Chapter 27 of The Story of the Foss River Ranch is here in full — 309 sentences across 62 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVII
Chapter 27 of The Story of the Foss River Ranch is here in full — 309 sentences across 62 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture. She had been standing there for some minutes. The night was quite dark; there was no moon. Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture. The girl was waiting for "Lord" Bill.
Chapter 27 of The Story of the Foss River Ranch is here in full — 309 sentences across 62 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/61 · 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 statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading “The girl was waiting for "Lord" Bill.”
enclose with a fence
From this reading “Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.”
past form of “hitch” — to hook or entangle
From this reading “Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.”
a field covered with grass or herbage and suitable for grazing by livestock
From this reading “SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.”
plural of “post” — the position where someone (as a guard or sentry) stands or is assigned to stand
From this reading “Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.”
problem solving that involves numbers or quantities
From this reading “SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.”
a gradual sinking to a lower level
From this reading “SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.”
plural of “yard” — a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading “Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.”
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 Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading She had been standing there for some minutes.
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading The girl was waiting for "Lord" Bill.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading The night was quite dark; there was no moon.
enclose with a fence
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading She had been standing there for some minutes.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
a movable barrier in a fence or wall
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
a young female
From this reading The girl was waiting for "Lord" Bill.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading She had been standing there for some minutes.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
past form of “hitch” — to hook or entangle
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
relating to or being on the side closer to the center or within a defined space
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading The girl was waiting for "Lord" Bill.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading She had been standing there for some minutes.
the natural satellite of the Earth
From this reading The night was quite dark; there was no moon.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The night was quite dark; there was no moon.
not any; not one
From this reading The night was quite dark; there was no moon.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
a field covered with grass or herbage and suitable for grazing by livestock
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
plural of “post” — the position where someone (as a guard or sentry) stands or is assigned to stand
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading The night was quite dark; there was no moon.
problem solving that involves numbers or quantities
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
a gradual sinking to a lower level
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She had been standing there for some minutes.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading She had been standing there for some minutes.
having a supporting base
From this reading She had been standing there for some minutes.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading SETTLING THE RECKONING Jacky stood at the gate of the fifty-acre pasture.
in or at that place or location
From this reading She had been standing there for some minutes.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
From this reading The girl was waiting for "Lord" Bill.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The night was quite dark; there was no moon.
plural of “yard” — a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading Her horse, Nigger, was standing hitched to one of the fence posts a few yards away from her and inside the pasture.
Chapter 27 of The Story of the Foss River Ranch by Ridgwell Cullum holds 309 sentences, grouped into 62 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 27 holds 309 sentences of The Story of the Foss River Ranch, unabridged, divided into 62 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 27 of The Story of the Foss River Ranch by Ridgwell Cullum exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 309 sentences, grouped into 62 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 62 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 62 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 27 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 Story of the Foss River Ranch by Ridgwell Cullum on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7054 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #14482 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #14482, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 587 minutes of reading across 1411 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Story of the Foss River Ranch section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of The Story of the Foss River Ranch 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 Story of the Foss River Ranch, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
