"Why" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... the reader that the second United States Bank was rechartered because the State banks had suspended specie payments. The student may or may not be curious about the failure of the first bank to receive a new charter, the operation of State banks, or why they suspended payment in 1814. If he has been properly taught, he probably will be, but if the teacher wishes to discuss these considerations in detail at the next recitation it will be infinitely better to have the facts contributed by the class than for the teacher to do the reciting. ...
— The Teaching of History • Ernest C. Hartwell
... flung him a birdlike glance. "Why don't you come along to The Ship and smoke a pipe with your old father of an evening?" he said. "Once a week's not enough, not, that is, if you—" He broke off suddenly, caught by a whistle that could not ...
— The Tidal Wave and Other Stories • Ethel May Dell
... upon a social equality with his boot-black. He manifested no disposition to divide his vast possessions with the mob in Paris, and to send his wife to work with the washer-women, and his daughter to a factory, and to earn himself his daily bread by menial toil. And the washer-women were asking, "Why should we toil at the tub, and Citizeness Orleans ride in her carriage and dress in satins? We are as good as she, and our blood is as red." And at the corners of the streets, the uncombed mob were beginning to inquire, "Why should Citizen Orleans, who, by adopting the title of Egalite, has confessed ...
— Louis Philippe - Makers of History Series • John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
... carried into the vault and every oyster dipped into it over all and then laid down on the floor again.... Out of the eight bushels oysters I had six pickled and two bushels for dressing. But I was asked why Beale sent oysters up in July. I answered it was my orders. Who would eat oysters in July said the mighty man; and the very day showed he not only could eat them but did it in every shape, raw, stewed, caked in fritters ...
— The Bounty of the Chesapeake - Fishing in Colonial Virginia • James Wharton
... "Fellow indeed! Why he is a colonel in the Life-guards, and the Princess's equerry; and who has a right to know about the child if not his own ...
— A Reputed Changeling • Charlotte M. Yonge
... unfair. Why, she felt it all most horribly. That shows how little you've understood her, how little you've appreciated her. You've always been a ...
— Fortitude • Hugh Walpole
... and retraced her steps; then once more calling up all her fortitude, she returned. "For," thought she, "if God permits me to see, why should I remain blind? He it is who has sent me to this holy prophetess. I must listen for my ...
— Joseph II. and His Court • L. Muhlbach
... I heard Dr. Percy was writing the history of the wolf in Great-Britain. JOHNSON. 'The wolf, Sir! why the wolf? Why does he not write of the bear, which we had formerly? Nay, it is said we had the beaver. Or why does he not write of the grey rat, the Hanover rat, as it is called, because it is said to have come into this country about the time that the family of Hanover ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 2 • Boswell
... make some excitement." Then he laughed. "I wonder why Auguste didn't think of doing that," he said. ...
— The Crossing • Winston Churchill
... shook his head. One of Mr Heve's qualities that slightly annoyed Edwin was his extraordinary discretion. But then Edwin had always regarded the discreetness of doctors as exaggerated. Why could not Heve tell him at once fully and candidly what was in his mind? He had surely the right to be told! ... Curious! And yet far more curious than Mr Heve's unwillingness to tell, was Edwin's unwillingness to ask. He could not bring himself to demand bluntly of Heve: "Well, ...
— Clayhanger • Arnold Bennett
... effect where the tension—the pressure—is greatest, that is, in the cerebro-spinal canal. The reason for this is found in the fact that endosmosis is most pronounced where the blood pressure is greatest. This explanation of why the effects of alcohol are enhanced by exposing the individual who has taken it to the effects of a condensed atmosphere will, I believe, appeal to the physiological conceptions of most medical men. ...
— Scientific American Supplement No. 822 - Volume XXXII, Number 822. Issue Date October 3, 1891 • Various
... of them was hurt. One man said, "Hurt? No, why durn their shadows, they were not awake enough to hurt a fly if it had ...
— Chief of Scouts • W.F. Drannan
... resisted; but seeing that he had no human recourse, and that, when he demanded counsel from the visitor, that person gave him to understand that he must do it, he had to yield under compulsion, and do what was commanded him. Another strong reason why he consented to do it was, that he might not go to his destination as an excommunicate; he went thither absolved, leaving the said act of detestation dated and signed, to the pleasure and satisfaction ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898—Volume 39 of 55 • Various
... which, in May, 1761, was rendered memorable by the presence of Dr. Johnson, who attired himself with unusual care for the occasion. To a companion who, noting the new suit of clothes, the new wig nicely powdered, and all else in harmony, commented on his appearance, Johnson rejoined, "Why, sir, I hear that Goldsmith, who is a very great sloven, justifies his disregard of cleanliness and decency by quoting my practice, and I am desirous this night to show him a better example." The house where that supper party was held has disappeared, ...
— Inns and Taverns of Old London • Henry C. Shelley
... girl must know nothing of this and that and the other thing—these things being, in fact, the most important for her to understand. I won't say that every girl can safely be left so free as I have left Cecily; but when one has to deal with exceptional intelligence, why not yield it the exceptional advantages? Then again, I had to bear in mind that Cecily has strong emotions. This seemed to me only another reason for releasing her mind from the misconceptions it is usual ...
— The Emancipated • George Gissing
... "Why, 'tis only a screech-owl, you fools!" he cried, though the sound of his own voice made him falter; "an old mouse-teaser," he went on in a much ...
— Little Novels of Italy • Maurice Henry Hewlett
... square, whilst 2,000 yards west of its western face a tall peak, called Coles Kop, rises abruptly from the encircling plain, and dominates the entire terrain. The isolation of this hill was doubtless the reason why it was not occupied by the Boers. They were in strength everywhere along the hilly ramparts around Colesberg. French, therefore, perceiving the formidable nature of this "natural fortress,"[260] contented himself with seizing a group of hills (Porter's Hill) 2,000 yards south-west of the south-western ...
— History of the War in South Africa 1899-1902 v. 1 (of 4) - Compiled by Direction of His Majesty's Government • Frederick Maurice
... if God demands anything else from him than the knowledge and love of Him, and why, since his nature is capable of love and knowledge, he believes that God cannot make Himself known and loved by him. Doubtless he knows at least that he exists, and that he loves something. Therefore, if he sees anything in the darkness wherein he is, and if he finds ...
