Chapter 12 of The Emigrant Trail is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Emigrant Trail is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them. It was undoubtedly the long-looked-for New York Company. The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies. A cheering excitement ran through the train. There was stir and loud talking.
Chapter 12 of The Emigrant Trail is here in full — 109 sentences across 22 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/21 · 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 “bluff” — a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)
From this reading “Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.”
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading “A cheering excitement ran through the train.”
plural of “energy” — (physics) a thermodynamic quantity equivalent to the capacity of a physical system to do work; the units of energy are joules or ergs
From this reading “The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies.”
the sport of sitting on the back of a horse while controlling its movements
From this reading “Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.”
past form of “slacken” — become slow or slower
From this reading “The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies.”
move an implement through
From this reading “There was stir and loud talking.”
of or relating to or producing normal tone or tonus in muscles or tissue
From this reading “The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies.”
without doubt; certainly
From this reading “It was undoubtedly the long-looked-for New York Company.”
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 Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
at or in the front
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There was stir and loud talking.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
plural of “bluff” — a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion)
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
encouragement in the form of cheers from spectators
From this reading A cheering excitement ran through the train.
an institution created to conduct business
From this reading It was undoubtedly the long-looked-for New York Company.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
plural of “energy” — (physics) a thermodynamic quantity equivalent to the capacity of a physical system to do work; the units of energy are joules or ergs
From this reading The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies.
the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
From this reading A cheering excitement ran through the train.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was undoubtedly the long-looked-for New York Company.
above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was undoubtedly the long-looked-for New York Company.
characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
From this reading There was stir and loud talking.
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading It was undoubtedly the long-looked-for New York Company.
information about recent and important events
From this reading The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
inflected form of “run” — move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading A cheering excitement ran through the train.
to give an account or representation of in words
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
the sport of sitting on the back of a horse while controlling its movements
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
Identical; not different.
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
past form of “slacken” — become slow or slower
From this reading The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies.
move an implement through
From this reading There was stir and loud talking.
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading There was stir and loud talking.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was stir and loud talking.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading A cheering excitement ran through the train.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
of or relating to or producing normal tone or tonus in muscles or tissue
From this reading The news was as a tonic to their slackened energies.
create by training and teaching
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
without doubt; certainly
From this reading It was undoubtedly the long-looked-for New York Company.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was undoubtedly the long-looked-for New York Company.
which person or people
From this reading Late the same day Leff, who had been riding on the bluffs, came down to report a large train a few miles ahead of them.
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading It was undoubtedly the long-looked-for New York Company.
Chapter 12 of The Emigrant Trail by Geraldine Bonner holds 109 sentences, grouped into 22 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 12 holds 109 sentences of The Emigrant Trail, unabridged, divided into 22 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Emigrant Trail by Geraldine Bonner exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 109 sentences, grouped into 22 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 22 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 22 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 12 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 Emigrant Trail by Geraldine Bonner on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7259 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #19113 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #19113, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1452 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Emigrant Trail section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of The Emigrant 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 Emigrant Trail, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
