Pyotr Stepanovitch was silent, and maintained an unusually grave air.
— from The Possessed (The Devils) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Blythes left Ingleside to the melancholy music of howls from Dog Monday, who was locked up in the barn lest he make an uninvited guest at the light.
— from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

He's converted already; he always comes through the mud after us, grumbling and sputtering.”
— from Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes

Hence the whole mass of the human race is condemned; for he who at first gave entrance to sin has been punished with all his posterity who were in him as in a root, so that no one is exempt from this just and due punishment, unless delivered by mercy and undeserved grace; and the human race is so apportioned that in some is displayed the efficacy of merciful grace, in the rest the efficacy of just retribution.
— from The City of God, Volume II by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

So after this, with many wordes glade, And freendly tales, and with mery chere, Of this and that they pleyde, and gunnen wade 150 In many an unkouth glad and deep matere, As freendes doon, whan they ben met y-fere; Til she gan axen him how Ector ferde, That was the tounes wal and Grekes yerde.
— from Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer

[96] alleys, and ordinary dicing houses, nearer home, where they have room enough to hazard their money at unlawful games; and there I leave them to take their pleasures.
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

3. Sanguis amasiae, ebibitus omnem amoris sensum tollit: Faustinam Marci Aurelii uxorem, gladiatoris amore captam, ita penitus consilio Chaldaeorum liberatam, refert Julius Capitolinus .
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

She was as young looking as curls and pink bows could make her, and was by no means a useless guest at a small dinner party, as she could chatter like a magpie.
— from Miss Mackenzie by Anthony Trollope

And, accordingly, early on the appointed morning, Mark Elwood and his son Claud, having dispatched their breakfast, which Mrs. Elwood had been careful to make an unusually good and plentiful one, shouldered their large hunting packs, with their blankets neatly folded a
— from Gaut Gurley; Or, the Trappers of Umbagog: A Tale of Border Life by Daniel P. (Daniel Pierce) Thompson

The city is policed by mounted and unmounted gendarmes , a total of some 2,300, and travellers may bear witness to the vigilance and courtesy of these officials.
— from Mexico Its Ancient and Modern Civilisation, History, Political Conditions, Topography, Natural Resources, Industries and General Development by C. Reginald (Charles Reginald) Enock

Then she was trying to describe somebody to Sybil whose appearance did not please her, so she made an ugly grimace and said, "That number one ugly man all-same so fashion," meaning "just like this."
— from Peeps Into China; Or, The Missionary's Children by E. C. (Edith Caroline) Phillips

The long ringlets of golden hair which shaded her face in such rich luxuriance had been the theme of many an ode and sonnet, while her grace in the dance had made many an unhappy ‘Gustave’ among the sad incroyables of the day.
— from Reminiscences of Prince Talleyrand, Volume 2 (of 2) by Colmache, M., active 19th century

Six priests moved among us, giving absolution.
— from In the Firing Line: Stories of the War by Land and Sea by Arthur St. John Adcock

I am doing much as usual,” Gerald answered, placated.
— from Aurora the Magnificent by Gertrude Hall Brownell

A woman who meets fair tests all 'round is so uncommon that she becomes a sort of marvel, and usually gains a livelihood by exhibiting herself as such, either on the stage, in the half-world, or as the private jewel of some wealthy connoisseur.
— from In Defense of Women by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken

All sorts of wild imaginings rushed in upon him, and in his effort to rid himself of them he made an unconscious gesture, and seized hold of the door-knob.
— from Ilka on the Hill-Top and Other Stories by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen