Chapter 12 of The White Desert is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The White Desert is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all. Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless: "That's a lie, Sheriff. I'll admit that I have been accused of murder. I was acquitted.
Chapter 12 of The White Desert is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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 defendant in a criminal proceeding
From this reading “I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.”
declared not guilty of a specific offense or crime; legally blameless
From this reading “I was acquitted.”
deliberately impassive in manner
From this reading “Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:”
come to understand
From this reading “Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.”
the largest city in Texas; located in southeastern Texas near the Gulf of Mexico; site of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
From this reading “Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.”
past form of “motion” — show, express or direct through movement
From this reading “Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:”
the principal law-enforcement officer in a county
From this reading “Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.”
in a weak or feeble manner or to a minor degree
From this reading “Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:”
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 "That's a lie, Sheriff.
a defendant in a criminal proceeding
From this reading I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.
declared not guilty of a specific offense or crime; legally blameless
From this reading I was acquitted.
declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
From this reading I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
without liveliness
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
deliberately impassive in manner
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
come to understand
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
with eyes or mouth open in surprise
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
not solid; having a space or gap or cavity
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
the largest city in Texas; located in southeastern Texas near the Gulf of Mexico; site of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
From this reading "That's a lie, Sheriff.
past form of “motion” — show, express or direct through movement
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.
the principal law-enforcement officer in a county
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading I'll admit that I have been accused of murder.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "That's a lie, Sheriff.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
in the direction of
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
hard to endure
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Dully Houston turned back to the sheriff and to the goggle-eyed Ba'tiste, trying to fathom it all.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading I was acquitted.
in a weak or feeble manner or to a minor degree
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
at the time that
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
the words that are spoken
From this reading Weakly he motioned toward Thayer, and his words, when they came, were hollow and expressionless:
Chapter 12 of The White Desert by Courtney Ryley Cooper holds 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 12 holds 136 sentences of The White Desert, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The White Desert by Courtney Ryley Cooper exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 12 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 White Desert by Courtney Ryley Cooper on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5458 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #20155 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #20155, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 454 minutes of reading across 1092 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The White Desert section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The White Desert 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 White Desert, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
