Chapter 17 of The X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon is here in full — 187 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon is here in full — 187 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop. The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown. “This the place, Cleopatra?” The woman nodded. Then she turned on him fiercely.
Chapter 17 of The X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon is here in full — 187 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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 motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading “CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.”
plural of “captive” — a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading “CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.”
beautiful and charismatic queen of Egypt; mistress of Julius Caesar and later of Mark Antony; killed herself to avoid capture by Octavian (69-30 BC)
From this reading ““This the place, Cleopatra?””
-ing form of “contain” — include or contain; have as a component
From this reading “CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.”
the operator of a motor vehicle
From this reading “The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.”
in a physically fierce manner
From this reading “Then she turned on him fiercely.”
a woman's dress, usually with a close-fitting bodice and a long flared skirt, often worn on formal occasions
From this reading “The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.”
-ing form of “resemble” — appear like; be similar or bear a likeness to
From this reading “The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.”
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.
a woman who is old
In this reading “The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.”
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 CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
plural of “captive” — a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
beautiful and charismatic queen of Egypt; mistress of Julius Caesar and later of Mark Antony; killed herself to avoid capture by Octavian (69-30 BC)
From this reading “This the place, Cleopatra?”
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
-ing form of “contain” — include or contain; have as a component
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
put on clothes
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
the operator of a motor vehicle
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
in a physically fierce manner
From this reading Then she turned on him fiercely.
plural of “girl” — a young female
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
a woman's dress, usually with a close-fitting bodice and a long flared skirt, often worn on formal occasions
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Then she turned on him fiercely.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading The woman nodded.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Then she turned on him fiercely.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading “This the place, Cleopatra?”
-ing form of “resemble” — appear like; be similar or bear a likeness to
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Then she turned on him fiercely.
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Then she turned on him fiercely.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading “This the place, Cleopatra?”
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading CAPTIVES The auto containing the three girls came to a dead stop.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading The driver turned to his companion, an old woman in a dress resembling a Gypsy’s gown.
Chapter 17 of The X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon by James Cody Ferris holds 187 sentences, grouped into 38 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 17 holds 187 sentences of The X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon by James Cody Ferris exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 187 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon by James Cody Ferris on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4219 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #71964 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #71964, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 351 minutes of reading across 844 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 25 chapters of The X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon 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 X Bar X boys in Thunder Canyon, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
