Chapter 8 of The Dead-Line is here in full — 397 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of The Dead-Line is here in full — 397 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“You bet. There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.” They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon. It was a little too early in the morning for much activity. None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
Chapter 8 of The Dead-Line is here in full — 397 sentences across 80 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/79 · 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.
any specific behavior
From this reading “It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.”
maintain with or as if with a bet
From this reading ““You bet.”
one of a set of small pieces of stiff paper marked in various ways and used for playing games or for telling fortunes
From this reading “None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.”
English philosopher who introduced the theory of the association of ideas (1705-1757)
From this reading “There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.””
a building where people go to eat
From this reading “They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.”
a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter
From this reading “They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.”
woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
From this reading “There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.””
a clan or tribe identified by their kinship to a common totemic object
From this reading “They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.”
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.
a table for playing cards (as in a casino)
In this reading “None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.”
move out of or depart from
In this reading “They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.”
In this reading “It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.”
In this reading “It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.”
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 There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
any specific behavior
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
maintain with or as if with a bet
From this reading “You bet.
one of a set of small pieces of stiff paper marked in various ways and used for playing games or for telling fortunes
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
take in liquids
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
English philosopher who introduced the theory of the association of ideas (1705-1757)
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
to a great degree or extent
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
not one, and not any
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
a full supply
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
past form of “remain” — stay the same; remain in a certain state
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
a building where people go to eat
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
a room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
woolly usually horned ruminant mammal related to the goat
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There’d be plenty of killin’ as long as a sheep remained, Hartley.”
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
a clan or tribe identified by their kinship to a common totemic object
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading None of them wanted a drink, so they sat down at a card table to smoke and talk.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a little too early in the morning for much activity.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading They went out of the restaurant and down to the Totem Saloon.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You bet.
Chapter 8 of The Dead-Line by W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle holds 397 sentences, grouped into 80 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 8 holds 397 sentences of The Dead-Line, unabridged, divided into 80 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of The Dead-Line by W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 397 sentences, grouped into 80 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 80 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 80 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 8 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 Dead-Line by W. C. (Wilbur C.) Tuttle on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4854 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66821 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66821, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 404 minutes of reading across 971 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Dead-Line section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of The Dead-Line 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 Dead-Line, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