— Pascal's Pensees • Blaise Pascal
... Religion has degenerated into Theology. Jesus Christ did not write a Summa; He made a few plain statements which comprise, as they stand, the whole Christian Religion; they are full of mystery, no doubt, but it is He who left them mysterious. Why, then, should your theologians seek to penetrate into regions which He did not reveal and to elaborate what He ...
— Paradoxes of Catholicism • Robert Hugh Benson
... Kanaster, and the like; for I smoked nothing but real Holland tobacco, while I could buy it. A party of Sophomores informed George Boker that they intended to smoke me out. "Smoke him out!" quoth George; "why, he'd smoke the whole of you dumb and blind." However, it came to pass that one evening several of them tried it on; and verily they might as well have tried it on to Niklas Henkerwyssel, who, as the legend goes, sold his soul to the devil for the ability to smoke all ...
— Memoirs • Charles Godfrey Leland
... of attention. Anyhow, it would leak out if I did. I've walked eighteen miles already since midnight, and it's another fifty-nine to the Admiralty from here. Besides, unless I disguise Fritz as a performing bear, people would want to know why I was leading him about on ...
— A Tall Ship - On Other Naval Occasions • Sir Lewis Anselm da Costa Ritchie
... only persuade you, Johnnie, of the importance of little things, of putting one's best foot forward ... of personal appearance ... why create an initial prejudice in the minds of people you meet, that you'll afterward have to waste valuable ...
— Tramping on Life - An Autobiographical Narrative • Harry Kemp
... use such a wicked instrument as the Chaldeans (Barbarians) to execute his purposes? (2) Could the Divine purpose be justified in such events? God's righteousness needed vindicating to the people. (3) Why does wickedness seem to triumph while the righteous suffer? This is the question of Job, applied ...
— The Bible Book by Book - A Manual for the Outline Study of the Bible by Books • Josiah Blake Tidwell
... "Why don't you wanna appear in this business?" persisted the stranger, pivoting on one heel in order to keep face ...
— The Heart of the Range • William Patterson White
... strikes up, and Mr Punch, that model of connubial bliss, salutes his wife. Now, the people run, and push, and press round in a gaping throng, while Mr Dombey, leading Mrs Dombey by the hand, advances solemnly into the Feenix Halls. Now, the rest of the wedding party alight, and enter after them. And why does Mr Carker, passing through the people to the hall-door, think of the old woman who called to him in the Grove that morning? Or why does Florence, as she passes, think, with a tremble, of her childhood, when she was lost, and of the visage ...
— Dombey and Son • Charles Dickens
... a chairman, why should not the performer be allowed to turn a chairman into account, as that popular and versatile barrister, the late Sir Frank Lockwood, was in the habit of doing? When he lectured at Hackney he "brought down the house" in his ...
— The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol 2 (of 2) • Harry Furniss
... there were several children being got ready by one of our party for removal. By good luck through some defect it did not explode, or the house would have been annihilated and everyone in it killed. Quite a collection of people had congregated in that little street, though why they considered it safer than the rest of the town I do not know. At first they were very unwilling to let any of the children go at all. But at last about twenty children were collected and were packed ...
— A Surgeon in Belgium • Henry Sessions Souttar
... bundled and the key, also, to this gate to perdition? And the room: didst set to rights the furnishings I had delivered here, and sweep the century-old accumulation of filth and cobwebs from the floor and rafters? Why, the very air reeked of the dead Romans who builded London twelve hundred years ago. Methinks, too, from the stink, they must have been Roman swineherd who habited this sty with their herds, an' I venture that thou, old sow, ...
— The Outlaw of Torn • Edgar Rice Burroughs
... Take a look. It's mortarless stonework. No wonder the face was so seamed on the outside. Whoever did this was a terrific mason, because he selected rocks—probably from the mine itself—that duplicated the contour of the hill. But why go to all the trouble? That's what ...
— The Blue Ghost Mystery • Harold Leland Goodwin
... inspired sometimes both in thought and action. I have always admitted that when you are inspired, when you manage to throw off your masculine cowardice and prudishness you are not to be equalled by us. Only, how seldom.... Whereas the silliest woman can always be made of use. And why? Because we have passion, unappeasable passion.... I should like to know what he ...
— Under Western Eyes • Joseph Conrad
... gave me the jitters to see him pointing his weapon at her. I don't know why I stood there watching him take careful aim, but I did. Then he squeezed the handle of his weapon; there was a little puff of steam, and Fancy Long was gone! And in her place was one of those writhing, black, rope-armed horrors like the one ...
— A Martian Odyssey • Stanley Grauman Weinbaum
... Or in industry: Why do factory workers produce more in eight hours a day than in ten? It is absurd. Super-sheep could not do it. But that is the way men are made. To preach to such beings about the dignity of labor is futile. The dignity of labor is not ...
— This Simian World • Clarence Day
... which still go nearly naked. It is not at all surprising that the dark-coloured races should blush, though no change of colour is visible in their skins. From the principle of inheritance it is not surprising that persons born blind should blush. We can understand why the young are much more affected than the old, and women more than men; and why the opposite sexes especially excite each other's blushes. It becomes obvious why personal remarks should be particularly liable to cause blushing, and why the most powerful ...
— The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals • Charles Darwin
... to the call of his own name—"Mahomet! Mahomet!" No reply, although the individual were sitting within a few feet, apparently absorbed in the contemplation of his own boots. "MaHOMet!" with an additional emphasis upon the second syllable. Again no response. "Mahomet, you rascal, why don't you answer?" This energetic address would effect a change in his position. The mild and lamb-like dragoman of Cairo would suddenly start from the ground, tear his own hair from his head in handfuls, and shout, "Mahomet! Mahomet! Mahomet! always Mahomet! D—n Mahomet! ...
— In the Heart of Africa • Samuel White Baker
... be in pain, but they would not own it, and seemed to value themselves on having undergone the operation; though why it is performed, or why the females lose a part of the little finger, could not as yet ...
