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H.G. Wells
Invisible Man
which was quite unfounded but I didn t rightly hear it She thought it seemed so silly not to know the man s name Cuss rapped at the parlour door and entered There was a fairly audible imprecation from within Pardon my intrusion said Cuss and then the door closed and cut Mrs Hall off from the rest of the conversation She could hear the murmur of voices for the next ten minutes then a cry of surprise a stirring of feet a chair flung aside a bark of laughter quick steps to the door and Cuss appeared his face
H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
hearted In fact he did not like men his heart had warmed to me he thought because he had saved my life I fancied even then that he had a sneaking kindness for some of these metamorphosed brutes a vicious sympathy with some of their ways but that he attempted to veil it from me at first M ling the black faced man Montgomery s attendant the first of the Beast Folk I had encountered did not live with the others across the island but in a small kennel at the back of the enclosure The creature was scarcely so
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
upon so doing when a man suddenly stopped before him It was Newman Noggs Ah Newman said Mr Nickleby looking up as he pursued his occupation The letter about the mortgage has come has it I thought it would Wrong replied Newman What and nobody called respecting it inquired Mr Nickleby pausing Noggs shook his head What HAS come then inquired Mr Nickleby I have said Newman What else demanded the master sternly This said Newman drawing a sealed letter slowly from his pocket Post mark Strand black wax black border woman s hand C N in the corner Black
Jane Austen
Emma
do sir if we could suppose it but she knows how much the marriage is to Miss Taylor s advantage she knows how very acceptable it must be at Miss Taylor s time of life to be settled in a home of her own and how important to her to be secure of a comfortable provision and therefore cannot allow herself to feel so much pain as pleasure Every friend of Miss Taylor must be glad to have her so happily married And you have forgotten one matter of joy to me said Emma and a very considerable one that
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
beginning It is a tyranny a tyranny In your days the feudal war lords had gone and the new lordship of wealth had still to come Half the men in the world still lived out upon the free countryside The cities had still to devour them I have heard the stories out of the old books there was nobility Common men led lives of love and faithfulness then they did a thousand things And you you come from that time It was not But never mind How is it now Gain and the Pleasure Cities Or slavery unthanked unhonoured slavery
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
I would have to ken for instance what ye gave Hoseason at the first off go Hoseason cries my uncle struck aback What for For kidnapping David says Alan It s a lee it s a black lee cried my uncle He was never kidnapped He leed in his throat that tauld ye that Kidnapped He never was That s no fault of mine nor yet of yours said Alan nor yet of Hoseason s if he s a man that can be trusted What do ye mean cried Ebenezer Did Hoseason tell ye Why ye donnered auld runt how
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
for he fired a blunderbuss arter him and roused the neighbourhood They set up a hue and cry directly and when they came to look about em found that Conkey had hit the robber for there was traces of blood all the way to some palings a good distance off and there they lost em However he had made off with the blunt and consequently the name of Mr Chickweed licensed witler appeared in the Gazette among the other bankrupts and all manner of benefits and subscriptions and I don t know what all was got up for the poor
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
steady head and up One of the Ostrogite monoplanes was driving across his course so that he drove obliquely towards it and would pass below it at a steep angle Its little aeronauts were peering down at him What did they mean to do His mind became active One he saw held a weapon pointing seemed prepared to fire What did they think he meant to do In a moment he understood their tactics and his resolution was taken His momentary lethargy was past He opened two more valves to his left swung round end on to this hostile machine
H.G. Wells
Invisible Man
passage Thence I could go by train into Spain or else get to Algiers It would not be difficult There a man might always be invisible and yet live And do things I was using that tramp as a money box and luggage carrier until I decided how to get my books and things sent over to meet me That s clear And then the filthy brute must needs try and rob me He _has_ hidden my books Kemp Hidden my books If I can lay my hands on him Best plan to get the books out of him first
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
carefully made acquainted by Mr Brownlow with the nature of the admissions which had been forced from Monks and although they knew that the object of their present journey was to complete the work which had been so well begun still the whole matter was enveloped in enough of doubt and mystery to leave them in endurance of the most intense suspense The same kind friend had with Mr Losberne s assistance cautiously stopped all channels of communication through which they could receive intelligence of the dreadful occurrences that so recently taken place It was quite true he said that
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
aunt tied the strings of her bonnet she had come down to breakfast in it and put on her shawl as if she were ready for anything that was resolute and uncompromising Traddles buttoned his coat with a determined air Mr Dick disturbed by these formidable appearances but feeling it necessary to imitate them pulled his hat with both hands as firmly over his ears as he possibly could and instantly took it off again to welcome Mr Micawber Gentlemen and madam said Mr Micawber good morning My dear sir to Mr Dick who shook hands with him violently you
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
furthermore announced his intention of coming to see him hanged whenever that desirable event should take place and entered upon various topics of petty annoyance like a malicious and ill conditioned charity boy as he was But making Oliver cry Noah attempted to be more facetious still and in his attempt did what many sometimes do to this day when they want to be funny He got rather personal Work us said Noah how s your mother She s dead replied Oliver don t you say anything about her to me Oliver s colour rose as he said this he
Arthur Conan Doyle
Hound of Baskervilles
