Chapter 12 of Wildfire is here in full — 587 sentences across 118 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Wildfire is here in full — 587 sentences across 118 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert. He was awakened early by a voice at his window. He listened. There came a rap on the wood. "Bostil!
Chapter 12 of Wildfire is here in full — 587 sentences across 118 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/117 · 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.
aroused or activated
From this reading “He was awakened early by a voice at his window.”
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading “Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.”
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading “Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.”
expressing sorrow
From this reading “Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.”
a reproach for some lapse or misdeed
From this reading “There came a rap on the wood.”
make a loud noise, as of wind, water, or vehicles
From this reading “Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.”
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading “Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.”
characterized by or indicative of distress or affliction or danger or need
From this reading “Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.”
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 Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading He was awakened early by a voice at his window.
aroused or activated
From this reading He was awakened early by a voice at his window.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading He was awakened early by a voice at his window.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading There came a rap on the wood.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
causing fear or dread or terror
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time
From this reading He was awakened early by a voice at his window.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was awakened early by a voice at his window.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
past form of “listen” — hear with intention
From this reading He listened.
expressing sorrow
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading There came a rap on the wood.
above and across; more than
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
a reproach for some lapse or misdeed
From this reading There came a rap on the wood.
make a loud noise, as of wind, water, or vehicles
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
inflected form of “sleep” — be asleep
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There came a rap on the wood.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There came a rap on the wood.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
characterized by or indicative of distress or affliction or danger or need
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading He was awakened early by a voice at his window.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading Bostil slept that night, but his sleep was troubled, and a strange, dreadful roar seemed to run through it, like a mournful wind over a dark desert.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading He was awakened early by a voice at his window.
the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees
From this reading There came a rap on the wood.
Chapter 12 of Wildfire by Zane Grey holds 587 sentences, grouped into 118 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 587 sentences of Wildfire, unabridged, divided into 118 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Wildfire by Zane Grey exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 587 sentences, grouped into 118 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 118 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 118 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 Wildfire by Zane Grey on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8896 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2066 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2066, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1780 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Wildfire section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of Wildfire 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 Wildfire, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
