“I wish to surprise him.” “Ah!” ejaculated Basque once more, emitting his second “ah!” as an explanation of the first.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Mr. Edward Hyde, Secretary to the Company.
— from A General History of the Pyrates: from their first rise and settlement in the island of Providence, to the present time by Daniel Defoe

“His face contracts the stains, and he bears legs where just now he was bearing arms; a tail is added to his changed limbs; and he is contracted into a diminutive form, that no great power of doing injury may exist; his size is less than that of a small lizard.
— from The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII by Ovid

Like troubles, too, mine eyes have seen, Lamenting for a long-lost queen; But, by despair unconquered yet, My strength of mind I ne'er forget.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

But as our gentle reader may possibly have a better opinion of the young gentleman than her ladyship, and may even have some concern, should it be apprehended that, during this unhappy separation from Sophia, he took up his residence either at an inn, or in the street; we shall now give an account of his lodging, which was indeed in a very reputable house, and in a very good part of the town.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

The letter had made Edmond heart sick and home sick.
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin

before mine eyes Hector seemed to stand by, deep in grief and shedding abundant tears; torn by the chariot, as once of old, and black with gory dust, his swoln feet pierced with the thongs.
— from The Aeneid of Virgil by Virgil

He early discovered the seeds of those virtues that in a special manner enriched his soul, and sanctified his life in the religious state,—humility, sweetness, obedience, and an incomparable modesty; and at the same time manifested a marvellous inclination to silence, retirement, and prayer.
— from The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints. January, February, March by Alban Butler

"You came to tell me, eh?" he said.
— from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson

They felt the texture of her dress, fingered the brooch she wore, knelt down and took her feet into their hands that they might examine her shoes.
— from The Island Mystery by George A. Birmingham

"But ah! my son, to-night mine eyes have seen The death of light, the end of old renown; A shrinking back of glory that had been, A dread eclipse before the Eternal's frown.
— from Poems by Jean Ingelow, In Two Volumes, Volume I. by Jean Ingelow

These were questions to which Ludendorff must earnestly have sought an answer, and which must have brought home to him the realisation that this gigantic bid for victory he was preparing would for good or evil be the last effort which Germany could make.
— from The War History of the 4th Battalion, the London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 1914-1919 by F. Clive Grimwade

Needless to relate, this report had a most amazing effect upon Colonel Pennington, and when at length he could recover his mental equilibrium, he set about quite calmly to analyze the report, word by word and sentence by sentence, with the result that he promptly arrived at the following conclusion: (1) His niece Shirley Sumner was not to be trusted in so far as young Bryce Cardigan was concerned.
— from The Valley of the Giants by Peter B. (Peter Bernard) Kyne

But no matter how many times a rajah went to the matrimonial altar, every wife that outlived him was burned upon his funeral pyre in order that he might enjoy her society in the other world.
— from Modern India by William Eleroy Curtis