a head by his knowledge that Sir Charles was about to leave the Hall on the advice of Dr Mortimer with whose opinion he himself pretended to coincide He must act at once or his victim might get beyond his power He therefore put pressure upon Mrs Lyons to write this letter imploring the old man to give her an interview on the evening before his departure for London He then by a specious argument prevented her from going and so had the chance for which he had waited Driving back in the evening from Coombe Tracey he was in
H.G. Wells
Time Machine
the dim elusive world that raced and fluctuated before my eyes I saw great and splendid architecture rising about me more massive than any buildings of our own time and yet as it seemed built of glimmer and mist I saw a richer green flow up the hillside and remain there without any wintry intermission Even through the veil of my confusion the earth seemed very fair And so my mind came round to the business of stopping The peculiar risk lay in the possibility of my finding some substance in the space which I or the machine occupied So
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
rum and milk to prepare them for the journey They had tied up the luggage Smike shouldered it and away they went with Newman Noggs in company for he had insisted on walking as far as he could with them overnight Which way asked Newman wistfully To Kingston first replied Nicholas And where afterwards asked Newman Why won t you tell me Because I scarcely know myself good friend rejoined Nicholas laying his hand upon his shoulder and if I did I have neither plan nor prospect yet and might shift my quarters a hundred times before you could possibly
H.G. Wells
Time Machine
to preserve myself from the horror that was coming upon me by regarding it as a rigorous punishment of human selfishness Man had been content to live in ease and delight upon the labours of his fellow man had taken Necessity as his watchword and excuse and in the fullness of time Necessity had come home to him I even tried a Carlyle like scorn of this wretched aristocracy in decay But this attitude of mind was impossible However great their intellectual degradation the Eloi had kept too much of the human form not to claim my sympathy and to
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tales and Fantasies
case the servants should get hold of it and here is the change and a note of my expenditure You were gone to bed you see and I did not feel at liberty to knock you up but I think when you have heard the circumstances you will do me justice The fact is I have reason to believe there has been some dreadful error about my brother John the sooner it can be cleared up the better for all parties it was a piece of business sir and so I took it and decided on my own responsibility to
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
he took out his handkerchief and wiped his face and head and neck and hands before he could go on I had said to Compeyson that I d smash that face of his and I swore Lord smash mine to do it We was in the same prison ship but I couldn t get at him for long though I tried At last I come behind him and hit him on the cheek to turn him round and get a smashing one at him when I was seen and seized The black hole of that ship warn t a strong
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
I was still cursed with my duality of purpose and as the first edge of my penitence wore off the lower side of me so long indulged so recently chained down began to growl for licence Not that I dreamed of resuscitating Hyde the bare idea of that would startle me to frenzy no it was in my own person that I was once more tempted to trifle with my conscience and it was as an ordinary secret sinner that I at last fell before the assaults of temptation There comes an end to all things the most capacious measure
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
altered the character of our intercourse There was no one in the quaint old drawing room though it presented tokens of Mrs Heep s whereabouts I looked into the room still belonging to Agnes and saw her sitting by the fire at a pretty old fashioned desk she had writing My darkening the light made her look up What a pleasure to be the cause of that bright change in her attentive face and the object of that sweet regard and welcome Ah Agnes said I when we were sitting together side by side I have missed you so much
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
her sister and while they were thus employed Elizabeth could not help observing as she turned over some music books that lay on the instrument how frequently Mr Darcy s eyes were fixed on her She hardly knew how to suppose that she could be an object of admiration to so great a man and yet that he should look at her because he disliked her was still more strange She could only imagine however at last that she drew his notice because there was something more wrong and reprehensible according to his ideas of right than in any other
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
no ill to King George and if he had been there himself in proper person it s like he would have done as I did No sooner had I taken out the drain than I felt hugely better and could look on and listen still a little mistily perhaps but no longer with the same groundless horror and distress of mind It was certainly a strange place and we had a strange host In his long hiding Cluny had grown to have all manner of precise habits like those of an old maid He had a particular place where no
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
advanced and said when we came up with him Mr Pip and friend Identity of Mr Pip and friend confessed Mr Waldengarver said the man would be glad to have the honor Waldengarver I repeated when Herbert murmured in my ear Probably Wopsle Oh said I Yes Shall we follow you A few steps please When we were in a side alley he turned and asked How did you think he looked I dressed him I don t know what he had looked like except a funeral with the addition of a large Danish sun or star hanging round his
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
there are men of Sir Daniel s in that house and to be taken between two shots is a beggarman s position Take me this ladder I must leave it where I found it They returned the ladder to the stable and groped their way to the place where they had entered Capper had taken Greensheve s position on the cope and now he leaned down his hand and first one and then the other pulled them up Cautiously and silently they dropped again upon the other side nor did they dare to speak until they had returned to their
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
with her What new power can I acquire Such brains are fertile in expedients If without extracting a confession from herself he laid a watch discovered the object of her altered regard and threatened to reveal the whole history to Sikes of whom she stood in no common fear unless she entered into his designs could he not secure her compliance I can said Fagin almost aloud She durst not refuse me then Not for her life not for her life I have it all The means are ready and shall be set to work I shall have you yet
