It was plain I could not stay, so I locked every door, every window, and the three front and back gates, and went away.
— from The King in Yellow by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

New things spring into life every day.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

The old haven or canal, no longer navigable for ships, still served as an admirable moat which the assailants had not yet succeeded in laying entirely dry.
— from PG Edition of Netherlands series — Complete by John Lothrop Motley

As, however, straw is less easily decomposed than fresh vegetation, it is less valuable and may be troublesome by acquiring a greater amount of moisture by interfering with cultivation or by tending to dry out the soil to the injury of other plants.
— from One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered by Edward J. (Edward James) Wickson

Besides the quantities of arms smuggled into London, every dead German has had his rifle, pistol, and ammunition stolen from him.
— from The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of London by William Le Queux