"Curtly" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... forbidding him to go to Paris, but inviting him to visit the court with a small escort. At the same time she gave orders to Saint Andre to repair at once to Lyons, of which he was the royal governor. But neither of the triumvirs showed any readiness to obey her orders. The duke curtly replied that he was too busy entertaining his friends to come to the king; the marshal promptly refused to leave the king while he was ...
— History of the Rise of the Huguenots - Volume 2 • Henry Baird
... citizens, led first to remonstrances and finally to repeated claims for damages done to American ships and goods. For a long time Great Britain was firm. Her foreign secretary denied all obligations in the premises, adding somewhat curtly that "he wished to say once for all that Her Majesty's government disclaimed any responsibility for the losses and hoped that they had made their position perfectly clear." Still President Grant was not persuaded that the door of diplomacy, though closed, was barred. Hamilton ...
— History of the United States • Charles A. Beard and Mary R. Beard
... bow and taken my leave in form, not supposing that I was about to enjoy her hospitality yet once again. My return did not seem to please her. "Does Mr. Pendennis favour us with his company to dinner again, Clive?" she said, turning to her son-in-law. Clive curtly said, Yes, he had asked Mr. Pendennis ...
— The Newcomes • William Makepeace Thackeray
... looked thirty, and her spirits were gone for the day. It had become difficult for Ralph to contract his mind to her small domestic interests, and she had little else to talk to him about, now that he responded but curtly to all her questions about himself, and was weary of professing a love which he was ceasing to feel, in all the passionate nothings which usually make up so much of lovers' talk. The books she had been reading were ...
— A Dark Night's Work • Elizabeth Gaskell
... violently in my head. All at once my breathing and my heart both stopped together; there was a tap at the door. The tapping was discreet, full of entreaty and delicacy. I wanted to reply, "Come in," but I had no longer any voice; and, besides, was it becoming to answer like that, so curtly and plainly? I thought "Come in" would sound horribly unseemly, and I said nothing. There was another tap. I should really have preferred the door to have been broken open with a hatchet or for him to have come down the chimney. In my agony I coughed faintly ...
— Serge Panine • Georges Ohnet
... bright cheerfulness got on Drake's nerves. His farewell to Mrs. Lorton lacked grace and finish, and he could only hold out his hand to Nell, and say, rather grimly and curtly: ...
— Nell, of Shorne Mills - or, One Heart's Burden • Charles Garvice
... reached the ground as soon as the cicada did, and taking it in her beak flew a little distance to a high board fence, where she sat motionless for some moments. While pondering the problem how that fly should be broken, the male bluebird approached her, and said very plainly, and I thought rather curtly, "Give me that bug," but she quickly resented his interference and flew farther away, where she sat apparently quite discouraged when I last ...
— Bird Stories from Burroughs - Sketches of Bird Life Taken from the Works of John Burroughs • John Burroughs
... dignity, and retreated in as good order as he could. Turning to Mrs. Flaxman, who was endeavouring to make a few commonplaces audible to Miss Barron, while throwing occasional sly glances toward the field of battle, he somewhat curtly ...
— The Case of Richard Meynell • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... into the hall with Fanny. Curtly he said good-night to her. The door closed, and there was silence again. Why didn't he come? He must be standing there in the hall trying to get hold of himself. Oh, how terribly hurt he must feel! But she checked the sudden lump in her throat. "Remember now—just common sense!" ...
— His Second Wife • Ernest Poole
... dissent, and, by a gesture, bade her come to him. But, when she showed no sign of obeying, he moved forward, scowling, ferociously. The girl seemed undaunted. She spoke curtly in rebuke: ...
— Heart of the Blue Ridge • Waldron Baily
... from abroad penniless. Soon after he married, almost as early and quite as imprudently as Shakespeare. He told Drummond curtly that "his wife was a shrew, yet honest"; for some years he lived apart from her in the household of Lord Albany. Yet two touching epitaphs among Jonson's 'Epigrams', "On my first daughter," and "On my first son," attest the warmth of the poet's family affections. The daughter died in infancy, ...
— Sejanus: His Fall • Ben Jonson
... mind the strange ravings of a person in delirium," said the doctor, curtly; "they are liable to imagine and say all sorts of nonsense. Pay no attention to what she says, my dear ladies; don't disturb her with questions. That poor little brain needs absolute rest; every nerve seems to have been strained to ...
— Daisy Brooks - A Perilous Love • Laura Jean Libbey
... her breath, for MacRae had picked up a twelve-foot pike pole, a thing with an ugly point and a hook of iron on its tip. He only used it, however, to shove away the boat containing the man he had so savagely smashed. And while he did that Gower curtly issued an order, and the Arrow slid on to ...
— Poor Man's Rock • Bertrand W. Sinclair
... be there," replied Adam curtly, "but I cannot stay very long. I have an appointment ...
