Chapter 14 of The Hosts of the Air is here in full — 455 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of The Hosts of the Air is here in full — 455 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE HAPPY ESCAPE They said very little now. John drove on through a great happy silence. All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape. Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge. The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
Chapter 14 of The Hosts of the Air is here in full — 455 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/91 · 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 “beam” — a signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather
From this reading “The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.”
past form of “believe” — accept as true; take to be true
From this reading “All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.”
take exception to
From this reading “Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.”
a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
From this reading “John drove on through a great happy silence.”
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading “The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.”
plural of “omen” — a sign of something about to happen
From this reading “All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.”
inflected form of “swim” — travel through water
From this reading “The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.”
a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river
From this reading “The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.”
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 John drove on through a great happy silence.
(usually followed by “to”) having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.
plural of “beam” — a signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather
From this reading The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
past form of “believe” — accept as true; take to be true
From this reading All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.
take exception to
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
From this reading John drove on through a great happy silence.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
the act of escaping physically
From this reading THE HAPPY ESCAPE They said very little now.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
having the deep slightly brownish color of gold
From this reading The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading John drove on through a great happy silence.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading THE HAPPY ESCAPE They said very little now.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading John drove on through a great happy silence.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading THE HAPPY ESCAPE They said very little now.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading THE HAPPY ESCAPE They said very little now.
plural of “omen” — a sign of something about to happen
From this reading All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading John drove on through a great happy silence.
above and across; more than
From this reading The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading THE HAPPY ESCAPE They said very little now.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading John drove on through a great happy silence.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
inflected form of “swim” — travel through water
From this reading The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE HAPPY ESCAPE They said very little now.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading THE HAPPY ESCAPE They said very little now.
inflected form of “throw” — propel through the air
From this reading The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading John drove on through a great happy silence.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river
From this reading The sun swam over the earth and threw golden beams into the valley.
precisely as stated
From this reading THE HAPPY ESCAPE They said very little now.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.
at the time that
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading Surely, fortune was with them when they had been able to come so far without challenge.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading All the omens were good, and he believed that they would escape.
Chapter 14 of The Hosts of the Air by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler holds 455 sentences, grouped into 91 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 14 holds 455 sentences of The Hosts of the Air, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of The Hosts of the Air by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 455 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 14 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 Hosts of the Air by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5209 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #15285 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #15285, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 434 minutes of reading across 1042 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Hosts of the Air section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of The Hosts of the Air 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 Hosts of the Air, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
