Datasets:

Qilex

/

small_author_dataset

like 0

H.G. Wells

The Island of Doctor Moreau

a moment I could see nothing but the waving summits of the ferns and reeds Then suddenly upon the bank of the stream appeared something at first I could not distinguish what it was It bowed its round head to the water and began to drink Then I saw it was a man going on all fours like a beast He was clothed in bluish cloth and was of a copper coloured hue with black hair It seemed that grotesque ugliness was an invariable character of these islanders I could hear the suck of the water at his lips as

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost World

Of animal life there was no movement amid the majestic vaulted aisles which stretched from us as we walked but a constant movement far above our heads told of that multitudinous world of snake and monkey bird and sloth which lived in the sunshine and looked down in wonder at our tiny dark stumbling figures in the obscure depths immeasurably below them At dawn and at sunset the howler monkeys screamed together and the parrakeets broke into shrill chatter but during the hot hours of the day only the full drone of insects like the beat of a distant surf

H.G. Wells

The Sleeper Awakes

Church and State High and low rich and poor one with another Is there England still That s a comfort Is there London This _is_ London eh And you are my assistant custodian assistant custodian And these Eh Assistant custodians too He sat with a gaunt stare on his face But why am I here No Don t talk Be quiet Let me He sat silent rubbed his eyes and uncovering them found another little glass of pinkish fluid held towards him He took the dose Directly he had taken it he began to weep naturally and refreshingly Presently he

H.G. Wells

Time Machine

of what has happened to me if you like but you must refrain from interruptions I want to tell it Badly Most of it will sound like lying So be it It s true every word of it all the same I was in my laboratory at four o clock and since then I ve lived eight days such days as no human being ever lived before I m nearly worn out but I shan t sleep till I ve told this thing over to you Then I shall go to bed But no interruptions Is it agreed Agreed said

H.G. Wells

Invisible Man

he was A long research Got quite cross A damnable long research said he blowing the cork out so to speak Oh said I And out came the grievance The man was just on the boil and my question boiled him over He had been given a prescription most valuable prescription what for he wouldn t say Was it medical Damn you What are you fishing after I apologised Dignified sniff and cough He resumed He d read it Five ingredients Put it down turned his head Draught of air from window lifted the paper Swish rustle He was working

Robert Louis Stevenson

Jekyll and Hyde

was genuine Tut tut said Mr Utterson I see you feel as I do said Mr Enfield Yes it s a bad story For my man was a fellow that nobody could have to do with a really damnable man and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties celebrated too and what makes it worse one of your fellows who do what they call good Blackmail I suppose an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth Black Mail House is what I call the place with the

H.G. Wells

The Sleeper Awakes

another How many years he asked You must be prepared to be surprised Well More than a gross of years He was irritated at the strange word More than a _what_ Two of them spoke together Some quick remarks that were made about decimal he did not catch How long did you say asked Graham How long Don t look like that Tell me Among the remarks in an undertone his ear caught six words More than a couple of centuries _What_ he cried turning on the youth who he thought had spoken Who says What was that A couple

Charles Dickens

Oliver Twis

This said the fellow producing one this is the infallible and invaluable composition for removing all sorts of stain rust dirt mildew spick speck spot or spatter from silk satin linen cambric cloth crape stuff carpet merino muslin bombazeen or woollen stuff Wine stains fruit stains beer stains water stains paint stains pitch stains any stains all come out at one rub with the infallible and invaluable composition If a lady stains her honour she has only need to swallow one cake and she s cured at once for it s poison If a gentleman wants to prove this he

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

or resigned as I understood it but he had no notion of meeting danger half way When it came upon him he confronted it but it must come before he troubled himself If you knowed dear boy he said to me what it is to sit here alonger my dear boy and have my smoke arter having been day by day betwixt four walls you d envy me But you don t know what it is I think I know the delights of freedom I answered Ah said he shaking his head gravely But you don t know it equal

Arthur Conan Doyle

Tales of Terror and Mystery

a spray as thick as rain all round us Then the vapour shredded off into thin wisps which floated away in the summer sunshine and all was quiet again in the Heartsease mine And now having carried out our plans so successfully it only remained to leave no trace behind us Our little band of workers at the other end had already ripped up the rails and disconnected the side line replacing everything as it had been before We were equally busy at the mine The funnel and other fragments were thrown in the shaft was planked over as it

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost World

If I could only get a single good meaty sentence which seemed to convey some sort of definite human idea it would serve my turn Ah yes this one will do I seem in a vague way almost to understand it I ll copy it out This shall be my link with the terrible Professor Nothing else I can do Well yes I propose to write to him If I could frame the letter here and use your address it would give atmosphere We ll have the fellow round here making a row and breaking the furniture No no you

H.G. Wells

The Sleeper Awakes

days or they have stolen it Presently Asano made a detour to avoid the congested crowd that gaped upon the occasional passage of dead bodies from hospital to a mortuary the gleanings after death s harvest of the first revolt That night few people were sleeping everyone was abroad A vast excitement perpetual crowds perpetually changing surrounded Graham his mind was confused and darkened by an incessant tumult by the cries and enigmatical fragments of the social struggle that was as yet only beginning Everywhere festoons and banners of black and strange decorations intensified the quality of his popularity Everywhere

