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Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
side to the north It was much of the same red as soldiers coats every now and then too there came little sparks and lightnings as though the sun had struck upon bright steel I asked my boatman what it should be and he answered he supposed it was some of the red soldiers coming from Fort William into Appin against the poor tenantry of the country Well it was a sad sight to me and whether it was because of my thoughts of Alan or from something prophetic in my bosom although this was but the second time I
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
s sketch book You think he drew that animal Of course he did Who else Well then the photographs There was nothing in the photographs By your own admission you only saw a bird A pterodactyl That s what HE says He put the pterodactyl into your head Well then the bones First one out of an Irish stew Second one vamped up for the occasion If you are clever and know your business you can fake a bone as easily as you can a photograph I began to feel uneasy Perhaps after all I had been premature in my
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
the old powders This then is the last time short of a miracle that Henry Jekyll can think his own thoughts or see his own face now how sadly altered in the glass Nor must I delay too long to bring my writing to an end for if my narrative has hitherto escaped destruction it has been by a combination of great prudence and great good luck Should the throes of change take me in the act of writing it Hyde will tear it in pieces but if some time shall have elapsed after I have laid it by his
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
like a gentleman There are worse things in the world than to be hanged Not many sir said I smiling Why yes sir he cried very many And it would be ten times better for your uncle to go no farther afield if he were dangling decently upon a gibbet Thereupon he turned into the house still in a great fervour of mind so that I saw I had pleased him heartily and there he wrote me two letters making his comments on them as he wrote This says he is to my bankers the British Linen Company placing a
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
the wayside If an hour s walking would have brought me back to Essendean I had left my adventure then and there and returned to Mr Campbell s But when I had come so far a way already mere shame would not suffer me to desist till I had put the matter to the touch of proof I was bound out of mere self respect to carry it through and little as I liked the sound of what I heard and slow as I began to travel I still kept asking my way and still kept advancing It was drawing
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
ditch which I knew to be very near the Battery and had just scrambled up the mound beyond the ditch when I saw the man sitting before me His back was towards me and he had his arms folded and was nodding forward heavy with sleep I thought he would be more glad if I came upon him with his breakfast in that unexpected manner so I went forward softly and touched him on the shoulder He instantly jumped up and it was not the same man but another man And yet this man was dressed in coarse gray too
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
Fagin I see said Noah Just to have the pleasure of knowing them if they re respectable people eh Ha ha ha I m your man I knew you would be cried Fagin elated by the success of his proposal Of course of course replied Noah Where is she Where am I to wait for her Where am I to go All that my dear you shall hear from me I ll point her out at the proper time said Fagin You keep ready and leave the rest to me That night and the next and the next again the
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
company with a second little Jew whom he sent upon an errand and while the messenger was gone I remarked this Jew who was of a highly excitable temperament performing a jig of anxiety under a lamp post and accompanying himself in a kind of frenzy with the words O Jaggerth Jaggerth Jaggerth all otherth ith Cag Maggerth give me Jaggerth These testimonies to the popularity of my guardian made a deep impression on me and I admired and wondered more than ever At length as I was looking out at the iron gate of Bartholomew Close into Little Britain
H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
fear of being discovered as a branch cracked or a leaf rustled I pushed back into the bushes It was long before I grew bolder and dared to move freely My only idea for the moment was to get away from these foul beings and I scarcely noticed that I had emerged upon a faint pathway amidst the trees Then suddenly traversing a little glade I saw with an unpleasant start two clumsy legs among the trees walking with noiseless footsteps parallel with my course and perhaps thirty yards away from me The head and upper part of the body
Jane Austen
Persuasion
purpose than to say that they were going to take a _long_ walk and therefore concluded Mary could not like to go with them and when Mary immediately replied with some jealousy at not being supposed a good walker Oh yes I should like to join you very much I am very fond of a long walk Anne felt persuaded by the looks of the two girls that it was precisely what they did not wish and admired again the sort of necessity which the family habits seemed to produce of everything being to be communicated and everything being to
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
The huge ears of a phonographic mechanism gaped in a battery for his words the black eyes of great photographic cameras awaited his beginning beyond metal rods and coils glittered dimly and something whirled about with a droning hum He walked into the centre of the light and his shadow drew together black and sharp to a little blot at his feet The vague shape of the thing he meant to say was already in his mind But this silence this isolation the withdrawal from that contagious crowd this audience of gaping glaring machines had not been in his anticipation
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
and gesture as accomplice to the fact He in his turn was dragged from his seat and set beside his leader The feelings of the crowd rose high on either side and while some dragged the prisoners to and fro to favour their escape others cursed and struck them with their fists Dick s ears rang and his brain swam dizzily like a man struggling in the eddies of a furious river But the tall man who had already answered Dick by a prodigious exercise of voice restored silence and order in the mob Search them he said for arms
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
