Chapter 4 of The Sword of Antietam is here in full — 452 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Sword of Antietam is here in full — 452 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth. The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents. Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it. Anything to get away from this blinding blaze. But he soon forgot heat and dust.
Chapter 4 of The Sword of Antietam is here in full — 452 sentences across 91 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/90 · 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 strong flame that burns brightly
From this reading “Anything to get away from this blinding blaze.”
shining intensely
From this reading “Anything to get away from this blinding blaze.”
covered with a layer of dust
From this reading “The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.”
past form of “long” — desire strongly or persistently
From this reading “Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.”
American Revolutionary leader from Virginia whose objections led to the drafting of the Bill of Rights (1725-1792)
From this reading “Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.”
past form of “struggle” — make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading “Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.”
plural of “tent” — a portable shelter (usually of canvas stretched over supporting poles and fastened to the ground with ropes and pegs)
From this reading “The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.”
plural of “wagon” — any of various kinds of wheeled vehicles drawn by an animal or a tractor
From this reading “The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.”
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 Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
in the past
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
plural of “animal” — a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
any thing at all
From this reading Anything to get away from this blinding blaze.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Anything to get away from this blinding blaze.
a strong flame that burns brightly
From this reading Anything to get away from this blinding blaze.
shining intensely
From this reading Anything to get away from this blinding blaze.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
an artistic form of nonverbal communication
From this reading The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.
someone who is a detective
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
remove the dust from
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
covered with a layer of dust
From this reading The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.
the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on
From this reading The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.
all things; all of a situation
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
to certain extent or degree
From this reading The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
inflected form of “forget” — dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
From this reading But he soon forgot heat and dust.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Anything to get away from this blinding blaze.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Anything to get away from this blinding blaze.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading But he soon forgot heat and dust.
a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
From this reading But he soon forgot heat and dust.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
past form of “long” — desire strongly or persistently
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
American Revolutionary leader from Virginia whose objections led to the drafting of the Bill of Rights (1725-1792)
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
the force of workers available
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
Periods of darkness between sunset and sunrise.
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
and nothing more
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
above and across; more than
From this reading The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
in the near future
From this reading But he soon forgot heat and dust.
behave violently, as if in state of a great anger
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
past form of “struggle” — make a strenuous or labored effort
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.
plural of “tent” — a portable shelter (usually of canvas stretched over supporting poles and fastened to the ground with ropes and pegs)
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading Anything to get away from this blinding blaze.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The sunbeams seemed fairly to dance over the dusty earth.
plural of “wagon” — any of various kinds of wheeled vehicles drawn by an animal or a tractor
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The dust was not only over the earth, but over everything, men, animals, wagons and tents.
which person or people
From this reading Dick Mason who had struggled so hard through a storm but a few nights ago now longed for another like it.
Chapter 4 of The Sword of Antietam by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler holds 452 sentences, grouped into 91 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 4 holds 452 sentences of The Sword of Antietam, unabridged, divided into 91 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Sword of Antietam by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 452 sentences, grouped into 91 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 91 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 91 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 4 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 Sword of Antietam by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5028 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #7862 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #7862, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 419 minutes of reading across 1006 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Sword of Antietam section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of The Sword of Antietam 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 Sword of Antietam, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