— An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island • John Hunter
... or three days after. We took notice of his woolen knit stockings of two colours mixed, and of his shoes shod with iron, both at the toe and heels, and with great nails in the soles of his feet, which was mighty pretty; and taking notice of them, 'Why,' says the poor man, 'the downes, you see, are full of stones, and we are faine to shoe ourselves thus; and these,' says he, 'will make the stones fly till they ring before me.' I did give the poor man something, for which he was mighty thankful, and I tried to cast stones with his horne ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 3 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson
... with all his chalk. But if Briareus could have clapped hands, he could scarcely have made more noise than Harry at the end of the piece. Mr. Wolfe and General Lambert huzzayed enthusiastically. Mrs. Lambert, of course, cried: and though Hetty said, "Why do you cry, mamma? I you don't want any of them alive again; you know it serves them all right"—the girl was really as much delighted as any person present, including little Charley from the Chartreux, who had leave from Dr. Crusius for ...
— The Virginians • William Makepeace Thackeray
... this awful trouble—I did not think you would simply disbelieve me, Sheila. Who else is there to help me? You have the letter in your hand. Isn't that sufficient proof? It was overwhelming proof to me. And even I doubted too; doubted myself. But never mind; why I should have dreamed you would believe me; or taken this awful thing differently, I don't know. It's rather awful to have to go on alone. But there, think it over. I shall not stir until I hear the voices. And then: honestly, Sheila, I couldn't ...
— The Return • Walter de la Mare
... said Albert in some dismay, "and we can't go to our traps. Why, this is likely to last ...
— The Last of the Chiefs - A Story of the Great Sioux War • Joseph Altsheler
... the "harp" suggestion is plain, and it is good, but why "a harp with wires?" The other small matter is amusing. The piece in praise of England (p. 76), reproduced from "Faithful for Ever," is dated 1856, and this is the only date given in the volume. What does it mean? We conjecture that Mr. Patmore ...
— The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, September 1879 • Various
... Arnold. [Aside.] Why not? 'Tis Fame, Reward, wealth, power, revenge and simple justice All at a clap. They'll make a Lord of me,— Pacificator of the Colonies,— Restorer of an erring people's love To their forgiving Sovereign. At a clap! The key to all ...
— The Treason and Death of Benedict Arnold - A Play for a Greek Theatre • John Jay Chapman
... coward as well as a traitor! Faugh! I wonder you have patience to stay with him! I can understand a loyalist and even a rebel, but a weather-cock like the Duke is beyond me. Why does he not come boldly into the open? This twisting and turning will do him no good. One would imagine he was a ...
— My Sword's My Fortune - A Story of Old France • Herbert Hayens
... is very interesting. Let me ask you this question, though. If you were so sure of your facts, why didn't you arrest me at once ...
— The Cinema Murder • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... pillow was hard, but I did not mind that so much, for my mother stood over me, looking very sweet and grave, and she said: "Why didn't you tell us that the ...
— Cape Cod Folks • Sarah P. McLean Greene
... and whose language is listened to. The first time I heard in the United States that 100,000 men had bound themselves publicly to abstain from spirituous liquors, it appeared to me more like a joke than a serious engagement; and I did not at once perceive why these temperate citizens could not content themselves with drinking water by their own firesides. I at last understood that 300,000 Americans, alarmed by the progress of drunkenness around them, had made up their minds to patronize temperance. They acted ...
— Democracy In America, Volume 2 (of 2) • Alexis de Tocqueville
... money and not poverty, and did not smile on the penniless Edgar Tonmore. Therefore, finding himself alone with her during church time next morning, he thought no harm of trying to put a little spoke in the wheel to prevent that affair going too easily. But first he asked her why she ...
— Great Possessions • Mrs. Wilfrid Ward
... Butterfly' (1904), Puccini's latest opera, is a strange one. At its production in Milan it was hissed off the stage and withdrawn after a single performance. No one seems to know why it failed to please the Scala audience, with whom Puccini had previously been a great favourite. Possibly the unfamiliar Japanese surroundings displeased the conservative Milanese, or the singers may have been inadequate. ...
— The Opera - A Sketch of the Development of Opera. With full Descriptions - of all Works in the Modern Repertory • R.A. Streatfeild
... probably still are, at Elleray? He heads the gaieties of the neighbourhood, and has presided as steward at two regattas. Do these employments come under your notions of action opposed to contemplation? Why should they not? Whatever the high moralists may say, the political economists will, I conclude, approve them as setting capital afloat, and giving an impulse to manufacture and handicrafts; but I speak of the improvement which may come thence to navigation and nautical science. I have dined ...
— The Prose Works of William Wordsworth • William Wordsworth
... "Why do you look at me so?" she said, almost in a whisper. "By what right do you reproach me?—Have you ever offered me friendship, that I should repay you with friendship? When first you came to the house where I was, by the river—came to save some one from" (there was the familiar hesitation ...
— The Devil Doctor • Sax Rohmer
... nodded and pursed his lips to hide a tremble that was there. "Yes, I recall that deplorable affair. The son was taken for the crime, I think." He looked at the investigator with uncertainty in his eyes. "But why do you speak of that matter in connection, as it were, ...
— Ashton-Kirk, Criminologist • John T. McIntyre
... Not now my theme—why turn my thoughts to thee? Oh! who can look along thy native sea, Nor dwell upon thy name, whate'er the tale, So much its magic must o'er all prevail? Who that beheld that Sun upon thee set, Fair Athens! could thine ...
— The Works Of Lord Byron, Vol. 3 (of 7) • Lord Byron
... "Why, Esmeralda! You should be ashamed of yourself," cried Jane. "Is this any way to show your gratitude to the man who saved your ...
— Tarzan of the Apes • Edgar Rice Burroughs
... un-Lutheran doctrine, and our superiors remain silent. Do they know of it? Certainly! All the dailies brought the news: first the invitations, then long reports. And what do our professors say to it? They keep silence.... But why do so many of our pastors hold a false, Puritan doctrine of the Sabbath? Because they have learned no better. If the students in our institutions would learn Luther's true doctrine concerning Sunday and sanctifying the holy-day, ...
— American Lutheranism - Volume 2: The United Lutheran Church (General Synod, General - Council, United Synod in the South) • Friedrich Bente
... sexual reproduction arise from the simple fact that the growth of each individual is necessarily limited in space as well as time. Reproduction is thus destined to assure the continuation of life; the individual dies but is perpetuated in his progeny. We do not know why the crossing of individuals is rendered necessary by the phenomenon of conjugation. On this subject we can only build hypotheses, but the study of nature shows us that where conjugation ceases reproduction is etiolated and finally disappears, even when it is still possible ...
— The Sexual Question - A Scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study • August Forel
... tobacco he won't. Those big trees in that valley ain't goin' to be cut for no railroad right o' way. That valley's John Cardigan's private park; his wife's buried up there. Why, Colonel, that's the biggest grove of the biggest sequoia sempervirens in the world, an' many's the time I've heard John say he'd almost as lief cut off his right hand as fell one o' his giants, as he calls ...
— The Valley of the Giants • Peter B. Kyne
... girl her head! H-haven't I—I g-given the g-girl her h- head all her l-life!' He looked at his watch. 'Why, the day's half gone!' He began scurrying towards the front door, I following at his heels. 'I've got a committee meeting on at the club,—m-most important! For weeks they've been giving us the worst food you ever tasted in your ...
— The Beetle - A Mystery • Richard Marsh
... "Why, certainly!" Jasper Jay replied. "I'm glad to oblige you, I'm sure. And I promise that I'll never, never, never again mention your ...
— The Tale of Old Mr. Crow • Arthur Scott Bailey
... were slaves; the villicus was the principal and overseer of all the servants engaged in agriculture on the estate (villa) of a Roman noble. Coquus is also spelled cocus. See Zumpt, S 5. [463] Quin ergo—faciant, 'why, then, will they not do?' This form of expression contains an exhortation to do something. The subjunctive, therefore, does not depend upon quin, but upon the optative meaning of the sentence. See Zumpt, S 542. [464] Ereptum ...
— De Bello Catilinario et Jugurthino • Caius Sallustii Crispi (Sallustius)
... in more detail further on, was a culmination of those causes of unrest which turned men westward. To escape from oppression and to acquire land beyond the bounds of tyranny became the earnest desire of independent spirits throughout the Back Country. But there was another and more potent reason why the country east of the mountains no longer contented Boone. Hunting and trapping were Boone's chief means of livelihood. In those days, deerskins sold for a dollar a skin to the traders at the Forks or in Hillsborough; beaver at about two dollars and a half, ...
— Pioneers of the Old Southwest - A Chronicle of the Dark and Bloody Ground • Constance Lindsay Skinner
... of smoke. "We calls ourselves the universe, when we be the rope that drags astarn of it. Cappen, to my mind there is mischief in the wind, more than there hath been for these three years; and that's why you see me here, instead of going with the smacks. Holy Scripture saith a dream cometh from the Lord; leastways, to a man of sense, as hardly ever dreameth. The wind was so bad again us, Monday afternoon, that we put off sailing till the Tuesday, and Monday night I lay on my own bed, ...
— Springhaven - A Tale of the Great War • R. D. Blackmore
... to their native land. There was a Chinaman in Majorca whom I knew well, that had his finger taken off by an accident. Shortly after, he left the township; but, three months after, he one day made his appearance at our bank. I asked him where he had been, and why he had come back to Majorca? "Oh!" said he, holding up his hand, "me come look after my finger." "Where is it?" ...
— A Boy's Voyage Round the World • The Son of Samuel Smiles
... the soul, is all in all, and all in every part; it should shed its influence over every word and action. I fear the want of that air, and first 'abord', which suddenly lays hold of the heart, one does not know distinctly how or why. I fear an inaccuracy, or, at least, inelegance of diction, which will wrong, and lower, the best and justest matter. And, lastly, I fear an ungraceful, if not an unpleasant utterance, which would disgrace and vilify the whole. Should these fears be at present founded, yet the objects of them ...
— The PG Edition of Chesterfield's Letters to His Son • The Earl of Chesterfield
... are all the rage these days, so General Products just had to have one. But the blamed thing almost put them out of business. Why? It had no tact. It insisted upon telling ...
— The Success Machine • Henry Slesar
... philosophy, rhetoric, oratory, he would have furnished me the most famous teacher. I declined his insistence, because I was a Jew, and could not forget the Lord God, or the glory of the prophets, or the city set on the hills by David and Solomon. Oh, ask you why I accepted any of the benefactions of the Roman? I loved him; next place, I thought with his help, array influences which would enable me one day to unseal the mystery close-locking the fate of my mother and sister; and to these there was yet another motive of which I shall ...
— Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ • Lew Wallace
... that until the bridge was rebuilt some stop would be put to the dame's Christmas operations; but why the falling of a part of London Bridge should form part of a Christmas carol it ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 51, October 19, 1850 • Various
... upon her clemency. How much more then luncheon, at the revolutionary hour of a quarter to one? Even courageous people are afraid of other people's servants, and Robert and I were far from being courageous. Possibly this is why Julia treated us with compassion, even with kindness, ...
— All on the Irish Shore - Irish Sketches • E. Somerville and Martin Ross
... feel that you can afford to make such a heavy investment as I have suggested, why don't you put your ...
— Humanly Speaking • Samuel McChord Crothers
... salary?-rather! he would prove it to-morrow. Could they really get married at a registrar's within a few days?-rather! he'd fix that up to-morrow. As to the money necessary for the marriage, necessary to tide over the days till the locum was taken up, why, he knew he could borrow that—from the Dean or from ...
— Once Aboard The Lugger • Arthur Stuart-Menteth Hutchinson
... on that account troubling themselves very seriously about religion during the rest of the year; but he recollected that Corinne professed a different worship to his, and that they could not pray together. "Why are you not," cried he, "of the same religion as myself?" Having pronounced this wish, he stopped short. "Have not our hearts and minds the same country?" answered Corinne. "It is true," replied Oswald; "but I do not feel less painfully ...
— Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2) - Or Italy • Mme de Stael
... of the former, I was told, brought as rarities from distant seas, and at great expense. Before every man of rank there was an immense dish, which it is his duty to cut up and distribute, putting on each plate about sufficient for a baby to eat. I turned to a friend and enquired why the guests were helped so sparingly? 'It is customary,' said he, 'to serve guests in this way.' 'But why not give them enough?' rejoined I. 'You will soon see,' replied he, 'that they will all ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 54, No. 337, November, 1843 • Various
... little while he went away," she gasped—"and when he came back, and I went to meet him in the dark and fell weeping upon his breast, he pushed me back and looked at me, and curled his lip laughing, and turned away! Oh, John!—John Oxon!" she cried out, "God laughs at women—why shouldst not thou?" and her paroxysm ...
