Chapter 17 of The Boy Scout Pathfinders is here in full — 106 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Boy Scout Pathfinders is here in full — 106 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
JACK’S RUN FOR LIFE Too late! The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe. He had failed! He had been entrusted with that mission and he had failed. A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
Chapter 17 of The Boy Scout Pathfinders is here in full — 106 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 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.
draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs
From this reading “The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.”
past form of “entrust” — confer a trust upon
From this reading “He had been entrusted with that mission and he had failed.”
past form of “flash” — gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading “The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.”
provoking horror
From this reading “The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.”
possessive form of “jack” — a small worthless amount
an organization of missionaries in a foreign land sent to carry on religious work
From this reading “He had been entrusted with that mission and he had failed.”
a raised horizontal surface
From this reading “The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.”
(usually followed by “to”) not having the necessary means or skill or know-how
From this reading “The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.”
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 “JACK’S RUN FOR LIFE Too late!”
In this reading “The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.”
In this reading “The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.”
In this reading “He had been entrusted with that mission and he had failed.”
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 life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
from one side of something to the other
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading He had been entrusted with that mission and he had failed.
draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
past form of “entrust” — confer a trust upon
From this reading He had been entrusted with that mission and he had failed.
past form of “fail” — fail to do something; leave something undone
From this reading He had failed!
past form of “flash” — gleam or glow intermittently
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
inflected form of “fling” — throw with force or recklessness
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading JACK’S RUN FOR LIFE Too late!
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had failed!
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
provoking horror
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
possessive form of “jack” — a small worthless amount
From this reading JACK’S RUN FOR LIFE Too late!
being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
From this reading JACK’S RUN FOR LIFE Too late!
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading JACK’S RUN FOR LIFE Too late!
plural of “life” — a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
an organization of missionaries in a foreign land sent to carry on religious work
From this reading He had been entrusted with that mission and he had failed.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
by chance
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
a raised horizontal surface
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading JACK’S RUN FOR LIFE Too late!
rescued; especially from the power and consequences of sin
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
express in speech
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He had been entrusted with that mission and he had failed.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading JACK’S RUN FOR LIFE Too late!
a fact that has been verified
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
(usually followed by “to”) not having the necessary means or skill or know-how
From this reading The horrible truth flashed across him as he flung himself on the platform, unable to speak and almost unable to breathe.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He had been entrusted with that mission and he had failed.
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading A life, perhaps two lives now, could have been saved by a word from him and he had failed!
Chapter 17 of The Boy Scout Pathfinders by Robert Maitland holds 106 sentences, grouped into 22 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 106 sentences of The Boy Scout Pathfinders, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Boy Scout Pathfinders by Robert Maitland exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 106 sentences, grouped into 22 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 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 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 Boy Scout Pathfinders by Robert Maitland on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2009 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65084 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65084, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 167 minutes of reading across 402 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Boy Scout Pathfinders section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Boy Scout Pathfinders 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 Scout Pathfinders, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
