Chapter 20 of The Boy Allies with the Cossacks is here in full — 126 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Boy Allies with the Cossacks is here in full — 126 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE DEATH OF A FRIEND. Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest. Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves. And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis. Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
Chapter 20 of The Boy Allies with the Cossacks is here in full — 126 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.
a member of a Slavic people living in southern European Russia and Ukraine and adjacent parts of Asia and noted for their horsemanship and military skill; they formed an elite cavalry corps in czarist Russia
From this reading “Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.”
wear away by rubbing
From this reading “Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.”
displaying superhuman strength or power
From this reading “Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.”
a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation
From this reading “Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.”
civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army
From this reading “Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.”
inflected form of “snap” — utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
From this reading “And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis.”
-ing form of “snarl” — utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
From this reading “And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis.”
superlative of “thick” — not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading “Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.”
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 “Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.”
the middle or central part or point
In this reading “Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.”
In this reading “Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.”
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 THE DEATH OF A FRIEND.
farther along in physical or mental development
From this reading Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
(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 Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
(military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons)
From this reading Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
next to; at the side of
From this reading And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis.
capable of wounding
From this reading And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis.
a city of southeastern Pennsylvania on the Delaware river (an industrial suburb of Philadelphia)
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
a member of a Slavic people living in southern European Russia and Ukraine and adjacent parts of Asia and noted for their horsemanship and military skill; they formed an elite cavalry corps in czarist Russia
From this reading Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
the event of dying or departure from life
From this reading THE DEATH OF A FRIEND.
the act of fighting; any contest or struggle
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.
wear away by rubbing
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
From this reading THE DEATH OF A FRIEND.
any creature of exceptional size
From this reading Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
displaying superhuman strength or power
From this reading Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
a formation of people or things one beside another
From this reading Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.
humorist who wrote about the imaginary life of cockroaches (1878-1937)
From this reading And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis.
the location of something surrounded by other things
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE DEATH OF A FRIEND.
a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation
From this reading Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army
From this reading Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.
inflected form of “snap” — utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
From this reading And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis.
-ing form of “snarl” — utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
From this reading And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis.
the post or function properly or customarily occupied or served by another
From this reading Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading Now the herculean prowess of the giant Cossack stood them all in good stead.
inflected form of “stride” — walk with long steps
From this reading And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE DEATH OF A FRIEND.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading And beside them, snapping, biting and snarling, strode Marquis.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.
superlative of “thick” — not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
in or at the place that
From this reading Hal, Chester and Alexis had been in the midst of the fray, where the fighting was the thickest.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Not in the first line of attack, they had advanced with the first reserves.
Chapter 20 of The Boy Allies with the Cossacks by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes holds 126 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 20 holds 126 sentences of The Boy Allies with the Cossacks, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Boy Allies with the Cossacks by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 126 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 20 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 Boy Allies with the Cossacks by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3994 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #30951 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #30951, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 332 minutes of reading across 799 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Boy Allies with the Cossacks section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Boy Allies with the Cossacks 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 Boy Allies with the Cossacks, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