— His Grace of Osmonde • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... "Strangers! Why, how you talk!—Good old Mrs. Porterfield seems to me like my own grandmother, and Edgerton has ...
— Confession • W. Gilmore Simms
... "what is it? Why do you look so merry, my boy? I suppose you have good news for us, ...
— NAPOLEON AND BLUCHER • L. Muhlbach
... of calcareous matter over wide areas is characteristic of the Old Red Sandstone. This is, no doubt, in great part due to the absence of shells and corals; but why should these be so generally wanting in all sedimentary rocks the colour of which is determined by the red oxide of iron? Some geologists are of opinion that the waters impregnated with this oxide were prejudicial to living beings, others that strata ...
— The Student's Elements of Geology • Sir Charles Lyell
... done aught by word or deed to call forth her antagonism—to deserve such cruel vengeance? If so, I was sadly ignorant of the fact. If she hated me, she hated one who loved her, with his whole soul absorbed in the passion. But no, I could not think that I was an object of hatred to her. Why should she hate ...
— The War Trail - The Hunt of the Wild Horse • Mayne Reid
... no reason why his brother should not do so." The following is better: "That William studied law is no reason why his brother should not do ...
— Slips of Speech • John H. Bechtel
... millions of the people of Ireland, had not only failed a second time, but, to all appearance, had failed permanently and finally: such was the apprehension at the moment. In face of that alarming state of things, why talk of cutting down hills, or of making useless roads,—provide rather some substitute for the doomed esculent, and let the labour-power of the country be, at least in the first instance, employed upon it, to secure food for ...
— The History of the Great Irish Famine of 1847 (3rd ed.) (1902) - With Notices Of Earlier Irish Famines • John O'Rourke
... missed your vocation. You could have been the greatest of all hotel-managers. You would have been greater than me, and I am unequalled, though I keep only one hotel, and some men have half a dozen. Mr Racksole, why have you never ...
— The Grand Babylon Hotel • Arnold Bennett
... his son explained to him, that he had found in his book an account of pigeons who carried notes and letters: "and, father," continued Brian, "I find my pigeon is of this sort; and I intend to make my pigeon carry messages. Why should not he? If other pigeons have done so before him, I think he is as good, and, I daresay, will be as easy to teach as any pigeon in the world. I shall begin to teach him to-morrow morning; and then, father, you know people often pay a great deal for ...
— The Parent's Assistant • Maria Edgeworth
... no less serious nature arose when the French and Imperial ambassadors arrived at Trent in the spring. They demanded, as I have already stated, that the chalice should be conceded to the laity; nor is it easy to understand why this point might not have been granted. Pius himself was ready to make the concession; and the only valid argument against it was that it imperiled the uniformity of ritual throughout all Catholic countries. The Germans further stipulated for the marriage of the clergy, ...
— Renaissance in Italy, Volumes 1 and 2 - The Catholic Reaction • John Addington Symonds
... longer in the dark ages," he interrupted. "Every one, man or woman, has the right to happiness. There is no reason why we should suffer all our ...
— The Crossing • Winston Churchill
... self-pity: why should we pity him? He had free quarters at the palace, with liberty to enjoy the company of his wife when she chose to favour him—an event of rare occurrence. His salary was raised from time to time. The old prince, ...
— Haydn • J. Cuthbert Hadden
... be one of the Wasp's boats, but that's no reason why she's coming here," he answered. "However, we'll be on the watch for her, and take precious good care that she does not come alongside for the purpose of doing ...
— The Cruise of the Dainty - Rovings in the Pacific • William H. G. Kingston
... him admirably; the sixth turned to the coachman and asked him if there were anything remarkable connected with yonder heap of stones. 'No,' replied the coachman, 'it's only a heap of stones; but the trees are remarkable.' 'How so?' 'Why I'll tell you how they are very remarkable. You see, in winter, when the snow lies very deep, and has hidden the whole road so that nothing is to be seen, those trees serve me for a landmark. I steer by them, so as not to drive into the sea; and ...
— Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen • Hans Christian Andersen
... were at times absurd manifestations of this same precocious dignity, of which I may speak later; still, as O'Brien said of Boatswain Chucks, "You may laugh at such assumptions of gentility, but did any one of his shipmates ever know Mr. Chucks to do an unhandsome or a mean action?—and why? Because he aspired to ...
— From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life • Captain A. T. Mahan
... groaned Mrs. Payson. "Fust my bunnit, an' then my specs. I'm the most unfort'nit' crittur. Why don't you help me, Sam Thompson, instead of standin' and gawkin' at me?" she suddenly exclaimed, ...
— Frank's Campaign - or the Farm and the Camp • Horatio Alger, Jr.
... spare moments when desirous of so doing without its clashing with his vocal career or containing anything derogatory whatsoever as it was a matter for himself alone. In fact, he had the ball at his feet and that was the very reason why the other, possessed of a remarkably sharp nose for smelling a rat of any sort, hung on ...
— Ulysses • James Joyce
... blow at him with his foot, which, if it had taken effect, would have killed him. But as to the story of the apparition in fair day-light—the flying from the face of it—the running foul of his brother pursuing him, and knocking him down, why the judge smiled at the relation, and saying: "It was a very extraordinary story," he remanded George to prison, leaving the matter to the High ...
— The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner • James Hogg
... you interrupt me when I'm making observations.—That chap, I was a saying, though he has all his faculties about him, somewheres or another, bottled up and corked down, has no more imagination than Barnaby has. And why hasn't he?' ...
— Barnaby Rudge • Charles Dickens
... "Why, drop off the train and fade away into the landscape somewhere hereabouts!" declared Dave with a glance ...
— Boy Scouts Mysterious Signal - or Perils of the Black Bear Patrol • G. Harvey Ralphson
... speak to me!" cried Felipe, in a tone of terror. "Oh, Ramona, why did you disobey her? If she sees us talking, she will be even more displeased. Fly back to your room. Leave it all to me. I will do ...
