The Tanais or Don does not rise in the Riphæan Mountains, or western branch of the Uralian chain, but on slightly elevated ground in the centre of European Russia.
— from The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny

We lay on those divans a long time, after supper, smoking narghilies and long-stemmed chibouks, and talking about the dreadful ride of the day, and I knew then what I had sometimes known before—that it is worth while to get tired out, because one so enjoys resting afterward.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

And he emphasized this phrase by making his bunch of seals execute an expressive whirl.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Mrs. Fisher could speak Italian, but only, she explained, the Italian of Dante, which Matthew Arnold used to read with her when she was a girl, and she thought this might be above the heads of boys.
— from The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim

Peeping through the meshes of the hammock, he saw the Marches coming out, as if bound on some expedition.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott

Look, as the fair and fiery-pointed sun, Rushing from forth a cloud, bereaves our sight; Even so, the curtain drawn, his eyes begun To wink, being blinded with a greater light: Whether it is that she reflects so bright, That dazzleth them, or else some shame supposed; But blind they are, and keep themselves enclosed.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

A sky of rose and saffron, more clear than any atmosphere Simpson had ever known, still dropped its pale streaming fires across the waves, where the islands—a hundred, surely, rather than fifty—floated like the fairy barques of some enchanted fleet.
— from The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood

Elizabeth, though expecting no less, thanked him with tears of gratitude; and all three being actuated by one spirit, everything relating to their journey was speedily settled.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

This conviction was the basis of Sir Edward's policy from the day that Great Britain declared war.
— from The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page, Volume I by Burton Jesse Hendrick

In another part of the town the Grammar School boys came upon a bevy of schoolgirls engaged in the ancient pastime of "hanging baskets."
— from The Grammar School Boys of Gridley; or, Dick & Co. Start Things Moving by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock

The great height of Etna has exerted a remarkable influence on its general conformation: for the volcanic forces have rarely been of sufficient energy to throw the lava quite up to the crater at the summit.
— from The San Francisco Calamity by Earthquake and Fire by Charles Morris

It may be watching some money-broker's exchange down-town, for the dishonest boy of some establishment clandestinely selling the postage stamps of his firm.
— from Danger! A True History of a Great City's Wiles and Temptations The Veil Lifted, and Light Thrown on Crime and its Causes, and Criminals and their Haunts. Facts and Disclosures. by William F. Howe

The Bishop of Strasburg exclaimed, in a full meeting of the diet, "I would give one of my fingers not to be a priest."
— from History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, Volume 3 by J. H. (Jean Henri) Merle d'Aubigné

It is happiness to know that I can be of service even now."
— from Rose Clark by Fanny Fern