He was after his favorite sport of squirrel-shooting, and the still solitudes had echoed and re-echoed with the reports of his gun.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving

I am further to show how the same was of old time broken into divers parts called wards, whereof Fitzstephen, more than four hundred years since, writeth thus:—“This city, (saith he) even as Rome, is divided into wards; it hath yearly sheriffs instead of consuls.
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

But in making this taunt he forgot that, if any woman in the higher ranks of Dresden society had exerted a real and invigorating influence upon my inward pride, that woman was his own wife, Ida von Luttichau (nee von Knobelsdorf).
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

Thus, near the gates conferring as they drew, Argus, the dog, his ancient master knew: He not unconscious of the voice and tread, Lifts to the sound his ear, and rears his head; Bred by Ulysses, nourish'd at his board,
— from The Odyssey by Homer

He had forbid his menservants to come in, that they might not behold the scene he expected; and rose from table himself, and filled a glass of wine, her woman offering, and her kinsman rising, to do it.
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

First, then, in the character of the GENTLEMAN, may be seen that of a fashionable libertine, who allowed himself in the free indulgence of his passions, especially to the fair sex; and found himself supported in his daring attempts, by an affluent fortune in possession, a personal bravery, as it is called, readier to give than take offence, and an imperious will: yet as he betimes sees his errors, and reforms in the bloom of youth, an edifying lesson may be drawn from it, for the use of such as are born to large fortunes; and who may be taught, by his example, the inexpressible difference between the hazards and remorse which attend a profligate course of life, and the pleasures which flow from virtuous love, and benevolent actions.
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

I was right; but she had stood by me most helpfully in the castle, and had mightily supported and reinforced me with gigantic foolishnesses which were worth more for the occasion than wisdoms double their size; so I thought she had earned a right to work her mill for a while, if she wanted to, and I felt not a pang when she started it up: “Now turn we unto Sir Marhaus that rode with the damsel of thirty winter of age southward—” “Are you going to see if you can work up another half-stretch on the trail of the cowboys, Sandy?”
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

Consonant stems have -e : as, repente , suddenly .
— from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane

In this she hastily embarked and rowed herself out to sea; then, being somewhat skilled in the mariner's art, as the women of that island mostly are, she made sail and casting the oars and rudder adrift, committed herself altogether to the mercy of the waves, conceiving that it must needs happen that the wind would either overturn a boat without lading or steersman or drive it upon some rock and break it up, whereby she could not, even if she would, escape, but must of necessity be drowned.
— from The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by Giovanni Boccaccio

Rip out his tongue and his eyes, smash his eardrums, and ride him from city to city, in chains."
— from Slaves of Mercury by Nathan Schachner

Then my wife stopped her ears, and ran away like a wild thing, and next day she was found in the river.
— from Doctor Marigold by Charles Dickens

The unparalleled addition to the world's heroic deeds will be to the good of mankind, as the unparalleled suffering has eclipsed all records.
— from The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page, Volume II by Burton Jesse Hendrick

She shut her eyes and rushed at her confession.
— from Peter Paragon: A Tale of Youth by John Palmer

[P] Most of the substances here enumerated are rarely, if ever, used for the adulteration of flour in this country.
— from Legal Chemistry A Guide to the Detection of Poisons, Examination of Tea, Stains, Etc., as Applied to Chemical Jurisprudence by Alfred Naquet

When put upon his trial in October, 1660, for the part he now took, Tichborne pleaded that what he had done was through ignorance, and that had he known more he would sooner have entered a "red hot oven" than the room in which the warrant was signed.
— from London and the Kingdom - Volume 2 A History Derived Mainly from the Archives at Guildhall in the Custody of the Corporation of the City of London. by Reginald R. (Reginald Robinson) Sharpe

She had experiences and revelations of her own,—which she kept sacredly to herself, as children do,—and one was in regard to a rattlesnake, partly induced, however, by the indiscreet warning of her elders.
— from Openings in the Old Trail by Bret Harte

Mr. Snowden had expected a refusal, but Phil rose obediently and left the car.
— from The Circus Boys on the Plains; Or, The Young Advance Agents Ahead of the Show by Edgar B. P. Darlington

Even a priest cannot pronounce it without sin; and a holy Pundit would shut his ears and run away from you in horror, if you should say it aloud.
— from The Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes: An Index of the Project Gutenberg Editions by Oliver Wendell Holmes