— Colonel Carter's Christmas and The Romance of an Old-Fashioned Gentleman • F. Hopkinson Smith
... her. Requested to come to the Club, at a certain hour of the afternoon, that he might hear Major Worrell's personal contradiction of scandal involving the young lady's name, together with his apology, etc., Dudley declined: and he was obliged to do it curtly; words were wanting. They are hard to find for wounded sentiments rendered complex by an infusion of policy. His present mood, with the something new to digest, held the going to Major Worrell a wrong step; he behaved as if the speaking to Dartrey ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... in front of him. "The tax shall be paid," said he curtly; but, as Gotzkowsky was about to break out in loud expressions of gratitude, the king waved him off with his hand. "That is," said he, "I myself will pay it, if it cannot be otherwise. Go back into the Russian camp, as you ...
— The Merchant of Berlin - An Historical Novel • L. Muhlbach
... are right," he answered curtly and somewhat eagerly, "I had a strange, beautiful vision that showed me the folly and emptiness of my life more plainly than anything else could ever have done, and I thank that vision that I have been able to make amends in time for the omissions ...
— The Doctor's Daughter • "Vera"
... Plume, curtly. "I just thought it might be a convenience to you. I'd help you out. I don't see 't you need be so—squeamish. What you're doing ain't so pure an' lofty 't you can set up for Marcus Aurelius and St. Anthony ...
— Gordon Keith • Thomas Nelson Page
... recognized all the contestants present, except a dark man, with a patch over one eye, who did not in the least resemble the fair-haired, handsome Robin. Although one-eyed, the stranger easily bore away the prize, and, when the sheriff offered to take him into his service, curtly rejoined no man should ever be his master. But that evening, in a secret glade in Sherwood Forest, Robin gleefully exhibited to his followers the golden arrow he had won, and, doffing his patch, remarked that the walnut stain, ...
— The Book of the Epic • Helene A. Guerber
... Countess, curtly. This was rather miserly measure, four ells and a third being the usual reckoning; but Mistress Underdone measured and ...
— A Forgotten Hero - Not for Him • Emily Sarah Holt
... did," I said curtly, not sure whether I ought to be amused at the turn of events by which I had unwittingly brought the little rascal along ...
— The Devil's Admiral • Frederick Ferdinand Moore
... and gazed at the Emperor in silence. In silence he waited for her to speak. At last she said, curtly: ...
— The Unwilling Vestal • Edward Lucas White
... a point of honour. But this particular engagement—hateful, when he accepted it, by reason of his love—was now impossible for the reason which had made him take so ignominiously to his heels this morning. He curtly told the Scot ...
— Zuleika Dobson - or, An Oxford Love Story • Max Beerbohm
... the blank initial whose significance, he fondly hoped, would permanently remain a mystery. A month, however, after he had entered college, he was known as Ivanhoe to all the class who knew anything about him at all; and, in the catalogue published in his sophomore year, he was registered quite curtly as Scott Brenton. Never again in all his lifetime did the incriminating ...
— The Brentons • Anna Chapin Ray
... guilty of an unconstitutional exercise of the prerogative in dissolving the Assembly. It will not seriously be maintained that the representative of the Queen could have maintained relations with a Minister who publicly insulted him in his public capacity, and then curtly declined to explain or withdraw his charges. As to the sequel, it is sufficient to say that the civil authorities would have been grossly wanting in their duty if they had failed to call out the soldiers, ...
— The Story of Newfoundland • Frederick Edwin Smith, Earl of Birkenhead
... scowl down all innovators and their defenders or silence them with such observations as, 'Sir, I perceive you are a vile Whig.' At worst it was not quite certain that he would not knock them down physically. Of women's preaching he curtly observed that it was like a dog walking on its hind legs: 'It is not done well, but you are surprised to find it done at all.' English insular narrowness certainly never had franker expression than in his exclamation: 'For anything I can see, all foreigners ...
— A History of English Literature • Robert Huntington Fletcher
... turned as the two visitors came in—it was Farrington in the life, Farrington as he had seen him on the night of his disappearance from the box at the Jollity. The big man nodded curtly. ...
— The Secret House • Edgar Wallace
... as if to ask if she thought him worthy of her. In answer to the question put by the chief judge, he curtly replied: ...
— Which? - or, Between Two Women • Ernest Daudet
... monastery, so Benedictus curtly declared with the utmost positiveness, after the smith had finished his work. At midsummer a place would be vacant in the school, and this should be reserved for the boy. A great favor! What a prospect—to be reared there ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers
... "Yes," said Nick curtly. "But you mustn't worry to tell me all your private affairs unless you really want to. Because what I'm most interested in is the Oxford part. I never went to college, nor to any school for the matter of that, except a night one, but I've ...
— The Port of Adventure • Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson
... Varillo's model," he said curtly, "I thought you were aware of it. She appears in nearly all ...
— The Master-Christian • Marie Corelli
... visit the people where they live," said Stonor curtly. "I shall want the dug-out that the Company man ...
— The Woman from Outside - [on Swan River] • Hulbert Footner
... colt, I broke him to the saddle, and we have been together five years now. Money couldn't buy him from me," replied the tall boy, curtly. ...
— The Saddle Boys of the Rockies - Lost on Thunder Mountain • James Carson
... to country higher than domestic comfort," answered her husband, curtly. "But how could you leave your home and your child for so long a time? It is now three days since I arrived here, expecting to be lovingly received by you and little Loris; but you had gone away, no one knew whither, leaving Loris in charge of an ignorant woman, who has been sadly neglecting ...
