Chapter 17 of The Free Range is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Free Range is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A BATTLE IN THE DARK "Everything ready?" Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark. "Yes." Sims lounged wearily against the horse's shoulder. It had been a hard day.
Chapter 17 of The Free Range is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading “A BATTLE IN THE DARK "Everything ready?"”
a partially opened flower
From this reading “Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.”
a rheostat that varies the current through an electric light in order to control the level of illumination
From this reading “Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.”
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading “Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.”
possessive form of “horse” — solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading “Sims lounged wearily against the horse's shoulder.”
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
From this reading “Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.”
lift onto one's shoulders
From this reading “Sims lounged wearily against the horse's shoulder.”
in a weary manner
From this reading “Sims lounged wearily against the horse's shoulder.”
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 A BATTLE IN THE DARK "Everything ready?"
touching and pressing; in opposition to
From this reading Sims lounged wearily against the horse's shoulder.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
From this reading A BATTLE IN THE DARK "Everything ready?"
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It had been a hard day.
next to; at the side of
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
a partially opened flower
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading A BATTLE IN THE DARK "Everything ready?"
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading It had been a hard day.
a rheostat that varies the current through an electric light in order to control the level of illumination
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading A BATTLE IN THE DARK "Everything ready?"
inflected form of “grow” — pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It had been a hard day.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading It had been a hard day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
possessive form of “horse” — solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading Sims lounged wearily against the horse's shoulder.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading A BATTLE IN THE DARK "Everything ready?"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It had been a hard day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Sims lounged wearily against the horse's shoulder.
the property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
above and across; more than
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
completely prepared or in condition for immediate action or use or progress
From this reading A BATTLE IN THE DARK "Everything ready?"
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
lift onto one's shoulders
From this reading Sims lounged wearily against the horse's shoulder.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading A BATTLE IN THE DARK "Everything ready?"
in a weary manner
From this reading Sims lounged wearily against the horse's shoulder.
a Caucasian
From this reading Bud Larkin sat his horse beside Hard-winter Sims and looked back over the white mass that grew dimmer and dimmer in the dark.
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes."
Chapter 17 of The Free Range by Francis William Sullivan holds 157 sentences, grouped into 32 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 17 holds 157 sentences of The Free Range, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Free Range by Francis William Sullivan exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 157 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 17 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 Free Range by Francis William Sullivan on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3550 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #27511 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #27511, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 295 minutes of reading across 710 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Free Range section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The Free Range 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 Free Range, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