— Ramona • Helen Hunt Jackson
... place at a certain hour, and that there I shall find Jorsen. I do go, sometimes to an hotel, sometimes to a lodging, sometimes to a railway station or to the corner of a particular street and there I do find Jorsen smoking his big meerschaum pipe. We shake hands and he explains why he has sent for me, after which we talk of various things. Never mind what they are, for that would be telling Jorsen's secrets as well as my own, which ...
— The Mahatma and the Hare • H. Rider Haggard
... cards, and some few stay at home, or ride out with their husbands, and instruct themselves and families by reading; and all this much as it happens in Europe. However, they are all very civil to me; and why should I see faults, or be hurt at the absurd stories they tell of me, because they don't know me? Besides, 'tis no great affront to be called ...
— Journal of a Voyage to Brazil - And Residence There During Part of the Years 1821, 1822, 1823 • Maria Graham
... his story. "Well," rejoined her son, "we did throw them, and, at the very first haul, we brought up a chariot-wheel, made all of gold, and inlaid with diamonds!" "Lord bless us!" said his mother, "and what did the captain say?" — "Why, he said it was one of the wheels of Pharaoh's chariot, that had lain in the Red Sea ever since that wicked King was drowned, with all his host, while pursuing the Israelites." — "Well, well," said his mother, lifting ...
— Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions - Vol. I • Charles Mackay
... why the town has been built so far from the mountains, situated as it is on a sandy, treeless plain. It is growing, like most of the western towns, at a tremendous pace, and we are lodging in a luxurious hotel, our room on the fourth floor numbers 454. We found the avenues of trees lining every street ...
— A Lady's Life on a Farm in Manitoba • Mrs. Cecil Hall
... calmly closed his eyes, And silently I sat and held his hand. After a time, when we were left alone, He spoke again with calmer voice and said: "Captain, you oft have asked my history, And I as oft refused. There is no cause Why I should longer hold it from my friend Who reads the closing chapter. It may teach One soul to lean upon the arm of Christ— That hope and happiness find anchorage Only in heaven. While my lonesome life Saw death but dimly in the ...
— The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems • H. L. Gordon
... think I could manage to mount such fine threads without very special trouble. All the threads lying on the board, however, were found in reality to consist of three or four separate threads, and there is no reason why several threads should not be mounted in parallel, provided, of course, that they are equally stretched and touching each other. Equality of tension in the mounting could be secured by making one attachment ...
— On Laboratory Arts • Richard Threlfall
... King Francis, "Distance all value enhances. When a man's busy, why, leisure Strikes him as wonderful pleasure: Faith, and at leisure once is he? Straightway he wants to be busy. Here we've got peace; and aghast I'm Caught thinking war the true pastime. Is there a reason in metre? Give us your speech, master Peter!" 10 I who, if mortal dare say so, Ne'er ...
— Dramatic Romances • Robert Browning
... was no positive engagement; and the air at the coast will do her good. After all, if young Guest felt no more for her than that it was better for her not to marry him. What a wonderful marriage for a girl like Miss Tulliver,—quite romantic? Why, young Guest will put up for the borough at the next election. Nothing like commerce nowadays! That young Wakem nearly went out of his mind; he always was rather queer; but he's gone abroad again to be out of the way,—quite the best thing for a deformed young man. Miss Unit declares ...
— The Mill on the Floss • George Eliot
... to the older sister's consternation she began to cry, with her shining head laid on her arms. "I don't know w-w-what to do, Sally!" she sobbed. "I don't know what is right! I know I'm desperately tired of worrying and fretting and being criticised! I don't see why it should be my life that is always being upset and disorganized, while other women go on placidly having ...
— Martie the Unconquered • Kathleen Norris
... brightness, Pierre understood why they had quailed. For the man, though wrecked beyond hope of living, was terrible still. The thick, gray stubble on his face could not hide altogether the hard lines of mouth and jaw, and on the ...
— Riders of the Silences • Max Brand
... mean! Was he forgotten? Possibly. Then why not remain forgotten—creep in somewhere? Hide. But where? How? With whom? In what hole? And was it to be for ...
— Under Western Eyes • Joseph Conrad
... have been rather unwell myself the last few days or should have answered your very kind letter sooner. I feel really overpowered. I cannot understand why you or anyone should care about my being an F.R.S., because I have really done so little of what is usually considered scientific work to deserve it. I have for many years felt almost ashamed of the amount of reputation and honour that has been awarded me. I can understand the general ...
— Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences Vol 2 (of 2) • James Marchant
... Cortes grew angry. He was also very anxious. He felt the weakness of his position, the little handful of men in this great populous city, which he had sworn to win for Spain. The King must go. "Why do we waste time on this barbarian? Let us seize him and, if he resists, plunge our swords into his ...
— A Book of Discovery - The History of the World's Exploration, From the Earliest - Times to the Finding of the South Pole • Margaret Bertha (M. B.) Synge
... movements. The historian is indeed at liberty to form his own theories as to the trend of prices in the seventeenth century, for he is unhampered by the existence of known records such as those for the sixteenth century; but it is impossible to construct any theory of prices which will explain why the conversion of arable land to pasture continued at a time when much pasture land was being plowed up. It is necessary to choose a theory of prices which will explain either the extension of tillage or the extension of pasture; both cannot be explained ...
— The Enclosures in England - An Economic Reconstruction • Harriett Bradley
... who saw'st thy Caesar's deeds outdone! Alas! why passed he [Napoleon] too the Rubicon ... Moscow! thou limit of his long career, For which rude Charles had wept ...
— Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama - A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 • E. Cobham Brewer
... "Why, it isn't the sight of the rapids," she said, looking up fiercely. "The bridges "are not safe. I'm not a child, Basil. O, what shall ...
— Henry James, Jr. • William Dean Howells
... "Why certainly," and went to the top of the tree, and said: "I'll carry these branches which are the heavier; you carry the trunk which ...
— Europa's Fairy Book • Joseph Jacobs
... did not see why we should interfere by force to prevent a man's marrying as many wives as he chose. Such a man was his own worst enemy; and his crime carried its ...
— Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 3, April 16, 1870 • Various
... their solitary repast. There were suspicions at times that the milk was diluted by a mixture of a very common tasteless fluid, which led a sagacious Yankee student to put the matter to the test by asking the simple carrier-boy why his mother did not mix the milk with warm water instead of cold. 'She does,' replied the honest youth. This mode of obtaining evening commons did not prove in all cases the most economical on the part of the fed. It sometimes happened, that, from inadvertence or previous preparation for ...
