"Testily" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... was impatiently deaf. "Why doesn't he get on?" she whispered testily. "We know all about the conditions of the prize. What we want to know is—oh, Elinor, I'm horribly disappointed. I was afraid Doris Leighton would get it, but you ought to have had Honorable Mention. Griffin's isn't half so good as ...
— Miss Pat at School • Pemberton Ginther
... walked to the rail amidships. He followed. The steamer moored. A section of rail slid aside. The pier-keeper gave a hand to Marguerite, who jumped on to the pier. George hesitated. The pier-keeper challenged him testily: ...
— The Roll-Call • Arnold Bennett
... old man, testily, almost hustling him from the room. "I am ashamed to hear it called ...
— The Elect Lady • George MacDonald
... do," I replied testily, for indeed I had no thought of what the man was driving at. But here it ...
— Hurricane Island • H. B. Marriott Watson
... those people," said Mr. Grey, testily; "they have no judgment—dressed in a little brief authority they make ...
— Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXII No. 4, April 1848 • Various
... the Colonel testily, and when the boys had gone he read the Bazar-Sergeant's son a lecture on the sin of unprofitable meddling, and gave orders that the Bandmaster should keep the Drums in ...
— This is "Part II" of Soldiers Three, we don't have "Part I" • Rudyard Kipling
... and see for yourself,' cried Sandie testily. 'I've had enough of it.' Calling our other two companions I told them of Sandie's discovery, and we came to the conclusion that it was our duty to try to verify or ...
— Border Ghost Stories • Howard Pease
... Hoopdriver, testily, determined to overlook the new specimen on his shin at any cost. He unbuckled the wallet behind the saddle, to get out ...
— The Wheels of Chance - A Bicycling Idyll • H. G. Wells
... with much laughter and ado, they broke up to seek another cafe in the heart of the town, where the absinthe was good and the billiard-table better, two of his friends supporting Ford, who was testily debating with himself why a composer should compose his own works. At the first corner, Maurice whispered a word to Dove, and, unnoticed by the rest, slipped away. For some time, he heard the sound of their voices down the quiet street. A member of the group, in defiance of the night, began ...
— Maurice Guest • Henry Handel Richardson
... is it?" said the landlord testily. "Well then we shall soon know who is the fool, you or me, for I have spoken to her as it happens; and what is more, she has said Ay, and she is polishing the ...
— The Cloister and the Hearth • Charles Reade
... if—what if!" cried Joseph testily. "Gregory, what a casuist you might have been had not nature made you a villain! You are as full of "what if s" as an egg of meat. Well what if some day he should return? I fling your ...
— The Tavern Knight • Rafael Sabatini
... it all!" said Captain Pharo, making an unsuccessful attempt to light his pipe, and kicking out his left leg testily. ...
— Vesty of the Basins • Sarah P. McLean Greene
... the name that was written on every slip of paper that came with each six months' money," he answered, testily. "That's the only reason ...
— Innocent - Her Fancy and His Fact • Marie Corelli
... makes any differ," retorted her uncle, testily. "Marryin' Huldy Spiller ain't no hangin' matter—but hit'll cost that boy his life ef you fuss with him and git him excited ...
— Judith of the Cumberlands • Alice MacGowan
... said Ludovic testily. "If you refuse a dying man his boon, you are likely to be haunted by his ghost, and I love to sleep ...
— Quentin Durward • Sir Walter Scott
... sleep!" retorted the colonel testily. "You'll go to your quarters and get into your uniform without a moment's delay. You'll be back here in fifteen minutes, or I'll order you in arrest. And you'll finish out your tour of guard duty. You'll be on duty and awake, sir, until the old guard goes off to-morrow morning. ...
— Uncle Sam's Boys as Sergeants - or, Handling Their First Real Commands • H. Irving Hancock
... says the colonel testily. "Just facts. The crew of Gilgamesh were all men. Can't risk one solitary woman being found on board. Besides—spacesuits, personal background sets—all designed ...
— The Lost Kafoozalum • Pauline Ashwell
... precise date of your insane conduct," exclaimed the Chevalier, testily. "The principal thing is ...
— A Set of Six • Joseph Conrad
... things in politics," broke in the chairman, testily. "But it's only the final round-up that counts. And be prepared for sudden changes, as the almanac says! I tell you, I don't know anything about this Spinney rumor—nor I don't care. But it's probably true. Everett has got pledged ...
— The Ramrodders - A Novel • Holman Day
... two eyes of yours, Bud," he said testily. "They've got a way of boring through a man until he feels like they were scorching the furniture behind him. Well, I'll tell you. While Judith is away I am running this outfit. And if the men think I'm coming straight from her with an order they obey it. If they get the notion she isn't ...
— Judith of Blue Lake Ranch • Jackson Gregory
... husband testily replied, dragging out the sheet of brown paper. "What are you hiding here, my Lady? I insist ...
— Sylvie and Bruno • Lewis Carroll
... the child, nor whether there is a child,' Sir George answered testily. 'My uncle may be dead, unmarried, or alive and married—what difference ...
— The Castle Inn • Stanley John Weyman
... the marquis, still testily, but in a milder tone, 'I shall think my keys not safe in my pocket whilst you have so many swords by your side; nor that I have the command of my house whilst you have so many officers in it; nor that I am at my own disposal, whilst you have ...
— St. George and St. Michael • George MacDonald
... testily, "and the same papers agree in pronouncing Sherman crazy. But no matter how many or how few it takes, that's none of our affair. We've got eleven hundred good men in ranks, and we're going to do all that eleven hundred ...
— The Red Acorn • John McElroy
... to flatter you, my dear!" said the old man, testily, "but I thought it was pathetic—the way in which Ashe enjoyed your conversation. It showed he didn't get much of ...
— The Marriage of William Ashe • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... and replied, a trifle testily: "That's what I have been doin' for a purty consid'able spell, ain't ...
— Dorothy on a Ranch • Evelyn Raymond
... so," said the old man, not unnaturally starting back. "And if you were going to ask me such an unnecessary question at all," he added, testily, "you needn't have roared it out at me. I could have heard that without my trumpet. Yes, I've lived here forty years, and so has black Maria, who opened the door for you; and I say again that I have accomplished ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 87, January, 1865 • Various
... gentleman testily, "you may consider yourself devilish lucky that you weren't married before! I have got a ...
— Pirate Gold • Frederic Jesup Stimson
... I shall," he answered testily. "There isn't an extra penny to be had out of the estates—you know that, Harrison. The last two quarters' allowance which we sent to Africa came out of the timber. Why the mischief didn't ...
— The Great Impersonation • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... able to buy it," said Mr. May, a little testily. It was with great difficulty he preserved his man-to-man ...
— The Lost Girl • D. H. Lawrence
... his elbow, which greatly annoyed Harrwitz, who, however, sometimes got a turn, and was not slow to retaliate. In a game one day, Staunton materially damaged his own prospects by playing very tamely and feebly, and testily complained—"I have lost a move." Harrwitz told the waiter to stop his work, and search the room until he had found Staunton's lost move, and his manner of saying it caused a degree of merriment by no means pleasing to the ...
— Chess History and Reminiscences • H. E. Bird
... think I shall," he answered testily, as Aunt Pike went out of the room. "I hate mystery. Why can't we speak out and have it over? I am ...
— Kitty Trenire • Mabel Quiller-Couch
... dear fellow," put in Lord Garrow, testily, "you retired from political life because your theories could find no ...
— Robert Orange - Being a Continuation of the History of Robert Orange • John Oliver Hobbes
... mischief is my prospective father-in-law?" Richard demanded, almost testily. "There's an atmosphere about that house and the servants I ...
— Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... had said testily. He was on the point of falling asleep, and did not want to be disturbed any more. "Good night, darling, have a good night's rest. Now that you've come home again you'll do what you ...
— The Son of His Mother • Clara Viebig
... somewhat testily. "Of course, he wasn't shown the diagram itself. We had the Russian labels copied, and he translated ...
— The Foreign Hand Tie • Gordon Randall Garrett
... sir, as I said before," said Judge Hollenback testily. "It can only be released by an act of yours. That ...
