Chapter 26 of The Desert Valley is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of The Desert Valley is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes. Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars. Were they right? Were they wrong? They did not know.
Chapter 26 of The Desert Valley is here in full — 186 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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 “boulder” — a large smooth mass of rock detached from its place of origin
From this reading “Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.”
past form of “camp” — live in or as if in a tent
From this reading “Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.”
past form of “dawn” — become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions
From this reading “When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.”
the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock
From this reading “When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.”
English actor of stage and screen (1893-1943)
From this reading “When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.”
the money risked on a gamble
From this reading “When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.”
from that time on
From this reading “Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.”
fall down, as if collapsing
From this reading “Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.”
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 Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
shining intensely
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
plural of “boulder” — a large smooth mass of rock detached from its place of origin
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
past form of “camp” — live in or as if in a tent
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
past form of “dawn” — become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading They did not know.
the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
start firing a weapon
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
(Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
a local and well-defined elevation of the land
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
English actor of stage and screen (1893-1943)
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading They did not know.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading They did not know.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
precisely, exactly
From this reading Were they right?
a structure that provides privacy and protection from danger
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
the money risked on a gamble
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
plural of “star” — (astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
from that time on
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
in every part of a place, or for the whole of a period
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
the upper part of anything
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
fall down, as if collapsing
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading Thereafter they made a little fire in the shelter of a tumble of boulders and camped throughout the night under the blazing desert stars.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Were they right?
at the time that
From this reading When Day Dawned Upon the flat top of Red Dirt Hill, Howard and Helen drove their stakes.
not correct; not in conformity with fact or truth
From this reading Were they wrong?
Chapter 26 of The Desert Valley by Jackson Gregory holds 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 26 holds 186 sentences of The Desert Valley, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of The Desert Valley by Jackson Gregory exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 186 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 26 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 Valley by Jackson Gregory on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5490 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15502 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15502, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 457 minutes of reading across 1098 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Desert Valley section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Desert Valley 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 Valley, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
