I realized, then, what a creepy, dull, inanimate horror this land had been to me all these years, and how I had been in such a stifled condition of mind as to have grown used to it almost beyond the power to notice it.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

That the girl's thoughts hovered about her face and form as soon as she caught Oak's eyes conning the same page was natural, and almost certain.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

The carriages stopped at a gate, which led into the domain of the chateau, but which was now fastened; and the great bell, that had formerly served to announce the arrival of strangers, having long since fallen from its station, a servant climbed over a ruined part of the adjoining wall, to give notice to those within of the arrival of their lord.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

The evidence is also derived from hostile witnesses, who in all other cases consider fertility and sterility as safe criterions of specific distinction.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

But this is not all that concerns our actions: it is not enough to have determined ideas of them, and to know what names belong to such and such combinations of ideas.
— from An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume 1 MDCXC, Based on the 2nd Edition, Books 1 and 2 by John Locke

Suddenly, a strange concert of discordant voices resounded in the midst of a thicket.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

“The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of Europe.
— from Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Illustrated by Arthur Conan Doyle

Within the gates could be seen a spacious courtyard overgrown with rough weeds, and an old manor house with sunblinds on the windows, and a high roof red with rust.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

By good chance, they had shipped a small cask of glass beads on board the pinnace.
— from Willis the Pilot : A Sequel to the Swiss Family Robinson Or, Adventures of an Emigrant Family Wrecked on an Unknown Coast of the Pacific Ocean by Adrien Paul

Reasons of decency forbid us to make this a public performance, but everyone can and should adopt some course of the following kind.
— from Daily Training by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson

Having spun a slender carpet of silk on a leaf or twig, the caterpillar secures itself thereto, and then awaits the moment when all is ready for the transformation to commence.
— from The Butterflies of the British Isles by Richard South

Marl it down with spunyarn and sew canvas or leather round it if intended for a block.
— from Boat Sailing in Fair Weather and Foul, 6th ed. by A. J. (Ahmed John) Kenealy

Half an hour’s ride brought me to the house, but finding no one at home, with the exception of a big bull dog, I soon started in search, and shortly came on two men occupied in ploughing.
— from At Home with the Patagonians A Year's Wanderings over Untrodden Ground from the Straits of Magellan to the Rio Negro by George C. Musters

It is the story of a party of typical American lads, courageous, alert, and athletic, who spend a summer camping on an island off the Maine coast.
— from The Rival Campers; Or, The Adventures of Henry Burns by Ruel Perley Smith

to make Oars, which we were much in want of, I found Som indifferent timber and Struck the river above the Boat at a bad Sand bar the worst I had Seen which the boat must pass or Drop back Several Miles & Stem a Swift Current on the opsd Side of an Isd.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark