Then Kaa opened his mouth for the first time and spoke one long hissing word, and the far-away monkeys, hurrying to the defense of the Cold Lairs, stayed where they were, cowering, till the loaded branches bent and crackled under them.
— from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Besides all this, he is so suspicious, that he submits himself to the Drudgery of a Spy.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

But him there on the spot a short sickness laid to rest far from his native land, when the company had paid due honours to the dead son of Abas.
— from The Argonautica by Rhodius Apollonius

He now left Mayence without leave, the plague breaking out there, and got to Oppenheim, where a German presbyter named Muller concealed him, till the departure of the French out of the town.
— from Toronto of Old Collections and recollections illustrative of the early settlement and social life of the capital of Ontario by Henry Scadding

Dire auguries from hence the Trojans draw; Till neither fires nor shining shores they saw.
— from The Aeneid by Virgil

The land and labour of Great Britain produce generally more corn, woollens, and hardware, than the demand of the home market requires.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

A glance from her window assured her that the day would be fine, for the eastern sky behind the firs of the Haunted Wood was all silvery and cloudless.
— from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

Abundance are the sorts of this herb, that to describe them all would tire the patience of Socrates himself, but because I have not yet attained to the spirit of Socrates, I shall but describe the most usual.
— from The Complete Herbal To which is now added, upwards of one hundred additional herbs, with a display of their medicinal and occult qualities physically applied to the cure of all disorders incident to mankind: to which are now first annexed, the English physician enlarged, and key to Physic. by Nicholas Culpeper

“If Mother doesn't want us to know she's been crying,” she said to herself as she heard through the dark the catching of her Mother's breath, “we WON'T know it.
— from The Railway Children by E. (Edith) Nesbit

It sometimes happens, however, that the direct application of main force is of doubtful utility, and better results may follow from maneuvers to outflank and turn that wing which is nearest the enemy's line of retreat.
— from The Art of War by Jomini, Antoine Henri, baron de

He thought the desert a place where no one lived willingly.
— from Dust of the Desert by Robert Welles Ritchie

Our men then fell on them from three points with the butt end of their guns, swords, and staves, and did their work so well that the wild men set up a loud shriek, and flew for their lives to the woods and hills, with all the speed that fear and swift feet could help them to do.
— from Robinson Crusoe — in Words of One Syllable by Lucy Aikin

I have a strong idea that he had sold himself to the devil.
— from Frank Mildmay; Or, the Naval Officer by Frederick Marryat

I wanted to disbelieve in your guilt, I wanted to feel that there was no young gentleman in my establishment who could stoop to such a piece of base pilfering; but the truth is so circumstantially brought home through the despicable meanness of a boy of whose actions I feel the utmost abhorrence, that I am bound to say to you that there is nothing left but for you to own frankly that you have been led into temptation—to say that you bitterly repent of what you have done, and throw yourself upon my mercy.
— from Burr Junior by George Manville Fenn

Grizzie ceased, and the others were silent, for the old legend had touched the deepest in them.
— from Warlock o' Glenwarlock: A Homely Romance by George MacDonald

She had thought that Dorothy could hardly mean that she was going to make all this money out of fashion-drawing! Advertisements—those funny things that Aunt Jerry was getting!
— from Gray youth: The story of a very modern courtship and a very modern marriage by Oliver Onions

Drunkenness and brutality at home helped the tenement do it, half the time.
— from The Children of the Poor by Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis

Erwin has good-naturedly joined his pretty sister-in-law; chatting gayly, he tries to drive away her bitter mood.
— from Felix Lanzberg's Expiation by Ossip Schubin

As the festivities proceed, and Zerlina, watched by Masetto's jealous eyes, endeavours to elude Don Giovanni's pursuit of her until he leads her to the dance and then carries her off, 163 the complicated situation is characterised, as a whole, with firm and distinct touches, and the individual points are allowed to fall into the background.
— from Life of Mozart, Vol. 3 (of 3) by Otto Jahn