Arthur Conan Doyle

Tales of Terror and Mystery

fancy that it had been there long before the avenue was constructed for the grey tiles were stained with lichens and the walls were mildewed and discoloured with age It looked a small house from the street five windows in front if I remember right but it deepened into a single long chamber at the back It was here that Dacre had that singular library of occult literature and the fantastic curiosities which served as a hobby for himself and an amusement for his friends A wealthy man of refined and eccentric tastes he had spent much of his life

Robert Louis Stevenson

Tales and Fantasies

There is no perhaps about the matter interrupted Dick I must go and bring the phaeton And with that he strode from the station all in a glow of passion and virtue Esther whose eyes had come alive and her cheeks flushed during these last words relapsed in a second into a state of petrifaction She remained without motion during his absence and when he returned suffered herself to be put back into the phaeton and driven off on the return journey like an idiot or a tired child Compared with what she was now her condition of the morning

Arthur Conan Doyle

Hound of Baskervilles

daughter What Old Frankland the crank Exactly She married an artist named Lyons who came sketching on the moor He proved to be a blackguard and deserted her The fault from what I hear may not have been entirely on one side Her father refused to have anything to do with her because she had married without his consent and perhaps for one or two other reasons as well So between the old sinner and the young one the girl has had a pretty bad time How does she live I fancy old Frankland allows her a pittance but it

Arthur Conan Doyle

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

ask Mrs Hudson to examine its crop I had been delayed at a case and it was a little after half past six when I found myself in Baker Street once more As I approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight Just as I arrived the door was opened and we were shown up together to Holmes room Mr Henry Baker I believe said he rising from his armchair and greeting his visitor

Arthur Conan Doyle

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

have it all just as it occurred When I came down Mr Rucastle met me here and drove me in his dog cart to the Copper Beeches It is as he said beautifully situated but it is not beautiful in itself for it is a large square block of a house whitewashed but all stained and streaked with damp and bad weather There are grounds round it woods on three sides and on the fourth a field which slopes down to the Southampton high road which curves past about a hundred yards from the front door This ground in front

Robert Louis Stevenson

Kidnapped

more mistaken I ll put it in hand But there s one thing more We may meet in with a king s ship and she may lay us aboard sir with no blame of mine they keep the cruisers thick upon this coast ye ken who for Now sir if that was to befall ye might leave the money Captain says Alan if ye see a pennant it shall be your part to run away And now as I hear you re a little short of brandy in the fore part I ll offer ye a change a bottle of

Charles Dickens

Oliver Twis

Poor Oliver unwillingly complied Master Bates rolling up the new clothes under his arm departed from the room leaving Oliver in the dark and locking the door behind him The noise of Charley s laughter and the voice of Miss Betsy who opportunely arrived to throw water over her friend and perform other feminine offices for the promotion of her recovery might have kept many people awake under more happy circumstances than those in which Oliver was placed But he was sick and weary and he soon fell sound asleep CHAPTER XVII OLIVER S DESTINY CONTINUING UNPROPITIOUS BRINGS A GREAT

Jane Austen

Emma

was a plan to promote the happiness of all she and Mr Knightley meant to marry by which means Hartfield would receive the constant addition of that person s company whom she knew he loved next to his daughters and Mrs Weston best in the world Poor man it was at first a considerable shock to him and he tried earnestly to dissuade her from it She was reminded more than once of having always said she would never marry and assured that it would be a great deal better for her to remain single and told of poor Isabella

Robert Louis Stevenson

The Black Arrow

as it were a valley passing to the other side the heath was not yet out all the ground was rusty like an unscoured buckler and dotted sparingly with yews and there one following another Dick saw half a score green jerkins mounting the ascent and marching at their head conspicuous by his boar spear Ellis Duckworth in person One after another gained the top showed for a moment against the sky and then dipped upon the farther side until the last was gone Dick looked at Matcham with a kindlier eye So y are to be true to me

Charles Dickens

Oliver Twis

s it Where s Sikes you thief The hump backed man stared as if in excess of amazement and indignation then twisting himself dexterously from the doctor s grasp growled forth a volley of horrid oaths and retired into the house Before he could shut the door however the doctor had passed into the parlour without a word of parley He looked anxiously round not an article of furniture not a vestige of anything animate or inanimate not even the position of the cupboards answered Oliver s description Now said the hump backed man who had watched him keenly what

Robert Louis Stevenson

Kidnapped

as we did over the most dismal deserts in Scotland under a cloudy heaven and with divided hearts among the travellers For long we said nothing marching alongside or one behind the other each with a set countenance I angry and proud and drawing what strength I had from these two violent and sinful feelings Alan angry and ashamed ashamed that he had lost my money angry that I should take it so ill The thought of a separation ran always the stronger in my mind and the more I approved of it the more ashamed I grew of my

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost World

me from the shadows this nameless and horrible monster I stopped and picking a cartridge from my pocket I opened the breech of my gun As I touched the lever my heart leaped within me It was the shot gun not the rifle which I had taken Again the impulse to return swept over me Here surely was a most excellent reason for my failure one for which no one would think the less of me But again the foolish pride fought against that very word I could not must not fail After all my rifle would probably have been

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

have remained in that state hours and hours and Raymond is a witness of the extent to which I have choked and what the total inefficacy of ginger has been and I have been heard at the piano forte tuner s across the street where the poor mistaken children have even supposed it to be pigeons cooing at a distance and now to be told Here Camilla put her hand to her throat and began to be quite chemical as to the formation of new combinations there When this same Matthew was mentioned Miss Havisham stopped me and herself and

Arthur Conan Doyle

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

of action Miss Irene or Madame rather returns from her drive at seven We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her And what then You must leave that to me I have already arranged what is to occur There is only one point on which I must insist You must not interfere come what may You understand I am to be neutral To do nothing whatever There will probably be some small unpleasantness Do not join in it It will end in my being conveyed into the house Four or five minutes afterwards the sitting room window will open

Robert Louis Stevenson

Kidnapped

upon it so that I must put the water to my lips before I could believe it to be truly salt The mountains on either side were high rough and barren very black and gloomy in the shadow of the clouds but all silver laced with little watercourses where the sun shone upon them It seemed a hard country this of Appin for people to care as much about as Alan did There was but one thing to mention A little after we had started the sun shone upon a little moving clump of scarlet close in along the water

Charles Dickens

Nicholas Nickleby

very probably with not half as light a heart in his breast as the man had although he had no waistcoat to cover it with and had evidently from the appearance of his other garments been spending the night in a stable and taking his breakfast at a pump Regarding with no small curiosity and interest all the busy preparations for the coming day which every street and almost every house displayed and thinking now and then that it seemed rather hard that so many people of all ranks and stations could earn a livelihood in London and that he

Robert Louis Stevenson

Jekyll and Hyde

trench than in the majority of men severed in me those provinces of good and ill which divide and compound man s dual nature In this case I was driven to reflect deeply and inveterately on that hard law of life which lies at the root of religion and is one of the most plentiful springs of distress Though so profound a double dealer I was in no sense a hypocrite both sides of me were in dead earnest I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame than when I laboured in the eye

H.G. Wells

Time Machine

on the Time Traveller s shoulder You don t believe it Well I thought not The Time Traveller turned to us Where are the matches he said He lit one and spoke over his pipe puffing To tell you the truth I hardly believe it myself And yet His eye fell with a mute inquiry upon the withered white flowers upon the little table Then he turned over the hand holding his pipe and I saw he was looking at some half healed scars on his knuckles The Medical Man rose came to the lamp and examined the flowers The

H.G. Wells

Invisible Man

Yes said the Invisible Man Oh said Kemp and then roused himself I say he said But this is nonsense It s some trick He stepped forward suddenly and his hand extended towards the bandage met invisible fingers He recoiled at the touch and his colour changed Keep steady Kemp for God s sake I want help badly Stop The hand gripped his arm He struck at it Kemp cried the Voice Kemp Keep steady and the grip tightened A frantic desire to free himself took possession of Kemp The hand of the bandaged arm gripped his shoulder and he

H.G. Wells

Time Machine

caught Filby s eye over the shoulder of the Medical Man and he winked at me solemnly III The Time Traveller Returns I think that at that time none of us quite believed in the Time Machine The fact is the Time Traveller was one of those men who are too clever to be believed you never felt that you saw all round him you always suspected some subtle reserve some ingenuity in ambush behind his lucid frankness Had Filby shown the model and explained the matter in the Time Traveller s words we should have shown _him_ far less

H.G. Wells

The Sleeper Awakes

steady himself For a moment it resisted his hand bending outward like a distended bladder then it broke with a slight report and vanished a pricked bubble He reeled out into the general space of the hall greatly astonished He caught at the table to save himself knocking one of the glasses to the floor it rang but did not break and sat down in one of the armchairs When he had a little recovered he filled the remaining glass from the bottle and drank a colourless liquid it was but not water with a pleasing faint aroma and taste

Charles Dickens

Nicholas Nickleby

you reach his house he will be in bed said Newman I ll drag him from it cried Nicholas Tut tut said Noggs Be yourself You are the best of friends to me Newman rejoined Nicholas after a pause and taking his hand as he spoke I have made head against many trials but the misery of another and such misery is involved in this one that I declare to you I am rendered desperate and know not how to act In truth it did seem a hopeless case It was impossible to make any use of such intelligence as

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

word with the greatest contempt when they comes betwixt him and his own light A four and two sitters don t go hanging and hovering up with one tide and down with another and both with and against another without there being Custum Us at the bottom of it Saying which he went out in disdain and the landlord having no one to reply upon found it impracticable to pursue the subject This dialogue made us all uneasy and me very uneasy The dismal wind was muttering round the house the tide was flapping at the shore and I had

H.G. Wells

The Island of Doctor Moreau

a mere ditch just long enough at this phase of the tide to take the longboat I heard the bows ground in the sand staved the dingey off the rudder of the big boat with my piggin and freeing the painter landed The three muffled men with the clumsiest movements scrambled out upon the sand and forthwith set to landing the cargo assisted by the man on the beach I was struck especially by the curious movements of the legs of the three swathed and bandaged boatmen not stiff they were but distorted in some odd way almost as if

Arthur Conan Doyle

Tales of Terror and Mystery

the public opened their papers with the conviction that so grotesque a mystery would at last be solved but week after week passed by and a solution remained as far off as ever In broad daylight upon a June afternoon in the most thickly inhabited portion of England a train with its occupants had disappeared as completely as if some master of subtle chemistry had volatilized it into gas Indeed among the various conjectures which were put forward in the public Press there were some which seriously asserted that supernatural or at least preternatural agencies had been at work and

Arthur Conan Doyle

Tales of Terror and Mystery

chat much more when I am under the influence of tobacco Now as regards this young lady with whom you had this little adventure What in the world has become of her She is at home with her own people Oh really in England Yes What part of England London No Twickenham You must excuse my curiosity my dear Kennedy and you must put it down to my ignorance of the world No doubt it is quite a simple thing to persuade a young lady to go off with you for three weeks or so and then to hand her

Robert Louis Stevenson

Jekyll and Hyde

Hyde it was set there with a purpose all too plain and horrible Written by the hand of Lanyon what should it mean A great curiosity came on the trustee to disregard the prohibition and dive at once to the bottom of these mysteries but professional honour and faith to his dead friend were stringent obligations and the packet slept in the inmost corner of his private safe It is one thing to mortify curiosity another to conquer it and it may be doubted if from that day forth Utterson desired the society of his surviving friend with the same

Jane Austen

Mansfield Park

either party and among other means by seeking an intimacy with the gentleman s mother who at present lived with him and to whom she even forced Lady Bertram to go through ten miles of indifferent road to pay a morning visit It was not long before a good understanding took place between this lady and herself Mrs Rushworth acknowledged herself very desirous that her son should marry and declared that of all the young ladies she had ever seen Miss Bertram seemed by her amiable qualities and accomplishments the best adapted to make him happy Mrs Norris accepted the

Robert Louis Stevenson

The Black Arrow

to serious objection and Dick who feared to expose Joanna to the hazards of a fight had not yet decided between them when he reached the borders of the wood At this point Sir Daniel had turned a little to his left and then plunged straight under a grove of very lofty timber His party had then formed to a narrower front in order to pass between the trees and the track was trod proportionally deeper in the snow The eye followed it under the leafless tracery of the oaks running direct and narrow the trees stood over it with

Robert Louis Stevenson

Kidnapped

and led me into a bedroom in the upper part of the house Here he set before me water and soap and a comb and laid out some clothes that belonged to his son and here with another apposite tag he left me to my toilet CHAPTER XXVIII I GO IN QUEST OF MY INHERITANCE I made what change I could in my appearance and blithe was I to look in the glass and find the beggarman a thing of the past and David Balfour come to life again And yet I was ashamed of the change too and above

H.G. Wells

The Island of Doctor Moreau

of getting away I m an outcast Where am _I_ to join on It s all very well for _you_ Prendick Poor old Moreau We can t leave him here to have his bones picked As it is And besides what will become of the decent part of the Beast Folk Well said I that will do to morrow I ve been thinking we might make the brushwood into a pyre and burn his body and those other things Then what will happen with the Beast Folk _I_ don t know I suppose those that were made of beasts of

Arthur Conan Doyle

Tales of Terror and Mystery

a game bull terrier with its teeth into a gaunt deerhound The tall bony man dashed himself about writhing round and round to get a grip upon his assailant but the other clutching on from behind still kept his hold though his shrill frightened cries showed how unequal he felt the contest to be I sprang to the rescue and the two of us managed to throw Sir Thomas to the ground though he made his teeth meet in my shoulder With all my youth and weight and strength it was a desperate struggle before we could master his frenzied

Robert Louis Stevenson

Tales and Fantasies

VI THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH WE will not follow all the steps of the Admiral s return and installation but hurry forward towards the catastrophe merely chronicling by the way a few salient incidents wherein we must rely entirely upon the evidence of Richard for Esther to this day has never opened her mouth upon this trying passage of her life and as for the Admiral well that naval officer although still alive and now more suitably installed in a seaport town where he has a telescope and a flag in his front garden is

Arthur Conan Doyle

Tales of Terror and Mystery

hateful to me My plans of life had been ruined and I had met with hasty judgments and unkind treatment where I had expected sympathy It is true that any danger of scandal from my brother had passed away with his life but still I was sore about the past and felt that things could never be as they had been It may be that I was unduly sensitive and that I had not made sufficient allowance for others but my feelings were as I describe Any chance of getting away from Bishop s Crossing and of everyone in it

Arthur Conan Doyle

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

out to the bitter end Faces to the south then and quick march We passed across Holborn down Endell Street and so through a zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market One of the largest stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it and the proprietor a horsey looking man with a sharp face and trim side whiskers was helping a boy to put up the shutters Good evening It s a cold night said Holmes The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my companion Sold out of geese I see continued Holmes pointing at the bare slabs

Charles Dickens

David Copperfield

the conclusion I derived from it was that I never could desert Mr Micawber And said Mrs Micawber though it is possible I may be mistaken in my view of the ceremony I never will My dear said Mr Micawber a little impatiently I am not conscious that you are expected to do anything of the sort I am aware my dear Mr Copperfield pursued Mrs Micawber that I am now about to cast my lot among strangers and I am also aware that the various members of my family to whom Mr Micawber has written in the most gentlemanly

Charles Dickens

David Copperfield

However it passed into a custom too and Mr Dick listening with a face shining with pride and pleasure in his heart of hearts believed the Dictionary to be the most delightful book in the world As I think of them going up and down before those schoolroom windows the Doctor reading with his complacent smile an occasional flourish of the manuscript or grave motion of his head and Mr Dick listening enchained by interest with his poor wits calmly wandering God knows where upon the wings of hard words I think of it as one of the pleasantest things

Jane Austen

Emma

into a thin quarto of hot pressed paper made up by her friend and ornamented with ciphers and trophies In this age of literature such collections on a very grand scale are not uncommon Miss Nash head teacher at Mrs Goddard s had written out at least three hundred and Harriet who had taken the first hint of it from her hoped with Miss Woodhouse s help to get a great many more Emma assisted with her invention memory and taste and as Harriet wrote a very pretty hand it was likely to be an arrangement of the first order

Charles Dickens

David Copperfield

not like a job Wot job said the long legged young man To move a box I answered Wot box said the long legged young man I told him mine which was down that street there and which I wanted him to take to the Dover coach office for sixpence Done with you for a tanner said the long legged young man and directly got upon his cart which was nothing but a large wooden tray on wheels and rattled away at such a rate that it was as much as I could do to keep pace with the donkey

Robert Louis Stevenson

Jekyll and Hyde

way to Dr Jekyll s door where he was at once admitted by Poole and carried down by the kitchen offices and across a yard which had once been a garden to the building which was indifferently known as the laboratory or dissecting rooms The doctor had bought the house from the heirs of a celebrated surgeon and his own tastes being rather chemical than anatomical had changed the destination of the block at the bottom of the garden It was the first time that the lawyer had been received in that part of his friend s quarters and he

H.G. Wells

The Sleeper Awakes

on the northern border of the city full of glorious import to him came a sound a signal a note of triumph the leaden thud of a gun His lips fell apart his face was disturbed with emotion He drew an immense breath They win he shouted to the empty air the people win The sound of a second gun came like an answer And then he saw the monoplane on Blackheath was running down its guides to launch It lifted clean and rose It shot up into the air driving straight southward and away from him In an instant

Jane Austen

Mansfield Park

morning deriving some accession of pleasure from its writer being himself to go away As for the ball so near at hand she had too many agitations and fears to have half the enjoyment in anticipation which she ought to have had or must have been supposed to have by the many young ladies looking forward to the same event in situations more at ease but under circumstances of less novelty less interest less peculiar gratification than would be attributed to her Miss Price known only by name to half the people invited was now to make her first appearance

Arthur Conan Doyle

Tales of Terror and Mystery

which this man had made himself familiar with the cases in which they were kept He was a rascal who was planning some gigantic robbery How could I without striking my own daughter who was infatuated about him prevent him from carrying out any plan which he might have formed My device was a clumsy one and yet I could think of nothing more effective If I had written a letter under my own name you would naturally have turned to me for details which I did not wish to give I resorted to an anonymous letter begging you to

Charles Dickens

David Copperfield

same low voice and breaking out into a clammy heat which he wiped from his forehead with his long lean hand to buy over my clerk who is the very scum of society as you yourself were Copperfield you know it before anyone had charity on you to defame me with his lies Miss Trotwood you had better stop this or I ll stop your husband shorter than will be pleasant to you I won t know your story professionally for nothing old lady Miss Wickfield if you have any love for your father you had better not join that

Jane Austen

Persuasion

who on having occasion to note down the day of the month exclaimed Dear me is not this the day the Crofts were to come to Kellynch I am glad I did not think of it before How low it makes me The Crofts took possession with true naval alertness and were to be visited Mary deplored the necessity for herself Nobody knew how much she should suffer She should put it off as long as she could but was not easy till she had talked Charles into driving her over on an early day and was in a very

Robert Louis Stevenson

The Black Arrow

began to mount on the other side which was steeper towards the margin of the wood The ground became very uneven full of knolls and hollows trees grew scattered or in clumps it became difficult to choose a path and the lads somewhat wandered They were weary besides with yesterday s exertions and the lack of food and they moved but heavily and dragged their feet among the sand Presently coming to the top of a knoll they were aware of the leper some hundred feet in front of them crossing the line of their march by a hollow His

H.G. Wells

Invisible Man

control Well said Mr Thomas Marvel with a strange feeling of having been dug in the chest by a finger You think I m just imagination Just imagination What else _can_ you be said Mr Thomas Marvel rubbing the back of his neck Very well said the Voice in a tone of relief Then I m going to throw flints at you till you think differently But where _are_ yer The Voice made no answer Whizz came a flint apparently out of the air and missed Mr Marvel s shoulder by a hair s breadth Mr Marvel turning saw a

Robert Louis Stevenson

Tales and Fantasies

to avert the eye from any evidence of crime One November morning this policy of silence was put sharply to the test He had been awake all night with a racking toothache pacing his room like a caged beast or throwing himself in fury on his bed and had fallen at last into that profound uneasy slumber that so often follows on a night of pain when he was awakened by the third or fourth angry repetition of the concerted signal There was a thin bright moonshine it was bitter cold windy and frosty the town had not yet awakened

Charles Dickens

Nicholas Nickleby

hand We d coom if it was twonty mile No would you though returned Mr Squeers who had not expected quite such a ready acceptance of his invitation or he would have considered twice before he gave it John Browdie s only reply was another squeeze of the hand and an assurance that they would not begin to see London till tomorrow so that they might be at Mr Snawley s at six o clock without fail and after some further conversation Mr Squeers and his son departed During the remainder of the day Mr Browdie was in a very

Jane Austen

Emma

at her brother in law s breaking out Mr Perry said he in a voice of very strong displeasure would do as well to keep his opinion till it is asked for Why does he make it any business of his to wonder at what I do at my taking my family to one part of the coast or another I may be allowed I hope the use of my judgment as well as Mr Perry I want his directions no more than his drugs He paused and growing cooler in a moment added with only sarcastic dryness If Mr

