Chapter 17 of The Barrier is here in full — 345 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Barrier is here in full — 345 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred. "Say! What's this about you and Stark? I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail." "We had a row," admitted the trader.
Chapter 17 of The Barrier is here in full — 345 sentences across 69 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/69 · 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 process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading “RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.”
a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)
From this reading “RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.”
a strong wind moving 45-90 knots; force 7 to 10 on Beaufort scale
From this reading “RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.”
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading “RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.”
draw back, as with fear or pain
From this reading “I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."”
separate into parts or portions
From this reading “I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."”
devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment
From this reading “What's this about you and Stark?”
someone who purchases and maintains an inventory of goods to be sold
From this reading “"We had a row," admitted the trader.”
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 I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading What's this about you and Stark?
inflected form of “admit” — declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
From this reading "We had a row," admitted the trader.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
plural of “find” — a productive insight
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
about to be mentioned or specified
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
set up or found
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
a strong wind moving 45-90 knots; force 7 to 10 on Beaufort scale
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
provoking horror
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
United States filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in America (born in 1957)
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
not any; not one
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
inflected form of “occur” — come to pass
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
draw back, as with fear or pain
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
an arrangement of objects or people side by side in a line
From this reading "We had a row," admitted the trader.
an angry dispute
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
express in words
From this reading "Say!
the act of singing vocal music
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
separate into parts or portions
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment
From this reading What's this about you and Stark?
a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading What's this about you and Stark?
someone who purchases and maintains an inventory of goods to be sold
From this reading "We had a row," admitted the trader.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
not usual or common or ordinary
From this reading RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE "No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, and found Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading I hear you had a horrible run-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "We had a row," admitted the trader.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading What's this about you and Stark?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading What's this about you and Stark?
Chapter 17 of The Barrier by Rex Beach holds 345 sentences, grouped into 69 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 17 holds 345 sentences of The Barrier, unabridged, divided into 69 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Barrier by Rex Beach exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 345 sentences, grouped into 69 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 69 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 69 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 17 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 Barrier by Rex Beach on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5083 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4082 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4082, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 423 minutes of reading across 1017 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Barrier section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Barrier 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 Barrier, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
