It was, however, the only book immediately at hand; and I indulged a vague hope that the excitement which now agitated the hypochondriac, might find relief (for the history of mental disorder is full of similar anomalies) even in the extremeness of the folly which I should read.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe

But this Sam flatly and positively refused to do; and, after he had been severely reprimanded by his master, the officer, being in a hurry, condescended to pick it up himself, venting a great variety of threats against Sam meanwhile, which that gentleman received with perfect composure, merely observing that if Mr. Namby would have the goodness to put his hat on again, he would knock it into the latter end of next week.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

When, as an experiment, Paul IV, in 1559, empowered the tribunal of Granada to prosecute these cases, he withdrew all privileges and exemptions, not only in this offence but in all heretical crimes; he authorized the inquisitors to degrade the culprits and to deliver them to the secular arm for execution and the provisions of this brief were extended by Pius IV, in 1561, to all the tribunals in the Spanish dominions.
— from A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 2 by Henry Charles Lea

They were too young, all—but—— He did not even repeat the name to himself, for from the first word of accusation his mind had guessed the one involved, but his heart had sturdily driven his mind to seek in every other direction before it should turn to the one being in all the world whom Ben Emeal loved, but no less the one being in all his household who, he knew, would dare to question or oppose the established order of things.
— from In Kali's Country: Tales from Sunny India by Emily Churchill Thompson Sheets

Then the sun came out, and the air grew soft, and the duckling grew tired of being in a hut, and wanted with all his might to have a swim.
— from The Orange Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

The scarlet robe of Santa Claus with its trimming of bells, icicles, and holly and its ruching of snow had been made in a single piece without buttons, so that when John put it over his head the beard caught in the folds and part of it was thinned out by an icicle.
— from Poor Relations by Compton MacKenzie

Both elaborated the same material, but each using a different process; the one boldly insolent and hostile, the other masked with hypocrisy and calm.
— from The Katipunan; or, The Rise and Fall of the Filipino Commune by Francis St. Clair

Ginger brandy — Orange-flower brandy — Employment of carraway seeds — The school treat — Use and abuse of aniseed — Do not drink quince whisky — Try orange brandy instead — A hell-broth — Curaçoa — Cassis — Chartreuse — The monks as benefactors — Some quaint tavern “refreshers” — Kirschenwasser — Noyeau — Parfait amour — Maraschino — A valuable ginger cordial CHAPTER XVIII THE AFTERMATH OF REVELRY 198 –210 Revelry means remorse — And “Katzenjammer” — And other things — Why will ye do it?
— from The Flowing Bowl A Treatise on Drinks of All Kinds and of All Periods, Interspersed with Sundry Anecdotes and Reminiscences by Edward Spencer

He held a long string in one hand, which he drew through the other band incessantly, as he spoke, just as a shoe maker performs the motion of waxing his thread.
— from The Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes: An Index of the Project Gutenberg Editions by Oliver Wendell Holmes

This amounted to a substitution of the French art of fiction, in some of its forms, for the English tradition of broad ideality and historical picturesqueness.
— from The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

But each September day is shorter than the one before it, and, hour by hour, the rays of the sun part with some of their power.
— from A Bird Calendar for Northern India by Douglas Dewar