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Signal   /sˈɪgnəl/   Listen
Signal

noun
1.
Any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message.  Synonyms: sign, signaling.
2.
Any incitement to action.  "The victory was a signal for wild celebration"
3.
An electric quantity (voltage or current or field strength) whose modulation represents coded information about the source from which it comes.



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"Signal" Quotes from Famous Books



... of his having been successful, more than anything else, that caused Jet to fear the third attempt at capturing a man would be attended with signal failure, and several times during the day was he tempted to bundle the two into the boat, instead of waiting to ...
— Messenger No. 48 • James Otis

... broke against the rocks below. He raised his eyes to the heavens, and saw—almost unseeingly—a white cloud break asunder and show a dark blue space between,—just an azure setting for one brilliant star that shone out with a sudden flash like a signal. And then—then he caught sight of a dark crouching figure in the corner of the rocky platform over-hanging the sea,—a dear, familiar figure that even while he looked, rose up and advanced to the extreme ...
— The Treasure of Heaven - A Romance of Riches • Marie Corelli

... with Spain, a marriage with Don Carlos. But Elizabeth, to waste time, offered Mary the hand of Lord Robert Dudley (Leicester), and, strange as it appears, Mary would probably have accepted him, as late as 1565, for Elizabeth let it be understood that to marry a Catholic prince would be the signal for war, while Mary hoped that, if she accepted Elizabeth's favourite, Dudley, she would be acknowledged as Elizabeth's heiress. Mary was young, and showed little knowledge of the ...
— A Short History of Scotland • Andrew Lang

... methods of securing the desired qualities will be of value in other lines. The original specifications called for chrome-nickel but the losses due to the difficulty of handling caused the Lincoln Motor Company to suggest the substitution of chrome-vanadium steel, and this was accepted by the Signal Corps. The rods were accordingly made from chromium-vanadium steel, containing carbon, 0.30 to 0.40 per cent; manganese, 0.50 to 0.80 per cent; phosphorus, not over 0.04 per cent; sulphur, not over 0.04 per cent; chromium, 0.80 to 1.10 per cent; vanadium, not less than ...
— The Working of Steel - Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel • Fred H. Colvin

... might do credit to a little fellow two months older; and likewise an excellent good temper, though when he pleases he has a pipe, only not quite so loud as the horn that his immortal namesake blew as a signal to take out the pin of ...
— The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. • Robert Burns and Allan Cunningham

... on signal. And make up your mind that the Weston family is with you, forty ways from the Jack, day and night. Good-by, and God ...
— The Easiest Way - A Story of Metropolitan Life • Eugene Walter and Arthur Hornblow

... district would have had some little warning, for did not the old coach road to the North pass through our town and district? and did not the old semaphore stand there on the summit above Royston Heath, waiting to lift its clumsy wooden arms to spell out the signal of the coming woe by day? By night was the pile for the beacon fire, towards which, before going to bed, the inhabitants of every village and hamlet in the valley turned their eyes, expecting to see the beacon-light flash forth the dread intelligence to answering hills in the ...
— Fragments of Two Centuries - Glimpses of Country Life when George III. was King • Alfred Kingston

... ring?" It could not ring; it was a physical impossibility unless somebody were handling the sister instrument, and at four o'clock in the morning, who could be there, and except one, who would know its working? With a bound he was by the aerophone and had given the answering signal. Then instantly, as though she were standing at his side in the room, for this machine does not blur the voice or heighten its tone, he heard ...
— Stella Fregelius • H. Rider Haggard

... Foch?" asked the British public, perplexed, when the newspapers printed the news of the granting of this signal honor. ...
— New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 2, May, 1915 - April-September, 1915 • Various

... this time it was Black Snake's privilege to make the selection and arrangements, as he was next to Grey Eagle as a warrior, and then the sacrificed spirit was especially to atone to the offended Manitott for Black Snake's rashness while under the influence of the evil spirit. At a signal for silence from Great Oak he made known these conclusions, and Black Snake again came forward, and, with a great deal of self-depreciation, expressed ...
— Birch Bark Legends of Niagara • Owahyah

... is an example of virtue both to them and the people. Suppose him an ill man; yet his very character will withhold him from any great or open exorbitancies. But, in fact, it must be allowed, that some bishops of this kingdom, within twenty years past, have done very signal and lasting acts of public charity; great instances whereof, are the late[5] and present[6] Primate, the Lord Archbishop of Dublin[7] that now is, who hath left memorials of his bounty in many parts of his province. I might add, the ...
— The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, Vol. III.: Swift's Writings on Religion and the Church, Vol. I. • Jonathan Swift

... individuals at any distance. The boy sat down and waited. From where he rested he could not fail to notice when the delegates of the clans that inhabited the big house left for the council, and that would be the signal for his own starting. His heart beat; he felt happy and yet anxious; hope and ...
— The Delight Makers • Adolf Bandelier

... that a ship fired at all night, taking it for an enemy, and could not provoke to answer nor succeed in sinking. Surely some dim suspicion of the hopelessness of the attempt might creep into the hearts of men who know what has been. Surely the signal failure and swift fading away of all former efforts to dethrone the Bible might lead to the question, 'Does it not lay its deep foundations in the heart of man and the purpose of God, too deep to be reached by the short ...
— Expositions Of Holy Scripture - Volume I: St. Luke, Chaps. I to XII • Alexander Maclaren

... air-brakes have a meaning for him, and he learns to distinguish between noises—between the rattle of a loose lamp and the ugly rattle of small stones on a scarped embankment—between the 'Hoot! toot!' that scares wandering cows from the line, and the dry roar of the engine at the distance-signal. In England the railway came late into a settled country fenced round with the terrors of the law, and it has remained ever since just a little outside daily life—a thing to be respected. Here it strolls along, with its hands in its pockets ...
— Letters of Travel (1892-1913) • Rudyard Kipling