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
he had drunk late the night before Dick followed the man with black forebodings CHAPTER III THE ROOM OVER THE CHAPEL From the battlements nothing further was observed The sun journeyed westward and at last went down but to the eyes of all these eager sentinels no living thing appeared in the neighbourhood of Tunstall House When the night was at length fairly come Throgmorton was led to a room overlooking an angle of the moat Thence he was lowered with every precaution the ripple of his swimming was audible for a brief period then a black figure was observed
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
am nae rider to kick my shanks at your hall door Either give me an answer in civility and that out of hand or by the top of Glencoe I will ram three feet of iron through your vitals Eh man cried my uncle scrambling to his feet give me a meenit What s like wrong with ye I m just a plain man and nae dancing master and I m tryin to be as ceevil as it s morally possible As for that wild talk it s fair disrepitable Vitals says you And where would I be with my
Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
by his long residence in the tropics A series of disgraceful brawls took place two of which ended in the police court until at last he became the terror of the village and the folks would fly at his approach for he is a man of immense strength and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a stream and it was only by paying over all the money which I could gather together that I was able to avert another public exposure He had no friends at all save the wandering
H.G. Wells
Time Machine
any more than a savage or an animal has of staying six feet above the ground But a civilised man is better off than the savage in this respect He can go up against gravitation in a balloon and why should he not hope that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time Dimension or even turn about and travel the other way Oh _this_ began Filby is all Why not said the Time Traveller It s against reason said Filby What reason said the Time Traveller You can show black is white by
H.G. Wells
Invisible Man
was just opening and the faint light of early dawn displayed the dark masses of the garden beyond He is certain that nothing went out of the door It opened stood open for a moment and then closed with a slam As it did so the candle Mrs Bunting was carrying from the study flickered and flared It was a minute or more before they entered the kitchen The place was empty They refastened the back door examined the kitchen pantry and scullery thoroughly and at last went down into the cellar There was not a soul to be found
Jane Austen
Persuasion
not be quite herself She hoped to be wise and reasonable in time but alas alas she must confess to herself that she was not wise yet Another circumstance very essential for her to know was how long he meant to be in Bath he had not mentioned it or she could not recollect it He might be only passing through But it was more probable that he should be come to stay In that case so liable as every body was to meet every body in Bath Lady Russell would in all likelihood see him somewhere Would she recollect
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
east and west and north they fled before him They drove away to the east and north and went about in the south for they could not pause in the air In their present confusion any attempt at evolution would have meant disastrous collisions He passed two hundred feet or so above the Roehampton stage It was black with people and noisy with their frantic shouting But why was the Wimbledon Park stage black and cheering too The smoke and flame of Streatham now hid the three further stages He curved about and rose to see them and the northern
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
the source of the light A man hung far overhead from the upper part of a cable holding by a rope the blinding star that had driven the darkness back Graham s eyes fell to the ways again A wedge of red a little way along the vista caught his eye He saw it was a dense mass of red clad men jammed on the higher further way their backs against the pitiless cliff of building and surrounded by a dense crowd of antagonists They were fighting Weapons flashed and rose and fell heads vanished at the edge of the
Jane Austen
Emma
sure there is nobody s praise that could give us so much pleasure as Miss Woodhouse s My mother does not hear she is a little deaf you know Ma am addressing her do you hear what Miss Woodhouse is so obliging to say about Jane s handwriting And Emma had the advantage of hearing her own silly compliment repeated twice over before the good old lady could comprehend it She was pondering in the meanwhile upon the possibility without seeming very rude of making her escape from Jane Fairfax s letter and had almost resolved on hurrying away directly
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
a spot of ground was cleared of snow and after some failures a good fire blazed in the midst The men at arms sat close about this forest hearth sharing such provisions as they had and passing about the flask and Dick having collected the most delicate of the rough and scanty fare brought it to Lord Risingham s niece where she sat apart from the soldiery against a tree She sat upon one horse cloth wrapped in another and stared straight before her at the firelit scene At the offer of food she started like one wakened from a
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
of the mansion Brittles was a lad of all work who having entered her service a mere child was treated as a promising young boy still though he was something past thirty Encouraging each other with such converse as this but keeping very close together notwithstanding and looking apprehensively round whenever a fresh gust rattled through the boughs the three men hurried back to a tree behind which they had left their lantern lest its light should inform the thieves in what direction to fire Catching up the light they made the best of their way home at a good
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
minute and then by a little curiosity satisfied herself with walking to the window and pretending not to hear In a doleful voice Mrs Bennet began the projected conversation Oh Mr Collins My dear madam replied he let us be for ever silent on this point Far be it from me he presently continued in a voice that marked his displeasure to resent the behaviour of your daughter Resignation to inevitable evils is the duty of us all the peculiar duty of a young man who has been so fortunate as I have been in early preferment and I trust
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
