" Her adopted son Prokofy, a huge, uncouth, red-headed fellow of thirty, with bristling moustaches, a butcher by trade, lived in the little house with her.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

In the Rue Planche-Mibray, they threw old pieces of pottery and household utensils down on the soldiers from the roofs; a bad sign; and when this matter was reported to Marshal Soult, Napoleon’s old lieutenant grew thoughtful, as he recalled Suchet’s saying at Saragossa: “We are lost when the old women empty their pots de chambre on our heads.” These general symptoms which presented themselves at the moment when it was thought that the uprising had been rendered local, this fever of wrath, these sparks which flew hither and thither above those deep masses of combustibles which are called the faubourgs of Paris,—all this, taken together, disturbed the military chiefs.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

" The instant she had swept out of the room the spell her presence always had upon them was broken.
— from A Little Princess Being the whole story of Sara Crewe now told for the first time by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The woman's need of him to enable her to carry on Nature's most urgent work, does not prevail against him until his resistance gathers her energy to a climax at which she dares to throw away her customary exploitations of the conventional affectionate and dutiful poses, and claim him by natural right for a purpose that far transcends their mortal personal purposes.
— from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw

The more wants Frederick had, the better she was pleased; and he understood all this by instinct.
— from North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

Possibly, could it be made visible, it might prove a masterpiece of some great artist; else why has it so long held such a conspicuous place?" As her uncle, contrary to his usual custom—for he was as attentive to all the humors and caprices of Alice as if she had been his own best-beloved child—did not immediately reply, the young captain of Castle William took that office upon himself.
— from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A large figure of Christ might be vaguely descried above the judges, and everywhere there were pikes and halberds, upon whose points the reflection of the candles placed tips of fire.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

He drew the lantern nearer and eagerly scanned the fares; then the paper fell from his hand and he pushed aside his unfinished letter.
— from Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

The fact is Casanova felt his dependent position and his utter poverty, and was all the more determined to stand to his dignity as a man who had talked with all the crowned heads of Europe, and had fought a duel with the Polish general.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

Baby regarded the old man with sad attention, pained at his unlicensed talk, but full of charity, and at last he indicates that his fancy is to examine the silver head of the Colonel's cane.
— from His Majesty Baby and Some Common People by Ian Maclaren

he echoed, putting a hand under the table to touch hers.
— from The Three Miss Kings: An Australian Story by Ada Cambridge

The women cut the body in pieces, and held up the mutilated limbs in mockery; then, broiling them over a huge fire, which had been prepared, as it seemed, for that purpose, they devoured them, with loud rejoicings, in presence of the Portuguese.
— from History of the Indians, of North and South America by Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold) Goodrich

But I thought of a priest, and hastened up to you."
— from The Three Cities Trilogy: Lourdes, Volume 5 by Émile Zola

The movement caused him intense pain, and he uttered a sharp groan.
— from A Young Inventor's Pluck; or, The Mystery of the Willington Legacy by Edward Stratemeyer

APPRECIATIONS "Since the days when Dryden held office no Laureate has been appointed so distinctly pre-eminent above all his contemporaries, so truly the king of the poets, as he upon whose brows now rests the Laureate crown.
— from Selections from Wordsworth and Tennyson by Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron

The lighting effect is produced by the passage of the electric spark through the small gap which separates the carbon points, in which interval extremely minute but solid particles of carbon, given off by the points, are heated up to incandescence in the path of the spark, and thus give rise to the intensely luminous focus known as ‘the electric light.’
— from Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume II by Richard Vine Tuson

He spoke in a clear, provoking tone, putting a hand upon the shoulder of each young gentleman as he talked, his eyes wandering over me idly, and beyond me.
— from The Seats of the Mighty, Volume 1 by Gilbert Parker

He had limitless ways and means and powers at his disposal for preparing and strengthening the case for the prosecution, and he used them all.
— from Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc — Volume 2 by Mark Twain