FIRK, frisk, move suddenly, or in jerks; "— up," stir up, rouse; "firks mad," suddenly behaves like a madman.
— from Epicoene; Or, The Silent Woman by Ben Jonson

“None, save the freedom of a broken law,” answered Mr. Dimmesdale, in a quiet way, as if he had been discussing the point within himself.
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I didn't want to talk about it, but they were both looking at me.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

When we press down the eye, the body that we look upon we perceive to be longer and more extended;—many beasts have their eyes so pressed down; this length, therefore, is perhaps the true form of that body, and not that which our eyes give it in the usual state.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

Rather than sending a stream of bits like a modem, an X.25 router sends packets of data.
— from The Online World by Odd De Presno

And a thousand caricatures of children, angels, owls, fools, and child-sized butterflies laughed and mocked, and roared at me.
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

And so great was the darkness, that candles and lamps had to be lighted at midday to dine by.
— from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves

We want both leisure and materials to pursue this curious inquiry through the many potent states that were annihilated in the Roman empire.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

68 If we review this general state of the Imperial forces; of the cavalry as well as infantry; of the legions, the auxiliaries, the guards, and the navy; the most liberal computation will not allow us to fix the entire establishment by sea and by land at more than four hundred and fifty thousand men: a military power, which, however formidable it may seem, was equalled by a monarch of the last century, whose kingdom was confined within a single province of the Roman empire.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

Jacob had behaved like a martyr,—he had shown a spirit worthy of the Kats in their best days; but the impertinence of such conduct was not to be endured.
— from Bentley's Miscellany, Volume I by Various

"Bend lower, Arthur; my strength is failing, and I have not yet said that for which I am here.
— from The Crack of Doom by Robert Cromie

By fleshing before liming a more regular action of the lime is obtained.
— from Animal Proteins by Hugh Garner Bennett

Barret looked at Milly.
— from The Eagle Cliff by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

I bounded like a madman through the crowded thoroughfares.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition Table Of Contents And Index Of The Five Volumes by Edgar Allan Poe

but let a man with a full cup of tea, and the spoon balanced on the edge of the saucer, try to rise from a low chair and shake hands; then ask him what he thinks about the effect of tea on a man's character.
— from With Edge Tools by H. C. (Hobart Chatfield) Chatfield-Taylor

"Doesn't look a bit like a mosquito," said Nan to Mollie in an audible whisper.
— from A Colony of Girls by Kate Livingston Willard

He altered the character of the brilliant lawyer, and made him a great-hearted, splendid fellow; gave him fame and riches, and set his age at thirty-three years.
— from Roughing It, Part 6. by Mark Twain

From what I hear he lost as much as fifty dollars.” They both laughed, and Mrs. Snow was about to answer when she was interrupted.
— from Cap'n Eri by Joseph Crosby Lincoln

Delhasse, attended by the waiter who ought to have been looking after me, came out of the hotel and got into the carriage.
— from The Indiscretion of the Duchess Being a Story Concerning Two Ladies, a Nobleman, and a Necklace by Anthony Hope