Chapter 17 of The Scouts of the Valley is here in full — 292 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Scouts of the Valley is here in full — 292 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others. “Well, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?” “I?” asked Paul. “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.” “An' me?” said Shif'less Sol.
Chapter 17 of The Scouts of the Valley is here in full — 292 sentences across 59 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/58 · 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.
a small recess opening off a larger room
From this reading ““I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.””
a steep high face of rock
From this reading ““I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.””
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading “When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.”
an opening into or through something
From this reading ““I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.””
a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading ““I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.””
United States feminist (1885-1977)
From this reading ““I?” asked Paul.”
a colloid that has a continuous liquid phase in which a solid is suspended in a liquid
From this reading ““An' me?” said Shif'less Sol.”
an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading “When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.”
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 “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading “Well, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?”
higher than, or over, something
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
a small recess opening off a larger room
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading “An' me?” said Shif'less Sol.
the form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “Well, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?”
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “Well, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?”
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading “Well, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?”
definite but not specified or identified
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
a steep high face of rock
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
past form of “disappear” — get lost, as without warning or explanation
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Well, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?”
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
an opening into or through something
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading “I?” asked Paul.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
immediately past
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “An' me?” said Shif'less Sol.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
United States feminist (1885-1977)
From this reading “I?” asked Paul.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “An' me?” said Shif'less Sol.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “An' me?” said Shif'less Sol.
a colloid that has a continuous liquid phase in which a solid is suspended in a liquid
From this reading “An' me?” said Shif'less Sol.
an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
From this reading “I'm thinking about a certain place I know, a sort of alcove or hole in a cliff above a lake.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
the process of using your mind to consider something carefully
From this reading “Well, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
plural of “tree” — a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
(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, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?”
used to ask for information about something
From this reading “Well, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?”
at the time that
From this reading When the last soldier had disappeared among the trees, Henry turned to the others.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Well, boys,” he asked, “what are you thinking about?”
Chapter 17 of The Scouts of the Valley by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler holds 292 sentences, grouped into 59 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 292 sentences of The Scouts of the Valley, unabridged, divided into 59 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Scouts of the Valley by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 292 sentences, grouped into 59 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 59 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 59 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 Scouts of the Valley by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6010 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1078 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1078, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 500 minutes of reading across 1202 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Scouts of the Valley section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 24 chapters of The Scouts of the Valley 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 Scouts of the Valley, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