Charles Dickens

Nicholas Nickleby

leave that they smoke a large pipe and drink a full bottle first and profit by the laudable example of the Baron of Grogzwig The fresh coach is ready ladies and gentlemen if you please said a new driver looking in This intelligence caused the punch to be finished in a great hurry and prevented any discussion relative to the last story Mr Squeers was observed to draw the grey headed gentleman on one side and to ask a question with great apparent interest it bore reference to the Five Sisters of York and was in fact an inquiry whether

Arthur Conan Doyle

Hound of Baskervilles

do not mean that I have done anything to forfeit your confidence Sir Henry had to assure him that it was not so and pacify him by giving him a considerable part of his old wardrobe the London outfit having now all arrived Mrs Barrymore is of interest to me She is a heavy solid person very limited intensely respectable and inclined to be puritanical You could hardly conceive a less emotional subject Yet I have told you how on the first night here I heard her sobbing bitterly and since then I have more than once observed traces of

Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice

also in the same state of angry pride Elizabeth had hoped that his resentment might shorten his visit but his plan did not appear in the least affected by it He was always to have gone on Saturday and to Saturday he meant to stay After breakfast the girls walked to Meryton to inquire if Mr Wickham were returned and to lament over his absence from the Netherfield ball He joined them on their entering the town and attended them to their aunt s where his regret and vexation and the concern of everybody was well talked over To Elizabeth

H.G. Wells

The Island of Doctor Moreau

fired and the Thing still came on fired again point blank into its ugly face I saw its features vanish in a flash its face was driven in Yet it passed me gripped Montgomery and holding him fell headlong beside him and pulled him sprawling upon itself in its death agony I found myself alone with M ling the dead brute and the prostrate man Montgomery raised himself slowly and stared in a muddled way at the shattered Beast Man beside him It more than half sobered him He scrambled to his feet Then I saw the grey Thing returning

Jane Austen

Emma

for your thinking better and better of him as you know him more His good sense and good principles would delight you As far as the man is concerned you could not wish your friend in better hands His rank in society I would alter if I could which is saying a great deal I assure you Emma You laugh at me about William Larkins but I could quite as ill spare Robert Martin He wanted her to look up and smile and having now brought herself not to smile too broadly she did cheerfully answering You need not be

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost World

rows of faces of the familiar medical student type Apparently the great hospitals had each sent down their contingent The behavior of the audience at present was good humored but mischievous Scraps of popular songs were chorused with an enthusiasm which was a strange prelude to a scientific lecture and there was already a tendency to personal chaff which promised a jovial evening to others however embarrassing it might be to the recipients of these dubious honors Thus when old Doctor Meldrum with his well known curly brimmed opera hat appeared upon the platform there was such a universal query

Robert Louis Stevenson

Kidnapped

his conduct answered for him Henceforth it is to be thought he quite forgave himself for the affair at Cluny s cocked his hat again walked jauntily whistled airs and looked at me upon one side with a provoking smile The third night we were to pass through the western end of the country of Balquhidder It came clear and cold with a touch in the air like frost and a northerly wind that blew the clouds away and made the stars bright The streams were full of course and still made a great noise among the hills but I

Jane Austen

Persuasion

rated Lady Russell s influence highly and as to the severe degree of self denial which her own conscience prompted she believed there might be little more difficulty in persuading them to a complete than to half a reformation Her knowledge of her father and Elizabeth inclined her to think that the sacrifice of one pair of horses would be hardly less painful than of both and so on through the whole list of Lady Russell s too gentle reductions How Anne s more rigid requisitions might have been taken is of little consequence Lady Russell s had no success

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

and pardner And what was Compeyson s business in which we was to go pardners Compeyson s business was the swindling handwriting forging stolen bank note passing and such like All sorts of traps as Compeyson could set with his head and keep his own legs out of and get the profits from and let another man in for was Compeyson s business He d no more heart than a iron file he was as cold as death and he had the head of the Devil afore mentioned There was another in with Compeyson as was called Arthur not as

H.G. Wells

Time Machine

every semblance of print had left them But here and there were warped boards and cracked metallic clasps that told the tale well enough Had I been a literary man I might perhaps have moralised upon the futility of all ambition But as it was the thing that struck me with keenest force was the enormous waste of labour to which this sombre wilderness of rotting paper testified At the time I will confess that I thought chiefly of the _Philosophical Transactions_ and my own seventeen papers upon physical optics Then going up a broad staircase we came to what

Arthur Conan Doyle

Tales of Terror and Mystery

I conclude that I must have been insensible for about two hours What roused me to consciousness once more was that sharp metallic click which had been the precursor of my terrible experience It was the shooting back of the spring lock Then before my senses were clear enough to entirely apprehend what they saw I was aware of the round benevolent face of my cousin peering in through the open door What he saw evidently amazed him There was the cat crouching on the floor I was stretched upon my back in my shirt sleeves within the cage my

H.G. Wells

Time Machine

would starve or be suffocated for arrears Such of them as were so constituted as to be miserable and rebellious would die and in the end the balance being permanent the survivors would become as well adapted to the conditions of underground life and as happy in their way as the Overworld people were to theirs As it seemed to me the refined beauty and the etiolated pallor followed naturally enough The great triumph of Humanity I had dreamed of took a different shape in my mind It had been no such triumph of moral education and general co operation