worse Well what did they do I was enthralled by the strange story which my companion was whispering into my ear while all the time his keen eyes were shooting in every direction and his hand grasping his cocked rifle I thought it was the end of us but instead of that it started them on a new line They all jabbered and chattered together Then one of them stood out beside Challenger You ll smile young fellah but pon my word they might have been kinsmen I couldn t have believed it if I hadn t seen it with
Jane Austen
Emma
Every feeling was offended and the forbearance of her outward submission left a heavy arrear due of secret severity in her reflections on the unmanageable goodwill of Mr Weston s temper I am glad you approve of what I have done said he very comfortably But I thought you would Such schemes as these are nothing without numbers One cannot have too large a party A large party secures its own amusement And she is a good natured woman after all One could not leave her out Emma denied none of it aloud and agreed to none of it in
Arthur Conan Doyle
Hound of Baskervilles
and the work of the prehistoric people On all sides of you as you walk are the houses of these forgotten folk with their graves and the huge monoliths which are supposed to have marked their temples As you look at their grey stone huts against the scarred hillsides you leave your own age behind you and if you were to see a skin clad hairy man crawl out from the low door fitting a flint tipped arrow on to the string of his bow you would feel that his presence there was more natural than your own The strange
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
sentiment of pity and he bowed his head upon his hands like a man borne down below a weight of care He joined no longer in the psalms but Dick could hear the beads rattle though his fingers and the prayers a pattering between his teeth Yet a little and the grey of the morning began to struggle through the painted casements of the church and to put to shame the glimmer of the tapers The light slowly broadened and brightened and presently through the southeastern clerestories a flush of rosy sunlight flickered on the walls The storm was over
Jane Austen
Persuasion
of interest amusement and wholesome exertion Charles Musgrove was civil and agreeable in sense and temper he was undoubtedly superior to his wife but not of powers or conversation or grace to make the past as they were connected together at all a dangerous contemplation though at the same time Anne could believe with Lady Russell that a more equal match might have greatly improved him and that a woman of real understanding might have given more consequence to his character and more usefulness rationality and elegance to his habits and pursuits As it was he did nothing with much
Jane Austen
Emma
before the appointed time A fortnight at least of leisure and peace of mind to crown every warmer but more agitating delight should be hers She soon resolved equally as a duty and a pleasure to employ half an hour of this holiday of spirits in calling on Miss Fairfax She ought to go and she was longing to see her the resemblance of their present situations increasing every other motive of goodwill It would be a _secret_ satisfaction but the consciousness of a similarity of prospect would certainly add to the interest with which she should attend to any
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
six old cronies all intelligent reputable men and all judges of good wine and Mr Utterson so contrived that he remained behind after the others had departed This was no new arrangement but a thing that had befallen many scores of times Where Utterson was liked he was liked well Hosts loved to detain the dry lawyer when the light hearted and loose tongued had already their foot on the threshold they liked to sit a while in his unobtrusive company practising for solitude sobering their minds in the man s rich silence after the expense and strain of gaiety
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
It might have been that even Ralph s cold blood tingled in his cheeks at that moment It might have been that Sir Mulberry remembered that knave and usurer as he was he must in some early time of infancy have twined his arm about her father s neck He stopped and menacing with his hand confirmed the unuttered threat with a tremendous oath It is a galling thing said Ralph after a short term of silence during which he had eyed the sufferer keenly to think that the man about town the rake the ROUE the rook of twenty
Jane Austen
Emma
me for my friend any message to Miss Smith I shall be happy to deliver but no more of this to _me_ if you please Miss Smith message to Miss Smith What could she possibly mean And he repeated her words with such assurance of accent such boastful pretence of amazement that she could not help replying with quickness Mr Elton this is the most extraordinary conduct and I can account for it only in one way you are not yourself or you could not speak either to me or of Harriet in such a manner Command yourself enough to
Jane Austen
Emma
Miss Fairfax I hope this history of my conduct towards her will be admitted by you and my father as great extenuation of what you saw amiss While you considered me as having sinned against Emma Woodhouse I could deserve nothing from either Acquit me here and procure for me when it is allowable the acquittal and good wishes of that said Emma Woodhouse whom I regard with so much brotherly affection as to long to have her as deeply and as happily in love as myself Whatever strange things I said or did during that fortnight you have now
Jane Austen
Persuasion
Mr Wentworth was nobody I remember quite unconnected nothing to do with the Strafford family One wonders how the names of many of our nobility become so common As Mr Shepherd perceived that this connexion of the Crofts did them no service with Sir Walter he mentioned it no more returning with all his zeal to dwell on the circumstances more indisputably in their favour their age and number and fortune the high idea they had formed of Kellynch Hall and extreme solicitude for the advantage of renting it making it appear as if they ranked nothing beyond the happiness
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
I was innocent of any wrong being done me For not only I knew no word of the Gaelic but what with the long suspense of the waiting and the scurry and strain of our two spirts of fighting and more than all the horror I had of some of my own share in it the thing was no sooner over than I was glad to stagger to a seat There was that tightness on my chest that I could hardly breathe the thought of the two men I had shot sat upon me like a nightmare and all upon
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
he found that the coach had sunk greatly on one side though it was still dragged forward by the horses and while confused by their plunging and the loud screams of the lady inside he hesitated for an instant whether to jump off or not the vehicle turned easily over and relieved him from all further uncertainty by flinging him into the road CHAPTER 6 In which the Occurrence of the Accident mentioned in the last Chapter affords an Opportunity to a couple of Gentlemen to tell Stories against each other Wo ho cried the guard on his legs in
