I opened it, and saw my landlord, accompanied by an officer, who told me to give him all my papers, to dress, and to follow him, adding that he should be compelled to use force in case of resistance.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

Immediately the masts were cut away, Both main and mizen; first the mizen went, The main-mast follow'd: but the ship still lay Like a mere log, and baffled our intent.
— from Don Juan by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

he answered, “help me; for, in a valley hard by, there are six thieves, who have taken my lord, and bound him, and I fear will slay him.”
— from The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by Knowles, James, Sir

In that new world of the Indies, there were found great nations, and in very differing climates, who were of the same diet, made provision of them, and fed them for their tables; as also, they did grasshoppers, mice, lizards, and bats; and in a time of scarcity of such delicacies, a toad was sold for six crowns, all which they cook, and dish up with several sauces.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

It is noted by Mr F. Fawcett 11 that it is considered unlucky by the Koravas, when starting on a dacoity or housebreaking, “to see widows, pots of milk, dogs urinating, a man leading a bull, or a bull bellowing.
— from Omens and Superstitions of Southern India by Edgar Thurston

The Holy Fair^1 A robe of seeming truth and trust Hid crafty Observation; And secret hung, with poison'd crust, The dirk of Defamation: [Footnote 1: “Holy Fair” is a common phrase in the west of Scotland for a sacramental occasion.—R. B.] A mask that like the gorget show'd, Dye-varying on the pigeon; And for a mantle large and broad, He wrapt him in Religion.
— from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns

Her yellow, sleepy face, her lustreless eyes, her apathetic expression, and the yawning that always followed her attacks of fever, and the fact that during them she lay under a shawl and looked more like a boy than a woman, and that it was close and stuffy in her room—all this, in his opinion, destroyed the illusion and was an argument against love and marriage.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

There was much more liveliness and bustle on the king’s highroad in those times, than in these days of stage-coaches, which carry you from one end of the kingdom to another in a few score hours.
— from Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray

The surcingle enveloped my limbs and body close in all directions—save in the path of the destroying crescent.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe

My [Pg 306] dead years came to life again and surrounded me like a band of phantoms; my burning seasons returned to me in their flame and sadness.
— from The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand sometime Ambassador to England, Volume 2 (of 6) Mémoires d'outre-tombe, volume 2 by Chateaubriand, François-René, vicomte de

There was nothing of lifelessness or of weariness in the passion of that embrace; and when she looked up again it seemed to her as if that first vision which she had had of him with weary head bent, and wan, haggard face was not reality, only a dream born of her own anxiety for him, for now the hot, ardent blood coursed just as swiftly as ever through his veins, as if life—strong, tenacious, pulsating life—throbbed with unabated vigour in those massive limbs, and behind that square, clear brow as though the body, but half subdued, had transferred its vanishing strength to the kind and noble heart that was beating with the fervour of self-sacrifice.
— from El Dorado: An Adventure of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

if any man likes a bet, I'll wager ten guineas that even this won't ruffle his amiable nature.
— from Jack Hinton: The Guardsman by Charles James Lever

In the meantime Lady Anna by no means intended to allow the secret to pass her lips.
— from Lady Anna by Anthony Trollope

So now, as the day crept on, Evelyn returned in a more sober mood, and then she joined her mother and Mrs. Leslie at breakfast; and then the household cares—such as they were—devolved upon her, heiress though she was; and, that duty done, once more the straw hat and Sultan were in requisition; and opening a little gate at the back of the cottage, she took the path along the village churchyard that led to the house of the old curate.
— from Alice, or the Mysteries — Complete by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

Quick as thought I freed my other hand, and, holding still his murderous grip from my throat, I caught him by the neck, and pushing his head upward, I gave him such a thrust that his hold on me loosened a bit.
— from The Price of the Prairie: A Story of Kansas by Margaret Hill McCarter

One youth excited his interest while working as a common carpenter on the Liverpool and Manchester line; and before many years had passed, he was recognised as an engineer of distinction.
— from Lives of the Engineers The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson by Samuel Smiles

"As it has been learned by me, the mutsuddies, and the respectable officers of my zemindary, that the ministers of England are displeased with the late Governor, Warren Hastings, Esquire, upon the suspicion that he oppressed us, took money from us by deceit and force, and ruined the country, therefore we, upon the strength of our religion, which we think it incumbent on and necessary for us to abide by, following the rules laid down in giving evidence, declare the particulars of the acts and deeds of Warren Hastings, Esquire, full of circumspection and caution, civility and justice, superior to the conduct of the most learned, and, by representing what is fact, wipe away the doubts that have possessed the minds of the ministers of England; that Mr. Hastings is possessed of fidelity and confidence, and yielding protection to us; that he is clear of the contamination of mistrust and wrong, and his mind is free of covetousness or avarice.
— from The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 10 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

he stopped suddenly to ask, and his alert eye shot the glance at me like a bullet.
— from The Militants Stories of Some Parsons, Soldiers, and Other Fighters in the World by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews