He wore a black coat, rather worn than old, which hung in tatters, a very fine but dirty shirt, frayed ruffles; a pair of splatterdashes so large that he could have put both legs into either of them, and, to secure himself from the snow, a little hat, only fit to be carried under his arm.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

She looked about, and presently she descried a crouched-up figure close beside her clinging to a hand-rail that had formed part of some steps leading to the bridge.
— from Unlucky: A Fragment of a Girl's Life by Caroline Austin

—The caterpillar is cylindrical, covered with spines, the first segment always bearing a pair of spines somewhat longer than the others.
— from The Butterfly Book A Popular Guide to a Knowledge of the Butterflies of North America by W. J. (William Jacob) Holland

With those thoughts, and deeply hurt, she was twenty times upon the point of retiring, during the first week of her distasteful office; but the sameness of the offences soon robbed the mortifications of their poignancy; and apathy; in a short time, taking place of sensibility, she learnt to bear them if not with indifference, at least with its precursor contempt.
— from The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties (Volume 3 of 5) by Fanny Burney

Puis ajôutant la raillerie à la cruauté, ils dirent au P. de Brebœuf, 'Tu nous assurois tout à l'heure que plus on souffre sur la terre, plus on est heureux dans le ciel; c'est par amitié pour toi que nous nous étudions à augmenter tes souffrances, et tu nous en auras obligation.'
— from The Conquest of Canada, Vol. 2 by George Warburton

It is then that his crystal pendulum of song swings lightly to and fro where other bird-song is rare.
— from Birds and Nature Vol. 09 No. 3 [March 1901] by Various

"Report of tears shed, prayers offered, smiles scattered, lessons taught, steps taken, cheering words, warning words—tender, patient words for the little ones, stern but loving tones for the wayward—songs of hope and songs of sorrow, wounded hearts healed, light and love poured into dark sad homes?
— from Your Negro Neighbor by Benjamin Griffith Brawley

It's this way: A company has been formed in Atlanta to run a daily paper on somewhat similar lines to the one we had in the West, and the promoters of it, it seems, have been watching my work, and that sort of thing, and so, only a few days ago, they wrote offering me a good salary to assume chief charge and management of the new paper.
— from Ann Boyd: A Novel by Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben

Thinking his companion might be afraid of the appalling sight, he said, as he glanced down at his drawn face, "It's only on the prairies one sees storms like these; and I've seen men as didn't fear a revolver get mighty scared at a sight like this.
— from A Lover in Homespun And Other Stories by F. Clifford (Frank Clifford) Smith

A six foot New Hampshire man, with a leg broken and perforated by a piece of shell, so large that, had I not seen the wound, I should have regarded the story as a Munchausenism, beckoned me to come and help him, as he could not sit up, and both his bed and beard were getting plentifully anointed with soup.
— from Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott