"Whisper" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... having passed to Ireland, came back to me in mid-ocean, telling that those so dear to me, whom I had left on the banks of the Hudson, were well, and following us with their prayers. This was like a whisper of God from the sea, bidding me keep heart ...
— Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 6 of 8 • Various
... Mississippi, including an election to the United States Senate, where he served a full term; later he was twice appointed Register of the United States Treasury. In all these positions Mr. Bruce gave the greatest satisfaction, and not a single whisper of dishonesty or incompetency has ever been heard against him. During the period of his public life he was brought into active and daily contact with Northern and Southern white people, all of whom speak of him in the highest ...
— The Future of the American Negro • Booker T. Washington
... Walnut, Gherkin, Onion, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Mixed, and other members of that noble family. The jams, as being of a less masculine temperament, and as wearing curlpapers, announced themselves in feminine caligraphy, like a soft whisper, to be Raspberry, Gooseberry, Apricot, Plum, Damson, Apple, and Peach. The scene closing on these charmers, and the lower slide ascending, oranges were revealed, attended by a mighty japanned sugar-box, to temper their acerbity if unripe. ...
— The Mystery of Edwin Drood • Charles Dickens
... discoloured pockets had come under her eyes. Now her hair was dyed, her cheeks and lips rouged, and her former air of health and good spirits gone. She never laughed. She had smoked so many cigarettes that now her voice hardly rose above a whisper. At one time she had been accustomed to boast that she never drank, and it had been one of her peculiarities for which she was well known. But on this occasion she joined Ellis in his whisky. She had long since departed from her old-time rule of temperance, ...
— Vandover and the Brute • Frank Norris
... I tink it is over." And shrugging his broad shoulders, he 'cutely remarked, "Some dead, some maybe Siberia, and"—with a significant smile he lowered his voice to a whisper—"some, maybe, 'fraid to say anything because for many reason. Yes, I tink finis; but if not, den you trust me to help. I knows these people, and some of dem ...
— Looking Seaward Again • Walter Runciman
... words they uttered at first, for a mysterious, invisible something prompted each to look into the other's eyes, to clasp the other's hands, to kiss the other's lips, and lovingly to whisper ...
— Maggie Miller • Mary J. Holmes
... all she whispered. But the happiness and welcome in that whisper could never have been better expressed in longer speech. Then slightly, ever so slightly, she tilted her sweet face ...
— The Spirit of the Border - A Romance of the Early Settlers in the Ohio Valley • Zane Grey
... the days were evil. At present, the picture which my thoughts suggested, far from fixing my attention, destroyed the portion I had yet left, by conjuring up to my recollection the peril in which his affairs now stood. I endeavoured, in the lowest whisper I could frame, to request Andrew to obtain information, whether any of the gentlemen of the firm of MacVittie & Co. were at present in the congregation. But Andrew, wrapped in profound attention to the sermon, only replied to my suggestion by hard punches with his elbow, as signals to me to remain ...
— Rob Roy, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott
... Murray, almost in a whisper, as he and his companion stood together where the man in the chains heaved the lead, singing out the soundings cheerily till he was checked by an order which resulted in his marking off the number of fathoms in a speaking voice, and later on in quite a subdued tone, ...
— Hunting the Skipper - The Cruise of the "Seafowl" Sloop • George Manville Fenn
... looked round the verandah in which they were sitting to make sure that they were alone, and having satisfied himself of this he leant forward and said, in a half-whisper, "Tiens, Leon! Will you help me? I am determined to stand it no longer; it is wearing my life out; I have not a moment's peace. If I don't get rid of it I believe ...
— The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII: No. 353, October 2, 1886. • Various
... of the guillotine is over you!" said Sissy, in a bombastic whisper addressed to Mrs. Pemberton—a comforting formula the Madigans had invented to still their envy of those who rode in carriages. But her smiling face, when it turned toward Crosby, had no threat ...
— The Madigans • Miriam Michelson
... very dissatisfied with the smallness of the stakes. "In the great houses which I frequent," she explained grandly to Lyttleton, "we constantly play for paper." "Madam," said Lyttleton in a solemn whisper, "In the little houses which I frequent, ...
— The Letter-Bag of Lady Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope v. I. • A. M. W. Stirling (compiler)
... thou see, child?" he said at last, and he spoke almost in a breathless whisper. "What art thou ...
— The Little Hunchback Zia • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... expounded Queen Marguerite, "before ever the fighting begins, to bar out any knight as the procession files before him in the grand entree of the lists. You shall sit beside him and indicate any whom you wish disallowed. Moreover, you can at any moment whisper in Louis's ear and he will throw every advantage possible in the way of ...
— Romance of Roman Villas - (The Renaissance) • Elizabeth W. (Elizbeth Williams) Champney
... in a low whisper, as he unslung his bow. "Come, now, it will take all our united force to slay that brute, for, if I have not lost my power of judging such game, I'm pretty sure that he's a very big ...
— The Hot Swamp • R.M. Ballantyne
... murmur and moan, Many a tune in a single tone, For every ear with a secret true— The sea-shell wants to whisper to you." ...
— The Poetical Works of George MacDonald in Two Volumes, Volume I • George MacDonald
... mumbled, indistinctly. "Isn't there any—oil?" His words were almost like a whisper ...
— Flowing Gold • Rex Beach
... with the polite remark that the Prussian Government would be soon very glad to follow his example. When William I. ascended the throne, he ignored the rupture of diplomatic relations, and sent La Marmora to whisper into the ear of the new monarch words of artful flattery. He may have doubted if a Prussianised Germany would exactly come as a boon and a blessing to men. In 1848 he prophesied that Germanism would disturb the European equilibrium, ...
— Cavour • Countess Evelyn Martinengo-Cesaresco
... afraid it will cost us too much," he said in a whisper, but the landlord had already gone to the kitchen and they had to ...
