"Surprise" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... To George's surprise, Mr. Alfred Prince was in the sitting-room. Shabby and creased as usual, he looked far more like a clerk in some establishment where clerks were not morally compelled to imitate dandies than like an etcher of European renown. But, also as usual, he was quietly at ease and conversational; ...
— The Roll-Call • Arnold Bennett
... the day had come on. The peasant, exhausted with fatigue, little by little forgot his surprise and joy; one does not feel the burning of thirst the less for walking beside a saint. He had begun to regret his kindness, when Francis pointed with his finger to a spring, unknown till then, and which ...
— Life of St. Francis of Assisi • Paul Sabatier
... plunged into the centre of a circle of men in military costume, full of the war, and criticising Dumourier's campaign with the utmost severity. As I listened; with some surprise at the multiplicity of errors which the most successful general of France had contrived to squeeze into a single month of operations, I observed a man, of a pale thin visage, like one suffering from ill health or excessive mental toil, but of ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 343, May 1844 • Various
... from any publishing quarter. Her good fortune made very little effect upon her,—sometimes it seemed as if she hardly realised or cared to realise it. She had odd, almost child-like ways of spending some of her money in dainty "surprise" gifts to her friends—that is to say, such friends as had shown her kindness,— beautiful flowers and fruit for invalids—choice wines for those who needed yet could not afford them,—a new drawing-room carpet for Miss Leigh, which was, ...
— Innocent - Her Fancy and His Fact • Marie Corelli
... of sufficient importance to attract hatred by exciting fear, many honest English Patriots must either find, or set up, something at home for the employment of those affections. This is too natural to occasion surprise; thousands are so framed, that they are but languidly conscious of their love of an object, unless while they feel themselves in an active state of aversion to something which they can regard as ...
— The Prose Works of William Wordsworth • William Wordsworth
... mountain, listening for any supernatural warning. Nothing disturbed the silence and solitude save the bleating of flocks and the cries of birds of prey. Arrived on the platform of Libokovo, they prepared in silence to surprise the guards, believing the castle full of them. They approached crawling, like hunters who stalk a deer, already they had reached the gate of the enclosure, and prepared to burst it open, when lo! it opened of itself, and they beheld Chainitza standing before them, a carabine in her hand, ...
— Celebrated Crimes, Complete • Alexandre Dumas, Pere
... before the shock and surprise caused by the collision had given time for reflection or resistance, I took possession of this vessel, put the crew in irons, and hoisted English colours. There were 460 Africans on board, and what a sight ...
— Sketches From My Life - By The Late Admiral Hobart Pasha • Hobart Pasha
... To Billy's surprise, however, instead of seizing the keg and filling out a bumper, he said sternly—"See here," and tossed the wine-glass into the sea. "Now lad," he added, in a quiet voice, "throw ...
— The Young Trawler • R.M. Ballantyne
... cause. If from syphilis, iodide of potash and mercury. If from an injury or tumors, operate if possible. Teach the patient how to speak, read and write. The result of this often gives you a pleasant surprise. ...
— Mother's Remedies - Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers - of the United States and Canada • T. J. Ritter
... These were of fox-skin, apparently, with the hair worn next the skin. I noticed that one man wore a small white bone or ivory trinket, seemingly carved to represent a child. Pointing to it, I held out a butcher-knife,—a good bargain, I fancied. Somewhat to my surprise, he negga-mai-ed with a very grave shake of his head. Two or three others who saw it shook their heads too. Wishing to test him, I brought up a bar of iron, and made another tender of both knife and iron. But he ...
— Left on Labrador - or, The cruise of the Schooner-yacht 'Curlew.' as Recorded by 'Wash.' • Charles Asbury Stephens
... were the men fatigued with marching and in need of repose, but that the day was too far advanced to allow of due pursuit being made should they as was to be hoped gain the action. It was therefore determined to try the effect of a surprise after the men had had a meal and a few hours repose. The forces on either side were not unequal. The Rajputs had the better in point of cavalry, their strength in this arm has been computed at 30,000 sabres. The Mahrattas had the advantage in artillery ...
— The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan • H. G. Keene
... going to his old friend Shirley. He knew very well that Shirley did not wear a high silk hat and carry a cane, and he had a sufficient knowledge of human nature and of himself to know that if his present personal appearance were made the subject of ridicule, or even inordinate surprise, it would not afford him the same stimulating gratification which he now ...
— Mrs. Cliff's Yacht • Frank R. Stockton
... and spent quite a time at the corner with him, asking how many dog-fights he had had lately, and being answered with short triumphant barks that she took to mean he had demolished all the small dogs of that quarter. Then she went on and passed her own former house, and saw to her surprise it was vacant, and so was Annie's next it. That looked as if Dawson was not pressed for space. As she was turning out of the row she saw ahead of her another old acquaintance, this was a human one, and Katrine felt as if she had quite slipped back ...
— A Girl of the Klondike • Victoria Cross
... parents talked about it I took the matter in hand. I simply walked out of the fireplace where I was and said, 'I hope you will excuse the interference of an Andiron, ma'am, but I think your boy can be cured of his ear trouble.' 'Noble fellow,' said the father, after he had got over his surprise at my unusual behavior. ...