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
the entrance to Lord John Roxton s chambers in the Albany and that the exuberant crowd having sung They are Jolly Good Fellows in chorus concluded their program with God Save the King So ended one of the most remarkable evenings that London has seen for a considerable time So far my friend Macdona and it may be taken as a fairly accurate if florid account of the proceedings As to the main incident it was a bewildering surprise to the audience but not I need hardly say to us The reader will remember how I met Lord John Roxton
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
ground storey and was lighted from above and by the cabinet which formed an upper storey at one end and looked upon the court A corridor joined the theatre to the door on the by street and with this the cabinet communicated separately by a second flight of stairs There were besides a few dark closets and a spacious cellar All these they now thoroughly examined Each closet needed but a glance for all were empty and all by the dust that fell from their doors had stood long unopened The cellar indeed was filled with crazy lumber mostly dating
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
forest jerkin each with long bow and quiver and short sword Why Lawless said the younger of the two it is young Shelton Ay this will be as good as bread to John Amend All returned the other Though faith he hath been to the wars Here is a tear in his scalp that must a cost him many a good ounce of blood And here added Greensheve is a hole in his shoulder that must have pricked him well Who hath done this think ye If it be one of ours he may all to prayer Ellis will give
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
Appleyard Yes But who ll shoot me a good shoot It s there the eye comes in and the head between your shoulders Now what might you call a long shoot Bennet Hatch Well said Bennet looking about him it would be a long shoot from here into the forest Ay it would be a longish shoot said the old fellow turning to look over his shoulder and then he put up his hand over his eyes and stood staring Why what are you looking at asked Bennet with a chuckle Do you see Harry the Fift The veteran continued
Jane Austen
Mansfield Park
all serving to support her spirits The affliction of the Bertrams was little felt in the family Mrs Price talked of her poor sister for a few minutes but how to find anything to hold Susan s clothes because Rebecca took away all the boxes and spoilt them was much more in her thoughts and as for Susan now unexpectedly gratified in the first wish of her heart and knowing nothing personally of those who had sinned or of those who were sorrowing if she could help rejoicing from beginning to end it was as much as ought to be
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
on the upper edge a little stud like the stud of an electric bell He pressed this and a rapid clicking began and ceased He became aware of voices and music and noticed a play of colour on the smooth front face He suddenly realised what this might be and stepped back to regard it On the flat surface was now a little picture very vividly coloured and in this picture were figures that moved Not only did they move but they were conversing in clear small voices It was exactly like reality viewed through an inverted opera glass and
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tales of Terror and Mystery
face with its widely opened grey eyes its thick and yet firm lips and the deep square jaw which had something Roman in its strength and its animalism He smiled from time to time as he nestled back in his luxurious chair Indeed he had a right to feel well pleased for against the advice of six colleagues he had performed an operation that day of which only two cases were on record and the result had been brilliant beyond all expectation No other man in London would have had the daring to plan or the skill to execute such
Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
of marble Let you have five hundred to morrow morning That s no good Well there are some on the stall with the gas flare Ah but I was recommended to you Who by The landlord of the Alpha Oh yes I sent him a couple of dozen Fine birds they were too Now where did you get them from To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the salesman Now then mister said he with his head cocked and his arms akimbo what are you driving at Let s have it straight now It is straight
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
always was restrained and this was not the least of my miseries by a feeling that it was ungenerous to press myself upon her when she knew that she could not choose but obey Miss Havisham My dread always was that this knowledge on her part laid me under a heavy disadvantage with her pride and made me the subject of a rebellious struggle in her bosom At any rate said I I have no warning given me just now for you wrote to me to come to you this time That s true said Estella with a cold careless
Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
was I to his invariable success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my head It was close upon four before the door opened and a drunken looking groom ill kempt and side whiskered with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes walked into the room Accustomed as I was to my friend s amazing powers in the use of disguises I had to look three times before I was certain that it was indeed he With a nod he vanished into the bedroom whence he emerged in five minutes tweed suited and respectable as of
H.G. Wells
Invisible Man
do you mean he said That I wonder where you found it said Mrs Hall And before I take any bills or get any breakfasts or do any such things whatsoever you got to tell me one or two things I don t understand and what nobody don t understand and what everybody is very anxious to understand I want to know what you been doing t my chair upstairs and I want to know how tis your room was empty and how you got in again Them as stops in this house comes in by the doors that s
Jane Austen
Mansfield Park
attempted It would be taking liberties with my father s house in his absence which could not be justified For everything of that nature I will be answerable said Tom in a decided tone His house shall not be hurt I have quite as great an interest in being careful of his house as you can have and as to such alterations as I was suggesting just now such as moving a bookcase or unlocking a door or even as using the billiard room for the space of a week without playing at billiards in it you might just as
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tales and Fantasies
