I don’t much like breaking rules, especially in such a business; and yet, concerning all of us, as you say, and so very urgent, I don’t see how it could do harm; and I might—I wish I was quite sure you were the party.
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

"The only unofficial consulting detective," he answered.
— from The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

It had a horizon and poles; instead of circles it was provided with certain double hoops ( armillae ), the void space between the pair serving the purpose of the circles of our spheres.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Rustichello of Pisa

He could drink hard and show little trace of it; but that evening, had his mate Scanlan not been at hand to lead him home, the feted hero would surely have spent his night under the bar.
— from The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle

Now he had not one word ready; everything was in a muddle in his head, and all he knew was that today he would certainly declare himself, and that it was utterly impossible to wait any longer.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

The society had not been in working order a month, when one of those extraordinary strokes of luck which often fall to the share of the gambler at the commencement of his career, and as certainly desert him at the end of it, happened to me.
— from The Romance of Book-Collecting by J. Herbert (John Herbert) Slater

A party, under Colonel Moore (who was defeated at Ramsour's Mill), attacked the house of the colonel, during his absence, for the purpose of seizing the powder.
— from The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 2 (of 2) or, Illustrations, by Pen And Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence by Benson John Lossing

Six hours later, accompanied by Saunderson, our tall, thin Chargé d’Affaires, and the Embassy staff, all in our uniforms and decorations, I entered the huge white-and-gold ballroom of the Winter Palace, where the Russian Court, the representatives of exclusive Society, the bureaucracy of the Empire and the corps diplomatique had assembled.
— from The Price of Power Being Chapters from the Secret History of the Imperial Court of Russia by William Le Queux

It may be well, however, to sum up the evidence as it has been presented by Sir W. E. Logan, Dr. Carpenter, Dr. Hunt, and the author, in a short and intelligible form; and I shall do so under a few brief heads, with some explanatory remarks:— 1.
— from Life's Dawn on Earth Being the history of the oldest known fossil remains, and their relations to geological time and to the development of the animal kingdom by Dawson, John William, Sir

The city damsels had also their recreation on the celebration of these festivals, dancing to the accompaniment of music, and continuing their sports by moonlight.
— from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 17, No. 475, February 5, 1831 by Various

I’ve made up my mind to one thing, anyhow—I’m going to pull to pieces the thing I set up before I came down here and start something new.
— from The Arm-Chair at the Inn by Francis Hopkinson Smith

These were forwarded (eight packages) to the Governor of Canada with the following communication: “May it Please Your Excellency: “At the request of the (illegible), I hereby send your Excellency, under the care of James Hoyd, eight packages of scalps, cured, dried, hooped and painted with all the triumphal marks of which the following is the invoice and explanation: “No. 1.
— from Voices; Birth-Marks; The Man and the Elephant by Mathew Joseph Holt

Other Socialists try to recommend Communism by a ridiculous and dishonest play upon words: "He who declares himself an enemy of Communism declares himself an enemy of common interest, an enemy of society and mankind.
— from British Socialism An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals by J. Ellis Barker