— Rabbi and Priest - A Story • Milton Goldsmith
... the ante-room would not admit him on any terms, and insisted upon knowing his business. So that at last, for once in his life, Akakiy Akakievitch felt an inclination to show some spirit, and said curtly that he must see the chief in person; that they ought not to presume to refuse him entrance; that he came from the department of justice, and that when he complained of ...
— Taras Bulba and Other Tales • Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol
... them," said Tommy curtly. "They've got thermit-throwers mounted on their food supplies, too. And they're desperate enough to keep Rahn off. They're willing enough to let Yugna do the fighting, but they know ...
— The Fifth-Dimension Tube • William Fitzgerald Jenkins
... Route Thermale shows its mettle. This section of the road was among the most difficult portions encountered by the engineers. Nature stood off and refused all aid. "Beyond is the valley," she curtly told them; "between are the ravines; make ...
— A Midsummer Drive Through The Pyrenees • Edwin Asa Dix
... him, the attendant, out of the room. On Paine's attempting to define his orders he was abruptly silenced and again ordered to leave. Being on duty under the instructions of superior authority, Trooper Paine again strove to explain his orders, and this time was curtly told that he should pay no heed to such instructions, and was then sent out of the hospital. The trooper called the doctor on his way and then, very properly, reported his embarrassing dilemma to me. I closely questioned him, and there can be no doubt ...
— Under Fire • Charles King
... matter, however, lies in the unjust accusation of Her Majesty's Government—that the meeting was broken up by officials of this Republic, and that the Government had curtly ...
— A Century of Wrong • F. W. Reitz
... to do with me up here?" asked the old man curtly. "You there," he then called out to Peter, "be off with your goats, you are none too early as it is, and take ...
— Heidi • Johanna Spyri
... suspicions. He required now no further evidence that, regardless of the identity of the Judge's client, that client could not possibly be Colonel Seth Pennington or any one acting for him, since only the night before Pennington had curtly refused to buy the property for fifty thousand dollars. For a moment Bryce stared stupidly at his visitor. ...
— The Valley of the Giants • Peter B. Kyne
... you!" he then said curtly to Leroy, "and I think you will not betray my trust. If you do, it will be ...
— Temporal Power • Marie Corelli
... humorous young outlaw, who was so evidently superior to his brutal companions, and he would have liked to let him come to the point in his own amusing way, but the sun was getting low, and he feared to waste more time. "Cut out your nonsense and come to the point," he said curtly. "What do ...
— The Boy Chums in the Forest - or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades • Wilmer M. Ely
... the following year Lord Grey was recalled. 'The Lord Deputy,' says Holinshed, 'after long suit for his revocation, received Her Majesty's letters for the same.' His rule had been marked by some extreme, perhaps necessary, severities, and was probably somewhat curtly concluded on account of loud complaints made against him on this score. Spenser would seem to have admired and applauded him, both as a ruler and as a patron and friend. He mentions him with much ...
— A Biography of Edmund Spenser • John W. Hales
... Gray's reported manner of enjoying a constitutional. It is certain that there was considerable friction between these two men of genius, and Gray roundly prophesied that Smart would find his way to gaol or to Bedlam. Both alternatives of this prediction were fulfilled, and in October, 1751, Gray curtly remarks: "Smart sets out for Bedlam." Of this event we find curious evidence in the Treasury. "October 12, 1751—Ordered that Mr. Smart, being obliged to be absent, there will be allowed him in lieu of commons for the year ended Michaelmas, 1751, the sum of L10." ...
— Gossip in a Library • Edmund Gosse
... been some system in Evadne's reading, for "The Naggletons" came immediately after "Mrs. Caudle," and are dismissed curtly enough: ...
— The Heavenly Twins • Madame Sarah Grand
... conscientious man. But they were too much accustomed to be on respectfully quarrelsome terms to alter their regard for one retort more or less; and after all, there were very few men whom Lord Ormersfield liked or esteemed half so much as the fearless and uncompromising James Frost—James Frost—as he curtly signed himself, in spite of all Louis's wit on Rolands and Olivers—and yet those soft satirical speeches did more than all direct attacks to shake his confidence in his own magnanimity; more especially because Fitzjocelyn ...
— Dynevor Terrace (Vol. II) • Charlotte M. Yonge
... at length they were sent forth separately, and for many months with still- continued ill success. I have mentioned this here, because, among the dispiriting circumstances connected with her anxious visit to Manchester, Charlotte told me that her tale came back upon her hands, curtly rejected by some publisher, on the very day when her father was to submit to his operation. But she had the heart of Robert Bruce within her, and failure upon failure daunted her no more than him. Not only did "The Professor" return again to try his ...
— The Life of Charlotte Bronte • Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
... his saucer. "Ah don' carry on no dealin's with Yankee soldier trash," he answered curtly. "They keep they side o' th' river, ...