— Andiron Tales • John Kendrick Bangs
... swellings; and in the hope of finding some change of formation coincident with the change of scenery, I set out with my comrade for the nearest point at which the broken outline passed into the rectilinear or merely undulatory one. But though I did expect a change, it was not without some degree of surprise that, immediately after passing the point of junction, I found myself in a district of red sandstone. It was a hard, compact, dark-coloured stone, but dressed readily to pick and hammer, and made excellent ...
— My Schools and Schoolmasters - or The Story of my Education. • Hugh Miller
... without show of surprise. "He left just now. His yacht is down at Laurel Bay and he borrowed a trap of the ...
— The Touchstone • Edith Wharton
... purely with a disposition to oppose this mysterious stranger. It had been in vain, however; the current running the other way, and the fiery eloquence of Peter proving too strong even for him. Now, to his surprise, from a few words dropped casually, this man ascertained that their greatest leader was disposed so far to relent, as not to destroy ALL the pale-faces in his power. Whom, and how many he meant to spare, Ungque could not tell; but his quick, practised discernment detected ...
— Oak Openings • James Fenimore Cooper
... a young man from New York State, who gave up his position to come to the Bogue Institute and be free from stammering. Six weeks later he went home. Like the other young man mentioned above, he met with a success—surprise—he was re-employed by his old employers—and he, too, was given a 25 per ...
— Stammering, Its Cause and Cure • Benjamin Nathaniel Bogue
... shut, drowning out the allosauri's furious screams, both aviators, shaken to the depths of their beings, could do nothing but stare about them in surprise. Completely surrounding and protecting the exit stood a double rank of hoplites in bronze armor. Like unreal automata, they remained utterly motionless, fixed in the various postures of an ancient Macedonian phalanx, ...
— Astounding Stories, March, 1931 • Various
... reception room, waited the coming of their guest. To their surprise, Mr. Forbes came in, and looked ...
— Two Little Women on a Holiday • Carolyn Wells
... proposing to beguile an idle hour for him with a yarn or two, but was received at the door with whispers, and the information that he was dying. His case had been dangerous during that day only and he died that night, two hours after I left. His taking off was a prodigious surprise, and his death has been most widely and sincerely regretted. Win. E. Dodge, the father-in-law of one of Jewell's daughters, dropped suddenly dead the day before Jewell died, but Jewell died without knowing that. Jewell's widow went down to New York, to Dodge's ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain
... are we, unlike, O princely Heart! Unlike our uses and our destinies. Our ministering two angels look surprise On one another, as they strike athwart Their wings in passing. Thou, bethink thee, art A guest for queens to social pageantries, With gages from a hundred brighter eyes Than tears even can make mine, to play thy part Of chief musician. What hast thou ...
— The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume IV • Elizabeth Barrett Browning
... again under night, they soon perceived a party of the natives whom they immediately attacked, shouting out Portugal! Portugal! San Jago! San Jago! The Moors were at first stupified with fear and surprise; but recovering from their panic, a struggle ensued, in which three of the Moors were slain, and ten made prisoners, the Portuguese being indebted for their safety to their defensive armour. After endeavouring, ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. II • Robert Kerr
... anchor at day-break, and, with a pleasant breeze, sailed in company with the clumsy-looking junk, which, however, to the surprise of our seamen, sailed quite as well ...
— Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey thr • John Barrow
... hand the window was wide open, but no jarring sounds came in to disturb the thinker. The door on the other side was also open wide. George Iredale showed no desire for secrecy. His attitude was that of a man who feels himself to be perfectly safe-guarded against any sort of surprise. Thus he sat in the quiet of the oppressive heat thinking of many things which chiefly concerned his life in the valley ...
— The Hound From The North • Ridgwell Cullum
... of their fellows escaped from the battle, it was only by reason of the blackness of the night. He who was able to flee, ran from the field. He tarried not to succour his own familiar friend. But many more were slam in that surprise than got ...
— Arthurian Chronicles: Roman de Brut • Wace
... we sat on the parallel bars together at recess, how he would just spring over the front of the gallery, swing himself across to the canopy above the Speaker's seat, and slide down a column to the Tribune, there "where the orators speak, you know," and how he would take advantage of the surprise to address them in their own language; how he would say "FranASec.ais,—mes frA"res" (which means, Frenchmen,—brothers); and how, in such strains of burning eloquence, he would set all right so instantaneously that he would be proclaimed Dictator, placed in a carriage ...
— How To Do It • Edward Everett Hale
... the warning, however, which the government had received and the preparations which had been made for the momentous occasion, the appearance of the squadron at the entrance of Yedo bay was an intense surprise. Two large steam frigates—the Susquehanna and the Mississippi—and two sloops-of-war—the Plymouth and the Saratoga,—although much inferior to the squadron promised, composed such an array as had never before made its appearance in Yedo bay. As they plowed through the ...
— Japan • David Murray
... roost as the darkness becomes intensified before totality. In 1868 "a small cock which had beforehand been actively employed in grubbing about in the sand went to sleep with his head under his wing and slept for about 10 minutes, and on waking uttered an expression of surprise, but did not crow." In 1869 mention is made of an unruly cow "accustomed to jump into a corn-field at night" being found to have trespassed into the said corn-field during ...
— The Story of Eclipses • George Chambers
... possible through the invention and rapid perfecting of machinery, created a class who suddenly appeared in the drawing-rooms of the aristocrats as strangers. Du Maurier himself seems to join in the amazement at their intrusion. Much of this first surprise is the theme of his art. Before the death of the artist the newcomers had proved their right to be there, having shamed an Aristocracy, which had lost nearly all its natural occupations, by bringing home to it the fact that the day ...
— George Du Maurier, the Satirist of the Victorians • T. Martin Wood
... shoulder shook. "Good-by," he said. There was no answer and he patiently repeated the short tragic phrase. Still there was no sound from Nettie. There would be none. Even the impulse to touch her had died—died, he thought, with a great many feelings and hopes he once had. A fleet surprise invaded him at the absence of any impulse now to protest or indulge in wild passionate terms; he was surprised, too, at the fact that he was about to leave Nettie. The whole termination of the affair was ...
— Java Head • Joseph Hergesheimer
... leader for them, and anywhere than in his own fat self, for a leader of men Bill was not born to be, nor could he see a leader among the men before him. And so, standing there one early morning in the spring of 1865, with uplifted gaze, it was no surprise to him—the coincidence, indeed, became at once one of the articles of perfect faith in his own star—that he should see afar off, a black slouch hat and a jogging gray horse rise above a little knoll that was in line with the ...
— Christmas Eve on Lonesome and Other Stories • John Fox, Jr.
... morning of October 19th, the Union Army was taken completely by surprise. Thoburn's position was swept in an instant. The men who escaped capture fled to the river. Gordon burst suddenly upon the left ...
— Shenandoah - Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911 • Bronson Howard
... he entered the Hall, he would have no idea which way to turn. Better to follow the passage to the upper floors, if it were possible, and enter above, thus creating a diversion which might add to the advantage of his surprise. But did the passage mount higher? Or was—? His advancing toes touched something solid. Bending forward, he found steps, and immediately began mounting them on ...
— The Secret Witness • George Gibbs
... a stream. Now, at last, it must be a great green hill, and behold! you peep down into an echoless mossy depth of glen. At the next break in the quick, up towers a height of fancy and simile! Thus the everlasting surprise goes on enchanting. From wild to wild, from passion to passion, from cavern to star, are we borne, and as we travel there is music about us—music of the true tone, ringing with all the natural pathos of lyrical carelessness. There have been instances ...
— The Song of the Flag - A National Ode • Eric Mackay
... celebration of some of their sacred mysteries. [317:1] A satisfactory explanation of the origin of such peculiarities in the ritual of idolatry can now scarcely be expected; but it certainly need not excite surprise if the early Christians were impressed by them, and if they viewed them as so many unintentional testimonies to the truth of their religion. The disciples displayed, indeed, no little ingenuity in their attempts to discover the figure of a cross in almost every object around them. ...
— The Ancient Church - Its History, Doctrine, Worship, and Constitution • W.D. [William Dool] Killen
... whispered together. Whatever hopes lay in the hearts of these men, selfish hopes for the most part, perhaps, yet with some patriotism in them, too, it was evident that the accusation against De Froilette was not entirely a surprise. There were men there who had never trusted him, and Maritza recognized that her words were not without weight. While they still whispered, and even grew quarrelsome over their opinions, she ...
— Princess Maritza • Percy Brebner
... I do not wonder at your surprise, since many philosophers have been much perplexed to account for the same appearance. It is not uncommon to find great quantities of shells and relics of marine animals even in the bowels of high mountains, very remote ...
— Children's Literature - A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes • Charles Madison Curry
... Protracted meetings were held at nearly all of the principal appointments, and large numbers were converted. It is affirmed that the junior preacher was engaged seventy five successive days in these meetings. It is not a matter of surprise that ...
— Thirty Years in the Itinerancy • Wesson Gage Miller
... and hound alike, and, tired with the chase, falls asleep. Meanwhile a faun, finding Procri alone, tells her that he had seen Cefalo meeting with his love Aurora in the wood—a piece of news in return for which he seeks her love. She, however, resolves to go and surprise the supposed lovers, and setting fire to the wood, herself to perish with them in the flames. On Cefalo's return he is met with bitter reproaches, and the act ends with a chorus of fauns and satyrs. The fourth contains the catastrophe. Procri hides in the wood in hope of surprising her ...
— Pastoral Poetry and Pastoral Drama - A Literary Inquiry, with Special Reference to the Pre-Restoration - Stage in England • Walter W. Greg
... Mute with surprise at this spectacle, Paphnutius turned to the monster. It had disappeared, and, in place of the sphinx, the monk saw ...
— Thais • Anatole France
... it, my dear," he replied grimly. "It may surprise you to know that that canvas is worth at the very least L800. There would be a devil of a row and rumpus in Bond Street and elsewhere if they knew I was painting here instead of rotting in Westminster Abbey. I don't propose to ...
— Buried Alive: A Tale of These Days • Arnold Bennett
... ship's surgeon. The frequency with which we all felt thirsty on the short run into the passage and the dryness of my mouth and lips made me believe that I was frightened. The men felt the same, and all the way the flask went from hand to hand. Once I felt my pulse to see if I was frightened, but to my surprise I found it normal. Later we forgot all about it, and when we got into the water there was no ...
