Chapter 27 of Tom Thatcher's Fortune is here in full — 47 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVII
Chapter 27 of Tom Thatcher's Fortune is here in full — 47 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TAKEN CAPTIVE. The Indians numbered not far from twenty. The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity. Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian. A garrulous Indian would be a curiosity.
Chapter 27 of Tom Thatcher's Fortune is here in full — 47 sentences across 10 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/9 · 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 person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading “TAKEN CAPTIVE.”
full of trivial conversation
From this reading “A garrulous Indian would be a curiosity.”
(physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface
From this reading “The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.”
past form of “number” — add up in number or quantity
From this reading “The Indians numbered not far from twenty.”
plural of “race” — any competition
From this reading “Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.”
relating to human society and its members
From this reading “Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.”
plural of “warrior” — someone engaged in or experienced in warfare
From this reading “The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.”
(geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
From this reading “The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.”
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 “TAKEN CAPTIVE.”
In this reading “The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.”
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 A garrulous Indian would be a curiosity.
(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 Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
a native or inhabitant of the United States
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
surrounded by; in the middle of a group
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading A garrulous Indian would be a curiosity.
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war
From this reading TAKEN CAPTIVE.
a state in which you want to learn more about something
From this reading A garrulous Indian would be a curiosity.
lighted by or as if by twilight
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading The Indians numbered not far from twenty.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The Indians numbered not far from twenty.
full of trivial conversation
From this reading A garrulous Indian would be a curiosity.
(physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
plural of “indian” — a native or inhabitant of India
From this reading The Indians numbered not far from twenty.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The Indians numbered not far from twenty.
past form of “number” — add up in number or quantity
From this reading The Indians numbered not far from twenty.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
with considerable certainty; without much doubt
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
plural of “race” — any competition
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
relating to human society and its members
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading TAKEN CAPTIVE.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Indians numbered not far from twenty.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nineteen and one
From this reading The Indians numbered not far from twenty.
occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
plural of “warrior” — someone engaged in or experienced in warfare
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
(geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)
From this reading The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading A garrulous Indian would be a curiosity.
Chapter 27 of Tom Thatcher's Fortune by Horatio, Jr. Alger holds 47 sentences, grouped into 10 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 47 sentences of Tom Thatcher's Fortune, unabridged, divided into 10 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 27 of Tom Thatcher's Fortune by Horatio, Jr. Alger exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 47 sentences, grouped into 10 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 10 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 10 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 Tom Thatcher's Fortune by Horatio, Jr. Alger on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5824 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56896 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56896, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 485 minutes of reading across 1165 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Tom Thatcher's Fortune section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Tom Thatcher's Fortune 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 Tom Thatcher's Fortune, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