— The Plow-Woman • Eleanor Gates
... residences of Ministers of State. Vivie found herself shadowed everywhere by Bertie Adams though she had given him no orders to join the crowd, indeed had begged him to mind his own business and go home. "This is my business," he had said curtly, and for once masterfully, and she gave way. Though Vivie for her own reasons carried no hammer or stone and as one of the principal organizers of the militant movement had been requested by the inner Council of the W.S.P.U. to keep out of prison as long as possible, ...
— Mrs. Warren's Daughter - A Story of the Woman's Movement • Sir Harry Johnston
... of elegant appearance descends, with anxious visage. The peal of the bell indicates haste. Josephine receives her visitor. He curtly explains his visit. The guardian of Louise Moreau needs her instant presence. She is ill, perhaps dying. In her excitement, Josephine's prudence is forgotten. To lose the income from the child, to hazard the child's chances of property. "But the child must go: ...
— The Little Lady of Lagunitas • Richard Henry Savage
... Affairs, in recognition of his services to the Allied cause in the Near East. Sir Bland Potterton was in Roumania when the announcement appeared and he did not hear of his new honour for nearly three weeks. When he did hear of it he refused it curtly. ...
— Lady Bountiful - 1922 • George A. Birmingham
... practical joke on him and that the coin will be returned to-morrow. The others refuse to leave the situation so. One man proposes that they all submit to a search. Every one gives his assent until it comes to the stranger. He refuses, curtly, roughly, without giving any reason. Uncomfortable silence—the man is a guest. No one knows him particularly well—but still he is a guest. One member tries to make him understand that no offense is offered, that the suggestion was simply to clear the atmosphere, and ...
— Murder in Any Degree • Owen Johnson
... those words; they meant a great deal to him at such a time, spoken as they were curtly by one who was so eager to rehabilitate his character before all the world that he had no moments to waste in argument. They were far more convincing to him of the true opinion which le Pere held of him than an hour consumed ...
— Murder Point - A Tale of Keewatin • Coningsby Dawson
... the man curtly, but as the old innkeeper reached the door he called sharply: "Yes, I think there is something else that would add to my comfort, and that is a good stiff glass of brandy, if you have such a ...
— Mischievous Maid Faynie • Laura Jean Libbey
... the train, and one Dawson stepped forward. Smith directed him to have his men collect their private property at once, as he intended to "put a little fire" into the wagons. "For God's sake, don't burn the trains," was the reply. Dawson was curtly told where his men were to stack their arms, and where they were themselves to stand under guard. Then, making a torch, Smith ordered one of the government drivers to apply it, in order that "the Gentiles might spoil the Gentiles," as he afterward expressed it. The destruction of ...
— The Story of the Mormons: • William Alexander Linn
... said at last, curtly, "that it's up to you and me for powwow quick. I hope you're ...
— The Metal Monster • A. Merritt
... interposed curtly, "that's enough. Brian's usually sane and regular. It's by no means a criminal offense for him to pick a row with you about his shotgun. And he didn't mean to ...
— Kenny • Leona Dalrymple
... pleased," replied Sarah curtly. "I'm pleased. Did you notice how yellow Abel was lookin' at the weddin'? What he needs is a good dose of castor oil. I've seen him like that befo', ...
— The Miller Of Old Church • Ellen Glasgow
... Durkin was growing impatient of this curtly condescending tone. It was the ponderosity of officialdom, he felt, grown playful, in the face of ...
— Phantom Wires - A Novel • Arthur Stringer
... bail-bonds and submitted them to the solicitors of the accused for approval, and every arrangement having been completed—even to the finding of the additional security. They were however at the last moment curtly informed that bail would not be allowed. On this being reported to Mr. Chamberlain, he at once replied to the effect that he could not believe that a Government would revoke a promise made on their behalf by the State Attorney. Dr. Leyds, on behalf of his Government, stated that the matter ...
— The Transvaal from Within - A Private Record of Public Affairs • J. P. Fitzpatrick
... lighten the gloom. Necessary requests for the sugar or the milk or the stewed apples are phrased with a curtly formal civility. We shall be other men at noon or at night, vastly other, sunnier men, with abundance of quip and jest and playful sally with the acid personal tang. But from warm beds of repose! We avoid each other's ...
— Ma Pettengill • Harry Leon Wilson
... have to take it," the Major broke in, curtly, "unless—" the Major held back the bitter speech that was on his lips and Chad understood. The old man did not want to feel under any ...
— The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come • John Fox
... West Africa were fined or imprisoned. This course, which is practically conscription, would have been unnecessary had the Union Government accepted the offered service of the 18,000 and more volunteers whom it curtly rejected. ...
— Native Life in South Africa, Before and Since • Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje
... his official duties. It appeared to throw a strong light on Napoleon's character as a man that almost immediately his humor seemed to change; his personal obligations to the much-abused but well-bred envoy could not now be wiped out by a gentle reply to the master; hence, apparently, he curtly dismissed the Russian charge d'affaires, and ended the negotiation. It was when this news reached St. Petersburg that Alexander a second time offered Norway ...
— The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte - Vol. III. (of IV.) • William Milligan Sloane
... don't like it, I'll try another," Lisle returned curtly. "You'll give Batley his orders to leave ...