— Historical Tales - The Romance of Reality - Volume III • Charles Morris
... office, where we sat all the morning, and here I had a letter from Mr. Brisband on another occasion, which, by the by, intimates my Lord Hinchingbroke's intention to come and dine with me to-morrow. This put me into a great surprise, and therefore endeavoured all I could to hasten over our business at the office, and so home at noon and to dinner, and then away by coach, it being a very foul day, to White Hall, and there at Sir G. Carteret's find my Lord ...
— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys
... sickened almost at the same hour. The symptoms continued severe about twelve hours, when the scarlatina-rash shewed itself faintly upon her face, and partly upon her neck. After remaining two or three hours it suddenly disappeared, and she became perfectly free from every complaint. My surprise at this sudden transition from extreme sickness to health in great measure ceased when I observed that the inoculated pustule had occasioned, in this case, the common efflorescent appearance around it, and that as it approached the centre it ...
— The Harvard Classics Volume 38 - Scientific Papers (Physiology, Medicine, Surgery, Geology) • Various
... against the appointment. The inflexible Prussian minister, Bismarck, replied that he would send no other, suspended and finally abolished diplomatic relations between the new Empire and the Holy See. It is by no means matter for surprise that a man of Prince Bismarck's views and character should have so acted, or even that he should have become the promoter of the greatest and most unwarrantable persecution by which any nation has been disgraced, or to which any portion of the Church has been subjected ...
— Pius IX. And His Time • The Rev. AEneas MacDonell
... those lovely eyes— That tinted cheek of flower-like grace." They answer in amused surprise: "We thought it ...
— Maurine and Other Poems • Ella Wheeler Wilcox
... aspirations, deadened their faith; but there, away off in the past, is the gladdening vision of their youthful years; there the joyous tumult of impulses and aims; there the grand and generous affections; there the sweet surprise of swift-springing thoughts from never-failing fountains; there the pure love of truth and beauty which sent their minds speeding out beyond the limits of positive knowledge; and there the thrills of ecstasy as new worlds opened on their view. What, to them, is the assured possession ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 93, July, 1865 • Various
... house. She was a slim little thing, with a slender throat that carried the small head like the stem of a rose. Dark, long-lashed eyes, eager and bubbling with laughter, were fixed on Wadley. She had slipped out on tiptoe to surprise him. Her ...
— Oh, You Tex! • William Macleod Raine
... "But don't you really reckon it's uncommon to meet a father-in-law flouncin' around the house? As for gentle—Once I had to sleep in a room next a ladies' temperance meetin'. Oh, heavens! Well, I couldn't change my room, and the hotel man, he apologized to me next mawnin'. Said it didn't surprise ...
— The Virginian - A Horseman Of The Plains • Owen Wister
... you are Barnum?' exclaimed the Commodore, in surprise, 'why, I expected to see a monster, part lion, part elephant, and a mixture of rhinoceros and tiger! Is it possible,' he continued, 'that you are the showman who has made so much ...
— A Unique Story of a Marvellous Career. Life of Hon. Phineas T. • Joel Benton
... battle. The enemy at first retired, in order to draw the Crusaders to an extensive plain, where there was no water, and when he saw that thirst and fatigue had caused their ranks to be broken, he turned suddenly and fell upon the cavalry of the right wing which he took by surprise; it was broken and dispersed; its rout caused the infantry which was supported by it, to flee, and the whole army would have been cut to pieces had not the king, followed by the knights of the three orders of French, Flemish and English, and other troops, placed themselves ...
— The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi • Father Candide Chalippe
... wore; but her presence seemed revealed to him through the exaltation of some sense latent or non-existent in him in his waking moods. His delight was of the understanding, for they neither touched hands nor spoke. A little surprise rose to the surface of his rapture—surprise at the fact that he experienced no pang of jealousy. She had said that true love could not exist without jealousy! But was she right in this? It seemed to him ...
— The Lake • George Moore
... he saw, but he was lost in wonder and found himself embarrassed. This, he also saw, made her sorry for him, as if her allusion had been a mistake. It took him but a moment, however, to feel it hadn't been, much as it had been a surprise. After the first little shock of it her knowledge on the contrary began, even if rather strangely, to taste sweet to him. She was the only other person in the world then who would have it, and she ...
— The Beast in the Jungle • Henry James
... and handsomest men who had ever crossed the threshold of his not very inviting office. For a moment he stared at his visitor, speechless. Then certain points of familiarity—the well-shaped nose, the rather deep-set grey eyes—presented themselves. This surprise enabled him to infuse a little ...
— The Great Impersonation • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... esteemed than she was. She therefore changed her behaviour entirely; she became reserved and reasonable, and, having sense enough to discover her defects, she set about correcting them, in which she succeeded so as to excite general surprise. Thus she continued until her death, and often expressed regret that she had led so irregular a life. She used to excuse herself by saying it was mere childishness, and that she had little to thank those young ladies for who had given her ...
— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre
... with a look of sudden surprise, but, unheeding, he bent over her slightly and said in his same provokingly ...
— Honor Edgeworth • Vera
... dinner was being prepared by scared servants for thirty German officers. The order was about to be signed when suddenly a cure, small and pale, but lion-brave, entered the room. How he got in no one knew! Surprise held the general tongue-tied for three seconds; and a French cure is capable of ...
