What a distracted City; men riding and running, reporting and hearsaying; the Hour clearly in travail,—child not to be named till born!
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

He took off his derby hat and ruefully regarded a hole through the crown.
— from Seven Keys to Baldpate by Earl Derr Biggers

"Good evening, Mr. Rover," said Andy Royce, respectfully, as he touched the cap he wore.
— from The Rover Boys on a Tour; or, Last Days at Brill College by Edward Stratemeyer

He raised his eyes languidly as the garden gate opened and Red Ratcliffe and his two companions came laughing through.
— from Shameless Wayne: A Romance of the last Feud of Wayne and Ratcliffe by Halliwell Sutcliffe

I will endeavour to meet your wishes in all reasonable requirements, and hope that I shall never be tempted to bring dishonour on your house; but I cannot consent to barter my liberty for the indulgence of ambition, which, forgive me for saying, I despise.
— from Tales of My Time, Vol. 2 (of 3) Who Is She? [concluded]; The Young Reformers by William Pitt Scargill

Blaine was a rare raconteur and his talk had this great merit: never did I hear him tell a story or speak a word unsuitable for any, even the most fastidious company to hear.
— from Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie

Not seldom the long delay has been filled up with unintelligent and injurious attempts at rendering assistance, violent pulling when resistance is insurmountable without change of position, injuries to the vagina and womb by ill-considered but too forcibly executed attempts to change the position, the repeated and long-continued contact with rough hands and rougher ropes and hooks, the gashes with knives and lacerations with instruments in ignorant hands, the infecting material introduced on filthy hands and instruments, and the septic inflammations started in the now dry and tender passages and womb.
— from Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by Dr. (Benjamin Tilghman) Woodward

"And I have acted rightly, Raoul," Athos hastened to reply.
— from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas

She wore an old black dress with flounces and a red ribbon at her throat.
— from L'Assommoir by Émile Zola

He was very many years older than she; handsome, with a dark, and changeful, and listless face; he wore brown velvet, and had a red ribbon at his throat; he looked a little as Egmont might have done when wooing Claire.
— from Bébée; Or, Two Little Wooden Shoes by Ouida