— The Long Portage • Harold Bindloss
... he returned curtly. "If you expect nothing, you're never disappointed. Pray don't waste ...
— The Vision of Desire • Margaret Pedler
... greedy Flemish courtiers dressed in outlandish garb, speaking in a strange tongue, and looking upon the realm of their prince as a fat pasture upon which, locust like, they might batten with impunity. The Spaniards had frowned to see the great Cardinal Jimenez curtly dismissed by the boy sovereign whose crown he had saved; they clamoured indignantly when the Flemings cast themselves upon the resources of Castile and claimed the best offices civil and ecclesiastical; they sternly insisted upon the young king taking a solemn oath that ...
— Mexico • Charles Reginald Enock
... curiously. The American officer's uniform was concealed under his sou'-wester, rubber coat and boots, but after a moment's inspection, the German said curtly: ...
— Dave Darrin After The Mine Layers • H. Irving Hancock
... please his subjects and the fear of his Viennese relations, who sent him through Metternich the ominous reminder, 'that the Italian Governments had only subsisted for the last ten years by the support they received from Austria'—an assertion at which Charles Albert took umbrage, but he was curtly told that he was not intended. In spite of his fears, however, the Grand Duke instituted a National Guard on the 4th of September, which was correctly judged the augury of further concessions. In August, the Austrian Minister had distinctly threatened to occupy ...
— The Liberation of Italy • Countess Evelyn Martinengo-Cesaresco
... say to you?" she curtly replied. "I may have seen that you were inclined to meddle with me, but I do not choose to be on people's wicked tongues for nothing. I do not mean to have you for a ...
— Stories by Foreign Authors: German • Various
... the reputation it confers by the most dexterous mimicry of its outside expressions; for a swift analysis, which drives directly to the heart of the man, instantly detects the impostor behind the braggart, and curtly declares him to lack "the true grit." The word is so close to the thing it names, has so much pith and point, is so tart on the tongue, and so stings the ear with its meaning, that foreigners ignorant of the language might ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 90, April, 1865 • Various
... He greeted me curtly on entering, swiftly averting his face as I took his stick, hat, and top-coat. But I had seen the worst at one glance. The Honourable George was more than spotted—he was splotchy. It was as ...
— Ruggles of Red Gap • Harry Leon Wilson
... know now!" she said curtly; and she thought: "You OUGHT to have known. It was your business to know." But she was pleased with the way in which he had accepted her criticism, and the gesture with which he threw away the cigar-end struck ...
— The Old Wives' Tale • Arnold Bennett
... ranger spoke curtly, though he still tried to hold toward his comrade precisely the same attitude as he had before discovering her sex, he could not put into his words the same peremptory sting that, he had done before when he found that occasionally necessary. For no matter how severely he ...
— Bucky O'Connor • William MacLeod Raine
... hard people, these Israelites," said Pilate, for want of something better to say. "I am also of Israel," answered Herod somewhat curtly, "for I am an Edomite, of Esau's race, and my mother was a Samaritan, belonging to ...
— Historical Miniatures • August Strindberg
... said Mr. Galpin curtly. 'I know all that. I've got scale-plans of every Safe Deposit in London, and I decided long since that this one was too good to try. Of course, with the aid of the entire staff things might be a bit easier, but not much—not much!' he repeated scornfully. 'If I can manage a job ...
— Hugo - A Fantasia on Modern Themes • Arnold Bennett
... forgotten her," he admitted curtly. "I saw the red fires that night and since then there has been no moment to breathe or think—nothing to do but get ready for the end. I ...
— The Lighted Way • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... Hozier, rather curtly, turning to ascertain how Iris had disposed of herself in the interior of the cavern. It was his first experience of a South American dandy's pose towards women, or, to be exact, toward women who are young and pretty, and it seemed to him not the least marvelous event ...
— The Stowaway Girl • Louis Tracy
... true of the Mosaic legislation which Dr. Budde curtly dismisses as impossible to have come from Moses, [Footnote: Religion of Israel to the Exile, 31.] as presupposing a knowledge of a settled agricultural life, which "Israel did not reach until ...
— The Emancipation of Massachusetts • Brooks Adams
... seats and glory in the achievement which they had done little but hamper and delay from the first. They had not reckoned with Colonel Waring, however. When they had had their say, the colonel arose, and, curtly reminding them that they had really had no hand in the business, proposed three cheers for the citizen effort that had struck the slum this staggering blow. There was rather a feeble response on the platform, but rousing cheers from the crowd, with whom ...
— The Battle with the Slum • Jacob A. Riis
... Ware. He moved to the door of the cabin and pushing it open, entered the room where Murrell and Fentress were seated facing each other across the breakfast table. The planter nodded curtly. He had not seen Murrell since the murder, and the sight of him quickened the spirit of antagonism which he had been nursing. "You roust a fellow out early enough!" he grumbled, rubbing his unshaven chin with the ...