— Everyman's Land • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson
... had rendered her father; and she hoped much, notwithstanding the anger he had evinced, from the natural mildness of his character. She had not, however, been long in her chamber, when she, to her surprise, received another summons from her father, who she had imagined to be from home. The dark frown which clouded his brow too surely indicated the state of his feelings. 'You may spare yourself the trouble of refusing Sir Philip Rushwood, Miss Beaufort,' he sneeringly remarked, as she tremblingly ...
— Tales for Young and Old • Various
... of eager bustling from one point to another, the work was accomplished by noon, and all the girls were ready for the afternoon service, which all seemed equally eager to attend. When they reached the stand they looked about them in surprise ...
— Four Girls at Chautauqua • Pansy
... dining-room on the other side of the hall; a curious room, rather, with red brick walls and two old narrow doors of carved oak. The tea—most abundant—was very acceptable after our long damp drive. One dish was rather a surprise—American waffles—not often to be found, I imagine, in an old French feudal castle, but Madame de Mimont's nationality explained it. I was very sorry not to see the park which is beautifully laid out, but the rain was falling straight down as hard as it could—almost making waves in ...
— Chateau and Country Life in France • Mary King Waddington
... surprise I was led by an officer, not into the great hall where I knew the notables were assembling, but to that same little chamber where first I had talked with Huaracha, Quilla's father. Here the officer left me wondering. Presently I heard a sound and looking up, saw ...
— The Virgin of the Sun • H. R. Haggard
... hand, which Harry, instead of bending over and kissing, as she had expected, shook heartily. For an instant only a look of intense surprise passed across her ...
— In the Reign of Terror - The Adventures of a Westminster Boy • G. A. Henty
... professor, who had never dreamed of taking an active interest in public affairs, was nonplussed when he found himself nominated. His surprise was even greater when he was elected. He intended to decline, but Helena's entreaties and her argument that life in a big city was preferable to an existence in a small provincial town induced him to accept ...
— Married • August Strindberg
... high, but his tongue was so paralyzed with surprise and joy that he forgot to thank the man. Twenty years after he remembered the transaction vividly—it was the first real human kindness that had ever come his way. He told of it, standing on the same platform with Marsden and speaking to two thousand ...
— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 9 - Subtitle: Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Reformers • Elbert Hubbard
... Pyrrhus formed a plan for giving his guest a little surprise. He supposed that he had never seen an elephant, and he accordingly directed that one of the largest of these animals should be placed secretly behind a curtain, in an apartment where Fabricius was to be received. The elephant was covered with his ...
— Pyrrhus - Makers of History • Jacob Abbott
... all departed down the hill, smiling in a fashion that disturbed me. We stood for a while irresolute, until it became quite dark. I asked Savage what he thought we had better do, expecting that he would say 'Return to the town.' To my surprise, he answered: ...
— The Ivory Child • H. Rider Haggard
... my observations surprise you: the surprise will vanish on reflection. It has been said by another poet, more reflective than Ovid, that 'the world is governed by love and hunger.' But hunger certainly has the lion's share of the government; and if a poet is really to do what he pretends to do,—namely, ...
— Kenelm Chillingly, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... turned round as fast as she could, which wasn't very fast, for she was rather a heavy woman and she had been quite taken by surprise, and she saw lying right across the door-way, fast asleep in the sun, old ...
— The Little Gingerbread Man • G. H. P.
... on shore for an answer, some Portuguese had come running down the hill upon them, of which the negroes had given them warning shortly before, but they understood them not. The sons of Don John had conspired with the Portuguese against them, so that they were almost taken by surprise; yet they recovered their boat and pushed off from the shore, on which the Portuguese discharged their calivers or muskets at them, but hurt none of them; in revenge for which hostility, the people in the ship had ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume VII • Robert Kerr
... betrayed him, he had no outline. The ermine's black tip was the only indication of his presence. Even the larger animals—the caribou, the moose—had either turned a dull gray, or were so rimed by the frost as to have lost all appearance of solidity. It was ever a surprise to find these phantoms red, to discover that their flesh would resist the knife. During the strife of the heavy northwest storms one side of each tree had become more or less plastered with snow, so that even their dark trunks flashed mysteriously into and out of view. ...
— Short Stories and Selections for Use in the Secondary Schools • Emilie Kip Baker
... dinner that the surprise was sprung on me. Mr. Harbison came around to me gravely, and asked me if I felt able to go up on the roof. On the roof, after last night! I had to gather myself together; luckily, the others were pushing back their chairs, showing Flannigan the liqueur ...
— When a Man Marries • Mary Roberts Rinehart
... with his eyes fixed upon the singer. He was fully conscious of the surprise he had betrayed to sister Fanny when she spoke suddenly of Mrs. Alfred Dinks. It was necessary to remove any suspicion that she might entertain in consequence. If Mr. Abel Newt had intentions in which Miss Hope Wayne was interested, ...
— Trumps • George William Curtis
... coverts of Ward le ham. It has been remarked before that this district is an Anathoth, a place of responses or echoes, and therefore proper for such experiments: we may further add that the pauses in echoes, when they cease and yet are taken up again, like the pauses in music, surprise the hearers, and have a fine effect on ...
— The Natural History of Selborne • Gilbert White
... course," Sir James replied, with surprise. "It doesn't rest with me, you know—the property belongs to my friends. And even if they were disposed to let the thing slide, I shouldn't allow it—I couldn't, after they had been robbed in ...