... the signal for me to slip away. I'd finished "Lorna Doone," which is the loveliest love story in the English language (except part of "Richard Feverel"), so I thought I would go into the garden. I felt moderately secure from Dick, because, even if he really is in love with me, he ...
— Set in Silver • Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson

... The pistols had been already loaded—the choice was given to his lordship, and Major Carbonnell received the other from my hand, which actually trembled, while his was firm. I requested Mr Osborn to drop the handkerchief, as I could not make up my mind to give a signal which might be fatal to the Major. They fired—Lord Tineholme fell immediately—the Major remained on his feet for a second or two, and then sank down on the ground. I hastened up to him. "Where are ...
— Japhet, In Search Of A Father • Frederick Marryat

... of a sudden, reddening, the band leader rapped his music stand with his baton, next gave the signal, and the band crashed forth into ...
— The Submarine Boys and the Spies - Dodging the Sharks of the Deep • Victor G. Durham

... which, calling out in a loud voice, Tambarane! Tambarane! which is their name for God, they fled away. Nicholas Coello, who was in his boat, followed after them, firing off his ordnance; but the general, fearful of any mischance, called him back by signal. ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. II • Robert Kerr

... mother." Eleanor said it with a look at Jane which was almost a signal for sympathy: the cobbler's daughter ...
— All He Knew - A Story • John Habberton

... seized his tomahawk, and Mrs. Neff seized another Indian's weapons. The nurse shook Samuel. The lad rose, rubbed his eyes and went over to where the man lay, who had instructed him in the art of killing. He seized his hatchet and held it in his hand ready. At a signal from Mrs. Dustin, three blows fell on three temples, and with a quiver three sleepers in life had passed to the sleep of death. Once more the hatchets were raised, and six of the twelve were dead. The little ...
— The Witch of Salem - or Credulity Run Mad • John R. Musick

... principle of the shunted condenser that has been introduced with such signal success in our post office service, and has virtually doubled the ...
— Scientific American Supplement No. 822 - Volume XXXII, Number 822. Issue Date October 3, 1891 • Various

... that case, my friend, you will be the only one caught. We shall remain in hiding till you give the signal." ...
— My Sword's My Fortune - A Story of Old France • Herbert Hayens

... were fading from the mountain tops, the exploring vessel dropped anchor before Eric's ship-sheds and the eager groups that had gathered on the shore at the first signal. Not only idlers made up the throng, but the Red One himself was there, and Thorwald and every soul from Brattahlid; and with them half the high-born men of Greenland, who had lived for the last month as Eric's guests, that they might ...
— The Thrall of Leif the Lucky • Ottilie A. Liljencrantz

... see nothing; but the carpenter continuing to halloo to us, "A sail! a sail!" away we run up the hill, and there we saw a ship plainly; but it was at a very great distance, too far for us to make any signal to her. However, we made a fire upon the hill, with all the wood we could get together, and made as much smoke as possible. The wind was down, and it was almost calm; but as we thought, by a perspective glass which the gunner had in his pocket, her sails were full, and she ...
— The Life, Adventures & Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton • Daniel Defoe

... to the blond-haired cadet, but Roger waved him off, listening for the signal. Suddenly he looked up at their own chronometer above the control board and took off the ...
— Sabotage in Space • Carey Rockwell

... Axphainians are planning to attack Ganlook upon the first signal from their ruler. I do not wish to alarm your highness, but we may as well expect trouble before we come to the Ganlook gates You are known to be in the pass, and I am certain an effort will be made to take possession of ...
— Beverly of Graustark • George Barr McCutcheon

... granted that a Lord Chamberlain had an absolute power over the theatre." An attempt, however, upon the authority of the Chamberlain to imprison Dogget, the actor, for breach of his engagement with the patentees of Drury Lane Theatre, met with signal discomfiture. Dogget forthwith applied to the Lord Chief Justice Holt for his discharge under the Habeas Corpus Act, and readily obtained it, with, it may be gathered, liberal compensation for the violence to which he ...
— A Book of the Play - Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character • Dutton Cook

... Instantly a couple of hundred feet below us, on the dark and rippling water, a light broke forth. Another signal, ...
— The Dream Doctor • Arthur B. Reeve

... natural pride he felt in his abounding cabbages. True, it was no business of his, but still he could not feel entirely at ease. As he bent over his hoe he heard hoofs clatter in the street, and, looking up, saw the erect form of Sergeant Grey on his well-groomed Government horse. At a signal from the banker the policeman drew up beside ...
— The Homesteaders - A Novel of the Canadian West • Robert J. C. Stead

... was a signal. On going to rest in the little back spare room she had thrown off her street things, worn during all the hours of watching, and put on the dressing gown she had left there a few nights earlier. She was still wearing it, but at Steptoe's ...
— The Dust Flower • Basil King

... it was not thought seemly to appear to anticipate the event by quitting Versailles while Louis was still alive, a lighted candle was placed in the window of the sick-room, which, the moment that the king had expired, was to be extinguished, as a signal to the equerries to prepare the carriages. The dauphin and dauphiness were in an adjoining room awaiting the intelligence, when, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, a sudden trampling of feet was heard, and Madame de Noailles entered the apartment to entreat them to advance ...
— The Life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France • Charles Duke Yonge

... said he had a proposal to make, which he thought would meet the case. "You will all agree," said he, "that our chief danger consists in the sly and treacherous manner in which the enemy approaches us. Now, if we could receive some signal of her approach, we could easily escape from her. I venture, therefore, to propose that a small bell be procured, and attached by a ribbon round the neck of the Cat. By this means we should always know when she was about, and could ...
— The Junior Classics, Volume 1 • Willam Patten

... These sweetmeats of all kinds, and of all forms, but principally yemas, or yolks of eggs prepared with a crust of sugar (a delicious bonne- bouche), were strewn on the floor of a large room, at least to the depth of three inches. Into this room, at a given signal, tripped the bride and bridegroom DANCING ROMALIS, followed amain by all the Gitanos and Gitanas, DANCING ROMALIS. To convey a slight idea of the scene is almost beyond the power of words. In a few minutes the sweetmeats ...
— The Zincali - An Account of the Gypsies of Spain • George Borrow

