The action of these batteries was one of the few gleams of light in a not too brilliant day's work.
— from The Great Boer War by Arthur Conan Doyle

"All the African soldiers were wrathful at a German officer lying in a neighboring room.
— from America's War for Humanity by Thomas Herbert Russell

The gentleman, for such was, I regret to say, his grade of life, invited a number of friends to dine with him, giving directions to his lady that the dinner should be a good one.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 54, No. 337, November, 1843 by Various

“There’s one thing sure, Thad,” said Giraffe, who had been prowling around while the repair work was going on, looking into a number of things; “we couldn’t think of going much more than another hour.”
— from The Boy Scouts on War Trails in Belgium; Or, Caught Between Hostile Armies by Carter, Herbert, active 1909-1917

With the first light of dawn, and frequently long before the page 301 p. 301 darkness has passed away, the market farmers and gardeners of Long Island and New Jersey crowd the boats with their huge wagons heavily loaded with vegetables and fruits for the city markets.
— from Lights and Shadows of New York Life or, the Sights and Sensations of the Great City by James Dabney McCabe

And the same holds good of life, individual and national.
— from The Coil of Carne by John Oxenham

In another form, I feel the same gift of life in a new enterprise: a railroad carried through; a corrupt government cleaned for the day.
— from Literary Love-Letters and Other Stories by Robert Herrick