— From the Housetops • George Barr McCutcheon
... me take care of this, young man," replied the judge, testily. Then, once more speaking into the mouthpiece of the telephone, "All right, Alton. We'll pick you up at your office ...
— Astounding Stories of Super-Science February 1930 • Various
... witness-box had been rattling on in the most voluble manner, until it was impossible to make head or tail of her evidence. Mr. Justice Hawkins, thinking he would try his hand, began with a soothing question, but the old woman would not have it at any price. She replied testily, "It's no use you bothering me. I have told you all I know."—"That may be," replied his lordship, "but the question rather is, do you know all you have ...
— Law and Laughter • George Alexander Morton
... broker open his eyes and stare at him, and he stammered, "Where do you say you have searched for Berklinger and Felicia? In Italy? in Naples? in Sorrento?" "Why, yes; to be sure," replied Traugott, very testily. Whereupon the broker struck his hands together several times in succession, crying as he did so, "Did you ever now? Did you ever hear tell of such a thing? But Herr Traugott! Herr Traugott!" "Well, what is there ...
— Weird Tales. Vol. I • E. T. A. Hoffmann
... Mister Solomon, do you smoke?" inquired March testily, thinking that this question would ...
— The Wild Man of the West - A Tale of the Rocky Mountains • R.M. Ballantyne
... Peake said testily. "At least, I hope so," and he gave a short, grim laugh. "But they're uncommon slow payers. I sent 'em in an account for coal only last week—three hundred and fifty pound. Well, ...
— The Matador of the Five Towns and Other Stories • Arnold Bennett
... the way," he testily insisted. "And there used to be near the river a man who kept horses and ...
— Lazarre • Mary Hartwell Catherwood
... Ralph, testily; 'yes, and he did it well, and carries it off with a hypocritical face and a sanctified air, but you! Risk! What do you mean by risk? The certificates are all genuine, Snawley HAD another son, ...
— The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby • Charles Dickens
... mind all that rubbish," Richford said testily, as the waiter passed the elaborate menu with its imposing array of dishes. "What's the good of all that foreign cat's meat to an honest Englishman? Give me a steak and plain potatoes and ...
— The Slave of Silence • Fred M. White
... that will ain't to be probated," he informed her, testily. "I'm to make sure it ain't probated till he gets well. You're to give me your word you'll do nothing further in the matter till Billy gets well. That's his message, and I'd like to know what the devil this infernal nonsense means. I ain't a Fenian nor yet a Guy Fawkes, daughter, ...
— The Eagle's Shadow • James Branch Cabell
... himself somewhat testily, after having filled and lighted a pipe,—"Phew! So that's over, and I a'n't sorry; it's as bad as reading the 'Diary of a Physician.' The boy will be all right now, and the lesson won't hurt him, though it has been a rough one. But no more metaphysics for him, Ned Blount! And, boys, let ...
— Atlantic Monthly Vol. 6, No. 33, July, 1860 • Various
... Herbert rather testily; "what do you take me for? I hope I shan't behave like a cad in my own house! But that is just the nuisance of it: they'll be visitors without being visitors, and they'll be here such an awful time. Thank goodness, there will be term time to ...
— Queensland Cousins • Eleanor Luisa Haverfield
... but me," replied Yellow-Wing a wee bit testily. "But I don't have to do what they do just because they do it. No, Siree, I'm independent! ...
— Mother West Wind "Where" Stories • Thornton W. Burgess
... His father interrupted testily. "Better still, why not make it 1945? Then we could speed up to the point where we could polish ourselves ...
— Mercenary • Dallas McCord Reynolds
... spring-seat was the only one, so Barbara had to sit there. "I simply cannot hold on to this sky-scraper!" complained she testily. ...
— Polly of Pebbly Pit • Lillian Elizabeth Roy
... exclaimed Kalle testily. "I won't hear any more of that nonsense, for none of us have had to go short because of you. If you aren't good, I shall give a big party after you, ...
— Pelle the Conqueror, Complete • Martin Andersen Nexo
... you call them," he said testily, "consist of a great sewer away in the depths, accessible from various appointed places. Besides, nobody in his senses tries to lift earth out of a ...
