Chapter 18 of The Boy Ranchers on Roaring River is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The Boy Ranchers on Roaring River is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred. The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon. Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened. The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers. Nine o'clock passed.
Chapter 18 of The Boy Ranchers on Roaring River is here in full — 188 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.
inflected form of “blot” — dry (ink) with blotting paper
From this reading “The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.”
made troubled or apprehensive or distressed in appearance
From this reading “The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.”
financial transactions at a brokerage; having to do with the execution of trades and keeping customer records
From this reading “SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.”
to some extent; in some degree; not wholly
From this reading “The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.”
secretly importing prohibited goods or goods on which duty is due
From this reading “SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.”
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading “SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.”
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading “The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.”
plural of “whisper” — speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading “The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.”
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.
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 SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened.
enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.
inflected form of “blot” — dry (ink) with blotting paper
From this reading The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.
made troubled or apprehensive or distressed in appearance
From this reading The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.
made afraid
From this reading Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.
only a very short time before
From this reading SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.
solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.
the force of workers available
From this reading The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.
the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading Nine o'clock passed.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened.
according to the clock
From this reading Nine o'clock passed.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.
financial transactions at a brokerage; having to do with the execution of trades and keeping customer records
From this reading SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.
to some extent; in some degree; not wholly
From this reading The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading Nine o'clock passed.
the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
From this reading The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.
secretly importing prohibited goods or goods on which duty is due
From this reading SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.
with low volume
From this reading Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened.
being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion
From this reading SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The sky had become partly clouded, blotting out the moon.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened.
in spite of the fact that
From this reading Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened.
with anxiety or apprehension
From this reading The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Now and then a horse whinnied, softly, as though frightened.
plural of “whisper” — speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading The waiting men moved about uneasily, talking in whispers.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading SMUGGLING OPERATIONS Hardly a breath of wind stirred.
Chapter 18 of The Boy Ranchers on Roaring River by Willard F. Baker holds 188 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 18 holds 188 sentences of The Boy Ranchers on Roaring River, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The Boy Ranchers on Roaring River by Willard F. Baker exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 188 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 18 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 Ranchers on Roaring River by Willard F. Baker on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4645 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #27096 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #27096, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 387 minutes of reading across 929 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Boy Ranchers on Roaring River section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The Boy Ranchers on Roaring River 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 Ranchers on Roaring River, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