black was white and blue yellow with much conviction and heat of manner but in the morning such a licence of debate weighed upon him like a crime and he would seek out his father where he walked before breakfast on a terrace overlooking all the vale of Thyme I have to apologise sir for last night he would begin Of course you have the old gentleman would cut in cheerfully You spoke like a fool Say no more about it You do not understand me sir I refer to a particular point I confess there is much force in
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
to the Council House by a cable cradle Already in the brief interval since the capitulation of the Councillors a great change had been wrought in the appearance of the ruins The spurting cascades of the ruptured sea water mains had been captured and tamed and huge temporary pipes ran overhead along a flimsy looking fabric of girders The sky was laced with restored cables and wires that served the Council House and a mass of new fabric with cranes and other building machines going to and fro upon it projected to the left of the white pile The moving
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
in the fire I have no doubt you are perfectly right he said at last getting to his feet Well but since we have touched upon this business and for the last time I hope continued the doctor there is one point I should like you to understand I have really a very great interest in poor Hyde I know you have seen him he told me so and I fear he was rude But I do sincerely take a great a very great interest in that young man and if I am taken away Utterson I wish you to
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
began at once to hope and fear exceedingly for I thought these men might have thought better of their cruelty and be coming back to my assistance But another disappointment such as yesterday s was more than I could bear I turned my back accordingly upon the sea and did not look again till I had counted many hundreds The boat was still heading for the island The next time I counted the full thousand as slowly as I could my heart beating so as to hurt me And then it was out of all question She was coming straight
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
As his eyes wandered to the gallery he could see the people rising above each other to see his face some hastily applying their glasses to their eyes and others whispering their neighbours with looks expressive of abhorrence A few there were who seemed unmindful of him and looked only to the jury in impatient wonder how they could delay But in no one face not even among the women of whom there were many there could he read the faintest sympathy with himself or any feeling but one of all absorbing interest that he should be condemned As he
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
was a pile of red embers radiating the most ardent heat and when they had chosen their places and the landlord had set before them a measure of mulled ale both Pirret and Arblaster stretched forth their legs and squared their elbows like men bent upon a pleasant hour The table at which they sat like all the others in the alehouse consisted of a heavy square board set on a pair of barrels and each of the four curiously assorted cronies sat at one side of the square Pirret facing Arblaster and Dick opposite to the common sailor And
Jane Austen
Emma
not give me another moment s pang and to convince you that I have been speaking truth I am now going to destroy what I ought to have destroyed long ago what I ought never to have kept I know that very well blushing as she spoke However now I will destroy it all and it is my particular wish to do it in your presence that you may see how rational I am grown Cannot you guess what this parcel holds said she with a conscious look Not the least in the world Did he ever give you any
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tales and Fantasies
s caught Let us pray he ll take the lesson he added more gravely but youth is here to make troubles and age to pull them out again Nance whimpered and recalled several episodes of Dick s childhood which moved Mr Naseby to blow his nose and shake her hard by the hand and then the horse arriving opportunely to get himself without delay into the saddle and canter off He rode straight hot spur to Thymebury where as was to be expected he could glean no tidings of the runaways They had not been seen at the George they
Jane Austen
Persuasion
I am almost ashamed to say it Happy for her to have such a mind as yours at hand After the hints you gave just now which did but confirm my own observations the last time I was in company with him I need not affect to have no comprehension of what is going on I see that more than a mere dutiful morning visit to your aunt was in question and woe betide him and her too when it comes to things of consequence when they are placed in circumstances requiring fortitude and strength of mind if she have
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
beast My head was light perhaps but I began to love the prospect I began to glory in the thought of such a death alone in the desert with the wild eagles besieging my last moments Alan would repent then I thought he would remember when I was dead how much he owed me and the remembrance would be torture So I went like a sick silly and bad hearted schoolboy feeding my anger against a fellow man when I would have been better on my knees crying on God for mercy And at each of Alan s taunts I
Jane Austen
Persuasion
is struck with you and even I at this moment see something like Anne Elliot again After attending Louisa through her business and loitering about a little longer they returned to the inn and Anne in passing afterwards quickly from her own chamber to their dining room had nearly run against the very same gentleman as he came out of an adjoining apartment She had before conjectured him to be a stranger like themselves and determined that a well looking groom who was strolling about near the two inns as they came back should be his servant Both master and
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tales of Terror and Mystery
waiting for them at the end of that sinister line But the train was running with frantic speed rolling and rocking over the rotten line while the wheels made a frightful screaming sound upon the rusted surface I was close to them and could see their faces Caratal was praying I think there was something like a rosary dangling out of his hand The other roared like a bull who smells the blood of the slaughter house He saw us standing on the bank and he beckoned to us like a madman Then he tore at his wrist and threw
Jane Austen
Emma
believe and know the whole No I have not I know nothing pray tell me You are prepared for the worst I see and very bad it is Harriet Smith marries Robert Martin Emma gave a start which did not seem like being prepared and her eyes in eager gaze said No this is impossible but her lips were closed It is so indeed continued Mr Knightley I have it from Robert Martin himself He left me not half an hour ago She was still looking at him with the most speaking amazement You like it my Emma as little
