[ Although this number one hundred and twenty drachmeae [of Alexandria, or sixty Jewish shekels] be here three times repeated, and that in all Josephus's copies, Greek and Latin; yet since all the copies of Aristeus, whence Josephus took his relation, have this sum several times, and still as no more than twenty drachmae, or ten Jewish shekels; and since the sum of the talents, to be set down presently, which is little above four hundred and sixty, for somewhat more than one hundred thousand slaves, and is nearly the same in Josephus and Aristeus, does better agree to twenty than to one hundred and twenty drachmae; and since the value of a slave of old was at the utmost but thirty shekels, or sixty drachmae; see Exodus 21:32; while in the present circumstances of these Jewish slaves, and those so very numerous, Philadelphus would rather redeem them at a cheaper than at a dearer rate;—there is great reason to prefer here Aristeus's copies before Josephus's.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

IN the central portion of the great North American Continent there lies an arid and repulsive desert, which for many a long year served as a barrier against the advance of civilisation.
— from A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

“If you don’t show the Michonneau the door, madame, we shall all leave your shop, and wherever we go we shall say that there are only convicts and spies left there.
— from Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac

It is necessary that, for some space at least, you shall again enter into the service of a lady, who, in rank, hath no equal in Scotland; and this service accomplished, I give thee my word as Knight and Prince, that it shall open to you a course of ambition, such as may well gratify the aspiring wishes of one whom circumstances entitle to entertain much higher views than thou.
— from The Abbot by Walter Scott

“Drunk or no drunk, he can't call me a liar!” yelled Sheeley, and the next instant Chick, with his heart pounding madly between him and the floor, was in his element.
— from A Romance of Billy-Goat Hill by Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice

How long it was so, I cannot tell; it was long as love, yet short as the drawing of a breath.
— from A Beleaguered City Being a Narrative of Certain Recent Events in the City of Semur, in the Department of the Haute Bourgogne. A Story of the Seen and the Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

If he possesses some enchantment [89] by which he can pass your guards unseen, if he should find and liberate your sister, and escape with her from your Cave—what then?
— from The Shadow Witch by Gertrude Crownfield

It was a lie, you see, and mother was terrified of telling lies.
— from Up the Hill and Over by Isabel Ecclestone Mackay

We would call you 'aunty' and love you so, and be so glad, you can't think!
— from A Round Dozen by Susan Coolidge

It is black, hairy, with a large yellowish spot at the base of each elytron, and two transverse bands of the same colour.
— from The Insect World Being a Popular Account of the Orders of Insects; Together with a Description of the Habits and Economy of Some of the Most Interesting Species by Louis Figuier

And when it will have thus removed the whole earth, all the oceans, rivers, and lakes, you shall all die a second death, and be no more forever."
— from The Happiness of Heaven By a Father of the Society of Jesus by F. J. Boudreaux