and uncommon I hope it will continue for it would be a great loss to _me_ to have many such acquaintances I dearly love a laugh Miss Bingley said he has given me more credit than can be The wisest and the best of men nay the wisest and best of their actions may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke Certainly replied Elizabeth there are such people but I hope I am not one of _them_ I hope I never ridicule what is wise and good Follies and nonsense whims and inconsistencies
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
shrugged his broad shoulders The Indians know They have their own way They watch us They talk the drum talk to each other Kill us if they can By the afternoon of that day my pocket diary shows me that it was Tuesday August 18th at least six or seven drums were throbbing from various points Sometimes they beat quickly sometimes slowly sometimes in obvious question and answer one far to the east breaking out in a high staccato rattle and being followed after a pause by a deep roll from the north There was something indescribably nerve shaking and
Jane Austen
Persuasion
remembrance of The heir presumptive the very William Walter Elliot Esq whose rights had been so generously supported by her father had disappointed her She had while a very young girl as soon as she had known him to be in the event of her having no brother the future baronet meant to marry him and her father had always meant that she should He had not been known to them as a boy but soon after Lady Elliot s death Sir Walter had sought the acquaintance and though his overtures had not been met with any warmth he had
Jane Austen
Persuasion
it was a secret gratification to herself to have seen her cousin and to know that the future owner of Kellynch was undoubtedly a gentleman and had an air of good sense She would not upon any account mention her having met with him the second time luckily Mary did not much attend to their having passed close by him in their earlier walk but she would have felt quite ill used by Anne s having actually run against him in the passage and received his very polite excuses while she had never been near him at all no that
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
salads many ragged children huddled in the doorways and many women of many different nationalities passing out key in hand to have a morning glass and the next moment the fog settled down again upon that part as brown as umber and cut him off from his blackguardly surroundings This was the home of Henry Jekyll s favourite of a man who was heir to a quarter of a million sterling An ivory faced and silvery haired old woman opened the door She had an evil face smoothed by hypocrisy but her manners were excellent Yes she said this was
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tales of Terror and Mystery
them meekly toward him as he did so Then he took her arm with a rough grip and led her toward the wooden horse which was little higher than her waist On to this she was lifted and laid with her back upon it and her face to the ceiling while the priest quivering with horror had rushed out of the room The woman s lips were moving rapidly and though I could hear nothing I knew that she was praying Her feet hung down on either side of the horse and I saw that the rough varlets in attendance
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
wish of _his_ mother as well as of hers While in their cradles we planned the union and now at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished in their marriage to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth of no importance in the world and wholly unallied to the family Do you pay no regard to the wishes of his friends To his tacit engagement with Miss de Bourgh Are you lost to every feeling of propriety and delicacy Have you not heard me say that from his earliest hours he was destined for
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
Well said Wemmick he ll give you wine and good wine I ll give you punch and not bad punch And now I ll tell you something When you go to dine with Mr Jaggers look at his housekeeper Shall I see something very uncommon Well said Wemmick you ll see a wild beast tamed Not so very uncommon you ll tell me I reply that depends on the original wildness of the beast and the amount of taming It won t lower your opinion of Mr Jaggers s powers Keep your eye on it I told him I would
Jane Austen
Emma
was spent by him in expressing his discontent A man said he must have a very good opinion of himself when he asks people to leave their own fireside and encounter such a day as this for the sake of coming to see him He must think himself a most agreeable fellow I could not do such a thing It is the greatest absurdity Actually snowing at this moment The folly of not allowing people to be comfortable at home and the folly of people s not staying comfortably at home when they can If we were obliged to go
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
employed in visiting an opposite milliner watching the sentinel on guard and dressing a salad and cucumber After welcoming their sisters they triumphantly displayed a table set out with such cold meat as an inn larder usually affords exclaiming Is not this nice Is not this an agreeable surprise And we mean to treat you all added Lydia but you must lend us the money for we have just spent ours at the shop out there Then showing her purchases Look here I have bought this bonnet I do not think it is very pretty but I thought I might
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
So the means employed and the end produced were alike the most natural in the world for young ladies will look forward to being married and will jostle each other in the race to the altar and will avail themselves of all opportunities of displaying their own attractions to the best advantage down to the very end of time as they have done from its beginning Why and here s Fanny in tears now exclaimed Miss Price as if in fresh amazement What can be the matter Oh you don t know miss of course you don t know Pray
Jane Austen
Persuasion
would in all probability make him an affectionate good humoured wife With regard to Charles Hayter she had delicacy which must be pained by any lightness of conduct in a well meaning young woman and a heart to sympathize in any of the sufferings it occasioned but if Henrietta found herself mistaken in the nature of her feelings the alteration could not be understood too soon Charles Hayter had met with much to disquiet and mortify him in his cousin s behaviour She had too old a regard for him to be so wholly estranged as might in two meetings
Jane Austen
Emma
cried Miss Bates who had been trying in vain to be heard the last two minutes if I must speak on this subject there is no denying that Mr Frank Churchill might have I do not mean to say that he did not dream it I am sure I have sometimes the oddest dreams in the world but if I am questioned about it I must acknowledge that there was such an idea last spring for Mrs Perry herself mentioned it to my mother and the Coles knew of it as well as ourselves but it was quite a secret
Arthur Conan Doyle
Hound of Baskervilles