— The Right Stuff - Some Episodes in the Career of a North Briton • Ian Hay
... see the logic of that, Lord Westerham," replied Mr Parmenter a little testily. "If we can put this business through, the dollars couldn't be much better used, and if we can't they won't be much use to me or anyone else. It's worth doing, anyhow, if it's only to show what new-world enterprise helped with old-world brains ...
— The World Peril of 1910 • George Griffith
... turned to Stonor. "Will you question her?" he asked testily. "You are better informed as ...
— The Woman from Outside - [on Swan River] • Hulbert Footner
... several of his auditors flushed angrily. Enna shot a fierce glance at him, muttering "scalawag," half under her breath, while his old father said testily, "Horace, you speak too strongly. I haven't a doubt the rascals deserved all they got. I'm told one of them at least, had insulted some lady, Mrs. Foster, I believe, and that the others had been robbing ...
— Elsie's Motherhood • Martha Finley
... 'em while you 'ad the chance?" demanded Bainton testily; "It's too late now to bother your mind with what ye might ha' done if ye'd had a bit of gumption. And it's too late for me to be goin' and speakin' to Passon Walden. There's nothin' to be done ...
— God's Good Man • Marie Corelli
... always advising me, and telling me how to manage my government, and warning me to keep my word? Does she suppose that I am not a man of sense, and a man of honour?' asks Giglio testily. 'Methinks she rather presumes ...
— The Rose and the Ring • William Makepeace Thackeray
... "What stranger?" rather testily interposed Lord Hartledon. "I am at dinner, and can't see any stranger now. What are you ...
— Elster's Folly • Mrs. Henry Wood
... carried a gun at Fort Dearborn in 1812. I thought that young fellow came here for military service," the colonel commented, testily. ...
— Vanguards of the Plains • Margaret McCarter
... telephoning all over town for you," said the lawyer testily. "Is this rumor true that you have bought back your ...
— A Romance of Billy-Goat Hill • Alice Hegan Rice
... dream," said the King testily, "some one must fetch me the Princess Mary Radiant, for if she once smiles on my back-yard it will be turned into a garden with real grass and real flowers—Canterbury bells and sunflowers—that's what I have set my ...
— More Tales in the Land of Nursery Rhyme • Ada M. Marzials
... deuce with his Majesty," said the old gentleman, testily. "What do you want to see him for? He's ...
— Olympian Nights • John Kendrick Bangs
... deuce of spades! The Black Watch would better adopt the two of 'em for their colors. The Nig is a pretty bit of property; but this is the brute for me." And Paddy bent over in the saddle to stroke the neck of Piggie who snapped back at him testily. ...
— On the Firing Line • Anna Chapin Ray and Hamilton Brock Fuller
... a woman!" exclaimed Porter testily. "I suppose you think that apology on your other side ...
— The Title Market • Emily Post
... constant effort to deny this too palpable fact, they become irritably vain. But Mr. Lamb the elder seems to have been bent on perfection. He did all things; he did them all well; and yet was neither gloomily arrogant, nor testily vain. And being conscious apparently that all mechanic excellencies tend to illiberal results, unless counteracted by perpetual sacrifices to the muses, he went so far as to cultivate poetry; he even printed his poems, and were we possessed of a copy, ...
— Biographical Essays • Thomas de Quincey
... Otis's charge against Hutchinson as to rapacious office-seeking the following extract from John Adams's diary is of curious interest. After detailing certain detractions of which he had been the victim, the diarist breaks out testily: "This is the rant of Mr. Otis concerning me. * * * But be it known to Mr. Otis I have been in the public cause as long as he, though I was never in the General Court but ...
— James Otis The Pre-Revolutionist • John Clark Ridpath
... Father Knickerbocker, a little testily I thought, "I'm as democratic and as plain and simple as any man in this city. But when it comes to carrying a handbag in full sight of all this crowd, why, as I said to Peter Stuyvesant about—about"—here a misty look seemed to come over the old gentleman's ...
— Frenzied Fiction • Stephen Leacock
... the verandah, and through it came His Excellency the Administrator, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, a stout man of medium height with a very clever, thoughtful face, as I have always thought, one of the greatest of African statesmen. He did not see us, but he caught sight of you and said testily— ...
