Chapter 17 of The Lost Wagon is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Lost Wagon is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis. The Indian's hand touched Barbara's hair. She did not flinch. With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes. It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
Chapter 17 of The Lost Wagon is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 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.
closing the eyes intermittently and rapidly
From this reading “It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.”
driving or forcing
From this reading “It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.”
plural of “elli” — (Norse mythology) goddess of old age who defeated Thor in a wrestling match
From this reading “Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.”
draw back, as with fear or pain
From this reading “She did not flinch.”
possessive form of “indian” — a native or inhabitant of India
From this reading “The Indian's hand touched Barbara's hair.”
a change of position that does not entail a change of location
From this reading “Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.”
in motion
From this reading “It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.”
of an obscure nature
From this reading “It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.”
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.
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 It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Indian's hand touched Barbara's hair.
closing the eyes intermittently and rapidly
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
driving or forcing
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading She did not flinch.
plural of “elli” — (Norse mythology) goddess of old age who defeated Thor in a wrestling match
From this reading Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
opinion or judgment
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
draw back, as with fear or pain
From this reading She did not flinch.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
From this reading The Indian's hand touched Barbara's hair.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading The Indian's hand touched Barbara's hair.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
possessive form of “indian” — a native or inhabitant of India
From this reading The Indian's hand touched Barbara's hair.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
a change of position that does not entail a change of location
From this reading Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.
in motion
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
of an obscure nature
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
not any; not one
From this reading Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading She did not flinch.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.
past form of “return” — go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She did not flinch.
marked by absence of sound
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.
not in physical motion
From this reading Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Indian's hand touched Barbara's hair.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
having come into contact
From this reading The Indian's hand touched Barbara's hair.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Still there was no sound or movement from Ellis.
in the company of; together with
From this reading With his hand still on her hair, the Indian now turned to look full into Ellis's eyes.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading It was a long look, silent, mysterious and compelling, and Ellis returned it without moving, without blinking.
Chapter 17 of The Lost Wagon by Jim Kjelgaard holds 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 410 sentences of The Lost Wagon, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Lost Wagon by Jim Kjelgaard exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 410 sentences, grouped into 82 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 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 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 Lost Wagon by Jim Kjelgaard on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8188 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34697 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34697, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1638 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Lost Wagon section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of The Lost Wagon 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 Lost Wagon, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