The night was clear and fine above us The stars shone cold and bright while a half moon bathed the whole scene in a soft uncertain light Before us lay the dark bulk of the house its serrated roof and bristling chimneys hard outlined against the silver spangled sky Broad bars of golden light from the lower windows stretched across the orchard and the moor One of them was suddenly shut off The servants had left the kitchen There only remained the lamp in the dining room where the two men the murderous host and the unconscious guest still chatted
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
myself to one glass and then proposed that we should follow her I would have done so again today but Uriah was too quick for me We seldom see our present visitor sir he said addressing Mr Wickfield sitting such a contrast to him at the end of the table and I should propose to give him welcome in another glass or two of wine if you have no objections Mr Copperfield your elth and appiness I was obliged to make a show of taking the hand he stretched across to me and then with very different emotions I took
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
there was a quantity of chalk about our country and perhaps the people neglected no opportunity of turning it to account It being Saturday night I found the landlord looking rather grimly at these records but as my business was with Joe and not with him I merely wished him good evening and passed into the common room at the end of the passage where there was a bright large kitchen fire and where Joe was smoking his pipe in company with Mr Wopsle and a stranger Joe greeted me as usual with Halloa Pip old chap and the moment
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tales of Terror and Mystery
I felt that if I were once left in the dark with that fearful beast I should be incapable of action The very thought of it paralysed me I cast my despairing eyes round this chamber of death and they rested upon one spot which seemed to promise I will not say safety but less immediate and imminent danger than the open floor I have said that the cage had a top as well as a front and this top was left standing when the front was wound through the slot in the wall It consisted of bars at a
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
they hurried through the main street of the little town which at that late hour was wholly deserted A dim light shone at intervals from some bed room window and the hoarse barking of dogs occasionally broke the silence of the night But there was nobody abroad They had cleared the town as the church bell struck two Quickening their pace they turned up a road upon the left hand After walking about a quarter of a mile they stopped before a detached house surrounded by a wall to the top of which Toby Crackit scarcely pausing to take breath
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
thought it might be agreeable my dear said Mr Omer But perhaps you re right I can t say how I knew it was my dear dear mother s coffin that they went to look at I had never heard one making I had never seen one that I know of but it came into my mind what the noise was while it was going on and when the young man entered I am sure I knew what he had been doing The work being now finished the two girls whose names I had not heard brushed the shreds and
H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
of the monogamy the Law enjoined 2 This description corresponds in every respect to Noble s Isle C E P It would be impossible for me to describe these Beast People in detail my eye has had no training in details and unhappily I cannot sketch Most striking perhaps in their general appearance was the disproportion between the legs of these creatures and the length of their bodies and yet so relative is our idea of grace my eye became habituated to their forms and at last I even fell in with their persuasion that my own long thighs were
Jane Austen
Mansfield Park
be very much ashamed and to get into the house as fast as possible and to poor Miss Crawford who had just been contemplating the dismal rain in a very desponding state of mind sighing over the ruin of all her plan of exercise for that morning and of every chance of seeing a single creature beyond themselves for the next twenty four hours the sound of a little bustle at the front door and the sight of Miss Price dripping with wet in the vestibule was delightful The value of an event on a wet day in the country
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
Not one whit Madam said Dick I will go into a cloister an ye please to bid me but to wed with any one in this big world besides Joanna Sedley is what I will consent to neither for man s force nor yet for lady s pleasure Pardon me if I speak my plain thoughts plainly but where a maid is very bold a poor man must even be the bolder Dick she said ye sweet boy ye must come and kiss me for that word Nay fear not ye shall kiss me for Joanna and when we meet
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tales and Fantasies
seemed positively natural She sat white and cold and silent and there was no speculation in her eyes Poor Dick flailed and flailed at the pony and once tried to whistle but his courage was going down huge clouds of despair gathered together in his soul and from time to time their darkness was divided by a piercing flash of longing and regret He had lost his love he had lost his love for good The pony was tired and the hills very long and steep and the air sultrier than ever for now the breeze began to fail entirely
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
as well buy it as not I shall pull it to pieces as soon as I get home and see if I can make it up any better And when her sisters abused it as ugly she added with perfect unconcern Oh but there were two or three much uglier in the shop and when I have bought some prettier coloured satin to trim it with fresh I think it will be very tolerable Besides it will not much signify what one wears this summer after the shire have left Meryton and they are going in a fortnight Are they
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tales of Terror and Mystery
afraid that you might find it so and that was partly why I ran down My young friend Dr Hamilton is so much interested in the subject which you have made your own that I thought you would not mind his accompanying me I lead a retired life Dr Hamilton and my aversion to strangers grows upon me said our host I have sometimes thought that my nerves are not so good as they were My travels in search of beetles in my younger days took me into many malarious and unhealthy places But a brother coleopterist like yourself is
H.G. Wells
Invisible Man
used so remorselessly against him For that day at least he lost heart for nearly twenty four hours save when he turned on Wicksteed he was a hunted man In the night he must have eaten and slept for in the morning he was himself again active powerful angry and malignant prepared for his last great struggle against the world CHAPTER XXVII THE SIEGE OF KEMP S HOUSE Kemp read a strange missive written in pencil on a greasy sheet of paper You have been amazingly energetic and clever this letter ran though what you stand to gain by it