— Pixy's Holiday Journey • George Lang
... come to the door of the Queen's room, and whisper, to see if she was awake, 'The Princess Pepperina is awake, but all ...
— Tales Of The Punjab • Flora Annie Steel
... proper time. The officer made answer that he had just arrived from the western army, and his orders were to deliver them with all promptitude, and to the president in person; but that he would wait his directions. Mr. Lear returned, and in a whisper imparted to the president what had passed. General Washington rose from the table and went to the officer. He was back in a short time, made a word of apology for his absence, but no allusion to the cause of it. He had company that day. Everything went on as usual. Dinner over, ...
— Washington and the American Republic, Vol. 3. • Benson J. Lossing
... elder woman being a lonely spinster, it seemed only right that Joan should make her home under her scarcely hospitable roof. Then, too, there was another reason which influenced the girl. It was a purely sentimental reason, such as at her age might well appeal to her. A whisper had reached her to the effect that, hard and unsympathetic as her Aunt Mercy was, romance at one time had place in her life—a romance which left her the only sufferer, a romance that had spelt a life's disaster for her. To the adamantine fortune-teller was attributed a devotion so ...
— The Golden Woman - A Story of the Montana Hills • Ridgwell Cullum
... down the middle, caused she said by the bite of a parrot, which nearly severed her lip when a girl. This feature I recollect more clearly than anything else. My mother remarked that though so big, she was lighter in tread, than anyone in the house, her voice was so soft, it was like a whisper or a flute; her name was I ...
— My Secret Life, Volumes I. to III. - 1888 Edition • Anonymous
... Joan appeared at the night school, the men and girls looked up from their tasks to stare at her, and whisper among themselves; but she was, to all appearances, oblivious of their scrutiny, and the flurry of curiosity and excitement soon died out. After the first visit her place was never vacant. On the nights appointed for the classes to meet, ...
— That Lass O' Lowrie's - 1877 • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... thou art not led to battle, Not enforced to war with wizards? Wisely does the birch make answer: "This the language of the many, Others speak as thou, unjustly, That I only live in pleasure, That my silver leaves and tassels Only whisper my rejoicings; That I have no cares, no sorrows, That I have no hours unhappy, Knowing neither pain nor trouble. I am weeping for my smallness, Am lamenting for my weakness, Have no sympathy, no pity, Stand here motionless for ages, Stand alone in fen and forest, In these woodlands vast ...
— The Kalevala (complete) • John Martin Crawford, trans.
... long way back.... You see, before Oliver fell in love with Jane, he ... he cared a little for me. He really did, Mr. Juke. And he made me care for him.' Her voice dropped to a whisper. ...
— Potterism - A Tragi-Farcical Tract • Rose Macaulay
... pursuit: and suddenly from the upper galleries was heard a thundering discharge of carbines. That sound awoke Miss Walladmor from her trance: she kept her eyes on the door—she stretched out her hand, with the rapidity of flight and terror, to Captain Walladmor—and said, but with the stifled whisper of one in agony: "Oh!—come—come—come— come—come!" He rose, and for one moment paused. A presentiment was at his heart that it were better he should go. Yet he had not the resolution to refuse that hand which was stretched out to save him, nor voluntarily ...
— Walladmor: - And Now Freely Translated from the German into English. - In Two Volumes. Vol. II. • Thomas De Quincey
... of Flatt'ry rise, Th' anointed Son of Dulness and of Lies: Whose softest Whisper fills a Patron's Ear, Who smiles unpleas'd, and mourns without a tear.[43] Persuasive, tho' a woful Blockhead he: Truth dies before his shadowy Sophistry. For well he knows[44] the Vices of the Town, The Schemes of State, and Int'rest ...
— An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad • Walter Harte
... court room," says Mr. Goodrich, to whom we owe this description, "during these two or three minutes presented an extraordinary spectacle. Chief Justice Marshall, with his tall and gaunt figure bent over as if to catch the slightest whisper, the deep furrows of his cheek expanded with emotion and his eyes suffused with tears; Mr. Justice Washington, at his side, with his small and emaciated frame, and countenance more like marble than I ever saw on any other ...
— Daniel Webster • Henry Cabot Lodge
... of the rally. It was an evening in late May—late, but it was May, and the fairies' month still. There was a pleasant, shivery chill in the air. A far sprinkling of stars made the dark of the still, windless night look darker and warmer and safer to whisper in. The big horse-chestnut tree at the corner of the syringa hedge was only a darker blot against the surrounding dark, and the slope of faintly lit street on the other side of the hedge looked far away, ...
— The Wishing Moon • Louise Elizabeth Dutton
... fairies whisper maidens' wishes in older ears, eh?" Mr. Dinsmore archly returned, and glad to see the gloom fading from ...
— Mona • Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
... Thereupon, Bartleby would tranquilly decline, and yet remain idle as before. Then the lawyer would give a great stare, and turn to me. And what could I say? At last I was made aware that all through the circle of my professional acquaintance, a whisper of wonder was running round, having reference to the strange creature I kept at my office. This worried me very much. And as the idea came upon me of his possibly turning out a long-lived man, and keep occupying my chambers, and denying my authority; and perplexing ...
— The Piazza Tales • Herman Melville
... spite of his self-control I could see the grey pallor of fear creeping into his face, and he could not keep his lips from trembling. Twice he essayed to speak, but his mouth refused to utter the words. What he did say was strange to me, when he got it out at last. 'I was right'—I heard him whisper, almost to himself—'I knew, I knew.' He repeated those words several times. It was then I saw that his self-control arose from the fact that although he was terrified he did not appear to be so greatly surprised. Surprised he was, but not in the way I had expected. His prime difficulty ...