— A Collection of College Words and Customs • Benjamin Homer Hall
... are right enough," Ch'ing Wen rejoined, "but I do suspect her, as why did she too start, all of a ...
— Hung Lou Meng, Book II • Cao Xueqin
... towards us. They drive us into our prahus to escape their taxes and laws, and then declare us pirates and put us to death. There are natives in our crew, Touhan, of Sumatra and Java, of Bianca [Banka] and Borneo; ask them why they hate the Dutchmen; why they would kill a Dutchman. It is because the Dutchman is a false man, not like the white man [English]. The Hollander stabs in the dark; he is ...
— Great Pirate Stories • Various
... very stubborn one. I afterwards saw a man here, in Georgia, die, who, if he had been in Pierce's Surgical Institute under the treatment and care of his skilled doctors and nurses, I know would have most assuredly got well. Why? Because it was only a case of stone in the bladder, and they are easily cured at Dr. Pierce's Surgical Institute. I think almost any chronic disease can be cured there, if taken in time, judging from my observations while an inmate ...
— The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English • R. V. Pierce
... liberties were which they so zealously challenged from their sovereign. They delivered to these messengers a schedule containing the chief articles of their demands; which was no sooner shown to the king than he burst into a furious passion, and asked why the barons did not also demand of him his kingdom? swearing that he would never grant them such liberties as must reduce himself to slavery [g]. [FN [g] M. ...
— The History of England, Volume I • David Hume
... to be tripped up by its tough roots which trailed along the earth, but my companion, who was well accustomed to the sort of ground, kept me from falling. I asked him, as we ran, why he did not stop, and, as I knew to be the custom, cut down and burn a clear space round us, so as to let the conflagration pass by on ...
— Dick Onslow - Among the Redskins • W.H.G. Kingston
... from the top floor of a house at 119 Elizabeth Street. The father, Leonardo Quartiano, reported the disappearance, and in answer to questions stated that he had received no letters or telephone messages. "Why should I?" he inquired, with uplifted hands and the most guileless demeanor. "I am poor! I am a humble fishmonger." In point of fact, Quartiano at the time had a pocketful of blackmail letters, and after four weeks paid a good ransom and got ...
— Courts and Criminals • Arthur Train
... to us as we stood on our balcony, was a delightful character, a nigger. I heard Mr. Tyson look over and say, "Jerry, why did you not tell me you were going to get married?" Up came Jerry, looking the very picture of a happy bridegroom, having been married the evening before to a dark widow considerably older than himself. He was quite a "get up" in his dress, ...
— First Impressions of the New World - On Two Travellers from the Old in the Autumn of 1858 • Isabella Strange Trotter
... an' told him what ailed Tom an' why he couldn't be no different—jest what old Doc Andrews told us—that they was a little piece o' bone druv deep into his skull that time he fell. He spoke real vi'lent then. 'But—my Lord!—woman,' he sez, 'that's what I'm talkin' about. If we ...
— The Best Short Stories of 1917 - and the Yearbook of the American Short Story • Various
... plain to me this saying; how the least of all thy companions surpasseth me in riches—thou saidest but now that they lived in utter penury, and were pinched by extreme poverty and why thou callest me a poor man, but sayest that, when I shall be passing rich, I, who am ready to distribute, shall be ...
— Barlaam and Ioasaph • St. John of Damascus
... grieve an' hang thy head azide, A-thinken o' thy lam' that died. The flag's a-vleen wide an' high, An' ringen bells do sheaeke the sky; The fifes do play, the horns do roar, An' boughs be up at ev'ry door: They 'll be a-dancen soon,—the drum 'S a-rumblen now. Come, Fanny, come! Why father's gone, an' mother too. They went up leaene an hour agoo; An' at the green the young and wold Do stan' so thick as sheep in vwold: The men do laugh, the bwoys do shout,— Come out you mwopen wench, come out, ...
— Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect • William Barnes
... for him—a quite unbounded respect. He is the greatest greaser of wheels I have ever met. Help yourself, sir, won't you? I am sorry I can't join you, but Major Ralston insists that I must walk circumspectly, being on his sick list. I really don't know why my skull was not cracked. He declares it ought to have been and even seems inclined to be rather disgusted with me because ...
— The Lamp in the Desert • Ethel M. Dell
... 'Why, Caingey, old boy! you look like a boiled porpoise with parsley sauce!' exclaimed Mr. Waffles, pulling up where the unfortunate youth was spluttering and getting emptied like a jug. 'Confound it!' added he, as the water came gurgling out of his mouth, 'but you must ...
— Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour • R. S. Surtees
... vessel in the distance calls up the former pictures to the mind, and enables the practised eye of the mariner to decide at once as to the kind and character of what he so imperfectly sees.—This helps also to explain the reason why children are so gratified with pictures when presented to the eye; and why they are best pleased when the figures are most simple and distinct, and particularly, when the objects grouped in the picture have previously ...
— A Practical Enquiry into the Philosophy of Education • James Gall
... saw, in addition to the articles before mentioned, a good number of arrows at various points, a few broken spears, a tomahawk of a rude kind. Here and there, on the barricade and below it, there were dark stains. These signs only increased his anxiety, but at the same time awakened wonder. Why had the party left their fort? It seemed scarcely likely that they had been overpowered in an assault, for there were no marks of a struggle within the barricade, and if the savages had succeeded in an attack they would certainly have appropriated all that they could ...
— Round the World in Seven Days • Herbert Strang
... our flour. "I am, too," he said, "a friend of free trade, but it must be a free trade of perfect reciprocity. If the governing considerations were cheapness; if national independence were to weigh nothing; if honor nothing; why not subsidize foreign powers to defend us?" He met the argument of the deficiency of labor and of the danger of developing overcrowded and pauperized manufacturing centers by reasoning that machinery would enable the Americans to atone for their lack of laborers; ...
— Rise of the New West, 1819-1829 - Volume 14 in the series American Nation: A History • Frederick Jackson Turner
... a preliminary is too much to ask of a Neophyte. Three days without food, and three nights without sleep! Why, you would have to raise ...