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
effort and he was almost level He could breathe He turned his head for the first time to see what had become of his antagonists Turned back to the levers for a moment and looked again For a moment he could have believed they were annihilated And then he saw between the two stages to the east was a chasm and down this something a slender edge fell swiftly and vanished as a sixpence falls down a crack At first he did not understand and then a wild joy possessed him He shouted at the top of his voice an
Arthur Conan Doyle
Hound of Baskervilles
mistake said the cabman with a grin What was it you wanted to ask sir First of all your name and address in case I want you again John Clayton 3 Turpey Street the Borough My cab is out of Shipley s Yard near Waterloo Station Sherlock Holmes made a note of it Now Clayton tell me all about the fare who came and watched this house at ten o clock this morning and afterwards followed the two gentlemen down Regent Street The man looked surprised and a little embarrassed Why there s no good my telling you things for
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
_would_ do it urged Mr Bumble first looking round to ascertain that his partner had left the room That is no excuse replied Mr Brownlow You were present on the occasion of the destruction of these trinkets and indeed are the more guilty of the two in the eye of the law for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction If the law supposes that said Mr Bumble squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands the law is a ass a idiot If that s the eye of the law the law is a bachelor and the
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tales and Fantasies
body bursting sobs broken vanishing thoughts now of indignation now of remorse broken elementary whiffs of consciousness of the smell of the horse hair on the chair bottom of the jangling of church bells that now began to make day horrible throughout the confines of the city of the hard floor that bruised his knees of the taste of tears that found their way into his mouth for a period of time the duration of which I cannot guess while I refuse to dwell longer on its agony these were the whole of God s world for John Nicholson When
Jane Austen
Persuasion
both was beyond a doubt Mary never wrote to Bath herself all the toil of keeping up a slow and unsatisfactory correspondence with Elizabeth fell on Anne Breakfast had not been long over when they were joined by Captain and Mrs Harville and Captain Benwick with whom they had appointed to take their last walk about Lyme They ought to be setting off for Uppercross by one and in the meanwhile were to be all together and out of doors as long as they could Anne found Captain Benwick getting near her as soon as they were all fairly in
Arthur Conan Doyle
Hound of Baskervilles
hound yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye has rested upon And even as they looked the thing tore the throat out of Hugo Baskerville on which as it turned its blazing eyes and dripping jaws upon them the three shrieked with fear and rode for dear life still screaming across the moor One it is said died that very night of what he had seen and the other twain were but broken men for the rest of their days Such is the tale my sons of the coming of the hound which is said to have plagued
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
fires began to be kindled and the windows to open and the people to appear out of the houses my concern and despondency grew ever the blacker I saw now that I had no grounds to stand upon and no clear proof of my rights nor so much as of my own identity If it was all a bubble I was indeed sorely cheated and left in a sore pass Even if things were as I conceived it would in all likelihood take time to establish my contentions and what time had I to spare with less than three shillings
H.G. Wells
Time Machine
creak and shoes to scrape upon the carpet I took my eyes off the Time Traveller s face and looked round at his audience They were in the dark and little spots of colour swam before them The Medical Man seemed absorbed in the contemplation of our host The Editor was looking hard at the end of his cigar the sixth The Journalist fumbled for his watch The others as far as I remember were motionless The Editor stood up with a sigh What a pity it is you re not a writer of stories he said putting his hand
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
a distance Oh my Irish wits could they not help me now when I needed help so sorely He transfixed me with two sharp steely eyes Come come he rumbled I am of course a mere student said I with a fatuous smile hardly more I might say than an earnest inquirer At the same time it seemed to me that you were a little severe upon Weissmann in this matter Has not the general evidence since that date tended to well to strengthen his position What evidence He spoke with a menacing calm Well of course I am aware
H.G. Wells
Invisible Man
of the stairs He went on upstairs and then it suddenly occurred to him to ask himself what the spot on the linoleum might be Apparently some subconscious element was at work At any rate he turned with his burden went back to the hall put down the syphon and whiskey and bending down touched the spot Without any great surprise he found it had the stickiness and colour of drying blood He took up his burden again and returned upstairs looking about him and trying to account for the blood spot On the landing he saw something and stopped
H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
of it all the Beast People writhed and grovelled in the dust Then slinking out of the canebrake stooping near the ground and trying to join the dust throwing circle behind Moreau s back came the Leopard man The last of the Beast People to arrive was the little Ape man The earlier animals hot and weary with their grovelling shot vicious glances at him Cease said Moreau in his firm loud voice and the Beast People sat back upon their hams and rested from their worshipping Where is the Sayer of the Law said Moreau and the hairy grey
Jane Austen
Emma
lashes and eyebrows had never been denied their praise but the skin which she had been used to cavil at as wanting colour had a clearness and delicacy which really needed no fuller bloom It was a style of beauty of which elegance was the reigning character and as such she must in honour by all her principles admire it elegance which whether of person or of mind she saw so little in Highbury There not to be vulgar was distinction and merit In short she sat during the first visit looking at Jane Fairfax with twofold complacency the sense
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tales and Fantasies