— The Moon Rock • Arthur J. Rees
... peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whisper'd word 'Lenore!' This I whisper'd, and an echo murmur'd back the word 'Lenore'— Merely ...
— The Children's Garland from the Best Poets • Various
... Abigail, And think upon the jewels and the gold; The board is marked thus that covers it.— [Aside to ABIGAIL in a whisper.] Away, ...
— The Jew of Malta • Christopher Marlowe
... placing both his hands upon the table began to whisper in Welsh to his professional adviser. Not wishing to hear any of their conversation I finished my breakfast as soon as possible and left the room. Going into the inn-yard I had a great deal of learned discourse ...
— Wild Wales - Its People, Language and Scenery • George Borrow
... all the time my life had been continuing along its old petty, muddled, pleasure-seeking course, and the same virtuous thoughts which I and my adored friend Dimitri ("my own marvellous Mitia," as I used to call him to myself in a whisper) had been wont to exchange with one another still pleased my intellect, but left my sensibility untouched. Nevertheless there came a moment when those thoughts swept into my head with a sudden freshness and force of moral revelation which left me aghast at the amount of time which I ...
— Youth • Leo Tolstoy
... touch on the shoulder, and a whisper in the ear, were sufficient to arouse them. He having also called up the Doctor and the two clerks, hurried on to where the men were on watch outside. They also had heard the sounds, and were on the alert. They were certain that as yet all the horses were safe. ...
— The Frontier Fort - Stirring Times in the N-West Territory of British America • W. H. G. Kingston
... home, cooked for him lights and liver that unquestionably were purchased from the same cat's-meat man. He now leered with a fond and watery gaze upon Mr. Wrenn's scholarly pursuits, and announced in a whisper: ...
— Our Mr. Wrenn - The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man • Sinclair Lewis
... whisper to her: "You're going to sit next to me in 'Doc' Wiggins' sleigh to-night, ain't ...
— 'Way Down East - A Romance of New England Life • Joseph R. Grismer
... you see them." My eagerness was too great to stop now to discuss trifles, and to humour him I swore as desired. He had been speaking with a continual increasing effort; he cast a hurried and fearful glance round as though he expected to see someone listening, and it was almost in a whisper that he went on, "You will find them in—" His agitation had become most painful to watch, and as he spoke the last words a convulsion passed over his face, and speech failing him, he sank back on his pillow. A strange fear took hold of me. For a moment I thought there ...
— The Lost Stradivarius • John Meade Falkner
... poor thing!" said Gladys in a whisper. "How dreadful it must be! Will she be all ...
— The Campfire Girls on Ellen's Isle - The Trail of the Seven Cedars • Hildegard G. Frey
... said Mr. Walker, doggedly; "it would only be robbing you, Mr. Woolsey—seven more detainers have come in while my wife has been away. I must go through the court now; but," he added in a whisper to the tailor, "my good sir, my debts of HONOUR are sacred, and if you will have the goodness to lend ME the twenty pounds, I pledge you my word as a gentleman to return it when ...
— Men's Wives • William Makepeace Thackeray
... the main tent-pole struck him, as it fell, in a vital part, and Sapor died from the blow. Such at least was the account given by those who had accompanied him, and generally believed by his subjects. There were not, however, wanting persons to whisper that the story was untrue—that the real cause of the catastrophe which had overtaken the unhappy monarch was a conspiracy of his nobles, or his guards, who had overthrown his tent purposely, and murdered him ere he could ...
— The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 7. (of 7): The Sassanian or New Persian Empire • George Rawlinson
... nerved himself to show the encircling brutes that not even the horrors of this death could shake his will, or wring a groan from his heaving breast. Here, too, above the unending din of the waterfall and the whisper of these hemlocks overhead, had often risen some such shrill-voiced, defiant deathsong, from the smoke and anguish of the stake, as that chant of the Algonquin son of Alknomuk which my grandchildren still sing at their school. This dead and horrible past of heathendom I saw ...
— In the Valley • Harold Frederic
... faint whisper of a hoarse yell as the man fell back; Nic saw his hands clutching in the air, then he went backward into the boiling water, while the end of the pole was seen to rise above the surface for a moment or two, ...
— Nic Revel - A White Slave's Adventures in Alligator Land • George Manville Fenn
... you are consumed. Will you lean on human pride—on your own sufficiency? It is a broken reed, and your fall will be forever fatal. Will you say there is no God?"—his voice sank into a low, menacing whisper—"will you say there is no God?" He raised his hands warningly, and shook them over the congregation while he lowered his voice. "Hush! hush! lest he hear—lest he mark—lest the great Jehovah"—his voice swelling suddenly into loud, piercing tones—"Maker of heaven and earth, Judge of the quick ...
— Trumps • George William Curtis
... the house old Hell's words: "Not so, my sons, not so: why do ye these kind of things, very wicked things?" But the monks took no notice of him. It happened in course of time that the Abbot went away for about ten days. What he did in that time, never transpired: though there was some whisper of certain "spiritual exercises," which he was said to have been engaged in. Certain it is, that he returned to his monastery, as he left it, a monk devout and regular: the monk was the same, but the Abbot was mightily altered. The morning after his arrival, a Chapter was ...
— Moral Philosophy • Joseph Rickaby, S. J.
... hence! [PEPE retires.] [Aside.] I saw her start and pale, Turn off with horror; as if she had seen— What?—simply me. For, am I not enough, And something over, to make ladies quail, Start, hide their faces, whisper to their friends, Point at me—dare she?—and perform such tricks As women will when monsters blast their sight? O! saints above me, have I come so low? Yon damsel of Ravenna shall bewail That start and shudder. I am mad, mad, mad! I must be patient. They have trifled ...
— Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: Francesca da Rimini • George Henry Boker
... meets here, long, long ago, and hunt balls which succeeded them; of breakneck rides; of love-making in that garden peopled with the ghosts of more than a century of lovers; of duels fought at dawn. Of such vague, thrilling tales the old house seems to whisper. ...