— Godolphin, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... "Why, look here!" says B., squirming about in the grasp of the officers, and reaching over for the landlord and his wallet—"what the thunder are you about? Come, I say, none of your darn'd nonsense now; let me go, I tell you, and hand ...
— The Humors of Falconbridge - A Collection of Humorous and Every Day Scenes • Jonathan F. Kelley
... "Why, as to that, there may be two ways of looking at it. As a soldier, I may justly repine at a fate which ties me here when I ...
— The Master of Appleby • Francis Lynde
... vesting the regency either in the harmless hands of Frederick-Leopold, or in those of Prince Albert, whose ideas on the subject of government are to a great extent in keeping with those of the kaiser. That was one of the reasons why Henry was sent off to China, and any doubt upon the subject will be removed by remembering the fact that his sojourn in the far East will terminate with the eighteenth birthday,—the coming of age—of his nephew, the ...
— The Secret Memoirs of the Courts of Europe: William II, Germany; Francis Joseph, Austria-Hungary, Volume I. (of 2) • Mme. La Marquise de Fontenoy
... "Why dost thou wind and turn, good Ximen?" said the Jew, shaking his head; "thou knowest well what my words drive at. Thy master is the pretended Almamen; and that recreant Israelite (if Israelite, indeed, still be one ...
— Leila, Complete - The Siege of Granada • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... Why were men saved? ask: others who seek to make the occasional male survivor a hissing scorn; and yet the testimony makes it clear that for a long time during that ordeal the more frightful position seemed to many to ...
— Sinking of the Titanic - and Great Sea Disasters • Various
... staying of its rays upon me formed. When I saw the ground darkened only in front of me, I turned me to my side with fear of being abandoned: and my Comfort, wholly turning to me, began to say, "Why dost thou still distrust? Dost thou not believe me with thee, and that I guide thee? It is now evening there where the body is buried within which I cast a shadow; Naples holds it, and from Brundusium it is taken; if now in front of me there is no shadow, marvel not ...
— The Divine Comedy, Volume 2, Purgatory [Purgatorio] • Dante Alighieri
... you have, mother!" laughed Brook. "But on general principles I don't see why I shouldn't marry Miss Bowring, if she'll have me. Why not? Her father was a gentleman, you like her mother, and as ...
— Adam Johnstone's Son • F. Marion Crawford
... husband came to her, somewhat sheepishly, for he disliked to tell her the intention he had in his heart; but at length he made her understand that just because he was married was no reason why he should remain at home with the women; and he, too, intended ...
— A Treasury of Heroes and Heroines - A Record of High Endeavour and Strange Adventure from 500 B.C. to 1920 A.D. • Clayton Edwards
... sorely tried my patience, and that I was often a good deal better than half-minded in my soul to rush out in a feverish fit of moral indignation and put an end to their ghastly career of crime without waiting to hear what they had to say in their own favour, showing cause why sentence of death should not be executed upon them. And I would have done it, I believe, had it not been for that peculiar arrangement of the drawing-room windows, which made it impossible to get at the culprits direct, ...
— Science in Arcady • Grant Allen
... the last day of the drinking, the High King called out with a loud voice, and he asked Osgar would he make an exchange of spears with him. "Why do you ask that exchange," said Osgar, "when I myself and my spear were often with yourself in time of battle? And you would not ask it of me," he said, "if Finn and the Fianna were with me now." "I ...
— Gods and Fighting Men • Lady I. A. Gregory
... traveller applies to the conjurer, who repairs to the spot, where he takes cogiaba or the intoxicating powder formerly mentioned, then standing up addresses the tree with many titles as if some great lord, then asks who it is, what he does there, why he sent for him, and what he would have him do, whether he desires to be out; whether he will accompany him, where he will be carried, and if a house is to be built and endowed for his reception? Having received ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. III. • Robert Kerr
... "Why," he ejaculated, "my brother and I each have a double express with us, and do you think we'd sit still in our seats? No. Hang me if we ...
— The Great K. & A. Robbery • Paul Liechester Ford
... similar in extent to Spain, France, Italy, and even to Ireland; distinct animals, considered by most naturalists as distinct species, approaching man most closely in structural eminence and size, limited to areas not larger than Spain or Italy. Why, then, should not the primitive theatre of a nation of men have been circumscribed within similar boundaries, and from the beginning have been as independent as the chimpanzee of Guinea, or the orangs of Borneo ...
— Louis Agassiz: His Life and Correspondence • Louis Agassiz
... explained why I had come. The alarm and amazement were at once succeeded by a shrill, joyful "Ach!" and she turned her eyes upwards to the ceiling. This "Ach!" was caught up like an echo and repeated from the hall to the ...
— The Darling and Other Stories • Anton Chekhov
... look cold desolation meets me. My father—Andre—and self-condemnation! Why seek I Andre now? Am I a man, To soothe the sorrows of a suffering friend? The weather-cock of passion! fool inebriate! Who could with ruffian hand strive to provoke Hoar wisdom to intemperance! who could lie! Aye, swagger, lie, and brag!—Liar! Damnation!! O, let me steal away ...
— Andre • William Dunlap
... Cod. Mendoza the maize shoot employed to express the word acatl, "reed." I believe that the character kan repeats the Mexican idea, the maize stalk. This explains for us the reason why the character kan, as above pointed out, always appears among ...
— Day Symbols of the Maya Year • Cyrus Thomas
... very strict union; as we may observe in the Papists throughout this kingdom, under those real difficulties which are justly put on them; and in the several schisms of Presbyterians, and other sects, under that grievous persecution of the modern kind, called want of power. And the reason why such confederacies, are kept so sacred and inviolable, is very plain, because in each of those cases I have mentioned, the whole body is moved by one common spirit, in pursuit of one general end, and the interest of ...
— The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D. D., Volume IX; • Jonathan Swift
... "Why, Lawless!" exclaimed I; "you are determined to astonish the natives, with a vengeance: such a turnout as that has never been seen in these parts before, ...
— Frank Fairlegh - Scenes From The Life Of A Private Pupil • Frank E. Smedley
... again the frigate fired, but she was two miles away and, though the shot went skipping over the water near the brig, none of them struck her. The men, unable to understand why they were running the gauntlet of the frigate's fire, looked inquiringly ...
— Held Fast For England - A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar (1779-83) • G. A. Henty |
