Chapter 4 of The Covered Wagon is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Covered Wagon is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn. Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed. The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through. The frontier stores were stripped of their last supplies. One more day, and then on to Oregon!
Chapter 4 of The Covered Wagon is here in full — 147 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
plural of “activity” — any specific behavior
From this reading “Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed.”
a brass instrument without valves; used for military calls and fanfares
From this reading “FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.”
a state in northwestern United States on the Pacific
From this reading “One more day, and then on to Oregon!”
(military) signal to wake up
From this reading “FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.”
plural of “settlement” — a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government
From this reading “The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.”
plural of “supply” — an amount of something available for use
From this reading “The frontier stores were stripped of their last supplies.”
plural of “team” — a cooperative unit (especially in sports)
From this reading “The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.”
plural of “wagon” — any of various kinds of wheeled vehicles drawn by an animal or a tractor
From this reading “The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.”
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 FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
plural of “activity” — any specific behavior
From this reading Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
a brass instrument without valves; used for military calls and fanfares
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed.
domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
rid of obstructions
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
the first light of day
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading One more day, and then on to Oregon!
not as far along as normal in development
From this reading Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed.
compelled forcibly by an outside agency
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
a rise in the temperature of the body; frequently a symptom of infection
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
plural of “fortune” — an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
a wilderness at the edge of a settled area of a country
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed.
greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
plural of “horse” — solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
moving rapidly or performed quickly or in great haste
From this reading Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed.
immediately past
From this reading The frontier stores were stripped of their last supplies.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading One more day, and then on to Oregon!
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
plural of “note” — a brief written record
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading One more day, and then on to Oregon!
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One more day, and then on to Oregon!
a state in northwestern United States on the Pacific
From this reading One more day, and then on to Oregon!
an adult castrated bull of the genus Bos; especially Bos taurus
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
extremely crowed or filled to capacity
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
(military) signal to wake up
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
North American woodland herb similar to and used as substitute for the Chinese ginseng
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
plural of “settlement” — a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
plural of “store” — a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
From this reading The frontier stores were stripped of their last supplies.
plural of “street” — a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
having only essential or minimal features
From this reading The frontier stores were stripped of their last supplies.
plural of “supply” — an amount of something available for use
From this reading The frontier stores were stripped of their last supplies.
plural of “team” — a cooperative unit (especially in sports)
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading FEVER OF NEW FORTUNES The notes of a bugle, high and clear, sang reveille at dawn.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The frontier stores were stripped of their last supplies.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading One more day, and then on to Oregon!
the plural of “that”: the people or things further away, or already known
From this reading Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading One more day, and then on to Oregon!
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
plural of “wagon” — any of various kinds of wheeled vehicles drawn by an animal or a tractor
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
which person or people
From this reading Now came hurried activities of those who had delayed.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The streets of the two frontier settlements were packed with ox teams, horses, wagons, cattle driven through.
Chapter 4 of The Covered Wagon by Emerson Hough holds 147 sentences, grouped into 30 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 4 holds 147 sentences of The Covered Wagon, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Covered Wagon by Emerson Hough exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 147 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 4 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 Covered Wagon by Emerson Hough on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6631 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #13384 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #13384, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 552 minutes of reading across 1327 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Covered Wagon section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Covered Wagon 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 Covered Wagon, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
