He answered each in turn with a stern “Name the thief!”
— from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain

Acts of Parliament, on the whole, are small, notwithstanding the noise they make.
— from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle

One day there was a skirmish near the chateau.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

But how were these fears increased, when, as they approached nearer to this light (or lights as they now appeared), they heard a confused sound of human voices; of singing, laughing, and hallowing, together with a strange noise that seemed to proceed from some instruments; but could hardly be allowed the name of music!
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

They, then, who are said not to be masters of themselves, are said to be so because they are not under the government of reason, to which is assigned by nature the power over the whole soul.
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations Also, Treatises On The Nature Of The Gods, And On The Commonwealth by Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Receive thou True and Truly famed, And Bold and Fleet: the weapons named [pg 043] Warder and Progress, swift of pace, Averted-head and Drooping-face; The Seen, and that which Secret flies; The weapon of the thousand eyes; Ten-headed, and the Hundred-faced, Star-gazer and the Layer-waste: The Omen-bird, the Pure-from-spot, The pair that wake and slumber not: The Fiendish, that which shakes amain, The Strong-of-Hand, the Rich-in-Gain: The Guardian, and the Close-allied, The Gaper, Love, and Golden-side:
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

When we take such an agency of government as a despotic ruler, we cannot possibly advance to an understanding of him except in terms of the group activities of his society which are most directly represented through him, along with those which almost seem not to be represented through him at all, or to be represented to a different degree or in a different manner.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess

Miles Hendon stepped in the way and said— “Not too fast, friend.
— from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

which it was necessary to know,—if, the porter once passed, one entered a little vestibule on the right, on which opened a staircase shut in between two walls and so narrow that only one person could ascend it at a time, if one did not allow one’s self to be alarmed by a daubing of canary yellow, with a dado of chocolate which clothed this staircase, if one ventured to ascend it, one crossed a first landing, then a second, and arrived on the first story at a corridor where the yellow wash and the chocolate-hued plinth pursued one with a peaceable persistency.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

"Once upon a time, when, in this manner, he had stepped on board of a little trading cutter (which in those days, before there were any steamers, navigated the Hudson), and had there entangled the cook in a highly interesting conversation—on which occasion he related to him, for the seventeenth time, how cunningly he had managed to escape being married—he missed the departure of the little boat, and as he could not spring ashore again, he resigned himself to his fate,
— from The wanderings and fortunes of some German emigrants by Friedrich Gerstäcker

However, as matters had been allowed to drift thus far, no one will pretend that there was any special need to worry General Grant at the moment of his son’s departure for a campaign.
— from The Revellers by Louis Tracy

Lee was too wily a strategist not to perceive and avoid his enemy's purpose.
— from The History of the Confederate War, Its Causes and Its Conduct, Volume 2 (of 2) A Narrative and Critical History by George Cary Eggleston

I cannot, then, think that we are so near to Cathay as your excellency supposes, and had much rather follow [Pg 73] the opinion that you have possibly approached the shore that has been hitherto represented as inaccessible to mortals."
— from Amerigo Vespucci by Frederick A. (Frederick Albion) Ober

A sensible Minorite who was present, took up the word and said, “Now, thou liest.”
— from La Sorcière: The Witch of the Middle Ages by Jules Michelet

I have seen them out in a rough sea, tossed upon the waves, and showing nearly the whole of their keel, but I never knew one to upset.”
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 377, March 1847 by Various

“Good!” said the doctor, in a low tone, with a significant nod to Lindsay, when an interpreter had explained what had been already guessed by all present, that Kambira and Azinté were man and wife; “Obo has a better chance now of recovery than I had anticipated; for joy goes a long way towards effecting a cure.
— from Black Ivory by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

The necessity on her part of presenting Ashley to her father and offering him lunch brought into play those social resources that were as second nature to all three.
— from The Street Called Straight by Basil King

Just as they were approaching so nearly to the margin of the open ground, that the dragoon, who acted as vidette, was looking round for orders, Pierre uttered a shrill, long-drawn whistle, which was the preconcerted signal for a halt; and, after the rest of the party had pulled up their horses, galloped forward himself till he reached the extreme verge of the covert, where, without speaking a single word, he dismounted, fastening his charger to a tree, and advanced stealthily into the open prairie.
— from The Silent Rifleman! A tale of the Texan prairies by Henry William Herbert