Chapter 3 of The Desert Trail is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Desert Trail is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken. We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time. There is no vein--no gold. Anyone who wished could take it. While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
Chapter 3 of The Desert Trail is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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.
inquire into
From this reading “While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.”
having or showing only one eye
From this reading “While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.”
in a polite manner
From this reading “"Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.”
-ing form of “prospect” — search for something desirable
From this reading “While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.”
past form of “protest” — utter words of protest
From this reading “"Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.”
void of intelligence or thought
From this reading “We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.”
a blood vessel that carries blood from the capillaries toward the heart
From this reading “There is no vein--no gold.”
the act of signaling by a movement of the hand
From this reading “"Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.”
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 “While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.”
In this reading “We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.”
In this reading “We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.”
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 While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
any person at all
From this reading Anyone who wished could take it.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading Anyone who wished could take it.
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
inquire into
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
feel or handle with the fingers
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
coins made of gold
From this reading There is no vein--no gold.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There is no vein--no gold.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
the one or ones belonging to the person speaking
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
wrong in e.g. opinion or judgment
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
not any; not one
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
having or showing only one eye
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
a legal document giving official permission to do something
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
in a polite manner
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
-ing form of “prospect” — search for something desirable
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
past form of “protest” — utter words of protest
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
carry out
From this reading Anyone who wished could take it.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There is no vein--no gold.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
void of intelligence or thought
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
a blood vessel that carries blood from the capillaries toward the heart
From this reading There is no vein--no gold.
the act of signaling by a movement of the hand
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading We have inquired about this mine and it has been vacant for some time.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
during the time that
From this reading While we were prospecting we met this poor one-eyed man and he has taken out a permit to explore it.
which person or people
From this reading Anyone who wished could take it.
past form of “wish” — hope for; have a wish
From this reading Anyone who wished could take it.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Ah, no, señor," protested De Lancey, waving his finger politely for silence, "you are mistaken.
Chapter 3 of The Desert Trail by Dane Coolidge holds 402 sentences, grouped into 81 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 3 holds 402 sentences of The Desert Trail, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Desert Trail by Dane Coolidge exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 402 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 3 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 Desert Trail by Dane Coolidge on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3735 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52358 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52358, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 311 minutes of reading across 747 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Desert Trail section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 9 chapters of The Desert Trail 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 Desert Trail, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