Jane Austen

Persuasion

when they have recently escaped from severe pain or are recovering the blessing of health and Nurse Rooke thoroughly understands when to speak She is a shrewd intelligent sensible woman Hers is a line for seeing human nature and she has a fund of good sense and observation which as a companion make her infinitely superior to thousands of those who having only received the best education in the world know nothing worth attending to Call it gossip if you will but when Nurse Rooke has half an hour s leisure to bestow on me she is sure to have

Jane Austen

Mansfield Park

than she had intended The consultation upon the play still went on and Miss Crawford s attention was first called from Fanny by Tom Bertram s telling her with infinite regret that he found it absolutely impossible for him to undertake the part of Anhalt in addition to the Butler he had been most anxiously trying to make it out to be feasible but it would not do he must give it up But there will not be the smallest difficulty in filling it he added We have but to speak the word we may pick and chuse I could

H.G. Wells

Time Machine

that there were no small houses to be seen Apparently the single house and possibly even the household had vanished Here and there among the greenery were palace like buildings but the house and the cottage which form such characteristic features of our own English landscape had disappeared Communism said I to myself And on the heels of that came another thought I looked at the half dozen little figures that were following me Then in a flash I perceived that all had the same form of costume the same soft hairless visage and the same girlish rotundity of limb

Charles Dickens

Oliver Twis

is all this cried the girl involuntarily What is it pursued Fagin mad with rage When the boy s worth hundreds of pounds to me am I to lose what chance threw me in the way of getting safely through the whims of a drunken gang that I could whistle away the lives of And me bound too to a born devil that only wants the will and has the power to to Panting for breath the old man stammered for a word and in that instant checked the torrent of his wrath and changed his whole demeanour A moment

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost World

Two of his guards caught him by the wrists and pulled him brutally to the front His thin figure and long limbs struggled and fluttered like a chicken being dragged from a coop Challenger had turned to the king and waved his hands frantically before him He was begging pleading imploring for his comrade s life The ape man pushed him roughly aside and shook his head It was the last conscious movement he was to make upon earth Lord John s rifle cracked and the king sank down a tangled red sprawling thing upon the ground Shoot into the

Arthur Conan Doyle

Hound of Baskervilles

false step plunged us more than once thigh deep into the dark quivering mire which shook for yards in soft undulations around our feet Its tenacious grip plucked at our heels as we walked and when we sank into it it was as if some malignant hand was tugging us down into those obscene depths so grim and purposeful was the clutch in which it held us Once only we saw a trace that someone had passed that perilous way before us From amid a tuft of cotton grass which bore it up out of the slime some dark thing

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost World

some distance A good twenty miles said I Summerlee gave a groan I for one could never get there Surely I hear those brutes still howling upon our track As he spoke from the dark recesses of the woods we heard far away the jabbering cry of the ape men The Indians once more set up a feeble wail of fear We must move and move quick said Lord John You help Summerlee young fellah These Indians will carry stores Now then come along before they can see us In less than half an hour we had reached our brushwood

Robert Louis Stevenson

The Black Arrow

England Then first I fell out of my favour with the great and now have I been well thrashed and clean lost my soldiers There was a downfall for conceit But dear I care not dear if ye still love me and will wed I would have my knighthood done away and mind it not a jot My Dick she cried And did they knight you Ay dear ye are my lady now he answered fondly or ye shall ere noon to morrow will ye not That will I Dick with a glad heart she answered Ay sir Methought ye

Charles Dickens

Oliver Twis

often for she is dying very hard she says she has got something to tell which you must hear She ll never die quiet till you come mistress At this intelligence the worthy Mrs Corney muttered a variety of invectives against old women who couldn t even die without purposely annoying their betters and muffling herself in a thick shawl which she hastily caught up briefly requested Mr Bumble to stay till she came back lest anything particular should occur Bidding the messenger walk fast and not be all night hobbling up the stairs she followed her from the room

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

note which was exactly in those terms When do you think of going down I have an impending engagement said I glancing at Wemmick who was putting fish into the post office that renders me rather uncertain of my time At once I think If Mr Pip has the intention of going at once said Wemmick to Mr Jaggers he needn t write an answer you know Receiving this as an intimation that it was best not to delay I settled that I would go to morrow and said so Wemmick drank a glass of wine and looked with a

H.G. Wells

Invisible Man

he hasn t them But he thinks the tramp has And you must prevent him from eating or sleeping day and night the country must be astir for him Food must be locked up and secured all food so that he will have to break his way to it The houses everywhere must be barred against him Heaven send us cold nights and rain The whole country side must begin hunting and keep hunting I tell you Adye he is a danger a disaster unless he is pinned and secured it is frightful to think of the things that may

Jane Austen

Mansfield Park

public opposition she foresaw to it had it not been for the sound of approaching relief the very sound which she had been long watching for and long thinking strangely delayed The solemn procession headed by Baddeley of tea board urn and cake bearers made its appearance and delivered her from a grievous imprisonment of body and mind Mr Crawford was obliged to move She was at liberty she was busy she was protected Edmund was not sorry to be admitted again among the number of those who might speak and hear But though the conference had seemed full long

H.G. Wells

Time Machine

fluctuating contours of the land ebbed and flowed The hands spun backward upon the dials At last I saw again the dim shadows of houses the evidences of decadent humanity These too changed and passed and others came Presently when the million dial was at zero I slackened speed I began to recognise our own pretty and familiar architecture the thousands hand ran back to the starting point the night and day flapped slower and slower Then the old walls of the laboratory came round me Very gently now I slowed the mechanism down I saw one little thing that