... approach of Admiral Watson's fleet they were to be scuttled and sunk in the fairway. A subahdar {equivalent to colonel of infantry} of Manik Chand's force was at present on board one of the sloops, to superintend the work of scuttling. The signal would be given by the ...
— In Clive's Command - A Story of the Fight for India • Herbert Strang

... the locomotive kept ahead of it still, and was in the darkness, with the lights close on behind it. The inhabitants petitioned against it; they couldn't sleep with so much light in the night time. Finally, we had to station electric telegraphs along the road, with signal men to telegraph when the train was in sight; and I have heard that some of the fast trains beat the lightning fifteen minutes every forty miles. But I can't say as that is true; the rest I know ...
— The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun; • Various

... the islands. I imagined them to be sealers, who having entered the bay to procure water or firewood, were again steering towards the islands to fish. Having hastily made a fire upon one of the sand-hills, we fired shots, shouted, waved handkerchiefs, and made every signal we could to attract attention, but in vain. They were too far away to see, or too busy to look towards us. The hopes we had entertained were as suddenly disappointed as they had been excited, and we stood silently and sullenly ...
— Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central • Edward John Eyre

... there, Bob!" shouted Frank, starting up from beside his little cooking fire in something of a panic; for that alarm signal is apt to send the blood bounding through the veins like mad, ...
— The Saddle Boys of the Rockies - Lost on Thunder Mountain • James Carson

... It was the signal that the reading was going to begin, and the matrons looked at her resentfully. What call had people to start reading when the talk was flowing so ...
— The Incomplete Amorist • E. Nesbit

... by kings exercising suzerain powers over surrounding kings. A horse was let free, and was allowed to wander from place to place, accompanied by the king's guard. If any neighbouring king ventured to detain the animal, it was a signal for war. If no king ventured to restrain the wanderer, it was considered a tacit mark of submission to the owner of the animal. And when the horse returned from its peregrinations, it was sacrificed ...
— Maha-bharata - The Epic of Ancient India Condensed into English Verse • Anonymous

... of the social life was Bailey's store. There stood the post-office, which connected the settlers with the world they had left behind. There they assembled each day when the flag ran up the long pole which stood before the door as a signal for the mail. On the treeless, shrubless prairie one could see the flag miles away, as it rose like a faint fleck of pink against the green of the prairie beyond or the blue ...
— The Moccasin Ranch - A Story of Dakota • Hamlin Garland

... clear, and the sun shone brightly on the pyramids of white canvas towering up from the black, shining, freshly painted hulls which floated on the blue ocean in all directions. On the outskirts were the still more stately men-of-war, their bright-coloured signal flags continually moving up and down, while they occasionally fired a gun either on one side or the other, in rather a difficult attempt to keep their somewhat refractory charges on their proper course. Mary, after watching the manoeuvres of the men-of-war and the fleet of merchant ...
— Adrift in a Boat • W.H.G. Kingston

... over the cliff brink. At a signal from the Navaho he again vanished. The hoist rope tautened. With a creak, the cage scraped on the ledge and began to swing up the cliff face above the ...
— Bloom of Cactus • Robert Ames Bennet

... at this moment motioned the crowd to stand back and gave the signal to his two assistants, who went to the other end of the pole and ...
— The Real America in Romance, Volume 6; A Century Too Soon (A Story - of Bacon's Rebellion) • John R. Musick

... sun at this moment passed behind the western tree-tops. It was the old customary signal for him to go. They suddenly looked at each other in that shadow. "I shall always think of you for your last words to me," he said in a thick voice, rising. "Some day you will find the woman who will ...
— The Choir Invisible • James Lane Allen

... blinded were they, that in the time of Abraham, gross wickedness prevailed wherever colonies were planted, and the iniquity of the Amorites was great, though not yet full. After this, idolatry spread more and more, till the seven devoted nations were cut off with the most signal marks of divine displeasure. Still, however, the progress of evil was not stopped, but the Israelites themselves too often joined with the rest of mankind against the God of Israel. In one period the grossest ...
— An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens • William Carey

... time Mackintosh was thoroughly roused. His backwoods experience told him what a chum's sympathy had already gathered, that no freak of sporting opportunities would cause these shots to be fired at such regular intervals. They could mean nothing else but a signal of distress. ...
— The Fiery Totem - A Tale of Adventure in the Canadian North-West • Argyll Saxby

... the look-out. This does not mean that they are industrious. I stated in a previous article my belief that as a rule successful men are not particularly industrious. A man on a raft with his shirt for a signal cannot be termed industrious, but he will keep his eyes open for a sail on the horizon. If he simply lies down and goes to sleep he may miss the chance of his life, in a very special sense. The man with the talent to succeed is the ...
— Mental Efficiency - And Other Hints to Men and Women • Arnold Bennett

... had suddenly changed. The danger signal in the girl's eyes had determined him. So he smiled, and there ...
— The Man in the Twilight • Ridgwell Cullum

... carefully compile the news, foreign and domestic, of the current month, and give, in a precise and systematic order, that intelligence which the common newspapers communicate in a vague and indiscriminate way. His work shall likewise be a repository of all those signal incidents in private life, which mark the character of the age, ...
— The Philadelphia Magazines and their Contributors 1741-1850 • Albert Smyth

... after we had got through this channel, in which we found forty fathoms water, the Discovery, now about two miles astern, fired three guns, and brought-to, and made a signal to speak with us. This alarmed me not a little; and, as no apparent danger had been remarked in the passage through the channel, it was apprehended that some accident, such as springing a leak, must have happened. A boat ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 16 • Robert Kerr