H.G. Wells
Time Machine
old instinctive dread of wild beasts came upon me I clenched my hands and steadfastly looked into the glaring eyeballs I was afraid to turn Then the thought of the absolute security in which humanity appeared to be living came to my mind And then I remembered that strange terror of the dark Overcoming my fear to some extent I advanced a step and spoke I will admit that my voice was harsh and ill controlled I put out my hand and touched something soft At once the eyes darted sideways and something white ran past me I turned with
Jane Austen
Persuasion
many hours sooner still If I could explain to you all this and all that a man can bear and do and glories to do for the sake of these treasures of his existence I speak you know only of such men as have hearts pressing his own with emotion Oh cried Anne eagerly I hope I do justice to all that is felt by you and by those who resemble you God forbid that I should undervalue the warm and faithful feelings of any of my fellow creatures I should deserve utter contempt if I dared to suppose that
Jane Austen
Persuasion
pardon but he had forgotten his gloves and instantly crossing the room to the writing table he drew out a letter from under the scattered paper placed it before Anne with eyes of glowing entreaty fixed on her for a time and hastily collecting his gloves was again out of the room almost before Mrs Musgrove was aware of his being in it the work of an instant The revolution which one instant had made in Anne was almost beyond expression The letter with a direction hardly legible to Miss A E was evidently the one which he had been
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tales of Terror and Mystery
two rooms He stands at the door between them and so commands them both But at night When the public are gone we at once put up the great iron shutters which are absolutely burglar proof The watchman is a capable fellow He sits in the lodge but he walks round every three hours We keep one electric light burning in each room all night It is difficult to suggest anything more short of keeping your day watches all night We could not afford that At least I should communicate with the police and have a special constable put on
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tales of Terror and Mystery
back in absolute darkness through that limestone labyrinth was clearly an impossible one I sat down upon a boulder and reflected upon my unfortunate plight I had not told anyone that I proposed to come to the Blue John mine and it was unlikely that a search party would come after me Therefore I must trust to my own resources to get clear of the danger There was only one hope and that was that the matches might dry When I fell into the river only half of me had got thoroughly wet My left shoulder had remained above the
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
figure looked at the bold Baron of Grogzwig for some time and then said familiarly There s no coming over you I see I m not a man What are you then asked the baron A genius replied the figure You don t look much like one returned the baron scornfully I am the Genius of Despair and Suicide said the apparition Now you know me With these words the apparition turned towards the baron as if composing himself for a talk and what was very remarkable was that he threw his cloak aside and displaying a stake which was
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tales and Fantasies
to awake I say let s come on to the house he said at last Yes let s come on to the house repeated Alan And he rose at once reshouldered the portmanteau and taking the candle in his other hand moved forward to the Lodge This was a long low building smothered in creepers and now except for some chinks of light between the dining room shutters it was plunged in darkness and silence In the hall Alan lighted another candle gave it to John and opened the door of a bedroom Here said he go to bed Don
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
from behind a mass of pocket handkerchief that she never could have believed it thereby most ingeniously leaving her hearers to suppose that she did believe it It would be my duty if he came in my way to deliver him up to justice said Ralph my bounden duty I should have no other course as a man of the world and a man of business to pursue And yet said Ralph speaking in a very marked manner and looking furtively but fixedly at Kate and yet I would not I would spare the feelings of his of his sister
H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
afraid and not ashamed the last vestige of the human taint had vanished I advanced a step farther stopped and pulled out my revolver At last I had him face to face The brute made no sign of retreat but its ears went back its hair bristled and its body crouched together I aimed between the eyes and fired As I did so the Thing rose straight at me in a leap and I was knocked over like a ninepin It clutched at me with its crippled hand and struck me in the face Its spring carried it over me
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
of his past suspicions Have you the envelope he asked I burned it replied Jekyll before I thought what I was about But it bore no postmark The note was handed in Shall I keep this and sleep upon it asked Utterson I wish you to judge for me entirely was the reply I have lost confidence in myself Well I shall consider returned the lawyer And now one word more it was Hyde who dictated the terms in your will about that disappearance The doctor seemed seized with a qualm of faintness he shut his mouth tight and nodded
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
stage Sire Smashed No It is lying crossways to the carrier It might be got upon the guides easily But there is no aeronaut Graham glanced at the two men and then at Helen He spoke after a long pause _We_ have no aeronauts None He turned suddenly to Helen His decision was made I must do it Do what Go to this flying stage to this machine What do you mean I am an aeronaut After all Those days for which you reproached me were not altogether wasted He turned to the old man in yellow Tell them to
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
by laying my hand upon his shoulder and saying I can t help confiding in you though I know it must be troublesome to you but that is your fault in having ever brought me here Wemmick was silent for a little while and then said with a kind of start Well you know Mr Pip I must tell you one thing This is devilish good of you Say you ll help me to be good then said I Ecod replied Wemmick shaking his head that s not my trade Nor is this your trading place said I You are
H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