Charles Dickens

David Copperfield

desirable bedroom ever seen in the stern of the vessel with a little window where the rudder used to go through a little looking glass just the right height for me nailed against the wall and framed with oyster shells a little bed which there was just room enough to get into and a nosegay of seaweed in a blue mug on the table The walls were whitewashed as white as milk and the patchwork counterpane made my eyes quite ache with its brightness One thing I particularly noticed in this delightful house was the smell of fish which was

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

I know not what impossible personage lying in state Once I had been taken to one of our old marsh churches to see a skeleton in the ashes of a rich dress that had been dug out of a vault under the church pavement Now waxwork and skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked at me I should have cried out if I could Who is it said the lady at the table Pip ma am Pip Mr Pumblechook s boy ma am Come to play Come nearer let me look at you Come close It was

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost World

was heard from the Press box to ask leave from the chairman to put Dr Illingworth into the street A year ago one man said certain things Now four men said other and more startling ones Was this to constitute a final proof where the matters in question were of the most revolutionary and incredible character There had been recent examples of travelers arriving from the unknown with certain tales which had been too readily accepted Was the London Zoological Institute to place itself in this position He admitted that the members of the committee were men of character But

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

not in negativing the question but in altogether negativing the notion that he could anyhow be got to answer it and the two horrible casts of the twitched faces looked when my eyes strayed up to them as if they had come to a crisis in their suspended attention and were going to sneeze Come said Mr Jaggers warming the backs of his legs with the backs of his warmed hands I ll be plain with you my friend Pip That s a question I must not be asked You ll understand that better when I tell you it s

Jane Austen

Emma

little reserve of manner Emma continued You mean to return a favourable answer I collect No I do not that is I do not mean What shall I do What would you advise me to do Pray dear Miss Woodhouse tell me what I ought to do I shall not give you any advice Harriet I will have nothing to do with it This is a point which you must settle with your feelings I had no notion that he liked me so very much said Harriet contemplating the letter For a little while Emma persevered in her silence but

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

Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice

down for two dances and during part of that time Mr Darcy had been standing near enough for her to hear a conversation between him and Mr Bingley who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it Come Darcy said he I must have you dance I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner You had much better dance I certainly shall not You know how I detest it unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner At such an assembly as this it would be insupportable Your

Charles Dickens

Nicholas Nickleby

can require no possible inducement beyond your invitation Oh no I dare say rejoined Miss Snevellicci And Miss Ledrook said Upon my word Upon which Miss Snevellicci said that Miss Ledrook was a giddy thing and Miss Ledrook said that Miss Snevellicci needn t colour up quite so much and Miss Snevellicci beat Miss Ledrook and Miss Ledrook beat Miss Snevellicci Come said Miss Ledrook it s high time we were there or we shall have poor Mrs Snevellicci thinking that you have run away with her daughter Mr Johnson and then we should have a pretty to do My

Jane Austen

Persuasion

If Louisa Musgrove would be beautiful and happy in her November of life she will cherish all her present powers of mind He had done and was unanswered It would have surprised Anne if Louisa could have readily answered such a speech words of such interest spoken with such serious warmth She could imagine what Louisa was feeling For herself she feared to move lest she should be seen While she remained a bush of low rambling holly protected her and they were moving on Before they were beyond her hearing however Louisa spoke again Mary is good natured enough

Robert Louis Stevenson

Jekyll and Hyde

eyed the dingy windowless structure with curiosity and gazed round with a distasteful sense of strangeness as he crossed the theatre once crowded with eager students and now lying gaunt and silent the tables laden with chemical apparatus the floor strewn with crates and littered with packing straw and the light falling dimly through the foggy cupola At the further end a flight of stairs mounted to a door covered with red baize and through this Mr Utterson was at last received into the doctor s cabinet It was a large room fitted round with glass presses furnished among other

Robert Louis Stevenson

Tales and Fantasies

wind s eye sir once once only since I reached this place retorted the Admiral And even then I was fit for any drawing room I should like you to tell me how many fathers lay and clerical go upstairs every day with a face like a lobster and cod s eyes and are dull upon the back of it not even mirth for the money No if that s what she runs for all I say is let her run You see Dick tried it again she has fancies Confound her fancies cried Van Tromp I used her kindly

H.G. Wells

Invisible Man

came a mighty effort and the Invisible Man threw off a couple of his antagonists and rose to his knees Kemp clung to him in front like a hound to a stag and a dozen hands gripped clutched and tore at the Unseen The tram conductor suddenly got the neck and shoulders and lugged him back Down went the heap of struggling men again and rolled over There was I am afraid some savage kicking Then suddenly a wild scream of Mercy Mercy that died down swiftly to a sound like choking Get back you fools cried the muffled voice

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost World

the wood and marveled at the strange fowl that swept over us and the quaint new creatures which crept from their burrows to watch us while above us the boughs of the bushes were heavy with luscious fruit and below us strange and lovely flowers peeped at us from among the herbage or those long moonlit nights when we lay out upon the shimmering surface of the great lake and watched with wonder and awe the huge circles rippling out from the sudden splash of some fantastic monster or the greenish gleam far down in the deep water of some