Chapter 27 of The Covered Wagon is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVII
Chapter 27 of The Covered Wagon is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock. The Arapahoes saw to that. But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men. The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball. "Put out the fires!
Chapter 27 of The Covered Wagon is here in full — 194 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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 “burial” — the ritual placing of a corpse in a grave
From this reading “But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.”
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading “THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.”
plural of “fire” — the event of something burning (often destructive)
From this reading “"Put out the fires!”
a condition of spiritual awareness; divine illumination
From this reading “The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.”
freedom from control or influence of another or others
From this reading “THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.”
a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
From this reading “The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.”
the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performed
From this reading “THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.”
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading “The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.”
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 But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Arapahoes saw to that.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
(military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons)
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
plural of “burial” — the ritual placing of a corpse in a grave
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
inflected form of “catch” — discover or come upon accidentally, suddenly, or unexpectedly; catch somebody doing something or in a certain state
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
a young person of either sex
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
an artistic form of nonverbal communication
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
start firing a weapon
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
plural of “fire” — the event of something burning (often destructive)
From this reading "Put out the fires!
about to be mentioned or specified
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
inflected form of “give” — cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
a person who keeps watch over something or someone
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
a condition of spiritual awareness; divine illumination
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
freedom from control or influence of another or others
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
the force of workers available
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
not any; not one
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading "Put out the fires!
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading "Put out the fires!
a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
cut with a saw
From this reading The Arapahoes saw to that.
a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
in or at that place or location
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The Arapahoes saw to that.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performed
From this reading THE DANCE IN THE DESERT There was no wedding that night at the Independence Rock.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (“whole” is often used informally for “wholly”)
From this reading The night attack had caught the company wholly off guard, and the bright fire gave good illumination for shaft and ball.
plural of “woman” — an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading But there were burials the day following, six of them--two women, a child, three men.
Chapter 27 of The Covered Wagon by Emerson Hough holds 194 sentences, grouped into 39 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 27 holds 194 sentences of The Covered Wagon, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 27 of The Covered Wagon by Emerson Hough exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 194 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 27 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.