— Martin Hewitt, Investigator • Arthur Morrison
... possibilities; in fact, it has required three-fourths of a century to bring the locomotive to its present state of perfection, while the potentialities of electricity are as yet only surmised. This being so in matters that offer a rich pecuniary harvest to the inventor, it is little matter for surprise that improvement in a means of combating disease should progress slowly. In the first place, it was a new departure, unheralded to the world, and frowned upon by the members of the orthodox medical schools; consequently there was no tempting bait of a handsome profit to encourage the ...
— The Royal Road to Health • Chas. A. Tyrrell
... series of swift rushes drove back the Turkish advanced troops about a thousand yards from our strong points. A few Turks were bayonetted, a number more shot by the fire of a well-placed Lewis gun, but the surprise of the attack and the rapidity of its execution saved our men from any severe loss during this first advance. But as our leading platoons drew near to the enemy main positions, they came under an enfilade fire from the ...
— With a Highland Regiment in Mesopotamia - 1916—1917 • Anonymous
... qualities it was no surprise to those who knew the considerations involved when he was made chairman of the Government Committee "to consider and report on the measures to be adopted during the war with reference to the commercial, industrial, and financial interests of ...
— War-time Silhouettes • Stephen Hudson
... have not thought of from my infancy, as I grow old, return upon my mind with a charm altogether inexpressible. Would any one believe that an old dotard like me, worn out with care and infirmity, should sometime surprise himself weeping like a child, and in a voice querulous, and broken by age, muttering out one of those airs which were the favorites of my infancy? There is one song in particular, whose tune I perfectly recollect, but the words that compose the latter half ...
— The Confessions of J. J. Rousseau, Complete • Jean Jacques Rousseau
... Suzanne," quoth a voice from the thicket at her back, a voice which came to startle both of them though in different ways. Before they had recovered from their surprise the Marquis de Bellecour stood before them. He was a tall man of some fifty years of age, but so powerful of frame and so scrupulous in dress that he might have conveyed an impression of more youth. His face, though handsome in a high-bred way, was puffed and of ...
— The Trampling of the Lilies • Rafael Sabatini
... stout tack into the sashes so as to support the four corners of each pane. The transparencies could be prepared secretly and put into place overnight, or on Christmas morning, before any one is up, so as to give mother a pleasant surprise as she ...
— St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, Nov 1877-Nov 1878 - No 1, Nov 1877 • Various
... cold mornin'. We hadn't heard from the Smedleys for two or three days, because we wanted to surprise 'em, so we didn't want to give 'em a hint beforehand of what we wuz a doin'. So, as I say, it wuz a number of days sense we had heard from 'em, and the ...
— Samantha at Saratoga • Marietta Holley
... were the same as extinct. Col. Barlow saw him fall and ordered his body taken to the rear. This was done by a number of men, who remained by the body to observe the passing of the last breath, when to their surprise the captain opened his eyes and, with his slightly Swedish brogue, inquired if he was much hurt. The men replied, "Why yes, you're all knocked to pieces." The captain wiggled about some and then asked, "How do you know men, do you see the blood run?" ...
— Personal Recollections of the War of 1861 • Charles Augustus Fuller
... carried out into the channel, between Puffin Isle, near the Anglesea Coast and the Lancashire Shore, or I should say, in the Irish Channel. A trading vessel, in the grey of the morning, perceiving a small boat so far from any land, bore down, and the crew to their great surprise, found only the poor child in it, nearly heart broken at its unfortunate situation, and totally unable to give any regular account of itself. The master of the vessel felt every wish and anxiety to restore the poor child to its parents, but not being able to glean ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. XVII. No. 473., Saturday, January 29, 1831 • Various
... double call is laid to all, Let none surprise or wonder. But to the youth it speaks a truth, ...
— Quaint Epitaphs • Various
... For several days we have had no letter from you. Your neglect to write us often and tell us how you and Don Giovanni, our beloved son, are, causes us great surprise. In future be more heedful and more diligent. Madonna Adriana and Giulia have reached Capodimonte, where they found the latter's brother dead. His death caused the cardinal and Giulia such distress that both fell sick of the fever. We have ...
— Lucretia Borgia - According to Original Documents and Correspondence of Her Day • Ferdinand Gregorovius
... that disturbance must have caused a profound gulf in my mind and in the order and logic of my ideas. Similar phenomena occur in the dreams which lead us through the most unlikely phantasmagoria, without causing us any surprise, because our verifying apparatus and our sense of control has gone to sleep, while our imaginative faculty wakes and works. Is it not possible that one of the imperceptible keys of the cerebral ...
— Library of the World's Best Mystery and Detective Stories • Edited by Julian Hawthorne
... To my surprise I was able to buy oil for our lanterns on the street here. One does not think of the Standard Oil Company as a missionary agency, but it has certainly done a great deal to light up the dark corners ...
— A Wayfarer in China - Impressions of a trip across West China and Mongolia • Elizabeth Kendall
... treachery, by the desire of entertaining. The day was never long enough to exhaust her opulent memory; and I, who knew her intimately for ten years,—from July, 1836, till August, 1846, when she sailed for Europe,—never saw her without surprise at her new powers. ...
— Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. I • Margaret Fuller Ossoli
... the surprise of Silver the next morning, and many the questions she asked. Out in the world, they told her, it was so; trees like that ...
