there.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading It would be better to stop down there.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
straighten with a comb
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading It would be better to stop down there.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
the organ of sight
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Sturgis had arranged things nicely.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It would be better to stop down there.
cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., “keep clean”
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.
in a nice way
From this reading Sturgis had arranged things nicely.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
on one occasion
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
and nothing more
From this reading Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.
above and across; more than
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
designed or carried out according to a plan
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading "Red" Giddings came over, as planned, and Lucia liked his pleasant face at once.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading It would be better to stop down there.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sturgis had arranged things nicely.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
in or at that place or location
From this reading It would be better to stop down there.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
any movable possession (especially articles of clothing)
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It would be better to stop down there.
a journey for some purpose (usually including the return)
From this reading Not a bad trip at all--only a few miles.
carefully observant or attentive; on the lookout for possible danger
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading They could comb the country, get acquainted, see how things were, and keep a vigilant eye on everything.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It would be better to stop down there.
Chapter 1 of The Bad Man: A Novel by Charles Hanson Towne holds 365 sentences, grouped into 73 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 365 sentences of The Bad Man: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 73 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Bad Man: A Novel by Charles Hanson Towne exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 365 sentences, grouped into 73 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 73 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 73 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 The Bad Man: A Novel by Charles Hanson Towne on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5677 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #16968 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #16968, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 473 minutes of reading across 1136 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Bad Man: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The Bad Man: A Novel 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 The Bad Man: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