— The Prodigal Judge • Vaughan Kester
... only my jacket. You might put that somewhere to dry," said the lady curtly. Raindrops sparkled on the wave of thick iron-gray hair that lifted itself, with a slight turn to one side, from her square low brow. Her eyes shone dark against the fresh wind color in her cheeks. She had the straight, hard, ophidian line concealing the eyelid, which gives such a ...
— The Desert and The Sown • Mary Hallock Foote
... Rushton's way several times with the hope of being spoken to, but beyond curtly acknowledging the 'foreman's' servile 'Good hafternoon, sir,' the master ...
— The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists • Robert Tressell
... to buy anything, boys," said Mr. Briggs curtly, "I'll wait on you; but if you've only come in here to stand around my store and get warm I'll have to ask you to move on. My time is too valuable to waste ...
— The Banner Boy Scouts Snowbound - A Tour on Skates and Iceboats • George A. Warren
... begged to represent an urgent client, a Russian prince, who desired a fine Crivelli. Would the most gentle Miss Verplanck haply part with hers? The price should be what she chose to name. It was no question of money, but of obliging a client whom Crespi could ill afford to disappoint. Emma curtly declined the offer. The St. Michael was valued for personal reasons and was not for sale. Six weeks later came a more insidious suggestion. The Director of the Uffizi, learning that she possessed a masterpiece of a school sparsely represented in the first Italian gallery, pleading that such ...
— The Collectors • Frank Jewett Mather
... hear any more of it, Eunice," she said, curtly. "I am not a child to be allowed out or kept at home! I shall go to Newark to-morrow to see this performance, and I shall ...
— Raspberry Jam • Carolyn Wells
... spoke curtly; perhaps he resented the boy's interference, or perhaps he had had enough of the subject ...
— The Rocks of Valpre • Ethel May Dell
... arrived in Chicago late at night without a cent on me. Beyond the clothes I had on, I had nothing; consequently, on my presenting myself at a hotel with the request for a night's lodging, I was curtly refused. One hotel after another, one house after another, I tried, but always with the same result; having no luggage, and being unable to pay a deposit, no one would take me. The night advanced; the streets became ...
— Byways of Ghost-Land • Elliott O'Donnell
... himself down in a chair, curtly saying: "You can tell me who effectuated this lightning disappearance act of Madame Delande ...
— A Fascinating Traitor • Richard Henry Savage
... Rattar arrived at his office, just as he had arrived every morning since his clerks could remember. He nodded curtly as usual to his head clerk, Mr. Ison, and went into his room. His letters were always laid out on his desk and from twenty minutes to half an hour were generally spent by him in running through them. Then he would ring for Mr. Ison and ...
— Simon • J. Storer Clouston
... it," replied Gascoyne, curtly, as he thrust aside the man at the wheel and took the spokes in ...
— Gascoyne, The Sandal Wood Trader - A Tale of the Pacific • R. M. Ballantyne
... insult from beginning to end, and Miss McPherson felt it as such, and with a sigh of keen regret as for something lost, she put away the picture, and when Flora asked when little Miss Bessie was coming, she answered curtly: ...
— Bessie's Fortune - A Novel • Mary J. Holmes
... tall figure, wearing a doublet of cloth of silver, gray velvet breeches, gray mantle, and gray silk stockings, strode rapidly through the gallery, and curtly commanded the usher to announce him. While awaiting the usher's return, he stood still, stroking now his light mustaches, and now his fine, curly blonde beard, which was little more than delicate down on his chin. As his glance roved over the gallery it fell for a ...
— An Enemy To The King • Robert Neilson Stephens
... them. Denry was very bold and would insist on talking in a naturally loud voice. Nellie was timid and clinging. "What do you say?" Denry would roar at her when she half-whispered something, and she had to repeat it so that all could hear. It was part of their plan to address each other curtly, brusquely, and to frown, and to pretend to be slightly ...
— The Card, A Story Of Adventure In The Five Towns • Arnold Bennett
... himself come to Banneker with any such project, it would have been curtly rejected. Ives kept in the background. The proposal came from Marrineal, and in such form that for the recipient of the honor to refuse it would have appeared impossibly churlish. Little though ...
— Success - A Novel • Samuel Hopkins Adams
... familiarly of the celebrities of the day, and could always tell whether the piece first performed the previous evening had been a success or a failure. He had a weakness, however, for politics. His ideal man was Morny, as he curtly called him. He read the reports of the discussions of the Corps Legislatif, and laughed with glee over the slightest words that fell from Morny's lips. Ah, Morny was the man to sit upon your rascally republicans! And he would ...
— The Fat and the Thin • Emile Zola
... that he would like to receive M. le prefet alone. But he said nothing—probably because he knew that words would be useless if Madame had made up her mind to remain, which she evidently had, so, after a brief pause, he said curtly to Hector: ...
— The Bronze Eagle - A Story of the Hundred Days • Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy
... We were talking about the affair at Frayser's Farm, and wondering if it would have been better for Jackson with part of his force to have moved to Longstreet's aid. The general came in while the discussion was going on, and curtly said: "If General Lee had wanted me he could have sent for me." It looked the day after the battle, and it looks to me now, that if General Lee had sent a staff officer, who could have ridden the distance in forty minutes, to order Jackson with three divisions to the cross roads, while ...