— Castle Nowhere • Constance Fenimore Woolson
... orders "to hitch up," but to our surprise and disappointment we turned back in the direction from which we had come, instead of proceeding toward Baltimore and Washington, and the realization of our bright hopes. We crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, thirty miles ...
— The Story of a Cannoneer Under Stonewall Jackson • Edward A. Moore
... that Mr. Motley himself is waiting for my answer. My eagerness to make the acquaintance of such an associate in my sympathies and my labors may be well imagined. But how shall I picture my surprise, in presently discovering that this unknown and indefatigable fellow-worker has really read, I say read and reread, our Quartos, our Folios, the enormous volumes of Bor, of van Meteren, besides a multitude of books, of pamphlets, ...
— The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (The Physician and Poet not the Jurist)
... artificial eye to replace one which he lost while duck-shooting in the Canary Islands. About six months ago he lost the remaining sound eye through a blow from a golf-ball. I accordingly fitted him with a second artificial eye, and you may imagine my surprise when he came round to my place of business a few days later by himself and read aloud to me the whole of your admirable leading article on "Braces v. Belts." The therapeutic effect of high-class journalism on myopic ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, June 17, 1914 • Various
... Bill, in surprise, looking up from the fourth volume of "The Life and Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge." ...
— The Red House Mystery • A. A. Milne
... upon the sofa, wondering, drowsily, whether her mother would have lain down to rest in that splendid brocade. She did not intend to sleep, but only to rest a little before going downstairs to surprise Aunt Miriam. Nevertheless, in a few minutes she was fast asleep ...
— Flower of the Dusk • Myrtle Reed
... a sawmill!' he had uttered in a tone of no agreeable surprise. Mr. Wynn pointed to Davidson, and left him to settle that ...
— Cedar Creek - From the Shanty to the Settlement • Elizabeth Hely Walshe
... Tanner boldly—for, though taken by surprise, he was not a man to be frightened by big words—"thou liest in thy teeth. I am no thief, but an honest craftsman. As for my countenance, it is what it is; and, for the matter of that, thine own is none too pretty, ...
— The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood • Howard Pyle
... Vice-President Fillmore and asked him to assign me a seat in the Senate gallery. He was much surprised and tried to dissuade me. The place would be very unpleasant for a lady, would attract attention, I would not like it; but he gave me the seat. I occupied it one day, greatly to the surprise of the Senators, the reporters, and others on the floor and in the galleries; but felt that the novelty would soon wear off, and that women would work there and win bread ...
— Half a Century • Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm
... his ears if he heard that we came in twenty-seven hours from the place where he had delivered his prophecy and which had become only two years before the seat of Government. No less would be his surprise, if he learned that the supposed "howling wilderness" had been turned into an immense garden, dotted with wealthy towns; that all the land called in his days Louisiana produces yearly now millions of bushels of various kinds of grain, and that the private belongings of the successors of the scattered ...
— Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission • Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
... machines. I have great confidence in our presses. The experiments have succeeded beyond my hopes. We unquestionably have in them a means of building up our business. I didn't tell you sooner because I wished to surprise you; but we have no more surprises for ...
— Serge Panine • Georges Ohnet
... be presumed that the flirting had not gone to any perilous extent, as there were three or four children present. Nevertheless Miss Colza and Mr Rubb were somewhat disconcerted, and expressed their surprise at ...
— Miss Mackenzie • Anthony Trollope
... by surprise, they did not know which way to turn nor what to do. But they were not of the type that hesitates long before taking action. Their hidden assailants probably thought that they would run, but this thought was ...
— The Radio Boys at the Sending Station - Making Good in the Wireless Room • Allen Chapman
... dost thou watch me in doubting surprise, Why thus dost thou raise thy dark, deep, melting eyes? Can'st thou wonder I love thee, when for the last year We have whispered and flirted—told each hope and fear; When I've lavished on thee presents costly and gay, And kissed thy ...
— The Poetical Works of Mrs. Leprohon (Mrs. R.E. Mullins) • Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon
... evidently been drugged and carried into the room where he now lay. There was no doubt whatever about it, for it was impossible to shake the lad into the slightest semblance of life. Gurdon crossed to the door, and found, not to his surprise, that it was locked. His first impulse was to return to his room and call the night porter; but a strange, wild idea had come into his mind, and he refrained from doing so. It occurred to him that perhaps Mark Fenwick or the cripple had had ...
— The Mystery of the Four Fingers • Fred M. White
... you know how I love you? How I've dreamed of your future? I may not see you every day as I wish; I'm absorbed in great affairs. But more and more I think of you and Phil. I'll have a big surprise for you both ...
— The Clansman - An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan • Thomas Dixon
... District. Those who have used the name 'squatters' with the idea of idleness and recklessness, would be quite surprised to see the systematic manner in which everything is here conducted . . . . It is a matter of surprise that about the Mining Region there should be so little of the recklessness that is usual ...
— History of the Constitutions of Iowa • Benjamin F. Shambaugh
... of a run, instead of hurling himself into the air as he had usually done before, Diablo flung himself down and rolled. It caught Dunbar by surprise, but the yell of horror from the bystanders stimulated him to sharp action, and he was out of the saddle in the last hair's ...
