Chapter 1 of The Lure of the Dim Trails is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Lure of the Dim Trails is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
And your home range is Fort Benton.” Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.” “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted. “Well, I'll be hanged! But I knew it.
Chapter 1 of The Lure of the Dim Trails is here in full — 105 sentences across 21 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 13/21 · 5 reading units · Lines 61–65
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.
confidently declared to be so
From this reading ““That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.”
United States artist whose paintings portrayed life in the Midwest and South (1889-1975)
From this reading “And your home range is Fort Benton.””
a partially opened flower
From this reading “Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.””
past form of “confess” — confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
From this reading “Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.””
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading ““That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.”
a fortified military post where troops are stationed
From this reading “And your home range is Fort Benton.””
past form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading ““Well, I'll be hanged!”
an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"
From this reading “And your home range is Fort Benton.””
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.
(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 Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.”
at all times; all the time and on every occasion
From this reading “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And your home range is Fort Benton.”
confidently declared to be so
From this reading “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “Well, I'll be hanged!
United States artist whose paintings portrayed life in the Midwest and South (1889-1975)
From this reading And your home range is Fort Benton.”
a partially opened flower
From this reading Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.”
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.”
past form of “call” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.
past form of “confess” — confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
From this reading Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.”
an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
From this reading “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.
a fortified military post where troops are stationed
From this reading And your home range is Fort Benton.”
past form of “hang” — be suspended or hanging
From this reading “Well, I'll be hanged!
where you live at a particular time
From this reading And your home range is Fort Benton.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading But I knew it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Well, I'll be hanged!
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And your home range is Fort Benton.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading But I knew it.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading But I knew it.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.”
an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"
From this reading And your home range is Fort Benton.”
past form of “stare” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Phil stared and confessed to all but the “Bud.”
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “Well, I'll be hanged!
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading And your home range is Fort Benton.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “That's what me and your dad always called yuh,” the man asserted.
Chapter 1 of The Lure of the Dim Trails by B. M. Bower holds 105 sentences, grouped into 21 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 1 holds 105 sentences of The Lure of the Dim Trails, unabridged, divided into 21 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Lure of the Dim Trails by B. M. Bower exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 105 sentences, grouped into 21 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 21 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 21 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 1 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 Lure of the Dim Trails by B. M. Bower on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1598 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1014 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1014, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 133 minutes of reading across 320 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Lure of the Dim Trails section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 13 chapters of The Lure of the Dim Trails 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 Lure of the Dim Trails, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
