Chapter 1 of The Riverman is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Riverman is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright. And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.” “It's there already. Let's go take a look,” suggested Orde. They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
Chapter 1 of The Riverman is here in full — 204 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 20/40 · 5 reading units · Lines 96–100
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.
an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)
From this reading “The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.”
possessive form of “johnson” — English writer and lexicographer (1709-1784)
From this reading “And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.””
move about in a confused manner
From this reading “They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.”
past form of “pick” — select carefully from a group
From this reading “They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.”
a small lake
From this reading “They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.”
the back of a military formation or procession
From this reading “And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.””
a town in north central California on the Sacramento River
From this reading “The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.”
the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located)
From this reading “They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.”
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 The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
prior to a specified or implied time
From this reading “It's there already.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
operate or control a vehicle
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
the boundary of a surface
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
regard something as probable or likely
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Let's go take a look,” suggested Orde.
the act of departing
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
a sacred place of pilgrimage
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It's there already.
possessive form of “johnson” — English writer and lexicographer (1709-1784)
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Let's go take a look,” suggested Orde.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Let's go take a look,” suggested Orde.
engage in
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
move about in a confused manner
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
used to form the superlative
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Let's go take a look,” suggested Orde.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
past form of “pick” — select carefully from a group
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
a small lake
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
the back of a military formation or procession
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
a town in north central California on the Sacramento River
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located)
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
past form of “suggest” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading Let's go take a look,” suggested Orde.
carry out
From this reading Let's go take a look,” suggested Orde.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The flood-water's going down every minute, and it'll make the riffles above Redding a holy fright.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
in or at that place or location
From this reading “It's there already.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading They picked their way around the edge of the pond to the site of the new mill.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading And I expect Johnson's drive will be down on our rear most any time.”
Chapter 1 of The Riverman by Stewart Edward White holds 204 sentences, grouped into 41 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 204 sentences of The Riverman, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Riverman by Stewart Edward White exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 204 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 Riverman by Stewart Edward White on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7499 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1099 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1099, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1500 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Riverman section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 36 chapters of The Riverman 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 Riverman, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