to communicate Some months ago we had you will pardon my referring to it it is absolutely necessary but we had an unfortunate difference as to facts Have you come to apologise asked the Squire sternly No sir to mention a circumstance On the morning in question your son Mr Richard Naseby I do not permit his name to be mentioned You will however permit me replied the Editor You are cruel said the Squire He was right he was a broken man Then the Editor described Dick s warning visit and how he had seen in the lad s
Arthur Conan Doyle
Tales of Terror and Mystery
my hopes grew stronger that my presence had been forgotten or ignored At last the least faint glimmer of light came through the windows I first dimly saw them as two grey squares upon the black wall then grey turned to white and I could see my terrible companion once more And he alas could see me It was evident to me at once that he was in a much more dangerous and aggressive mood than when I had seen him last The cold of the morning had irritated him and he was hungry as well With a continual growl
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
of my own knowledge does not pass beyond that point Others will follow others will outstrip me on the same lines and I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious incongruous and independent denizens I for my part from the nature of my life advanced infallibly in one direction and in one direction only It was on the moral side and in my own person that I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man I saw that of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tales and Fantasies
she said I couldn t save the mother her that s dead but the bairn She had a note in her voice that filled poor Dick with consternation Man she went on what is it now Is it money My dear lady said Dick I think you misinterpret my position I am young Mr Naseby of Naseby House My acquaintance with Mr Van Tromp is really very slender I am only afraid that Miss Van Tromp has exaggerated our intimacy in her own imagination I know positively nothing of his private affairs and do not care to know I met
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
upon the open platform at the top Shoreby Church tower not only commanded the town as in a map but looked far on both sides over sea and land It was now near upon noon the day exceeding bright the snow dazzling And as Dick looked around him he could measure the consequences of the battle A confused growling uproar reached him from the streets and now and then but very rarely the clash of steel Not a ship not so much as a skiff remained in harbour but the sea was dotted with sails and row boats laden with
H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
With an affectation of indifference I began to chop idly at the ground in front of me with my hatchet They looked I noticed at the deep cuts I made in the turf Then the Satyr raised a doubt I answered him Then one of the dappled things objected and an animated discussion sprang up round the fire Every moment I began to feel more convinced of my present security I talked now without the catching in my breath due to the intensity of my excitement that had troubled me at first In the course of about an hour I
Robert Louis Stevenson
The Black Arrow
as smooth as a young child s and in bone and body he was unusually slender and somewhat awkward of gait Ye have called me Sir Daniel he said Was it to laugh at my poor plight Nay now let laugh said the knight Good shrew let laugh I pray you An ye could see yourself I warrant ye would laugh the first Well cried the lad flushing ye shall answer this when ye answer for the other Laugh while yet ye may Nay now good cousin replied Sir Daniel with some earnestness think not that I mock at you
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
colored chalks was among the effects I found in his knapsack I remember that the white one was worn to a stump That is certainly good evidence said Summerlee We can only accept his guidance and follow on to the westward We had proceeded some five more miles when again we saw a white arrow upon the rocks It was at a point where the face of the cliff was for the first time split into a narrow cleft Inside the cleft was a second guidance mark which pointed right up it with the tip somewhat elevated as if the
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
have not seen her for many years but I very well remember that I never liked her and that her manners were dictatorial and insolent She has the reputation of being remarkably sensible and clever but I rather believe she derives part of her abilities from her rank and fortune part from her authoritative manner and the rest from the pride for her nephew who chooses that everyone connected with him should have an understanding of the first class Elizabeth allowed that he had given a very rational account of it and they continued talking together with mutual satisfaction till
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
whispered proudly and do not make me one while HE looks on No no I will not said Kate eagerly but you will not leave us Oh think of all the happy days we have had together before these terrible misfortunes came upon us of all the comfort and happiness of home and the trials we have to bear now of our having no protector under all the slights and wrongs that poverty so much favours and you cannot leave us to bear them alone without one hand to help us You will be helped when I am away replied
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
which had so nearly destroyed me How did I know that he was not lurking in the nearest clump of bushes waiting for my reappearance I took heart however as I recalled a conversation between Challenger and Summerlee upon the habits of the great saurians Both were agreed that the monsters were practically brainless that there was no room for reason in their tiny cranial cavities and that if they have disappeared from the rest of the world it was assuredly on account of their own stupidity which made it impossible for them to adapt themselves to changing conditions To
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
they rejected the bill and to inform them also that he regretted his honourable friends had not inserted a clause rendering the purchase of muffins and crumpets compulsory upon all classes of the community which he opposing all half measures and preferring to go the extreme animal pledged himself to propose and divide upon in committee After announcing this determination the honourable gentleman grew jocular and as patent boots lemon coloured kid gloves and a fur coat collar assist jokes materially there was immense laughter and much cheering and moreover such a brilliant display of ladies pocket handkerchiefs as threw
Jane Austen
Persuasion
since entering Lyme drew half the party to the window It was a gentleman s carriage a curricle but only coming round from the stable yard to the front door somebody must be going away It was driven by a servant in mourning The word curricle made Charles Musgrove jump up that he might compare it with his own the servant in mourning roused Anne s curiosity and the whole six were collected to look by the time the owner of the curricle was to be seen issuing from the door amidst the bows and civilities of the household and