— American Adventures - A Second Trip 'Abroad at home' • Julian Street
... the foot of the Canongate the silent cortege trooping along the valley to Holyrood—men who remembered with all the force of boyish recollection how the assassins of James I. had been dragged and tormented through Edinburgh streets, and might wonder and whisper inquiries to their sons whether such a horrible sight might be coming again, and what part that pale boy had in the dreadful deed? It was but fifty years since that catastrophe, and already two long minorities had paralysed the progress of Scotland. ...
— Royal Edinburgh - Her Saints, Kings, Prophets and Poets • Margaret Oliphant
... question to Hilaria and wishing he could paint the dim room with its splashes of sun and wondering what colours he could get that would be pure enough; and Hilaria was wishing Ishmael would give her a chance to whisper to him the news she was burning to impart and not merely stare at her and everything else with that blank gaze that always seemed to go through her to the wall beyond. And most of the boys itched to get out for an hour or so before supper, ...
— Secret Bread • F. Tennyson Jesse
... before Deborah entered the chamber to kindle the fire, trying to form some excuse to keep Prue from going to school with her. How could she take her to-day of all days; for the girls to look at her, and whisper to each other, and ask her questions, and to study critically her dress, and to touch her hair, and pity her and kiss her! And she would be sure to open the round gold locket she wore upon a tiny gold chain about her neck and ...
— Miss Prudence - A Story of Two Girls' Lives. • Jennie Maria (Drinkwater) Conklin
... unpardonable.' 'But these thoughts added grief and horror to me; I thought that all things wrought for my eternal overthrow.' So ready is the tender heart to write bitter things against itself, and as ready is the tempter to whisper despairing thoughts. In the midst of this distress he 'saw a glory in walking with God,' although a dismal ...
— The Works of John Bunyan • John Bunyan
... son, do your best at your task. And," Mr. Channing added, sinking his voice to a whisper, "when the choristers peal out their hymn of praise to God, during these sacred services, let your heart ascend with it in fervent praise and thanksgiving. Too many go through these services in a matter-of-course spirit, their heart ...
— The Channings • Mrs. Henry Wood
... me to breathe a syllable concerning any of my master's secrets," returned the gondolier, drawing himself up in sudden reserve. "It is enough that he bid me deliver the letter; after which I should think it presumption even to whisper more." ...
— The Bravo • J. Fenimore Cooper
... courteously and went back to the door, half closing it and making her request in a low tone. Then her stepmother's excited sibilant whisper: ...
— Exit Betty • Grace Livingston Hill
... so loud," resumed the girl in a confidential whisper. "I'm sure you're a gentleman. I should like to help you—if I could only dare to do it, ...
— Basil • Wilkie Collins
... if half smothered under the grasp of the luxuriant and fungus-like forest, like the shutting of a door in some distant entry of the damp and shaggy wilderness. If we had not been there, no mortal had heard it. When we asked Joe in a whisper what it was, he answered,— "Tree fall." There is something singularly grand and impressive in the sound of a tree falling in a perfectly calm night like this, as if the agencies which overthrow it did not need to be excited, but worked with a subtle, deliberate, and conscious force, like ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. II, No. 8, June 1858 • Various
... instinct of nature that made him reach out a groping hand, and with lips that would scarcely move to whisper, "Puck!" ...
— The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories • Ethel M. Dell
... Then he struck a heavy hand upon George's shoulder. "And I've got it too!" he cried in an exultant whisper. "I've got ...
— Once Aboard The Lugger • Arthur Stuart-Menteth Hutchinson
... relation by Phil's jealousy. I kept away from him for a while, and almost made Miss Scrawney think I had fallen in love with her, in order to keep Phil from getting a word with me. At last, however, just as the music began, he pulled my sleeve and asked in a whisper if I wasn't going to take Grace ...
— Lippincott's Magazine, August, 1885 • Various
... any idea how perfectly splendid it makes me feel to think I'm goin' to have that sweet, beautiful Mrs. Jocelyn for my own mother." The last word was little more than a whisper. Leonora's dark ...
— Polly of Lady Gay Cottage • Emma C. Dowd
... of terror and delight runs through the assembly. The ladies whisper to one another. The black slave was given to Bedwin Sands by an Egyptian pasha in exchange for three dozen of Maraschino. He has sewn up ever so many odalisques in sacks and ...
— Vanity Fair • William Makepeace Thackeray
... beak, watching when the sound shall indicate that a worm has hidden himself below the bark. All else is calm and still. I look up and see the white clouds drifting through the deep ocean of blue above. Then there comes a sudden shiver through the tree-tops, a sprinkling of dry leaves on the grass, a whisper, a rush of air; and now every tree is swinging its branches in ...
— Orthodoxy: Its Truths And Errors • James Freeman Clarke
... play inside straight half-volleys. Mike would not have said that he felt more than ordinarily well that day. Indeed, he was rather painfully conscious of having bolted his food at lunch. But something seemed to whisper to him, as he settled himself to face the bowler, that he was at the top of his batting form. A difficult wicket always brought out his latent powers as a bat. It was a standing mystery with the sporting Press how Joe Jackson ...
— Mike • P. G. Wodehouse
... with a single stone To the vulgar eye no stone of price: Whisper the right word, that alone— Forth starts a sprite, like fire from ice, And lo, you are lord (says an Eastern scroll) Of heaven and earth, lord whole and sole Through the ...
— The Poetry Of Robert Browning • Stopford A. Brooke
... that harm might come to the riata in the night. There are many guests, Senor, who speak ill of gringos, and I heard a whisper—" ...
