I saw the manuscript in his hand, and I knew that when he read it he would realise how much I knew; so I said to him:— “I wish I could comfort all who suffer from the heart.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker

They began poking the commissariat clerk and whispering something to him.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Now Volumnius was ordered to make war upon the Samnites; Fabius Maximus Rullus and Publius Decius were chosen consuls and were sent to withstand the Gauls and the other warriors in the Gallic contingent.
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 (of 6) An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek during the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English Form by Cassius Dio Cocceianus

In a word, we must take note of this, the immediate evidence with which each of these judicial faculties furnishes us; for, if we attend to these points, namely, whence confusion and fear arise, we shall divine the causes correctly, and we shall deliver ourselves from those feelings, tracing back the heavenly phænomena to their causes, and also all the others which present themselves at every step, and inspire the common people with extreme terror.
— from The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

My two companions stretched themselves on the cabin carpet, and were soon sound asleep.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne

And thus he continued on, while my colour came and went several times, with indignation, to hear our noble country, the mistress of arts and arms, the scourge of France, the arbitress of Europe, the seat of virtue, piety, honour, and truth, the pride and envy of the world, so contemptuously treated.
— from Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World by Jonathan Swift

Domesday tells us of the old Saxon families, many of whom lost their estates when the Conqueror came, and were supplanted by the favourites of the new king.
— from English Villages by P. H. (Peter Hampson) Ditchfield

Even in the old days, when the champaign country around was still parcelled out among the petty tribes who composed the Latin League, the sacred grove is known to have been an object of their common reverence and care.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

Mary sliced some nice pieces of venison and bear's meat, and made some bread and Christmas cakes; all, which she packed away in a basket, with oranges, limes, and a bottle of transparent honey.
— from The Young Marooners on the Florida Coast by F. R. (Francis Robert) Goulding

The gentlemen of the chorus, not willing to go to any extra expense, had culottes courtes and white stockings; the ladies had tried to be more in harmony, but they thought that with rakes, spades, and basket they had quite enough couleur locale .
— from In the Courts of Memory, 1858-1875; from Contemporary Letters by L. de (Lillie de) Hegermann-Lindencrone

“Commonplaces, commonplaces; as well stop a deluge with a teacup.
— from Not Like Other Girls by Rosa Nouchette Carey

She had a face with a pale, creamy complexion, and when she smiled she showed two rows of little even teeth, white as pearls.
— from Dumps - A Plain Girl by L. T. Meade

Every step should be carefully considered, and we should, as far as possible, foresee and provide for every emergency that may arise.
— from With Kitchener in the Soudan: A Story of Atbara and Omdurman by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

Soe that then their generall or cheefe comander, called Adam Westarwood, sett my life at sale, promesing 50 rialles of 8 to any one would kill me, and 30 of the like for the life of each other English merchant, with many other stratagems they used against us too long to be repeated.
— from Diary of Richard Cocks, Volume 2 Cape-Merchant in the English Factory in Japan, 1615-1622, with Correspondence by Richard Cocks

The spy arrived wearing a new broad, black hat, a celluloid collar, a wrinkled suit of store clothes, and his same shrewd, evil leer.
— from The Rules of the Game by Stewart Edward White

He had come closer and was staring intently into Carson's odd eyes as if searching for something there.
— from Poppy: The Story of a South African Girl by Cynthia Stockley

We offer no congratulations to the new author; nor do we deprecate for him any harsh censure;—not only because praise and censure seem alike rugged and halting by the sweet strains we seek to celebrate, but because he who in his "saintly solitude" can create a world so fair is independent of these light afflictions.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 100, February, 1866 A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics by Various