Miss Pross looked up, saw what it was, struck at it, struck out a flash and a crash, and stood alone—blinded with smoke.
— from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The cases of feral men, in the absence of contradictory evidence, seem adequate in support of Aristotle's point that social contacts are indispensable for human development.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess

“Because I’m not half so silly as I seem on the surface, you know.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

The ratiocination is simple and childish (though we know Hamlet did not reason much more deeply), nevertheless it shows an innate sense of exact balance and equal justice "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
— from Bushido, the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe

Gaugamela was not the house of a camel, as Plutarch and Strabo would persuade us, notwithstanding the stories alleged in support of the notion: but it was the house and temple of Cam-El, the Deity of the country.
— from A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume I. by Jacob Bryant

Dew-drink , a morning draught, such as is served out to labourers in harvest time before commencing work.
— from The Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical and Andecdotal by John Camden Hotten

The latter pursuit, however, Aylmer had long laid aside in unwilling recognition of the truth—against which all seekers sooner or later stumble—that our great creative Mother, while she amuses us with apparently working in the broadest sunshine, is yet severely careful to keep her own secrets, and, in spite of her pretended openness, shows us nothing but results.
— from Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

When it became known, however, to the officers of the garrison that there was a faro-table in town, they were wild to be admitted to the sport; and, in spite of my entreaties to the contrary, my uncle was not averse to allow the young gentlemen their fling, and once or twice cleared a handsome sum out of their purses.
— from Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray

The men of rank and dignity, who stood more immediately around the clergyman, were so taken by surprise, and so perplexed as to the purport of what they saw—unable to receive the explanation which most readily presented itself, or to imagine any other—that they remained silent and inactive spectators of the judgement which Providence seemed about to work.
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

He had a beautiful shot as I stood out in my black boornoose against the white tent.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

But she is as nearly as can be my height and size; and (if she only knew how to dress herself, and had smaller feet) her figure is a very much better one than it ought to be for a person in her station in life.
— from Armadale by Wilkie Collins

In telling the story of le Garou, as he was called by some, although I speak of these things as locally familiar, it is very sure that to many citizens of the town they were quite unknown.
— from Animal Heroes by Ernest Thompson Seton

And although many of the earlier discoveries were the result of pure accident, we shall see much to admire in the enterprise and hardihood of explorers who ventured almost blindfold into unknown seas, abounding in special obstacles and dangers.
— from The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3 by Frederick Whymper

Homologous structures exist in all the Scyphomedusæ, and in some of the Lucernaridæ they are continued up even into the stalk of the attached jelly-fish.
— from The Cubomedusæ by Franklin Story Conant

As for David himself, he had slipped away from the men who had borne him in triumph on their shoulders and, in spite of the pain of his burns, was striding across the fields in the direction of the woods with angry eyes and sternly set mouth.
— from Madge Morton's Trust by Amy D. V. Chalmers

Frequently had the whole nation been spared for a pious remnant's sake; and in the Exile, while all the people were formally afflicted by God, it was but a portion of them whose conscience was quick to the meaning of the chastisement, and of them alone, in their submissive and intelligent sufferance of the Lord's wrath, could the opening gospel of the prophecy be spoken, that they had accomplished their warfare, and had received of the Lord's hand double for all their sins .
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Isaiah, Volume 2 (of 2) by George Adam Smith

But when he saw his cousin heading for the midst of the collection of hives, Roger became somewhat apprehensive, in spite of the assurance.
— from The White Crystals: Being an Account of the Adventures of Two Boys by Howard Roger Garis