— The Gringos • B. M. Bower
... treatment of his wife. They all loved Anna Pavlovna passionately, but did not dare to show their love. She seemed of herself to hold aloof from them.... You remember my grandfather, gentlemen; to the day of his death he always walked on tiptoe, and spoke in a whisper... such is the force of habit! My grandfather and his brother, Ivan Ivanovitch, were simple, good-hearted people, quiet and depressed. My grand'tante Natalia married, as you are aware, a coarse, dull-witted man, and all her life she cherished an unutterable, slavish, ...
— The Jew And Other Stories • Ivan Turgenev
... with a faintness that was almost a whisper, "you must go, whether you agree or not. You distrust me and insult me ... and I don't think ... I can stand many ... interviews ...
— The Tyranny of Weakness • Charles Neville Buck
... impudence of it! They have turned you out and made you go into the upper one. As I climb to my own perch, internally wrathful and debating whether I shall not poke the man up and make him restore you to your place, I hear your sleepy voice in a stage whisper— ...
— Round the Wonderful World • G. E. Mitton
... night when the rain patters on the leaves you will hear my whisper in your bed, and my laughter will flash with the lightning through the open window into ...
— The Crescent Moon • Rabindranath Tagore (trans.)
... that had been sent me for him, some sweets and dainties. He makes a sign that he wants to whisper to me, and ...
— The New Book Of Martyrs • Georges Duhamel
... I. "Give me but a chance, and I will whisper a lay of love in the fair beauty's ear that will obliterate the image you have been engraving on her heart. She has listened to you, no other splendid fellow being by, but when I enter the lists look well to your seat in her affections, for I am no timid ...
— Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 1 July 1848 • Various
... ceremonies performed. On certain high holidays and occasions of state, the high-priest administers here a sort of mass, at which the whole court attend, even the chief ladies of the harem, who, behind heavy curtains of silk and gold that hang from the ceiling to the floor, whisper and giggle and peep and chew betel, and have the wonted little raptures of their sex over furtive, piquant glimpses of the world; for, despite the strict confinement and jealous surveillance to which they are subject, the outer life, with all its bustle, passion, and romance, will now and ...
— The English Governess At The Siamese Court • Anna Harriette Leonowens
... be granted that freedom may be crushed, and men be so bound down, that they do not dare to utter a whisper, save at the bidding of their rulers; nevertheless this can never be carried to the pitch of making them think according to authority, so that the necessary consequences would be that men would ...
— A Theologico-Political Treatise [Part IV] • Benedict de Spinoza
... bustle and noise on the power deck, the meteor, weather, and radar observation room was filled with only a subdued whisper. All around them huge screens displayed various views of the surface of Venus as it slowly revolved beneath the station. Along one side of the room was a solid bank of four-foot-square teleceiver ...
— Danger in Deep Space • Carey Rockwell
... left the Palais-Bourbon at five o'clock that afternoon, it rejoiced my heart to breathe in the sunny air. The sky was bland, the river gleamed, the foliage was fresh and green. Everything seemed to whisper an invitation to idleness. Along the Pont de la Concorde, in the direction of the Champs-Elysees, victorias and landaus kept rolling by. In the shadow of the lowered carriage-hoods, women's faces gleamed clear and radiant and I felt a thrill of pleasure as I ...
— Marguerite - 1921 • Anatole France
... hovering near That mystery 'yond thought to plumb, Perchance sometimes in loathed fear They heard cold Danger whisper, Come!— ...
— A Treasury of War Poetry - British and American Poems of the World War 1914-1917 • Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by George Herbert Clarke
... as a matter of fact, I read the case pretty closely, and I was thankful the jury brought in an acquittal. It required a little imagination, but the truth always does. It is no treason to our host to whisper that he has none. I remember having quite a heated argument with him at the time. Oh, dear, no; she was no more guilty than you or I; but it would be a thousand times more artistic if she were; and I should make ...
— The Shadow of the Rope • E. W. Hornung
... won't tell you, John. Before I go I will whisper it in your ear, and give you the means of finding them, but not till then. No, I will write it down on a piece of paper, and slip it into your hand. As soon as you get out of the room you glance at ...
— Colonel Thorndyke's Secret • G. A. Henty
... the Germans. The Verey lights, shattering the darkness over No Man's Land, did not disclose them to the enemy. Suddenly, a Boche machine gun mechanically turned its attentions toward the place where they were working. With a tightening of every muscle, Talbot heard the slow whisper of the gun. As it turned to sweep the intervening space between the lines, the whisper rose to a shirring hiss. The men dropped to the ground, flattening themselves into the earth. But Talbot stood ...
— Life in a Tank • Richard Haigh
... few moments Fremont heard the renegade at his door, speaking in a whisper to the guard there. Then the door was opened and the big fellow came ...
— Boy Scouts in Mexico; or On Guard with Uncle Sam • G. Harvey Ralphson
... Jacintha was magical, comical. Her apron came down from one eye, and that eye dried itself and sparkled with curiosity: the whole countenance speedily followed suit and beamed with sacred joy. What! an interesting love affair confided to her all in a moment! She lowered her voice to a whisper directly. "Why, how did you manage? She never ...
— White Lies • Charles Reade
... a grandmother? Grandmother to this little sweetheart?" And the proud old arms lifted the wee "new Norris" right up from its mother's arms, and every tiny toe and finger was kissed and crooned over, while Sam shyly winked at Della and managed to whisper, "You'll see, girl, that dad will come around now; but he can just keep out of our house. There are two of us that can be harsh. I'm not going to ...
— The Moccasin Maker • E. Pauline Johnson
... follow the words which they represent; but this order is sometimes reversed: as, "Whom the cap fits, let him put it on."—"Hark! they whisper; angels say," &c.—Pope. "Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion."—Old Test. And in some cases of apposition, the pronoun naturally comes first; as, "I Tertius"—"Ye lawyers." The pronoun it, likewise, very often precedes the clause or phrase which it represents; ...