... considerable part of my thoughts and did not contribute largely towards my moral or physical welfare. In other words, and in very colloquial language, I never had useless friends hanging about me. From this crude statement of a signal fact, the thoughtless reader will at once judge me rapacious, egotistical, false, fawning, mendacious. Well, I may be all this and more, but not because all who have known me have rendered me eminent services. I can say that no one ever formed relationships ...
— Confessions of a Young Man • George Moore

... that this battle took place and gave the signal, too, for an effort to restore Poland. But Austria, Prussia, and Russia combined, and Poland was lost. Heroic children were made to pay for the sins of their fathers. Poland expired in 1795. Prussia took ...
— The Story of Russia • R. Van Bergen

... of giving a blessing before the lections was already in existence in the fourth century. The ruler of the choir, who gave it in the beginning, gave also the signal for the termination of the lesson by the words, 'Tu autem' (scil, desine or cessa), to which the reader responded 'Domine miserere nobis,' while the choir answered Deo gratias. In the palace of Aix-la-Chapeile, it was by knocking, and not by the words Tu autem, that the ...
— The Divine Office • Rev. E. J. Quigley

... incredible influx of voters from Italy. I then commenced my journey, amidst the compliments of the men of highest consideration at Brundisium, and was met at every point by legates bearing congratulations. My arrival in the neighbourhood of the city was the signal for every soul of every order known to my nomenclator coming out to meet me, except those enemies who could not either dissemble or deny the fact of their being such. On my arrival at the Porta Capena, the steps of the temples were already thronged from top to bottom[378] by ...
— The Letters of Cicero, Volume 1 - The Whole Extant Correspodence in Chronological Order • Marcus Tullius Cicero

... and as I began to speak I noticed that the roughs themselves began to listen, which they continued to do during the hour and a half I devoted to the most unmistakable utterances on the slavery question. The ringleader of the mob, for some reason, failed to give the signal of attack, and free speech was vindicated. Timid men grew brave, and boasted of the love of order that had prompted the people of the town to stand by my rights; yet the mob would probably have triumphed but for ...
— Political Recollections - 1840 to 1872 • George W. Julian

... marriage came on the hardest and most distinctive part of the fisher's year. All along the rocky coast the "huers" were standing watching for the shoals of pilchard, and the men were in the boats beneath, waiting for their signal to shoot the seines. Every fisher had now, in an intense degree, the look which always distinguishes him—the look of a man accustomed to reflect and to be ready for emergencies. This year the shoals were ...
— A Singer from the Sea • Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr

... If you happen to have a gun, fire it off twice in quick succession on your high lookout; then wait and listen. Do this several times and wait plenty long enough—perhaps an hour. If this brings no help, send up a distress signal—that is, make two smoke fires by smothering two bright fires with green leaves and rotten wood, and keep them at least fifty feet apart, or the wind will confuse them. Two shots or two smokes are usually understood to mean "I am in trouble." Those in camp on seeing this should send ...
— Boy Scouts Handbook - The First Edition, 1911 • Boy Scouts of America

... each boy, before the teacher came to his desk, was necessarily idle, and, almost necessarily, in mischief. Day after day the teacher went through this regular routine. He sauntered slowly and listlessly through the aisles, and among the benches of the room, wherever he saw the signal of a pen. He paid, of course, very little attention to the writing, now and then reproving, with an impatient tone, some extraordinary instance of carelessness, or leaving his work to suppress some rising disorder. Ordinarily, however, he seemed to be lost in vacancy of thought, ...
— The Teacher • Jacob Abbott

... to the middlemen of every sort, whether they are handling our foodstuffs or the raw materials of manufacture or the products of our mills and factories: The eyes of the country will be especially upon you. This is your opportunity for signal service, efficient and disinterested. The country expects you, as it expects all others, to forego unusual profits, to organize and expedite shipments of supplies of every kind, but especially of food, with an eye to the service you are rendering and in the spirit of those who enlist in the ranks, ...
— Why We are at War • Woodrow Wilson

... receipts for October were $16,416.07, being but a little more than half of that which is needed. Our dependence must be where it has been; first of all upon God, and then upon those who are his stewards. We do not believe that God's stewards will be willing to use this signal illustration of fidelity to stewardship as a reason why they should do less rather than more in their working together with him. The American Missionary Association begins its year with a debt of $5,000 and needs $30,000 a month to carry on ...
— The American Missionary, Volume 42, No. 12, December, 1888 • Various

... so much out of your way, won't I hope trouble you. I remember Thompson telling me that, from what he had read and seen of Grecian Geography, he almost thought Clytemnestra's famous Account of the Line of Signal Fires from Troy to Mycenae to be possible (I mean you know in the Agamemnon). At least this is what I believe he said: I must not assert from a not very accurate Memory anything that would compromise a Greek Professor: I am so ...
— Letters of Edward FitzGerald in Two Volumes - Vol. II • Edward FitzGerald

... with his wooden dinner-bucket,—he is going off with his grandfather for the day,—and will yodel to the old man as a signal to make haste. Then you will hear him consulting with ...
— By The Sea - 1887 • Heman White Chaplin

... to a chair, wrapped a huge coat around him, tied a motoring cap under his chin, fixed goggles over his eyes. Sir Richard strolled into the hall and opened the front door. He stood there for a moment, looking up and down the street. When he gave the signal they dragged him out, supported between them, across the pavement, into the car. Ugh! His attitude was so natural as to be absolutely ghastly. Merries started the car and sprang into the driver's seat. There were people in the Square now, but the figure reclining in ...
— Peter Ruff and the Double Four • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... in; "a regular little marplot!" Then he gave that gruff laugh of his that Helen knew to be a signal of surrender. ...
— The Place Beyond the Winds • Harriet T. Comstock

... wind and sunshine in the most bravado manner, And after hours of sailing she has merely cheeks of rose; Old Sol himself seems smitten, and at most will only tan her, Though to everybody else he gives a danger-signal nose. ...
— The Kingdom of Love - and Other Poems • Ella Wheeler Wilcox

