She, who but two minutes before had gazed upon us the loveliest, noblest, most splendid woman the world has ever seen, she lay still before us, near the masses of her own dark hair, no larger than a big monkey, and hideous—ah, too hideous for words.
— from She by H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

‘Who ever heard of a box corded with chain,’ says I. ‘Oh, Mrs. Yolland, don’t make objections!’ says she; ‘let me have my chains!’
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

The persecutions which the Mormons suffered so long—and which they consider they still suffer in not being allowed to gover
— from Roughing It by Mark Twain

My charming ladylove having pricked her finger rather severely, screamed loudly, and stretched her hand towards me, entreating me to suck the blood flowing from the wound.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

Philippe answered that, on him, in the pass things had come to, the State had, he thought, small claim; that nevertheless, in the interest of Liberty, he, having still some leisure on his hands, was willing, were a reasonable question asked him, to give reasonable answer.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

Jurgis shrank back appalled, for he thought it was an accident; there fell a pillar of white flame, dazzling as the sun, swishing like a huge tree falling in the forest.
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

I want to request you, if you will, to form a committee of advice and publicity for the Sunday School; look it over and make any suggestions for its betterment, and then, perhaps, see that the press gives us some attention—give the public some really helpful and constructive news instead of all these murders and divorces.”
— from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

Examples: bend, bent; send, sent; lend, lent; rend, rent; spend, spent; build, built.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by George Lyman Kittredge

Granny had a slight stroke last night.
— from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

“It does not seem somehow like silver....
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

If found to be strongly acid, that is if it turns the paper red, it should be rejected, but if only slightly so, sufficient lime water may be added to render it slightly alkaline.
— from The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English or, Medicine Simplified, 54th ed., One Million, Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand by Ray Vaughn Pierce

After making due allowance for mere racial sympathy, which in the present contest has had even in the neutral United States so large a share in determining individual sympathies, the claim of an English newspaper is approximately correct, that the universal action of the colonies, where volunteering far exceeded the numbers first sent, "indicates what is the opinion of bodies of free men, widely separated by social and geographical conditions, concerning the justice and necessity of the quarrel in which we are now engaged."
— from Story of the War in South Africa, 1899-1900 by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan

He loved Edith dearly, but he could not bear that she should leave Dunripple, and it had grieved him sorely when he reflected that in coming years Dunripple must belong to relatives of whom he knew nothing that was good, and that Edith Brownlow must be banished from the house.
— from The Vicar of Bullhampton by Anthony Trollope

Next, she produced the rolling-pin, and showed her how to beat the dough with dexterous strokes, up and down, and cross-ways, till it became a smooth paste, which felt as soft as velvet, and then how to roll it into a smooth sheet, lay on the butter in thin flakes, fold and roll again.
— from A Round Dozen by Susan Coolidge

Meantime, the sun sank lower, and [234] mother at home was waiting for the water, but Toinette forgot that.
— from A Round Dozen by Susan Coolidge

Jonathan Sewall studied law with Judge Chambers Russell, of Lincoln, commenced practice in his profession at Charlestown.
— from The Loyalists of Massachusetts and the Other Side of the American Revolution by James Henry Stark