— The Grammar of English Grammars • Goold Brown
... short by rising from her seat; I felt that she was both angry and alarmed. Fisher, of Philadelphia, jostling right and left in his haste, made his way toward her. She fairly snatched his arm, clung to it with a warmth I had never seen expressed in a ballroom, and began to whisper in his ear. It was not five minutes before he came to me, alone, with a very stern face, ...
— Short Story Classics (American) Vol. 2 • Various
... then she looked for a moment full upon her, and seemed on the very point of revealing all. But the earnest dilated gaze stole downward to the floor, and subsided into an odd wily smile, and she began to whisper to herself, and the smile and the whisper were both a ...
— J. S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, Volume 2 • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
... Awestruck I watched the fierce battle for life, the awful agony, trying vainly every means of relief, lingering to witness struggles which wrung my heart, because I could not resist the appealing glance of dying eyes, the hoarse, whistling whisper that bade me stay,—because I must try to comfort the parting soul, must hope to catch some last word or message to comfort the loved ...
— Memories - A Record of Personal Experience and Adventure During Four Years of War • Fannie A. (Mrs.) Beers
... he discovered in the tangle of brush that had broken his fall, another rabbit that had not survived his sudden visitation. He picked up the limp, furry shape. "Asleep at the switch," he said. "He ain't much bigger than a whisper, ...
— Sundown Slim • Henry Hubert Knibbs
... until she stood close beside her, then she looked straight into Sprite Seaford's eyes, and nodding as she spoke, and shaking her forefinger, she said in a whisper: ...
— Princess Polly's Gay Winter • Amy Brooks
... she, in a low whisper. "Take your hand from your sword. The queen, by my mouth, commands you to ...
— Henry VIII And His Court • Louise Muhlbach
... he cried; "oh! who are you?" The butterflies closed their wings; and on each of their little faces came a look so sad and questioning that Mr. Lavender's tears rolled down into his breastplate of speeches. A whisper rose from them. "We are the dead." And they flew up suddenly in swarms, and beat his ...
— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy
... made a low bow, and in a shrill eager voice invited them in. Ned hesitated, but the little old woman snatched his hand and pulled him in, asking in a whisper, "Dost thou fear for thyself when visiting the ...
— The Magic Soap Bubble • David Cory
... evident, Abdool," Harry said, in a whisper, "that what they said at the village is true, and these people from Johore consider the journey to be a very dangerous one. They are evidently expecting a surprise; and I am afraid that, if we are attacked, we shall not be able to place much ...
— At the Point of the Bayonet - A Tale of the Mahratta War • G. A. Henty
... this summer," said Mrs. M'Leod in a whisper after we realised that we were freed. "Sometimes I think the house will get up and cry ...
— Actions and Reactions • Rudyard Kipling
... cannot believe it!' Bertha, in her expiring effort for breath, had raised upon her knees in bed, when suddenly, as in the other case, she raised her hands, her face illumined with the 'light that is not seen upon sea or land,' and she said in a strong, clear whisper—for her vocal cords were so involved in the diphtheritic membranes that her voice was gone completely—'O mamma! I see Jesus!' The ecstasy lasted a moment or so, and then I laid her back upon the pillow—dead! Here ...
— Doctor Jones' Picnic • S. E. Chapman
... as if she were going to faint, and this made it easy and natural for him to take her hand, to put his arm about her, and then to whisper— ...
— Evelyn Innes • George Moore
... hours—talked till his voice weakened to a husky whisper. At the conclusion of his story there was an impressive silence. Then Elsie Gale stood up, and with her hand on Dick's shoulder, her eyes bright and warm as sunlight, she showed the rangers what a woman thought of them and of the Yaqui. Nell clung to Dick, weeping silently. Mrs. Gale was overcome, ...
— Desert Gold • Zane Grey
... fire. The light came from Mrs. Landholm's candle dying in its socket; beyond the candle, on the hearth, was the mistress of the house on her knees. Elizabeth would have doubted even then what she was about, but for the soft whisper of words which came to her ear. She shut the door as softly and quickly again, and got into bed with a kind of awe upon her. She had certainly heard people stand up in the pulpit and make prayers, and it seemed suitable that other people should bend ...
— Hills of the Shatemuc • Susan Warner
... morning, slipped out of a thicket on the hillside above them, and crossed the road in front of them, and slipped out of sight among the trees on the slope below. Ormond stopped the horse, and turned to his wife with a strange kind of whisper. 'Did you see it?' he asked, and she answered yes, and bade him drive on. He did so, slowly looking back round the side of the buggy till a turn of the road hid the place where the tramp had crossed their track. She could not speak, she says, ...
— Questionable Shapes • William Dean Howells
... bring back my child to life!' she cries beseechingly. The procession halts, and the little coffin is gently lowered at his feet. Divine compassion beams forth from His eyes, and as He looks at the child, His lips are heard to whisper once more, 'Talitha Cumi' - and 'straightway the damsel arose.' The child rises in her coffin. Her little hands still hold the nosegay of white roses which after death was placed in them, and, looking round with large astonished eyes she ...
— "The Grand Inquisitor" by Feodor Dostoevsky • Feodor Dostoevsky
... of violent alarm overspread Edith's face, when the contradiction which she might assuredly have expected did not follow. She got up to go to her room, but, passing close by Heideck, she found an opportunity to whisper, "To-night on the balcony! I ...
— The Coming Conquest of England • August Niemann
... passed by, and not the faintest whisper from the noisy world reached his ears. The only thing that retained him was the Lualaba. Did its waters run in an inexhaustible stream to the western ocean, or did they flow gently through forests, swamps, and deserts to Egypt? If he could only answer that question, he would go by the ...