... has a most peculiar signal system of his own. He is furnished with a white patch on his rump, the hair long and stiff, and when alarmed, instead of bristling his neck roach as do other animals, the antelope bristles this white rump patch. The sun strikes ...
— The Yellow Horde • Hal G. Evarts

... lack of self-control, because they had shewn themselves wanting in obedience to them, when it was possible to capture as prisoners of war such a multitude of Persians and the son of Glones and the city itself, while they had in consequence attached to themselves signal disgrace by carrying Roman money to the enemy, and had taken Amida from the Persians by purchasing it with silver. [506 A.D.] After this the Persians, since their war with the Huns kept dragging on, entered into a treaty with the Romans, which was arranged by them ...
— History of the Wars, Books I and II (of 8) - The Persian War • Procopius

... intimation of danger ahead. Its occupants had eaten dinner in company with those of the east-bound coach, eighteen miles down the river at Canon Bluff, and the in-coming driver had reported an open road, and no unusual trouble. No Indian signs had been observed, not even signal fires during the night, and the conductor, who had come straight from Santa Fe, reported that troops from Fort Union had driven the only known bunch of raiders back from the neighborhood of the trail, and had them already ...
— Molly McDonald - A Tale of the Old Frontier • Randall Parrish

... times, reverse of this is true, Most pleasing things are placed before our view. But to return; the first of May appears— A day for fond embrace and shedding tears! Some few go with the friends to see them off, Nor seek to hide their tears, though fools may scoff. They take the boat; the signal's made to start; The "Water-Witch" shoots forward like a dart; Some lingering looks, some tokens of adieu— Sweet town, dear friends, and all, is lost to view! Why felt not COOPER then in rhyming mood? Why did he slight the ...
— The Emigrant Mechanic and Other Tales In Verse - Together With Numerous Songs Upon Canadian Subjects • Thomas Cowherd

... was to chew it when people expected him to talk. It wasn't much of a mustache—a little blond fuzz about as heavy as his yellow eyebrows over his big inquiring blue eyes, and he once told Dolan that he kept it for a danger signal. When he found himself pulling at it, he knew he was nervous and should get out into the open. They tell a story in the Ridge to the effect that Hendricks started to run to a fire, and caught himself pulling at his mustache, and turned around and went ...
— A Certain Rich Man • William Allen White

... time the signal was given that the Emperor had started from the palace all the heads were bare—bare in a temperature many degrees below freezing and in falling snow! It was the Prince who gave the word of command, and while he stood at attention she watched his face. It was severe and rigid, ...
— His Hour • Elinor Glyn

... on Ney's corps, which consisted chiefly of young and raw recruits, who saw an enemy for the first time. The situation was extremely dangerous, and Ney and his principal generals threw themselves into the squares to encourage them. By volleys delivered at a signal, the enemy's charges were all repulsed, and the conscripts acquired great confidence from the ease with which this was done. Ney then broke up his squares, and, pursuing the enemy ...
— A Treatise on the Tactical Use of the Three Arms: Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry • Francis J. Lippitt

... grand and interesting sight are the fires on the tops of the largest living trees flaming above the green branches at a height of perhaps two hundred feet, entirely cut off from the ground-fires, and looking like signal beacons on watch towers. From one standpoint I sometimes saw a dozen or more, those in the distance looking like great stars above the forest roof. At first I could not imagine how these Sequoia lamps were lighted, but the very first night, strolling about waiting and watching, I saw the ...
— Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools - Edited With Notes, Study Helps, And Reading Lists • Various

... also the eastern extremity of the island, and both, provided with a flag staff for the purpose of communication by signal with the fort, were far from being wanting in picturesque effect. A subaltern's command of infantry, and a bombardier's of artillery, were the only troops stationed there, and these were there rather to look out for, and report the approach ...
— The Canadian Brothers - or The Prophecy Fulfilled • John Richardson

... followed were terribly trying ones for the gray-haired president of the Bayou State Security. None the less, his brain was busy with the chanceful possibilities. Failing all else, he was determined to give the teller a warning signal, come what might. It was a duty owed to society no less than to the bank and to himself. But on the pinnacle of resolution, at the instant when, with the robber at his elbow, he stepped to the window ...
— The Price • Francis Lynde

... experience of a pack of hounds had left a bad impression. The hounds looked more than ever embarrassed as their quarry paraded its sudden intimacy with us, and the faint toot of a horn in the distance was seized on as a welcome signal for unobtrusive departure. Constance and I and the hyaena were left alone ...
— The Chronicles of Clovis • Saki

... very edge of the precipice, erect and calm, is a young man, surrounded by the brigands, who are preparing to throw him into the depths below. The chief is a short distance away, and seemingly about to give the fatal signal. A few paces in advance stands a female, of strange beauty, waving her hand menacingly towards the chief as if commanding that the young man's life be spared. Her manner, resolute and imperious, the countenance of the chief, the grateful calmness of the prisoner, ...
— Happy Days for Boys and Girls • Various

... Moors who are entering the gardens; let Doa Xiraena and her daughters see the good will you have to serve them. Down went Alvar Salvadores in great haste, and ordered a bell to be rung which was a signal for two hundred knights to make ready; for the history saith, that the Cid, by reason that he was alway in war, had appointed, such signals for his people, that they knew when one hundred were called for, and when two, and so forth. Presently they ...
— Chronicle Of The Cid • Various

... clothes, who struggled against fire and tear with fire extinguishers and silk ribbons in the inner netting. They answered only with ineffectual shots. Thence the battle circled back over Niagara, and then suddenly the Germans, as if at a preconcerted signal, broke and dispersed, going east, west, north, and south, in open and confused flight. The Asiatics, as they realised this, rose to fly above them and after them. Only one little knot of four Germans and perhaps a dozen Asiatics remained ...
— The War in the Air • Herbert George Wells