Jane Austen
Mansfield Park
It was only the spring twelvemonth before Mr Norris s death that we put in the apricot against the stable wall which is now grown such a noble tree and getting to such perfection sir addressing herself then to Dr Grant The tree thrives well beyond a doubt madam replied Dr Grant The soil is good and I never pass it without regretting that the fruit should be so little worth the trouble of gathering Sir it is a Moor Park we bought it as a Moor Park and it cost us that is it was a present from Sir
Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby
be put to bed the collector made a move by pulling out his watch and acquainting the company that it was nigh two o clock whereat some of the guests were surprised and others shocked and hats and bonnets being groped for under the tables and in course of time found their owners went away after a vast deal of shaking of hands and many remarks how they had never spent such a delightful evening and how they marvelled to find it so late expecting to have heard that it was half past ten at the very latest and how
Jane Austen
Emma
to I should not have thought it possible But if _you_ who had been always acquainted with him Harriet cried Emma collecting herself resolutely Let us understand each other now without the possibility of farther mistake Are you speaking of Mr Knightley To be sure I am I never could have an idea of any body else and so I thought you knew When we talked about him it was as clear as possible Not quite returned Emma with forced calmness for all that you then said appeared to me to relate to a different person I could almost assert
H.G. Wells
Time Machine
nodded pointed to the sun and gave them such a vivid rendering of a thunderclap as startled them They all withdrew a pace or so and bowed Then came one laughing towards me carrying a chain of beautiful flowers altogether new to me and put it about my neck The idea was received with melodious applause and presently they were all running to and fro for flowers and laughingly flinging them upon me until I was almost smothered with blossom You who have never seen the like can scarcely imagine what delicate and wonderful flowers countless years of culture had
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
were it ever so little But it was bound too tight for that I felt as if having been burnt before it were now being boiled The sudden exclusion of the night and the substitution of black darkness in its place warned me that the man had closed a shutter After groping about for a little he found the flint and steel he wanted and began to strike a light I strained my sight upon the sparks that fell among the tinder and upon which he breathed and breathed match in hand but I could only see his lips and
Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
have been several in it and they must have been men of resource and determination Their papers they mean to have be the holder of them who it may In this way you see K K K ceases to be the initials of an individual and becomes the badge of a society But of what society Have you never said Sherlock Holmes bending forward and sinking his voice have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan I never have Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee Here it is said he presently Ku Klux Klan
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
it And if you come here bothering about your Bill I ll make an example of both your Bill and you and let him slip through my fingers Have you paid Wemmick O yes sir Every farden Very well Then you have done all you have got to do Say another word one single word and Wemmick shall give you your money back This terrible threat caused the two women to fall off immediately No one remained now but the excitable Jew who had already raised the skirts of Mr Jaggers s coat to his lips several times I don
Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
not very gracious Ah Watson said Holmes smiling perhaps you would not be very gracious either if after all the trouble of wooing and wedding you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of fortune I think that we may judge Lord St Simon very mercifully and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in the same position Draw your chair up and hand me my violin for the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away these bleak autumnal evenings XI THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET Holmes said
Jane Austen
Mansfield Park
cannot retract my consent it is too far settled everybody would be so disappointed Tom would be quite angry and if we are so very nice we shall never act anything I was just going to say the very same thing said Mrs Norris If every play is to be objected to you will act nothing and the preparations will be all so much money thrown away and I am sure _that_ would be a discredit to us all I do not know the play but as Maria says if there is anything a little too warm and it is
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
riddle aright or is there any point which you would query Professor Summerlee for once was too depressed to argue though he shook his head violently as a token of general disagreement Lord John merely scratched his scanty locks with the remark that he couldn t put up a fight as he wasn t in the same weight or class For my own part I performed my usual role of bringing things down to a strictly prosaic and practical level by the remark that one of the Indians was missing He has gone to fetch some water said Lord Roxton
H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
low whistle And what is more I have an idea which of your brutes did the thing It s only a suspicion you know Before I came on the rabbit I saw one of your monsters drinking in the stream Sucking his drink Yes Not to suck your drink that is the Law Much the brutes care for the Law eh when Moreau s not about It was the brute who chased me Of course said Montgomery it s just the way with carnivores After a kill they drink It s the taste of blood you know What was the
H.G. Wells
Invisible Man
round the house at once examine all the fastenings of the windows and close all the shutters He closed the shutters of his study himself From a locked drawer in his bedroom he took a little revolver examined it carefully and put it into the pocket of his lounge jacket He wrote a number of brief notes one to Colonel Adye gave them to his servant to take with explicit instructions as to her way of leaving the house There is no danger he said and added a mental reservation to you He remained meditative for a space after doing
Arthur Conan Doyle
Hound of Baskervilles
now Dr James Mortimer Mister sir Mister a humble M R C S And a man of precise mind evidently A dabbler in science Mr Holmes a picker up of shells on the shores of the great unknown ocean I presume that it is Mr Sherlock Holmes whom I am addressing and not No this is my friend Dr Watson Glad to meet you sir I have heard your name mentioned in connection with that of your friend You interest me very much Mr Holmes I had hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well marked supra orbital development
Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
what it is that you wish me to do Quite so It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity I have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all laid before you I suppose that we are absolutely safe from eavesdroppers Entirely Then the matter stands thus You are probably aware that fuller s earth is a valuable product and that it is only found in one or two places in England I have heard so Some little time ago I bought a small
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll and Hyde
s selfishness and yet relieved by it Well said he at last let me see the letter The letter was written in an odd upright hand and signed Edward Hyde and it signified briefly enough that the writer s benefactor Dr Jekyll whom he had long so unworthily repaid for a thousand generosities need labour under no alarm for his safety as he had means of escape on which he placed a sure dependence The lawyer liked this letter well enough it put a better colour on the intimacy than he had looked for and he blamed himself for some
Arthur Conan Doyle
Hound of Baskervilles
s voice and Mrs Barrymore paler and more horror struck than her husband was standing at the door Her bulky figure in a shawl and skirt might have been comic were it not for the intensity of feeling upon her face We have to go Eliza This is the end of it You can pack our things said the butler Oh John John have I brought you to this It is my doing Sir Henry all mine He has done nothing except for my sake and because I asked him Speak out then What does it mean My unhappy brother
H.G. Wells
Time Machine
fell over one of the malachite tables almost breaking my shin I lit a match and went on past the dusty curtains of which I have told you There I found a second great hall covered with cushions upon which perhaps a score or so of the little people were sleeping I have no doubt they found my second appearance strange enough coming suddenly out of the quiet darkness with inarticulate noises and the splutter and flare of a match For they had forgotten about matches Where is my Time Machine I began bawling like an angry child laying hands
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
distressed But don t imagine it was from any silly cause I was only confused for the moment because I felt that I _should_ be looked at I do assure you that the news does not affect me either with pleasure or pain I am glad of one thing that he comes alone because we shall see the less of him Not that I am afraid of _myself_ but I dread other people s remarks Elizabeth did not know what to make of it Had she not seen him in Derbyshire she might have supposed him capable of coming there
H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
He shook his head and turned once more to the brandy XVIII THE FINDING OF MOREAU When I saw Montgomery swallow a third dose of brandy I took it upon myself to interfere He was already more than half fuddled I told him that some serious thing must have happened to Moreau by this time or he would have returned before this and that it behoved us to ascertain what that catastrophe was Montgomery raised some feeble objections and at last agreed We had some food and then all three of us started It is possibly due to the tension
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twis
there was enough to occupy his mind and to drive all considerations of self completely from his memory Rose Maylie had rapidly grown worse before mid night she was delirious A medical practitioner who resided on the spot was in constant attendance upon her and after first seeing the patient he had taken Mrs Maylie aside and pronounced her disorder to be one of a most alarming nature In fact he said it would be little short of a miracle if she recovered How often did Oliver start from his bed that night and stealing out with noiseless footstep to
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
whitish blue of their antagonists for the struggle was indisputable He saw these things with Howard shouting in his ear and shaking his arm And then suddenly Howard was gone and he stood alone He perceived that the cries of The Sleeper grew in volume and that the people on the nearer platform were standing up The nearer platform he perceived was empty to the right of him and far across the space the platform running in the opposite direction was coming crowded and passing away bare With incredible swiftness a vast crowd had gathered in the central space before
H.G. Wells
The Sleeper Awakes
greater multitudes of people have prayed that you might awake _prayed_ Graham moved to speak and did not She hesitated and a faint colour crept back to her cheek Do you know that you have been to myriads King Arthur Barbarossa the King who would come in his own good time and put the world right for them I suppose the imagination of the people Have you not heard our proverb When the Sleeper wakes While you lay insensible and motionless there thousands came Thousands Every first of the month you lay in state with a white robe upon you
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her He really believed that were it not for the inferiority of her connections he should be in some danger Miss Bingley saw or suspected enough to be jealous and her great anxiety for the recovery of her dear friend Jane received some assistance from her desire of getting rid of Elizabeth She often tried to provoke Darcy into disliking her guest by talking of their supposed marriage and planning his happiness in such an alliance I hope said she as they were walking together in the shrubbery
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped
bit tune And with that he leaned pretty far over the table and in a mere breath of a whistle but with a wonderful pretty sentiment gave her a few bars of Charlie is my darling Wheesht says she and looked over her shoulder to the door That s it said Alan And him so young cries the lass He s old enough to and Alan struck his forefinger on the back part of his neck meaning that I was old enough to lose my head It would be a black shame she cried flushing high It s what will
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
all the embarrassment which though proceeding from shyness and the fear of doing wrong would easily give to those who felt themselves inferior the belief of her being proud and reserved Mrs Gardiner and her niece however did her justice and pitied her By Mrs Hurst and Miss Bingley they were noticed only by a curtsey and on their being seated a pause awkward as such pauses must always be succeeded for a few moments It was first broken by Mrs Annesley a genteel agreeable looking woman whose endeavour to introduce some kind of discourse proved her to be more