— From Pole to Pole - A Book for Young People • Sven Anders Hedin
... reward. On rare occasions Captain Smith would commend us for attending to our duties in better fashion than he had fancied lads would ever be able to do, and very often did Master Hunt whisper words of praise in our ears, saying again and again that he would there were in his house ...
— Richard of Jamestown - A Story of the Virginia Colony • James Otis
... stiff with Theseus's sword through its neck. They shouted and blew trumpets and the noise of their trumpets filled the labyrinth. Then they turned back, bringing the youths and maidens with them, and a whisper went through the whole palace that the Minotaur had been slain. The youths and maidens were lodged in the chamber where ...
— The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who Lived Before Achilles • Padraic Colum
... for,' says he, in a kin' o' whisper, 'there's a hint o' oppeesition here,' an' a' tell ye honestly a' lost hert a'thegither, for here he wes back again amang the trumpets, and a'll gie ma aith he never sae much as ...
— Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush • Ian Maclaren
... instant to her lips, admonished me to silence. I understood the signal, so piquantly given; and obeyed it. In another instant she was near— near enough for me to hear her words—delivered in a half-whisper. She had paused before me in an attitude that betokened the fear of interruption; and, before speaking, again cast behind her another of those ...
— The Wild Huntress - Love in the Wilderness • Mayne Reid
... water; volcanic fires leaping out of the heart of the deep; a roar so absolutely appalling that it reduced the battle to a whisper! ...
— The Cruise of the Dry Dock • T. S. Stribling
... whispered, and the whisper seemed to reach her inmost soul. "Look here, I want to do what is right, and—honorable, you know, but hang me if I know what is. It ...
— By the Light of the Soul - A Novel • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
... for fame was gratified, and now he began to yearn for the companionship of some sweet being of the other sex, to share the laurels he had won, to whisper consolation in his ear in moments of despondency, and to supply the void which the death of his old father had occasioned. He would picture to himself the felicity of a refined intercourse with a highly intellectual and beautiful woman, and, as he had chosen for his motto, What has been ...
— The Three Brides, Love in a Cottage, and Other Tales • Francis A. Durivage
... Godefroid answered in a low voice, 'Well, so I was thinking. I was saying to myself that instead of enjoying my happiness with fear and trembling at every moment; instead of taking a world of trouble to whisper a word in an inattentive ear, of looking over the house at the Italiens to see if some one wears a red flower or a white in her hair, or watching along the Corso for a gloved hand on a carriage door, as we used to do at Milan; ...
— The Firm of Nucingen • Honore de Balzac
... kindest-hearted of men harden their hearts and set their faces like a flint against us who have done the wrong. All Syria sympathised with Esau for the loss of his birthright, but I do not read that any one came to whisper one kind word to Jacob on his hard pillow. All the army mourned over Uriah, but all the time David's moisture was dried up like the drought of summer, and not even Nathan came to the King till he could not help coming. ...
— Bunyan Characters - Third Series - The Holy War • Alexander Whyte
... The prisoner glanced toward his guards and his voice fell to a husky whisper. "Say, Doc. Pull Cullison ...
— Crooked Trails and Straight • William MacLeod Raine
... sent you?" she inquired presently, slowly turning her head and fixing her beady eyes upon his face. Her voice was weak and hoarse, scarcely rising above a whisper. ...
— Paul Patoff • F. Marion Crawford
... you, old fellow, to cheer me up like that. Here, let me hunt up the list for you. But promise that you won't whisper one little hint to a living soul. Oh! Karl, how ...
— The Banner Boy Scouts - Or, The Struggle for Leadership • George A. Warren
... eyes, which were very wide open. She spoke, and it was in the sound of her voice. "Wait!" shouted Andy Lanning as he made a step toward them. But the car went on, rocking over the bumps and the exhaust roaring. Andy became aware that his shout had been only a dry whisper. Besides, what would he say if ...
— Way of the Lawless • Max Brand
... could think so," said Charley anxiously. "But you know as well as I that there are some gangs of lawless men in Florida, gathered from all quarters of the globe, and, Walter," lowering his voice to a whisper, "I saw signs that there was more than one man ...
— The Boy Chums in the Forest - or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades • Wilmer M. Ely
... the first view of the Hall you git, an' they say the old gentleman used to raise his hat whenever he passed by it." Then as they swung open the great iron gate, with its new coat of red, he touched Carraway's sleeve and spoke in a hoarse whisper. "Thar's Mr. Christopher himself over yonder," he said, "an' Lord bless my soul, if he ain't settin' out old Fletcher's plants. Thar! he's standin' up now—the big young fellow with the basket. The old gentleman was the biggest man twixt here an' Fredericksburg, ...
— The Deliverance; A Romance of the Virginia Tobacco Fields • Ellen Glasgow
... borough as the "Castle" candidate. "The Duke won't interfere," said Sprugeon; "and, of course, the Duke's man of business can't do anything openly;—but the Duke's people will know." Then Mr. Sprout told the agent that there was already another candidate in the field, and in a whisper communicated the gentleman's name. When the agent got back to London, he gave Lopez to understand that he must certainly put himself forward. The borough expected him. Sprugeon and Sprout considered themselves pledged to bring him forward ...
— The Prime Minister • Anthony Trollope
... Stuermer called me aside to whisper, and as he did so I saw that the Starets had at once become surrounded by women, of whom he always became the centre of attraction, with hands crossed ...
— The Minister of Evil - The Secret History of Rasputin's Betrayal of Russia • William Le Queux
... in the shallows. I who perched, An eagle on the topmost pinnacle Of the State's eminence, and harried thence All lesser fowl like sparrows!—I to hide Like a chased moor-hen in a marsh, and bate The breath that awed the world into a whisper, That would not shake a taper-flame or stir A flickering torch to flaring! "I do wonder His insolence can brook to be commanded Under COMINIUS." So the Roman said: SICINIUS VELUTUS, thou hadst reason. ...