... warriors! I will give the signal for the onset, which will lay thousands of our foemen low; and see, for my ensign, I do wear upon my burgonet this leek, which will, if we gain the victory, be ever after held in honour throughout Wales, and on this first day of March be worn by all Welshmen in commemoration ...
— The Seven Champions of Christendom • W. H. G. Kingston

... I abused poor Neal for not sending somebody to find me. His huntsman, I had heard, was gone to Anahuac, and would not be back for two or three days; but he might have sent a couple of his lazy negroes. Or, if he had only fired a shot or two as a signal. I stopped and listened, in hopes of hearing the crack of a rifle. But the deepest stillness reigned around, scarcely the chirp of a bird was heard—all nature seemed to be taking the siesta. As far as the eye could reach was a waving sea of grass, here and there ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 54, No. 337, November, 1843 • Various

... around the Farallones, from up around the Potato Patch with its mournful fog bell constantly tolling, from down the coast as far as Monterey Bay where fish are in such abundance that it is said they have to give a signal when they want to turn around, from up the rivers, come fish to the man who has grown from the owner of a small sail boat to be the power who controls prices of all the fish that go to the markets of ...
— Bohemian San Francisco - Its restaurants and their most famous recipes—The elegant art of dining. • Clarence E. Edwords

... signal distinction conferred by the highest literary tribunal, whilst it exhibits in such a favourable light the intellectual vigour of the Province of Quebec, cannot be otherwise than a subject of legitimate pride to the ...
— Picturesque Quebec • James MacPherson Le Moine

... group they suddenly split up, as if at a given signal, scattering the length of the block and dismounting singly. There was something purposeful in this act and a vague apprehension superseded the rush of gladness she had experienced with the first unexpected view of the Three Bar crew. Men who stood on the board sidewalks ...
— The Settling of the Sage • Hal G. Evarts

... became, O noble Erpingham! Which did the signal aim To our hid forces; When, from a meadow by, Like a storm, suddenly. The English archery Struck the ...
— The World's Best Poetry, Volume 8 • Various

... signal pleasure to lay this parliamentary resolution before the Congress and to express my sincere gratification that the sentiment of two great and kindred nations is thus authoritatively manifested in favor of the rational and peaceable settlement of international quarrels by ...
— Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Volume 8, Section 2 (of 2): Grover Cleveland • Grover Cleveland

... envelope, and with a nervous hand Mrs Frothingham took it for perusal. Whilst she was thus occupied, Rolfe averted his eyes; when he knew that she had read to the end, he looked at her. She had again sighed, and Harvey could not help imagining it an involuntary signal ...
— The Whirlpool • George Gissing

... issue for the first of July, 1775, says: "On June 6th, 1775, the prisoners taken at Lexington were exchanged. The wounded privates were soon sent on board the Levity. * * * At about three a signal was made by the Levity that they were ready to deliver up our prisoners, upon which General Putnam and Major Moncrief went to the ferry, where they received nine prisoners. The regular officers expressed themselves as highly pleased, those who had been prisoners politely ...
— American Prisoners of the Revolution • Danske Dandridge

... Sir Bellingham (or Bellinjim, as it is pronounced) perform his delicate duty. When each driver mounted his box, after handing in the ladies, it was wonderful to observe with what dexterity, ease, and order, all wheeled into line, when the leader, with a flourish of his long whip—being the signal for which all were ...
— Graham's Magazine Vol. XXXII No. 2. February 1848 • Various

... the models superstition holds out to the imitation of man; is it then surprising that the name of these despots became the signal for mad-brained enthusiasm to exercise its outrageous fury; the standard under which cowardice wreaked its cruelty; the watchword for the inhumanity of nations to muster their barbarous strength; a sound which ...
— The System of Nature, Vol. 2 • Baron D'Holbach

... Sunday-School, I had neglected one morning to bring with me the teacher's class-books. After opening the school, I rang the bell as a signal for attention. There was a general hush throughout the room. All eyes were turned to the desk. I said: "Your class-books unfortunately have been left behind this morning. They have been sent for, however, and they will ...
— In the School-Room - Chapters in the Philosophy of Education • John S. Hart

... at the Casa Inglese, a rude hut built by the English troops when stationed in Sicily, during the late war. Here it became again necessary to halt a little to put on some extra clothing. As soon as this was accomplished, the signal for the ascent was made by the guides giving each person of the party a long staff, to assist him in clambering the steeps, as the mules could not proceed any further, owing to the nature and fatigue of the ascent. The first portion of the road lay over large broken ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. 20. No. 568 - 29 Sept 1832 • Various

... O'Neil's trenches, and the cavalry, with the plain before them, were ordered to charge; but they soon came upon the concealed pitfalls, horses fell, riders were thrown, and confusion spread among the squadron. Then it was O'Neil in turn gave the signal to charge; himself led on the centre, O'Donnell the left, and Maguire, famous for horsemanship, the Irish horse. The overthrow of the English was complete, and the victory most eventful. The Marshal, 23 superior officers, ...
— A Popular History of Ireland - From the earliest period to the emancipation of the Catholics • Thomas D'Arcy McGee

... a ship-of-war entered the harbour, the usual salutes were exchanged, then a signal was run up to one of her mast-heads, and again the guns of the forts pealed out a salute, and word ran through the transports that Sir Arthur Wellesley was on board. On the following day the fleet got under way, the transports being escorted by a line-of-battle ...
— With Moore At Corunna • G. A. Henty

... Obeying the least signal with ready and timorous acquiescence, she pushed the door open, but instantly recoiled with terror. It was a charnel house, half filled ...
— The Fair Maid of Perth • Sir Walter Scott

... ultimate happiness. And when the conscience is keen, this vigilance of the practical imagination over the speculative ceases to appear as an eventual and external check. The least suspicion of luxury, waste, impurity, or cruelty is then a signal for alarm and insurrection. That which emits this sapor hoereticus becomes so initially horrible, that naturally no beauty can ever be discovered in it; the senses and imagination are in that case inhibited ...
— The Sense of Beauty - Being the Outlines of Aesthetic Theory • George Santayana

