Chapter 38 of The Fighting Edge is here in full — 90 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter 38 of The Fighting Edge is here in full — 90 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom. He had not the least doubt of it. His trail ended here. The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it. The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
Chapter 38 of The Fighting Edge is here in full — 90 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 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.
having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
From this reading “THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.”
the first light of day
From this reading “The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.”
decree or designate beforehand
From this reading “THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.”
not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
From this reading “THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.”
the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses
From this reading “The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.”
emotionally aroused
From this reading “The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.”
confined on all sides
From this reading “The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.”
unbearable physical pain
From this reading “The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.”
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 “The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.”
In this reading “THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.”
In this reading “He had not the least doubt of it.”
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 THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
the first light of day
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
decree or designate beforehand
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
the state of being unsure of something
From this reading He had not the least doubt of it.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
having come or been brought to a conclusion
From this reading His trail ended here.
plural of “face” — the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading He had not the least doubt of it.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He had not the least doubt of it.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading His trail ended here.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He had not the least doubt of it.
used when the thing doing the action is also its object
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
the superlative of “little” that can be used with mass nouns and is usually preceded by “the”; a quantifier meaning smallest in amount or extent or degree
From this reading He had not the least doubt of it.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He had not the least doubt of it.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
interpret something that is written or printed
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
emotionally aroused
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
confined on all sides
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
unbearable physical pain
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
a track or mark left by something that has passed
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
not known
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE END OF A CROOKED TRAIL In the grim faces of the Utes Houck read his doom.
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading The gray dawn, the grim, copper-colored faces, the unknown torment waiting for him, stimulated his imagination.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading The terror in his heart rose less out of the fact itself than the circumstances which surrounded it.
Chapter 38 of The Fighting Edge by William MacLeod Raine holds 90 sentences, grouped into 18 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 38 holds 90 sentences of The Fighting Edge, unabridged, divided into 18 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 38 of The Fighting Edge by William MacLeod Raine exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 90 sentences, grouped into 18 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 18 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 18 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 38 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 Fighting Edge by William MacLeod Raine on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7307 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26520 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26520, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1462 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Fighting Edge section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of The Fighting Edge 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 Fighting Edge, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
