Chapter 17 of The Big-Town Round-Up is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Big-Town Round-Up is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently. "Don't you be frightened, li'l' pardner. You've come home. There won't anybody hurt you here." The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.
Chapter 17 of The Big-Town Round-Up is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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 compartment at the front of a motor vehicle or locomotive where driver sits
From this reading “JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.”
a slow speech pattern with prolonged vowels
From this reading “The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.”
made afraid
From this reading “"Don't you be frightened, li'l' pardner.”
a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter
From this reading “JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.”
the combined stakes of the betters
From this reading “JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.”
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading “JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.”
a shaky motion
From this reading “JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.”
in a violent manner
From this reading “JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.”
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 JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
any person at all
From this reading There won't anybody hurt you here."
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "Don't you be frightened, li'l' pardner.
a compartment at the front of a motor vehicle or locomotive where driver sits
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading You've come home.
a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain
From this reading The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Don't you be frightened, li'l' pardner.
a slow speech pattern with prolonged vowels
From this reading The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.
made afraid
From this reading "Don't you be frightened, li'l' pardner.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading There won't anybody hurt you here."
where you live at a particular time
From this reading You've come home.
be the source of pain
From this reading There won't anybody hurt you here."
defying expression
From this reading The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
the combined stakes of the betters
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Don't you be frightened, li'l' pardner.
plural of “make” — a recognizable kind
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.
an associate in an activity or endeavor or sphere of common interest
From this reading "Don't you be frightened, li'l' pardner.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
yielding readily to pressure or weight
From this reading The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There won't anybody hurt you here."
a shaky motion
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
in a violent manner
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading The soft drawl of Clay's voice carried inexpressible comfort.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading JOHNNIE MAKES A JOKE As Kitty stepped from the cab she was trembling violently.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There won't anybody hurt you here."
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Don't you be frightened, li'l' pardner.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading You've come home.
Chapter 17 of The Big-Town Round-Up by William MacLeod Raine holds 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 17 holds 186 sentences of The Big-Town Round-Up, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Big-Town Round-Up by William MacLeod Raine exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 Big-Town Round-Up by William MacLeod Raine on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6449 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #17205 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #17205, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 537 minutes of reading across 1290 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Big-Town Round-Up section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Big-Town Round-Up 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 Big-Town Round-Up, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
