If, however, by an unforeseen chance it should be in my power to serve him farther, I must think very differently of him from what I now do, if I am not as ready to be useful to him then as I sincerely wish I could be at present.
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

It is, therefore, neither unlikely nor impossible that, when the part adjoining the skin becomes suddenly oppressed by an unwonted cold, it should at once be weakened and should find that the liquid previously deposited beside it without discomfort had now become more of a burden than a source of nutrition, and should therefore strive to put it away.
— from Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen

This was but one of Cluny’s hiding-places; he had caves, besides, and underground chambers in several parts of his country; and following the reports of his scouts, he moved from one to another as the soldiers drew near or moved away.
— from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

And if he should forget himself so far as to begin any unpleasant controversy, I shall recommend him to increase his stock of theological knowledge by a careful study of the same Review .”
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 15, Nos. 85-90, April 1872-September 1872 A Monthly Magazine by Various

By an unfortunate coincidence,' I says, 'we got separated at an early hour from our provision wagon, as a result of which we have omitted breakfast and feel the omission severely.
— from Sundry Accounts by Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb

This was but one of Cluny’s hiding-places; he had caves, besides, and underground chambers in several parts of his country; and, following the reports of his scouts, he moved from one to another as the soldiers drew near or moved 243 away.
— from The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 10 by Robert Louis Stevenson

If, however, by any unforeseen chance, I should recover entirely, he bound himself to pay Clergot the hundred thousand francs.”
— from Caught in the Net by Emile Gaboriau

“Well, but, Mr Black,” said Mrs Barnett, “suppose, for the sake of argument, that you miss this eclipse by any unlucky chance, I suppose there will be another some day.
— from The Fur Country: Or, Seventy Degrees North Latitude by Jules Verne

It was no longer curious that one might watch the door of the house for months at a stretch and go unrewarded for one's pains, as the Tocsin had done, when access to the house by those who frequented it was so easy through the garage on the side street—and from the garage, if their work there was in keeping with their clever contrivances within the house, by an underground connection into, say, the cellar or basement!
— from The Adventures of Jimmie Dale by Frank L. (Frank Lucius) Packard