— Bull Hunter • Max Brand
... meal they were waited upon by women, and not by men in evening-dress as Margery had begun to fear, Mr. Archibald sought Peter Sadler and made known to him the surprise of his party at finding themselves ...
— The Associate Hermits • Frank R. Stockton
... considered by many whose church associates do not suspect them of being other than strictly orthodox in their views. Some day there will be a "breaking out" of this idea in the churches, when the believers in the doctrine grow in numbers and influence. It will not surprise careful observers to see the Church once more accepting the doctrine of Rebirth and reinstating the doctrine of Pre-existence—returning to two of its original truths, long since discarded by order of the Councils. Prof. Bowen has said: "It seems to me ...
— Reincarnation and the Law of Karma - A Study of the Old-New World-Doctrine of Rebirth, and Spiritual Cause and Effect • William Walker Atkinson
... welcome at every hearthstone. I should insist upon your going to my house, if you were not claimed by your older friend Gen. Boswell. But you will mingle with our people, and you will see here developments that will surprise you." ...
— The Gilded Age, Complete • Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner
... drillers suppose that the gas seeks the anticlines and the oil the synclines, but others, equally long-headed, discard entirely all theory of this kind, and drill wherever it may be most convenient or where other operators have already demonstrated the existence of gas. It will surprise many of our readers to know that the divining rod, that superstitious relic of the middle ages, is still frequently called upon to relieve the operator of the trouble of a rational decision. The site having been selected, the ordinary oil-drilling outfit ...
— Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 • Barkham Burroughs
... to the Sound—the upper end of the great South Bay. Oh how splendid it was! Marilla almost held her breath with surprise, then they drove up the road a short distance, but she hated to leave the glorious views. Pansy dropped in her lap and went to sleep. As they turned they passed through one of the magnificent residential settlements, then to the odd Hungarian town ...
— A Modern Cinderella • Amanda M. Douglas
... of traffic, in great danger; by command of the senate the walls and gates were put in a state of defence and the burgess-levy was ordered to the Janiculum. The inaction of Strabo excited among all classes alike surprise and indignation. The suspicion that he was negotiating secretly with Cinna was natural, but was probably without foundation. A serious conflict in which he engaged the band of Sertorius, and the support which he gave to the consul Octavius ...
— The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5) • Theodor Mommsen
... in Vauxhall by the return of Dr. Commins to the Town Council, and in Scotland Ward by the election of Dr. Alexander Bligh. Parnell's appearance at our festival, which was held on Monday, November 13th, 1876, was a pleasing surprise to those present, who were not aware of his return from America, and this added to the intensity of the outburst of joy and enthusiastic applause ...
— The Life Story of an Old Rebel • John Denvir
... by now we were coming to the Switzerland of England. As we sped on, great downs rolled up behind us, and towered above our heads like the crests of huge green waves at breaking point. Even the sky suited itself to the country here, forming bigger, more tumbled clouds than elsewhere; and to my surprise I saw American goldenrod, such as I used to gather as a child, growing, quite at home, among ...
— Set in Silver • Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson
... we had been in cantonments some four or five weeks, I was on sentry one day, when to my great surprise, a comrade came to relieve me some time before my usual time had expired, which made me think something must be wrong: so, of course, wishing to know something of the matter before I felt disposed to leave guard, I asked the ...
— The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence - A Hero of the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns • William Lawrence
... little girls played happily with the bright pieces of silk, selecting bits for one or the other of the dolls, so that when the big clock in the hall struck twelve Ruth jumped up in surprise. ...
— A Little Maid of Old Philadelphia • Alice Turner Curtis
... mild surprise, While knights and dames looked round with questioning eyes, And each to other spoke some hurried word, As, "Did you hear it?"—"What was that I heard?" But well they knew; for you must understand That Camelot ...
— Gawayne And The Green Knight - A Fairy Tale • Charlton Miner Lewis
... and he seems himself, so far from being dismayed by the union of the Duke of Burgundy with the French court, to have been roused by a sense of his difficulties and dangers to a still higher spirit of valour and enterprise. Ponthoise was taken by surprise, and Henry regarded it as the most important place he had taken during the war. How resolved soever he was to be master of it, he would not make the attempt till after the expiration of the truce with the Duke of Burgundy, "so punctual was he to the observance ...
— Henry of Monmouth, Volume 2 - Memoirs of Henry the Fifth • J. Endell Tyler
... but there were only a few failures in their arrangements. The difficulties of these fell chiefly on Nan. How she overcame them was a source of surprise to de Spain, who marvelled at her innocent resource in escaping the demands at home and making her way, despite an array of ...
— Nan of Music Mountain • Frank H. Spearman
... sunshine from the cloud of their life into the sudden agony of the knowledge that the fabric of it was as fragile as a dream, and the endurance of it as transient as the dew. But it is not always that, even at such times of melancholy surprise, we can enter into any true perception that this human life shares in the nature of it, not only the evanescence, but the mystery of the cloud; that its avenues are wreathed in darkness, and its forms and courses no less ...
— Sesame and Lilies • John Ruskin
... the MORNING POST to say that it was all off. And why? It is almost incredible, but the absurd sum of twelve hundred pounds would have settled the whole question. Is it not pitiful? And here I find you, a man of sense, boggling about terms, when your client's future and honour are at stake. You surprise me, ...
— The Return of Sherlock Holmes • Arthur Conan Doyle |