little stars one by one pierced the attenuated light the interspaces of the trees the gaps in the further vegetation that had been hazy blue in the daylight grew black and mysterious I pushed on The colour vanished from the world The tree tops rose against the luminous blue sky in inky silhouette and all below that outline melted into one formless blackness Presently the trees grew thinner and the shrubby undergrowth more abundant Then there was a desolate space covered with a white sand and then another expanse of tangled bushes I did not remember crossing the sand opening
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
deference which both she and Traddles showed towards the Beauty pleased me very much I don t know that I thought it very reasonable but I thought it very delightful and essentially a part of their character If Traddles ever for an instant missed the tea spoons that were still to be won I have no doubt it was when he handed the Beauty her tea If his sweet tempered wife could have got up any self assertion against anyone I am satisfied it could only have been because she was the Beauty s sister A few slight indications of
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
are mad I think he cried Fool fellow I am hasting to your foes as fast as foot can carry me go I thither I care not Dick replied the lad If y are bound to die Dick I ll die too I would liever go with you to prison than to go free without you Well returned the other I may stand no longer prating Follow me if ye must but if ye play me false it shall but little advance you mark ye that Shalt have a quarrel in thine inwards boy So saying Dick took once more
Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
result Let the weight of the matter rest upon me now and do not let your mind dwell upon it further Above all try to let Mr Hosmer Angel vanish from your memory as he has done from your life Then you don t think I ll see him again I fear not Then what has happened to him You will leave that question in my hands I should like an accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can spare I advertised for him in last Saturday s _Chronicle_ said she Here is the slip and
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
you to meet her at the coach I ask At seven says Traddles looking at his plain old silver watch the very watch he once took a wheel out of at school to make a water mill That is about Miss Wickfield s time is it not A little earlier Her time is half past eight I assure you my dear boy says Traddles I am almost as pleased as if I were going to be married myself to think that this event is coming to such a happy termination And really the great friendship and consideration of personally associating
Arthur Conan Doyle
Hound of Baskervilles
was projecting Holmes sank to his waist as he stepped from the path to seize it and had we not been there to drag him out he could never have set his foot upon firm land again He held an old black boot in the air Meyers Toronto was printed on the leather inside It is worth a mud bath said he It is our friend Sir Henry s missing boot Thrown there by Stapleton in his flight Exactly He retained it in his hand after using it to set the hound upon the track He fled when he knew
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
beat a quick response to the voice of gentleness and affection must have rusted and broken in their secret places and bear the lingering echo of no old word of love or kindness Gloomy indeed must have been the short day and dull the long long twilight preceding such a night of intellect as his There were voices which would have roused him even then but their welcome tones could not penetrate there and he crept to bed the same listless hopeless blighted creature that Nicholas had first found him at the Yorkshire school CHAPTER 39 In which another old
Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
yellow with the sun and marked with every evil passion was turned from one to the other of us while his deep set bile shot eyes and his high thin fleshless nose gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey Which of you is Holmes asked this apparition My name sir but you have the advantage of me said my companion quietly I am Dr Grimesby Roylott of Stoke Moran Indeed Doctor said Holmes blandly Pray take a seat I will do nothing of the kind My stepdaughter has been here I have traced her What
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
his manner or from a whispered word or two which escaped him that he pondered over the question whether he might have been a better man under better circumstances But he never justified himself by a hint tending that way or tried to bend the past out of its eternal shape It happened on two or three occasions in my presence that his desperate reputation was alluded to by one or other of the people in attendance on him A smile crossed his face then and he turned his eyes on me with a trustful look as if he were
Jane Austen
Mansfield Park
even without her being wanted for any one s convenience Not only at home did her value increase but at the Parsonage too In that house which she had hardly entered twice a year since Mr Norris s death she became a welcome an invited guest and in the gloom and dirt of a November day most acceptable to Mary Crawford Her visits there beginning by chance were continued by solicitation Mrs Grant really eager to get any change for her sister could by the easiest self deceit persuade herself that she was doing the kindest thing by Fanny and
H.G. Wells
Invisible Man
stations and prowled about inns and no doubt he read the proclamations and realised something of the nature of the campaign against him And as the evening advanced the fields became dotted here and there with groups of three or four men and noisy with the yelping of dogs These men hunters had particular instructions in the case of an encounter as to the way they should support one another But he avoided them all We may understand something of his exasperation and it could have been none the less because he himself had supplied the information that was being
Arthur Conan Doyle
Hound of Baskervilles
the gag unswathed the bonds and Mrs Stapleton sank upon the floor in front of us As her beautiful head fell upon her chest I saw the clear red weal of a whiplash across her neck The brute cried Holmes Here Lestrade your brandy bottle Put her in the chair She has fainted from ill usage and exhaustion She opened her eyes again Is he safe she asked Has he escaped He cannot escape us madam No no I did not mean my husband Sir Henry Is he safe Yes And the hound It is dead She gave a long
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
third of the people wear this blue canvas More than a third Toilers living without pride or delight or hope with the stories of Pleasure Cities ringing in their ears mocking their shameful lives their privations and hardships Too poor even for the Euthanasy the rich man s refuge from life Dumb crippled millions countless millions all the world about ignorant of anything but limitations and unsatisfied desires They are born they are thwarted and they die That is the state to which we have come For a space Graham sat downcast But there has been a revolution he said
