Chapter 11 of The Border Boys on the Trail is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of The Border Boys on the Trail is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A DROP IN THE DARK. "Hark!" It was Jack who uttered the exclamation. The shouts were growing louder. Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
Chapter 11 of The Border Boys on the Trail is here in full — 127 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/25 · 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.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading “Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.”
an abrupt excited utterance
From this reading “It was Jack who uttered the exclamation.”
listen; used mostly in the imperative
From this reading “"Hark!"”
past form of “imagine” — form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
From this reading “Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.”
comparative of “loud” — characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading “The shouts were growing louder.”
plural of “mexican” — a native or inhabitant of Mexico
From this reading “Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.”
relatively long in duration; tediously protracted
From this reading “Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.”
plural of “shout” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading “The shouts were growing louder.”
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.
In this reading “Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.”
In this reading “A DROP IN THE DARK.”
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 A DROP IN THE DARK.
the state of being absent
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
fear resulting from the awareness of danger
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading A DROP IN THE DARK.
let fall to the ground
From this reading A DROP IN THE DARK.
unmistakably (“plain” is often used informally for “plainly”)
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
an abrupt excited utterance
From this reading It was Jack who uttered the exclamation.
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
From this reading The shouts were growing louder.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
listen; used mostly in the imperative
From this reading "Hark!"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
past form of “imagine” — form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A DROP IN THE DARK.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was Jack who uttered the exclamation.
a small worthless amount
From this reading It was Jack who uttered the exclamation.
(especially of promises or contracts) not violated or disregarded
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
comparative of “loud” — characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading The shouts were growing louder.
plural of “mexican” — a native or inhabitant of Mexico
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
relatively long in duration; tediously protracted
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
with speed
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
plural of “shout” — a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
From this reading The shouts were growing louder.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A DROP IN THE DARK.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
communicated in words
From this reading It was Jack who uttered the exclamation.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was Jack who uttered the exclamation.
look attentively
From this reading Evidently the Mexicans had kept a closer watch than he or Pete had imagined, and had quickly taken alarm at the prolonged absence of their companion.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The shouts were growing louder.
which person or people
From this reading It was Jack who uttered the exclamation.
Chapter 11 of The Border Boys on the Trail by John Henry Goldfrap holds 127 sentences, grouped into 26 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 11 holds 127 sentences of The Border Boys on the Trail, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of The Border Boys on the Trail by John Henry Goldfrap exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 127 sentences, grouped into 26 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 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 26 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 11 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 Border Boys on the Trail by John Henry Goldfrap on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3203 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #48680 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #48680, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 266 minutes of reading across 641 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Border Boys on the Trail section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Border Boys on the Trail 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 Border Boys on the Trail, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