— Stonewall Jackson And The American Civil War • G. F. R. Henderson
... for that," replied Tim curtly, as he lighted the pipe with which he always wound up ...
— The Prairie Chief • R.M. Ballantyne
... the general manager curtly. "And, whether you are Judith Sanford or the Queen of Siam, I ...
— Judith of Blue Lake Ranch • Jackson Gregory
... said Sally, curtly. "Nosey old cat. She never saw me arm in arm with anybody. And even if I had been, what business is it of hers? What does she know about me? About ...
— Coquette • Frank Swinnerton
... were wild huzzas in London and solemn memorial services over Wolfe; but when his aged mother petitioned the government that her dead son's salary might be computed at 10 pounds a day,—the salary of a commander in chief,—instead of 2 pounds a day, she was refused in as curtly uncivil a note as was ever penned. Montcalm had died in debt, and when his family petitioned the French government to pay these debts, the King thought it should be done, but he did not take the trouble to see that his {274} good intention was carried out. It was easy and cheaper for orators ...
— Canada: the Empire of the North - Being the Romantic Story of the New Dominion's Growth from Colony to Kingdom • Agnes C. Laut
... out," she said curtly. And Betty was aware of the stolid Swede in the doorway. The interview was ...
— The Prince and Betty - (American edition) • P. G. Wodehouse
... replied the Vicar's wife, curtly, 'and that is one of the blessings for which I am thankful to God. I hate your nil admiraris,' added the lady, as if it were the ...
— The Golden Calf • M. E. Braddon
... had quitted it for a topic of the hour. But business none the less went forward, the shop functioned, the presses behind the shop were being driven by steam as advertised; a customer emerged, and was curtly nodded at by the proprietor as he squeezed past; a girl with a small flannel apron over a large cotton apron went timidly into the shop. The trickling, calm commerce of a provincial town was proceeding, bit being added to bit and item to item, until at the week's end ...
— Clayhanger • Arnold Bennett
... gone to look for dangers, and of course they found them. Whatever Moses might lay down in his instructions, they had been sent by the people to bring back reasons for not attempting the conquest, and so they curtly and coldly admit the fertility of the soil, and fling down the fruit for inspection as undeniably grown there, but they tell their real mind with a great 'nevertheless.' Their report is, no doubt, ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers • Alexander Maclaren
... of hair had been removed by the roots. He had stood aloof during the fracas in the dirty garish dance house under the sidewalk, laughing consumedly; and had awakened the next night to find the victor mending her tattered finery. She made him an excellent cup of coffee, and he had told her curtly that she ...
— Sleeping Fires • Gertrude Atherton
... consider him which is the excuse of these pages. Of the essays in this book I desire to say as little as possible; I will discuss any other subject in preference with a readiness which reaches to avidity. But I may very curtly apply the explanation used above to the cases of two or three of them. Thus in the article on David Copperfield I have done far less than justice to that fine book considered in its relation to eternal literature; but I have dwelt at some length upon a particular element in it which has grown ...
— Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens • G. K. Chesterton
... curtly refused to renew his acquaintance with occidental fizzes, and waited only until he had announced to Mr. Pike that the Princess wished to emphasize the advice contained in the letter and to assure the presumptuous stranger that it was meant ...
— The Slim Princess • George Ade
... one account describes them as pigmies, another depicts them as "mighty of frame," and that in Kyushu, as in Yamato, the Tsuchi-gumo had Japanese names. Only once again do the annals refer to Tsuchi-gumo. They relate curtly that on his return from quelling the Kumaso the Emperor Keiko killed a Tsuchi-gumo in the province of Hizen. The truth seems to be that factitious import has been attached to the Tsuchi-gumo. Mainly because they were pit-dwellers, ...
— A History of the Japanese People - From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era • Frank Brinkley and Dairoku Kikuchi
... Very curtly I asked the gentleman his business. With a surprised, timid manner he faltered that he had met my wife and daughter at Onteora, and they had asked him to call. Fine lie, I thought, and ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain
... state-room pretty Miss Carrie Jessop clapped her small hands silently together. The construction of staterooms is such that every word uttered in one above the breath is audible in the next room; Miss Jessop could not help hearing the whole controversy, from the time the steward was ordered so curtly to remove the portmanteau, until the culmination of the discussion and the evident defeat of Mr. Hodden. Her sympathy was all with the other fellow, at that moment unknown, but a sly peep past the edge of the scarcely opened door ...
— One Day's Courtship - The Heralds Of Fame • Robert Barr
... to find that my French was better understood in Italy than in any place except England, that I asked my friend if I should speak to them in French. He looked at me very sourly, for he had not quite got back his equanimity, and said curtly, "You had better not." Then I said, "I will talk to them in Italian." I shall never forget the look of dismay which passed over his countenance, but I told him it was helping on the cause of the Allies. I went out on the balcony, and the people seeing the British uniform and probably mistaking me ...
— The Great War As I Saw It • Frederick George Scott
... "No," Blake interrupted curtly; "it's impossible! Your father made me a similar offer, and I couldn't consent. I suppose I have the Blakes' carelessness about money, but what I get from my mother's little property keeps me on my feet." He laughed as he went on: "It's lucky that your people, ...