Jane Austen
Mansfield Park
had felt nothing like it for hours Since the first joy from Mr Crawford s note to William had worn away she had been in a state absolutely the reverse there had been no comfort around no hope within her Now everything was smiling William s good fortune returned again upon her mind and seemed of greater value than at first The ball too such an evening of pleasure before her It was now a real animation and she began to dress for it with much of the happy flutter which belongs to a ball All went well she did
Jane Austen
Mansfield Park
tempers He had a great attachment to Mansfield himself he said so he looked forward with the hope of spending much very much of his time there always there or in the neighbourhood He particularly built upon a very happy summer and autumn there this year he felt that it would be so he depended upon it a summer and autumn infinitely superior to the last As animated as diversified as social but with circumstances of superiority undescribable Mansfield Sotherton Thornton Lacey he continued what a society will be comprised in those houses And at Michaelmas perhaps a fourth may
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tales of Terror and Mystery
all clear To visit Professor Andreas No we shall find our solution nearer than Scotland I will tell you what we shall do You know that skylight which overlooks the central hall We will leave the electric lights in the hall and we will keep watch in the lumber room you and I and solve the mystery for ourselves If our mysterious visitor is doing four stones at a time he has four still to do and there is every reason to think that he will return tonight and complete the job Excellent I cried We will keep our own
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
strange accidental conditions But surely your evidence is conclusive You have only to lay it before the proper authorities So in my simplicity I had imagined said the Professor bitterly I can only tell you that it was not so that I was met at every turn by incredulity born partly of stupidity and partly of jealousy It is not my nature sir to cringe to any man or to seek to prove a fact if my word has been doubted After the first I have not condescended to show such corroborative proofs as I possess The subject became hateful
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
will doubt no more Nay Dick replied Sir Daniel y are forgiven Ye know not the world and its calumnious nature I was the more to blame added Dick in that the rogues pointed not directly at yourself but at Sir Oliver As he spoke he turned towards the priest and paused in the middle of the last word This tall ruddy corpulent high stepping man had fallen you might say to pieces his colour was gone his limbs were relaxed his lips stammered prayers and now when Dick s eyes were fixed upon him suddenly he cried out aloud
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
to adopt any opinions that came in her way Since the shire were first quartered in Meryton nothing but love flirtation and officers have been in her head She has been doing everything in her power by thinking and talking on the subject to give greater what shall I call it susceptibility to her feelings which are naturally lively enough And we all know that Wickham has every charm of person and address that can captivate a woman But you see that Jane said her aunt does not think so very ill of Wickham as to believe him capable of
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
the expence of your father and uncles And is _such_ a girl to be my nephew s sister Is _her_ husband who is the son of his late father s steward to be his brother Heaven and earth of what are you thinking Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted You can _now_ have nothing further to say she resentfully answered You have insulted me in every possible method I must beg to return to the house And she rose as she spoke Lady Catherine rose also and they turned back Her ladyship was highly incensed You have
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
that you and I could rush him He may be dozin and at the worst he can only wing one of us and the other should have him If we can get his bolster cover round his arms and then phone up a stomach pump we ll give the old dear the supper of his life It was a rather desperate business to come suddenly into one s day s work I don t think that I am a particularly brave man I have an Irish imagination which makes the unknown and the untried more terrible than they are On
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path doing the good things in which he found his pleasure and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil It was the curse of mankind that these incongruous faggots were thus bound together that in the agonised womb of consciousness these polar twins should be continuously struggling How then were they dissociated I was so far in my reflections when as I have said a side light began to shine upon the subject from the laboratory table I began to perceive more
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
nor foreseen but because an hour when your servants are in bed is to be preferred for what will then remain to do At midnight then I have to ask you to be alone in your consulting room to admit with your own hand into the house a man who will present himself in my name and to place in his hands the drawer that you will have brought with you from my cabinet Then you will have played your part and earned my gratitude completely Five minutes afterwards if you insist upon an explanation you will have understood that
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tales and Fantasies
out alone How did you manage But Macfarlane silenced him roughly bidding him turn to business When they had got the body upstairs and laid it on the table Macfarlane made at first as if he were going away Then he paused and seemed to hesitate and then You had better look at the face said he in tones of some constraint You had better he repeated as Fettes only stared at him in wonder But where and how and when did you come by it cried the other Look at the face was the only answer Fettes was staggered
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
change his clothes and then betray him No no Alan said James No no the habit he took off the habit Mungo saw him in But I thought he seemed crestfallen indeed he was clutching at every straw and all the time I dare say saw the faces of his hereditary foes on the bench and in the jury box and the gallows in the background Well sir says Alan turning to me what say ye to that Ye are here under the safeguard of my honour and it s my part to see nothing done but what shall please