— Finished • H. Rider Haggard
... "Now, Major," said Hemmingwell testily, "I don't think you should speak to Dave that way. After all, he's a very valuable ...
— Sabotage in Space • Carey Rockwell
... rot!" he said testily. "A man either knows that he witnessed a will or knows that he didn't witness ...
— The Herapath Property • J. S. Fletcher
... been aching in every joint, his nose, his lips, and his eyes, this unjust speech might have amused him. As it was he answered testily: ...
— The Wreck of the Titan - or, Futility • Morgan Robertson
... people wouldn't suggest such things," he said, a little testily. "I was just trying to get all thought of this most perilous voyage out of my mind, with the help of a novel here. From which do you seriously consider we have most to fear," he went on, "mines, submarines, or predatory vessels of the type ...
— The Box with Broken Seals • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... no harm, Lieutenant Puddock, my dear,' says Father Roach, testily, for he had been himself frightened by the crash, 'if you'd die a little ...
— The House by the Church-Yard • J. Sheridan Le Fanu
... would have been," said Roland, a little testily, "that the pursuit could have been ...
— Nick of the Woods • Robert M. Bird
... showed that he strongly deprecated all female interest in racing; and when Sarah and Grover came running down the passage and overwhelmed him with questions, crowding around him, asking both together if Silver Braid had won his trial, he testily pushed them aside, declaring that if he had a race-horse he would not have a woman-servant in the place.... "A positive curse, this chatter, chatter. Won his trial, indeed! What business had a lot of female folk——" ...
— Esther Waters • George Moore
... said, testily; "there has been a deal too much fighting already. I understand holding out till the last, when there's a hope of somebody coming to relieve you; but what's the use of fighting, and getting a lot of your men killed, and raising the blood of those redskin devils to boiling ...
— With Wolfe in Canada - The Winning of a Continent • G. A. Henty
... came to observe that each mention of either Belle or Mrs. Fluette was received with a courtesy and respect for which I could not account. I was at last moved to ask him whether he was acquainted with them; but he testily shook his head, and bade me with some asperity not to ask questions. He dropped into a brown study pretty soon, so I ...
— The Paternoster Ruby • Charles Edmonds Walk
... not look round, but continued to watch Lucille in the garden. The Vicomte sat in silence—waiting, no doubt, for a further explanation. Failing to get this, he said, rather testily ...
— Dross • Henry Seton Merriman
... to her senses when she finds herself so situated, perhaps," he retorted testily; "and if she does not, it will just show that she ...
— The Heavenly Twins • Madame Sarah Grand
... Verner testily, to Rachel. "My opinion is, you would have done well to encourage Luke. He was steady and respectable; and old Roy must have saved plenty ...
— Verner's Pride • Mrs. Henry Wood
... testily, 'and if they waked, they would but pull the blankets tight about their ears, and say 'twas Blackbeard piping his crew of lost Mohunes to help ...
— Moonfleet • J. Meade Falkner
... near by, his arms thrown over its back, and broke, as his face fell upon them, into heavy, deadly sobbing—the kind of sobbing Tembarom had found it impossible to stand up against. Hutchinson whirled about testily. ...
— T. Tembarom • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... testily, "do you believe that there should be delay in proclaiming myself? I shall feel safer with the ...
— The Lighted Match • Charles Neville Buck
... Peter spoke testily. He wanted Jan to marry him before he went back to India in October, and if he got the billet he hoped for, to follow him, taking the two children out, early ...
— Jan and Her Job • L. Allen Harker
... the old gentleman, testily. "These surprises aren't the right sort of things," and he began to feel vigorously of his heart. "Here, Mrs. Pepper, be so good ...
— Five Little Peppers And How They Grew • Margaret Sidney
... the remarkableness in a gentleman taking notice of his own sister's child," returned nurse testily; "the wonder is that he should hold her at arm's length as he does, and treat her as if she were a dog or a piece of furniture, without any feelings, and she his own flesh and blood, too. There's no 'coming down' to have a spark of humanity in ...
— Probable Sons • Amy Le Feuvre
... thinking of Helen," I responded testily, "but a lot of cheap notoriety won't help ...
