Chapter 1 of The Traitor is here in full — 334 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Traitor is here in full — 334 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WHAS the mather with the latch! He shook it gently. “No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence. I’ll have to climb over.” He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
Chapter 1 of The Traitor is here in full — 334 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/66 · 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.
go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading “I’ll have to climb over.””
the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect
From this reading “He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:”
enclose with a fence
From this reading ““No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence.”
past form of “growl” — to utter or emit low dull rumbling sounds
From this reading “He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:”
fasten with a latch
From this reading “WHAS the mather with the latch!”
plural of “picket” — a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading “He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:”
characterized by good substantial quality
From this reading ““No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence.”
past form of “straighten” — straighten up or out; make straight
From this reading “He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:”
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 “I’ll have to climb over.””
In this reading “He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:”
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.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading “No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
go upward with gradual or continuous progress
From this reading I’ll have to climb over.”
the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
enclose with a fence
From this reading “No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence.
in a gradual manner
From this reading He shook it gently.
past form of “growl” — to utter or emit low dull rumbling sounds
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
(of animals) fully developed
From this reading “No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I’ll have to climb over.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He shook it gently.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ll have to climb over.”
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading He shook it gently.
fasten with a latch
From this reading WHAS the mather with the latch!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WHAS the mather with the latch!
a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading “No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence.
not any; not one
From this reading “No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
above and across; more than
From this reading I’ll have to climb over.”
plural of “picket” — a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
plural of “point” — a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
(of something seen or heard) clearly defined
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading He shook it gently.
characterized by good substantial quality
From this reading “No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence.
past form of “straighten” — straighten up or out; make straight
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
happening unexpectedly
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading WHAS the mather with the latch!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “No mistake about it--grown solid to the fence.
having come into contact
From this reading He touched the points of the sharp pickets, suddenly straightened himself with dignity and growled:
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WHAS the mather with the latch!
in the company of; together with
From this reading WHAS the mather with the latch!
Chapter 1 of The Traitor by Thomas, Jr. Dixon holds 334 sentences, grouped into 67 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 334 sentences of The Traitor, unabridged, divided into 67 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Traitor by Thomas, Jr. Dixon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 334 sentences, grouped into 67 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 67 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 67 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 Traitor by Thomas, Jr. Dixon on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4658 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54766 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54766, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 388 minutes of reading across 932 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Traitor section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The Traitor 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 Traitor, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