— Punch, Or The London Charivari, VOL. 100. Feb. 28, 1891 • Various
... in a husky whisper, and a glance convinced Harry that he was still asleep, although his eyes were wide ...
— Deadwood Dick, The Prince of the Road - or, The Black Rider of the Black Hills • Edward L. Wheeler
... instantly, for his countenance turned as pale as ashes with surprise and hatred. He started up, placing his hand instinctively upon his sword-hilt, and glaring at me with a look so deadly, that I thought every moment he would strike his sword into my heart. He said in a kind of whisper: ...
— The Purcell Papers - Volume III. (of III.) • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
... ladder in the wind. The crowd pressed back from under; firemen's helmets appeared at the window, holding the ladder firm, when a man, with quick, steady tread, and unmoving head, passed from one side to the other. The multitude did not even whisper while he crossed the perilous bridge, which quivered under him; but when he was across, safe comparatively in the factory, a cheer arose for an instant, checked, however, almost immediately, by the uncertainty of the result, and the desire not in ...
— Mary Barton • Elizabeth Gaskell
... a rumor reached our shores that the prince of Orange had ventured on an enterprise the success of which would be the triumph of civil and religious rights and the salvation of New England. It was but a doubtful whisper; it might be false or the attempt might fail, and in either case the man that stirred against King James would lose his head. Still, the intelligence produced a marked effect. The people smiled mysteriously in the streets and threw bold glances at their oppressors, while far and wide there ...
— Twice Told Tales • Nathaniel Hawthorne
... potion had been administered, the bleeding was wholly stopped; and in half an hour, his mother could express her wishes in a whisper. When the little doctor arrived, he carefully examined his patient, and then went downstairs with her son into ...
— The Phantom Ship • Captain Frederick Marryat
... the two were seated in Denny's own particular room, where Gerald washed the dust from his throat with some capital bottled beer, while his host paid attention to a large demijohn which contained, as he informed the journalist in an impressive whisper, "close on to a gallon ...
— Stories of Modern French Novels • Julian Hawthorne
... it was necessary to ask twice to do a thing of the sort, nor were his brothers or their followers. The order was sent rapidly round to assemble together; not a word was uttered above a whisper—the sentries were left standing at their posts as if unconscious of what was going on in the plain below. But a few seconds ...
— Dick Onslow - Among the Redskins • W.H.G. Kingston
... who is possessed of a devil, I would whisper this word in the ear: "Better for thee to rear up thy devil! Even for thee there is ...
— Thus Spake Zarathustra - A Book for All and None • Friedrich Nietzsche
... bushes, turning his head first one way and then another. Then, as if seeing the girls for the first time, he crouched down, and, crawling, sneaking along, like a cat after a mouse, he moved toward them. The girls stopped and looked at each other. Then Dot began to cry, and said, in a half-smothered whisper, "O Nina, let's run!" But Nina thought of the long, dark, lonely road behind, and knew that running was useless. Then, thinking of what she had heard her father say about showing fear, she seized her little sister's hand, and said: "No, let's pass it. God will help us." And she started ...
— Stories Worth Rereading • Various
... warning little whisper, and impatiently he waited until that opening should be greater and permit of sight ...
— The Fortieth Door • Mary Hastings Bradley
... you, my dear," she said. "I want you to help me. He is not dead," she went on in a whisper; "he is still alive, though Doctor Scott will not give us ...
— The Woman's Way • Charles Garvice
... who were having a quiet little game. When winter came, we had replaced our worn out tents with shanties built from the materials of confiscated houses. These would be darkened, and in voices hushed to the lowest whisper, the men would indulge in their favorite pastime. On one occasion, I remember that suddenly forcing the door open, I dropped, most unexpectedly to them, on a small party of gamblers. As I scooped ...
— Reminiscences of two years with the colored troops • Joshua M. Addeman
... likely we'll cotch 'im?" he asked, in a whisper, on the evening of that day, as they went rapidly through the woods together, a little in rear of ...
— Twice Bought • R.M. Ballantyne
... before had exhibited such a wealth of adornment in these living flowers, now stood there bare, with empty, gaping casements. A perceptible thrill ran through the ranks of the Corps Legislatif, and here and there the whisper passed that this fall of an officer portended the early overthrow of the Directory itself, and that it, too, would soon, like the unfortunate victim of the accident, be lying in its death agonies at ...
— Queen Hortense - A Life Picture of the Napoleonic Era • L. Muhlbach
... paper, then Gracie's voice in a loud whisper, "Oh another dolly for me! and I just know it's lovely! I can feel its hair, and ...
— Christmas with Grandma Elsie • Martha Finley
... advantage, for which I leave my female readers to account, appeared so extremely beautiful, that even Allworthy, when he saw her, could not forbear whispering Western, that he believed she was the finest creature in the world. To which Western answered, in a whisper, overheard by all present, "So much the better for Tom;—for d—n me if he shan't ha the tousling her." Sophia was all over scarlet at these words, while Tom's countenance was altogether as pale, and he was almost ready to sink from ...
— The History of Tom Jones, a foundling • Henry Fielding
... couple of old ladies beside me, who had duly paid for their seats, waxed very red and indignant, and discoursed to each other audibly about the impudence of these mountebanks; but as soon as the show-woman caught a whisper of this, she was down upon them with a swoop: if mesdames could persuade their neighbours to act with common honesty, the mountebanks, she assured them, would be polite enough: mesdames had probably had their bowl of soup, and perhaps a glass of wine that evening; ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition - Vol. 1 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson
... will not blow over," and that "we are going to feel it for a long time." They have long foreseen it, and have only been surprised that it did not come sooner; and they lower their voices to a hoarse whisper while telling you this. ...
— Reflections and Comments 1865-1895 • Edwin Lawrence Godkin |