— 32 Caliber • Donald McGibeny
... know!" interrupted Mr. Sewell, testily. "Fell off a step-ladder and broke his dratted neck. Eleven year old, wasn't he? Always does, jest at that point. Next week Silas will begin the whole thing over again, if he can get ...
— Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 1 • Charles Dudley Warner
... them in a cloud of words, of which Dr Thorpe understood about half, and Isoult much less. John, being a little wiser, was called upon for a translation. "Hang me if I know what the fellow is a-writing about!" testily cried Dr Thorpe. "Jack, do thou put this ...
— Robin Tremain - A Story of the Marian Persecution • Emily Sarah Holt
... man," snapped O'Meara, testily, "keep 'what we all know' until you are called on to testify. I have something ...
— The Diamond Coterie • Lawrence L. Lynch
... the poorhouse was a gaol," the doctor said testily. "But so far as Nanny is concerned, everything is arranged. I promised to drive her to the poorhouse to-day, and she is waiting for me now. Don't look at me as if I was a brute. She is to take some of her things with her to the poorhouse, ...
— The Little Minister • J.M. Barrie
... humor, and avail themselves of it. He was one day disturbed by a pertinacious rattling and shaking at one of the doors, and bawled out in an angry tone to know the cause of the disturbance. "Sir," said the footman, testily, "it's this confounded French lock!" "Ah!" said the old gentleman, pacified by this hit at the nation, "I thought there was something French at ...
— The Crayon Papers • Washington Irving
... safe right here, if you have sense enough to stay here," declared Jerry Muskrat rather testily. "Don't you suppose Peter and I know what ...
— The Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack • Thornton W. Burgess
... the Major rather testily. "It's not a thing she's likely to do twice! I should think she'd be frightened to go anywhere near a river again just yet. Are those clothes dry? Well, never mind, pack them as they are; we can't wait for them. And the rug, too, just bundle it up and put ...
— The Princess of the School • Angela Brazil
... the air seemed to tell me that here, too, matters were strained and awry. Selina was staring listlessly out of the window, one foot curled round her leg. When I spoke to her she jerked a shoulder testily, but did not condescend to the civility of a reply. Charlotte, absolutely unoccupied, sprawled in a chair, and there were signs of sniffles about her, even at that early hour. It was but a trifling matter that had caused all this electricity in the atmosphere, and the girls' manner ...
— Dream Days • Kenneth Grahame
... American girl, somewhat testily, "before we go any further I would like to ask you a few questions. You are, no doubt, fully aware that my father is a millionaire something like ten times over, ...
— Jokes For All Occasions - Selected and Edited by One of America's Foremost Public Speakers • Anonymous
... finished reading, the refrain had become so familiar to Alec, that he unconsciously murmured the last, changed as it was from the preceding form, aloud. Mr Cupples looked up from Gurnall uneasily, fidgeted in his chair, and said testily: ...
— Alec Forbes of Howglen • George MacDonald
... Mexican parrot in Whistler's portrait. Looking back at it all, too, I seem to feel, though with no definite reason for it, that she was perturbed and excited about something known only to herself, for she was strangely irritable on our walk, contradicted me fiercely, inquired testily who Nelson might be, then chid me for a dry old schoolmaster, when I told her, and such like flighty vagaries, inseparable, I believed, from her sex in general and her temperament in particular. If I have never taken the ...
— Margarita's Soul - The Romantic Recollections of a Man of Fifty • Ingraham Lovell
... The landlord, like a true story-teller, doubled the dose when he saw how it operated. He was just proceeding to relate the misfortunes of a great English lord and his family, when the Englishman, tired of his volubility, testily interrupted him, and pronounced these accounts mere traveller's tales, or the exaggerations of peasants and innkeepers. The landlord was indignant at the doubt levelled at his stories, and the innuendo levelled at his cloth; he cited half a ...
— Tales of a Traveller • Washington Irving
... your pains, then, and the satisfaction of finding yourselves fools," exclaimed Dunlop testily. "You'd better drop all that nonsense, and report to ...
— The Young Engineers in Nevada • H. Irving Hancock |