— The Intriguers • Harold Bindloss
... the conversation, unknown to his small daughter, who did not realize his close proximity while she was unburdening her heart to the big brother; and he smiled derisively at the narrative; so when the child found courage to ask him for a pet dog he answered curtly, "No, Miss Tabitha, we don't want any pups around here. Dogs ...
— Tabitha at Ivy Hall • Ruth Alberta Brown
... August, 1664, here was the fleet actually anchored in Gravesend Bay, with Nicolls in command. "What did they want?" the Governor inquired. "Immediate recognition of English sovereignty," replied Nicolls curtly; and the gentler voice of Winthrop of Boston was heard, advising surrender. "Surrender would be reproved at home," said poor Stuyvesant, refusing to know when he was beaten. He was doing his best to defeat the army and navy of England single-handed. ...
— The History of the United States from 1492 to 1910, Volume 1 • Julian Hawthorne
... of France, considering," adds the chronicler, who perhaps sees an excuse to be necessary, "he was within his realm he would show him his mind and have his counsel thereto before he concluded the matter." Pitscottie thus saves the feelings of the lady of whom other historians say curtly that she did not please the King. But when the Scottish band reached the Court, though it was then in mourning for the Dauphin, recently dead, King James was received with open arms. The King of France, sick and sad for the loss of his son, was in the country at a hunting seat, and when ...
— Royal Edinburgh - Her Saints, Kings, Prophets and Poets • Margaret Oliphant
... kind of conversation in the play-ground, as Abel Newt and some of the other boys were resting after a game at ball. There were no personal allusions in what Abel had said, but Gabriel took him up a little curtly: ...
— Trumps • George William Curtis
... ambassador, at all events, had passed a bad night, and his faultlessly careful toilet only threw into relief the frigid rancor in his eyes and the mottled tones of his refined complexion. He stood before Newman a moment, breathing quickly and softly, and shaking his forefinger curtly as his host pointed ...
— The American • Henry James
... curtly, "Or use your own if you have any,—but mine are loaded,—take care yours are! Play no theatrical tricks on such a stage as this! "And then he gave a comprehensive wave of his hand towards the desolate waste of the Campagna ...
— The Master-Christian • Marie Corelli
... you first the purport of this interview," said Carroll, curtly, "before I prolong it further. You have asked me to come here in reference to certain letters I returned to their rightful owner some months ago. If you seek to reclaim them again, or to refer to a subject which must remain forgotten, I decline ...
— Maruja • Bret Harte
... by Nemea into the enemy's territory. The Argives, on their side, perceiving that they would be unable to hinder his advance, in accordance with their custom sent a couple of heralds, garlanded, and presented their usual plea of a holy truce. Agesipolis answered them curtly that the gods were not satisfied with the justice of their plea, and, refusing to accept the truce, pushed forward, causing thereby great perplexity and consternation throughout the rural districts and ...
— Hellenica • Xenophon
... he said curtly. "No. There was a contact. It's broken now. Something detected us. We picked up ...
— The Aliens • Murray Leinster
... not make the lady, but the lady makes society. Mrs. Brewster could form the most exclusive set in Chicago if she cared for that sort of thing!" came from Anne, curtly. ...
— Polly of Pebbly Pit • Lillian Elizabeth Roy
... queer fellow," said Tom curtly, "and he's as sulky as can be with me, because I told him one day his father was a rogue. And I'd a right to tell him so, for it was true; and he began it, with calling me names. But you stop here by yourself a bit, Magsie, will you? I've ...
— Tom and Maggie Tulliver • Anonymous
... captured, and part of his territory was given to Sung (where the wanderer had been well treated). The same year Tsin wished to assist Sung, and accordingly asked right of way through the state of Wei, which was curtly refused; the Tsin army therefore crossed the Yellow River to the south of Wei: as a punishment for this refusal, and also for the previous rude treatment, Wei also had to give part of her territory to the favoured Sung. In 630 Tsin induced Ts'in ...
— Ancient China Simplified • Edward Harper Parker
... doesn't have to be very funny to make you forget what you're told to do," his father said curtly, and added to the others: "His mother can't keep pockets in his clothes for the rocks he packs around in them, and they're piled all over the house. He wants her to send away and get him a book ...
— The Man from the Bitter Roots • Caroline Lockhart
... Curtly, contemptuously, Asad waved a consenting hand without vouchsafing to reply in words. Sakr-el-Bahr bowed again, stepped forward, and put aside the heavy red curtain upon which the crescent was wrought ...
— The Sea-Hawk • Raphael Sabatini
... Alien replied curtly. And then he relapsed into a momentary silence which threw upon Philip the difficult ...
— The British Barbarians • Grant Allen
... captain curtly pleading as before. He heard with astonishment and a sense of relief the oft-repeated words: "These men must have a bed." Before him was the line of unfortunates whose beds were yet to be had, and seeing a newcomer quietly edge up and take a position at the end of the line, he decided ...
— Sister Carrie • Theodore Dreiser |