... Argetti and you shall introduce him to me. He will be led to the little cabin out on the marsh. I have had it fitted up for an emergency. After you have brought him to me you must be on the watch to learn if there are others at his back; if there is you must signal me, if not you must ...
— Oscar the Detective - Or, Dudie Dunne, The Exquisite Detective • Harlan Page Halsey

... which seemed to be the judgment of Heaven, was the signal to a revolt. The people rose and ran to arms; and Babylon, which had been so long immersed in idleness and effeminacy, became the theater of a bloody civil war. I was taken from the heart of my statue and placed at the head of a party. ...
— Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories • Edited by Julian Hawthorne

... Captain Pomery's defiance was thrown away. A minute later the leading gunboat ran up a small bundle on her main signal halliards, and shook out ...
— Sir John Constantine • Prosper Paleologus Constantine

... Crew, We have slipped the Revenue, I can see the cliffs of Dover on the lee: Tip the signal to the Swan, And anchor broadside on, And out with the kegs of Eau-de-Vie, Says the Cap'n: Out with the kegs of Eau-de-Vie. Says the Lander to his men, Get your grummets on the pin, There's a blue light burning out at sea. The windward anchors creep, And the Gauger's fast ...
— Moonfleet • J. Meade Falkner

... nesting season is over, however, this Heron again becomes the night watchman of the marshes. The tinkling of the bell on the home-going cow is his breakfast bell, and sunset the signal for him to leave his roost. Then beware! little fishes and lizards—those red eyes are glowing for you! That long spear-shaped beak is ready to stab you to death! Froggy 'who would a-wooing go,' return quickly to your mother, without making any ...
— Citizen Bird • Mabel Osgood Wright and Elliott Coues

... corsairs could by no means equal. Of this they were well aware, and the attack was delayed while the oarsmen in the galleys rested on their oars out of range to allow them breathing time before the supreme moment arrived. But the hounds were only held in leash; there came a signal which was answered by a concentrated yell of fury and of hate; then from right ahead, right astern, on the port side and the starboard, the galleys were launched to the attack. But all on board the great Venetian vessel was as still as that death which awaited ...
— Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean • E. Hamilton Currey

... spoken ill of him and had endeavoured to dissuade Donnacona from going to the ships. Seeing likewise that Taignoagny was sending away the women and children, and that the men only remained, which indicated some hostile intentions, our captain gave a signal to his men who immediately ran to his assistance, and laid hold on Donnacona, Taignoagny, Domagaia, and two more of the principal natives. On seeing their lord taken, the Canadians immediately ran away, some crossing the river towards Stadacona and others taking to the woods; whereupon ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume VI - Early English Voyages Of Discovery To America • Robert Kerr

... to be disappointed. The fleet had been descried also by the pursuers. A few minutes later the grab threw out a signal, hauled her wind and stood away to the northward, followed closely by the two larger vessels. The captain growled his disappointment. Nearly a dozen of the coast craft, as they were now clearly seen to be, went in pursuit, but with little chance of coming up with the chase. The remaining ...
— In Clive's Command - A Story of the Fight for India • Herbert Strang

... dedit. Consider the tenses. Each army waited for some time for the other to cross; finally Hercules gave the signal. ...
— Ritchie's Fabulae Faciles - A First Latin Reader • John Kirtland, ed.

... shrill whistle behind me. I jumped and whirled about. Twenty feet away a marmot stood erect atop a rock, eying me inquiringly, watching every movement. He had whistled his signal about me, whether good or bad news I could not detect, but from the distance came other whistles in reply. He was the cony's ally, broadcasting information about the skirmish taking place before his eyes; but whether he was attempting ...
— A Mountain Boyhood • Joe Mills

... full, making a track of light across the heaving waters, and the crab, facing east, prepared to spring and drag it to its den beneath the ocean. Half a mile away the people of the princess were holding a feast with songs and dances. Would they hear a signal? She placed her conch-shell horn at her lips and blew with all her strength. The monster still gnashed and grasped in expectancy at the sea's edge, and a breeze brought through the wood a faint sound of drums. Her people had not heard. Again ...
— Myths & Legends of our New Possessions & Protectorate • Charles M. Skinner

... gun belched a death-dealing shot. Tresler saw one figure reel and fall with a groan. Then his own gun was heard. His aim was less effective, and only brought a volley in reply from the raiders. That volley was the signal for the real battle to begin. The ambush of the two defenders was located, and the rustlers divided, and came sweeping round to ...
— The Night Riders - A Romance of Early Montana • Ridgwell Cullum

... of the Indians came down to the Landing place and handed us out of our boat, and immediately several of the Indians, who were drawn out on the occasion, discharged a volley of Musketry turned from us, as a signal of receiving their friends. The Chief then welcomed us and introduced us to the other Chiefs, and after inviting us to their Council Chamber, viz. their largest wigwam, conducted us thither, the rest of the Indians ...
— Glimpses of the Past - History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784 • W. O. Raymond

... history of the same characters. Bennett reveals in these novels one of his prime gifts,—the skill to paint domestic pictures vividly and to invest them with a distinct local atmosphere. His art has won a signal triumph in arousing interest in simple scenes and average characters. He can present the romance of the commonplace,—of gray, dull monotonous, almost ...
— Halleck's New English Literature • Reuben P. Halleck

... not being able to sustain my fire, she hauled her wind, and with a signal of distress flying, stood to meet the captain's ship, which hastily ran down towards us. As they stopped to render her assistance, and to pick up her boat, I was able to rejoin my prizes, and, without misadventure, to take ...
— Famous Privateersmen and Adventurers of the Sea • Charles H. L. Johnston

