Chapter 1 of The River Boss is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The River Boss is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better. It runs, “Get the logs out. Get them out peaceably, if you can, but _get them out_.” He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule. That might involve headquarters.
Chapter 1 of The River Boss is here in full — 196 sentences across 40 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/39 · 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.
past form of “blaze” — shine brightly and intensively
From this reading “Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.”
being effective without wasting time or effort or expense
From this reading “Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.”
(usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise
From this reading “He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.”
connect closely and often incriminatingly
From this reading “That might involve headquarters.”
a favorite saying of a sect or political group
From this reading “Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.”
plural of “owner” — (law) someone who owns (is legal possessor of) a business
From this reading “Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.”
in a peaceable manner
From this reading “Get them out peaceably, if you can, but _get them out_.””
plural of “westerner” — an inhabitant of a western area; especially of the U.S.
From this reading “Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.”
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 “Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.”
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 Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
past form of “blaze” — shine brightly and intensively
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
a person who exercises control over workers
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
terminate
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Get them out peaceably, if you can, but _get them out_.”
being effective without wasting time or effort or expense
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading It runs, “Get the logs out.
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
(usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
a manual usually accompanying a technical device and explaining how to install or operate it
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
connect closely and often incriminatingly
From this reading That might involve headquarters.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It runs, “Get the logs out.
plural of “know” — the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
be an inhabitant of or reside in
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
plural of “log” — a segment of the trunk of a tree when stripped of branches
From this reading It runs, “Get the logs out.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading That might involve headquarters.
a favorite saying of a sect or political group
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
in such a manner as could not be otherwise
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
not any; not one
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
be obedient to
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
plural of “order” — (often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading It runs, “Get the logs out.
plural of “owner” — (law) someone who owns (is legal possessor of) a business
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
in a peaceable manner
From this reading Get them out peaceably, if you can, but _get them out_.”
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
plural of “run” — a score in baseball made by a runner touching all four bases safely
From this reading It runs, “Get the logs out.
express in words
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That might involve headquarters.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Get them out peaceably, if you can, but _get them out_.”
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
a track or mark left by something that has passed
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He needs no instructions from headquarters to tell him how to live up to this rule.
plural of “westerner” — an inhabitant of a western area; especially of the U.S.
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Author of “The Westerners,” “The Blazed Trail,” etc. “Obey orders if you break owners,” is a good motto, but a really efficient river boss knows a better.
Chapter 1 of The River Boss by Stewart Edward White holds 196 sentences, grouped into 40 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 196 sentences of The River Boss, unabridged, divided into 40 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The River Boss by Stewart Edward White exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 196 sentences, grouped into 40 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 40 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 40 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 River Boss by Stewart Edward White on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 196 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66494 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66494, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 16 minutes of reading across 40 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The River Boss section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 1 chapters of The River Boss 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 River Boss, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
