In the air, danced myriads of gnats, swarm upon swarm, troops of buzzing flies, ladybirds, dragon-flies with golden wings, and other little winged creatures.
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. (Hans Christian) Andersen

The Dandelion steamed up some three or four miles, till the lights of Fort McAllister could be seen, when she anchored, and we pulled to the fort in our own boat.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. (William Tecumseh) Sherman

“The ladies will save us,” said the old man; “that is the best of them will—for I make a difference between them.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James

Amongst the many pretty stitches for which Turkish embroideries are distinguished, there is one in particular, which though apparently very difficult, is in reality quite the reverse; it resembles line stitch upon straight threads, only that in the East it is generally worked in diagonal lines, each row requiring two journeys to and fro.
— from Encyclopedia of Needlework by Thérèse de Dillmont

'Save us!' said the old lady, with tears in her eyes.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

The hole deepened and still deepened, but every time their hearts jumped to hear the pick strike upon something, they only suffered a new disappointment.
— from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

As she walked slowly upstairs she thought of yesterday; it had been about the same hour that she had returned from the Parsonage, and found Edmund in the East room.
— from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

“Here is our master come to see us,” said the old man.
— from Resurrection by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

“Tis a happy thing, truly,” said Memnon, “to have a good genius in one’s family, when out of two brothers, one is blind of an eye, the other blind of both; one stretched upon straw, the other in a dungeon.”
— from The Works of Voltaire, Vol. IV of XLIII. Romances, Vol. III of III, and A Treatise on Toleration. by Voltaire

The look of Penardim having baffled the redactor of the Branwen , he left the spelling unchanged: see the (Oxford) Mabinogion , p. 26.
— from Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx (Volume 1 of 2) by Rhys, John, Sir

Dick has managed to get around the old man, somehow, and if I can't stop it—" "Eh, yes, if you can't stop 'um!" said the old crone, rubbing her skinny hands together as if this, at least, pleased her.
— from Shoulder-Straps: A Novel of New York and the Army, 1862 by Henry Morford

But an Indian builds his fire in a space not much larger than the hollow of his two hands, and manages to send up smoke that only a trained eye could detect, and at the same time have heat enough with which to warm himself and cook his food, with as little fuel as possible.
— from Ted Strong in Montana Or, With Lariat and Spur by Edward C. Taylor

She quietly drew her arm from Mrs. Decatur's, saying that she would sit down; and sought out a place for herself, apart from the rest, by an engraving-stand, where for a little while, not to seem unoccupied, she turned over print after print, that she did not see.
— from Queechy, Volume II by Susan Warner

Brahmachári = the first stage of the life of a devout Hindu, when he is a celibate student under some teacher or guru .
— from Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier A Record of Sixteen Years' Close Intercourse with the Natives of the Indian Marches by T. L. (Theodore Leighton) Pennell

This river is too serpentine and narrow to admit sailing up; sweeps, towing, or tiding it up are the only modes that can be resorted to.
— from The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido For the Suppression of Piracy by Rajah of Sarawak James

He desired the young men in particular to take up some useful study, to occupy their leisure hours—something outside of their every-day business of life.
— from Diary Written in the Provincial Lunatic Asylum by Mary Huestis Pengilly