... the Bourbons, who called it a "workshop of the devil." It distinguished itself during the anti-dynastic revolts of 1799 and 1848 and, in 1860, was presented with twelve thousand ducats by Garibaldi, "in consideration of the signal services rendered to the national cause by the brave and generous Albanians." [Footnote: There used to be regiments of these Albanians at Naples. In Filati de Tassulo's sane study (1777) they are spoken of as highly prized.] Even now the institution is honeycombed ...
— Old Calabria • Norman Douglas

... court, and of the apprentices' school; and, led by a variety of impulses—by a sense of jeopardised possession and a conscience speaking with new emphasis and authority—she had taken care that he should talk to her about both; she had haunted him in the library, and her presence there, once the signal of antagonism and dispute, had ceased to have any such meaning for him. Her sympathy was not very intelligent, and there was at times a childish note of sulkiness and reluctance in it; she was extremely ready to say, 'I ...
— The History of David Grieve • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... The signal was given from the Harlem shore for the institution's boat. I jumped on board, and the strong arms of the uniformed boys of our boat's crew propelled us across the river, where two policemen stood on the pier guarding ...
— The Gentleman from Everywhere • James Henry Foss

... was a signal to his comrades, and told them that his trick had succeeded. And then his fear about being dragged into your quarrel! That was a blind, monsieur, meant to throw you off ...
— For The Admiral • W.J. Marx

... Hortense, and already enchained in the mystic glittering web with which Madame de Kruedener had enveloped him, and separated from the reality of the world, acceded to the wishes of the Bourbons, and abandoned the queen. This was the signal that let loose the general wrath of the royalists; they could now freely utter their scorn and malice. By low calumnies they could now compensate themselves for their humiliation of the past, for having been compelled to approach the daughter of Viscountess de Beauharnais with the reverence due ...
— Queen Hortense - A Life Picture of the Napoleonic Era • L. Muhlbach

... he was, besides, unwilling to risk the dangers which might arise in his own camp, in southern Italy, by too long an absence from it. It was decided, accordingly, to attack Hasdrubal at once, and the signal for battle ...
— Hannibal - Makers of History • Jacob Abbott

... them turn sharply the next moment, and even though it proved to be the warning signal of an old snake-charmer, Beryl welcomed the diversion. She looked at the man with a good deal of interest, notwithstanding her repulsion. He was wrapped in a long, very dirty, white chuddah, from which his face peered weirdly forth, wrinkled and old, ...
— The Swindler and Other Stories • Ethel M. Dell

... 23d. This afternoon, a signal was made from the shore, and we went off in the gig, and found the agent's clerk, who had been up to the pueblo, waiting at the landing-place, with a package under his arm, covered with brown papers and tied carefully with twine. No sooner had we shoved ...
— Two Years Before the Mast • Richard Henry Dana

... the drawing-room, and Eve engaged her directly in sprightly conversation, into which they soon drew David, and, interchanging a secret signal, plied him with a few artful questions, and—launched him. But the one sketch I gave of his manner and matter must serve again and again. Were I to retail to the reader all the droll, the spirited, the exciting things he told his hearers, there ...
— Love Me Little, Love Me Long • Charles Reade

... rang vigorously, and the whistle hoarsely blew, as signal for all visitors to go ashore. Mrs. Adams gave Charley and her husband one final kiss, and Charley added to his return kiss a round hug. She was such a good woman; he wished that she was going, too. He rather wished that he could stay at home with her; he—he—and ...
— Gold Seekers of '49 • Edwin L. Sabin

... very devoted to me, because I love the people of that fortress as fathers and mothers love their children. Those who recognize my authority I do not ill-treat, but I send my captains to war upon whomsoever shall refuse to submit to me. I am writing this letter to thee, so that it may prove a token, signal, and reminder. Thou shalt write these things to the king of Castilla quickly, so that he may be informed thereof. Do not delay, but write at once. I send thee that sword, which is called quihocan." He declares that this letter was given to the father while in the ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume IX, 1593-1597 • E. H. Blair

... the accession of this prince, who was probably young and active, was the signal for a disturbance among the people of the Upper Tigris and the Masios—a race always impatient of the yoke, and ready to make common cause with any fresh enemy of Assyria. An insurrection broke out in Bit-Zamani ...
— History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 7 (of 12) • G. Maspero

... not try to answer him. At a signal he was led to the stair. To descend that ladder with his hands behind him was almost impossible, and they had to pause at the next level to unclasp the handcuffs and let him go free. Keeping a gun on him carefully, they hurried ...
— The Time Traders • Andre Norton

... Cape Cod harbor. Weather open. Saw signal-fire on the other side of bay this morning, built by exploring party as arranged. The Master, Governor Carver, and many of the company ashore in afternoon, and met exploring party there on their return to ship. Hearing their signal-guns before they arrived at the shore, sent long-boat ...
— The Mayflower and Her Log, Complete • Azel Ames

... co-pilot drily, to Joe. "We had a signal to give. Individual to this plane. We didn't tell it to you. You couldn't ...
— Space Platform • Murray Leinster

... you can't ask, and it's no use to signal to them in the lugger, because they couldn't understand, so you've got to take the boat, and we shall be back long ...
— Devon Boys - A Tale of the North Shore • George Manville Fenn

... boy, you've proved yourself 'one of us' to-night; glad to claim you as a b-hoy. Whenever you're in want or trouble, signal the b-hoys, and you'll be helped out of it. It's a better society than any of the Odd Fellows or Free Masons can ever be, and costs you nothing besides. What say you now ...
— The Brother Clerks - A Tale of New-Orleans • Xariffa

... pulling away from the inspector's grasp. "Wan minute! I have a hint there be a long-haired cat near by. Wance ye have been near wan av thim ye can niver mistake thim Angora cats. I w'u'd know th' symbol av thim with me eyes shut. 'T is a signal ye c'u'd ...
— Mike Flannery On Duty and Off • Ellis Parker Butler



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