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More "Softly" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... January morning, very early—a pinching, frosty morning—the cove all grey with hoar-frost, the ripple lapping softly on the stones, the sun still low and only touching the hill-tops and shining far to seaward. The captain had risen earlier than usual, and set out down the beach, his cutlass swinging under the broad ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 6 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson
... George came in. He put away his cap, walked in softly, and put his face down in his mother's lap, and said, with tears and sobs, 'Mother, I have been doing something very wrong.' Now, which of these do you think came to ...
— Caleb in the Country • Jacob Abbott
... glided softly past the side of one fishing-boat, whose name I could just make as the Crane, I overheard a few scraps of conversation, which threw a pathetic light on ...
— The International Spy - Being the Secret History of the Russo-Japanese War • Allen Upward
... against the chimney lug while his grandfather spoke, moved gently round behind his chair, reached out for the pipes where they lay in a corner at the old man's side, and catching them up softly, put the mouthpiece to his lips. With a few vigorous blasts he filled the bag, and out burst the double droning bass, while the youth's fingers, clutching the chanter as by the throat, at once compelled its screeches into shape far better, at least, than his lips ...
— Malcolm • George MacDonald
... and Life must pass through strange drear places—there, where all is cold, and the snow lies thick, he took their freezing hands and held them against his beating little heart, and warmed them—and softly he drew them on ...
— Dreams • Olive Schreiner
... end of a word or after a vowel is pronounced very softly and lightly, with a tinge of th in "they," as Madrid, Amado (loved), ...
— Pitman's Commercial Spanish Grammar (2nd ed.) • C. A. Toledano
... being slighted, and to consult the fates as to what penalties shall be prescribed before you can possibly hope for forgiveness." Then she smiled, stretched out her hand to be kissed by him, then opened the door and said softly, "Do not be too ...
— The Wedge of Gold • C. C. Goodwin
... himself," said Miss Laura, softly. "This man's carelessness is giving you trouble. Why doesn't he cut these branches ...
— Beautiful Joe - An Autobiography of a Dog • by Marshall Saunders
... said Sir Francis, frowning severely as if to hide a smile; and Ike put down his great boot and went softly back to ...
— Brownsmith's Boy - A Romance in a Garden • George Manville Fenn
... said Hec, and he stretched up his rosy mouth to Miss Mouse, and then, like Ger, he stroked her chinchilla muff softly. ...
— Miss Mouse and Her Boys • Mrs. Molesworth
... not have been so wholly engrossed with that trifling difficulty had he known who this was who had come softly up the stair and was now standing, irresolute, smiling, wondering, at the open door. She was a remarkably pretty, even handsome young lady, whose pale, clear, olive complexion and coal-black hair bespoke her Southern birth; while there was an eager and yet timid ...
— Prince Fortunatus • William Black
... courtyard to the slaves' quarters and found the whole establishment, black and white alike, in a state of frenzy. The women were rushing about with their hair unbound over their faces, beating their breasts and wailing, the men squatted in silence with their wine-cups before them untouched, softly sobbing and whining. ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers
... the attack on whom ran through the more general invective, not for "forty thousand brothers" would he have kept his hands off Dr. Peter had he known. Providentially, however, Dr. Peter remained incognito, and it was Morus that was murdered, Dr. Peter looking on and "softly chuckling." Rather, I should say, getting more and more alarmed, and almost wishing that the book had never been written, or at all events praying more and more earnestly that he might not be found out, and that Morus, murdered ...
— The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660 • David Masson
... at the news but said nothing, remaining stock still. His three attendants proposed to him, once or twice, that he should go to the King. He neither spoke nor stirred. I approached and made signs to him to go, then softly spoke to the same effect. Seeing that he still remained speechless and motionless, I made bold to take his arm, representing to him that sooner or later he must see the King, who expected him, and assuredly with the desire to see and embrace ...
— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre
... a week since I had the greatest gratification of its kind I ever, I think, experienced:—so kind a thought, so sweet a surprise as was my dearest father's visit! How softly and soothingly it has rested ...
— Highways and Byways in Surrey • Eric Parker
... foot-hold. With that start he was quickly up on top of the ten-foot fence. Bending down he took camera and flashlight "gun." Hal hurriedly followed. Down in the yard, they started speedily though softly forward, going by impulse straight toward the submarine's shed, though keeping in the ...
— The Submarine Boys on Duty - Life of a Diving Torpedo Boat • Victor G. Durham
... will be a horse or a driver. Either occupation gives him plenty to do. But the role of an elderly passenger, given a softly cushioned seat and deposited respectfully at the journey's end, he rejects with violent expressions of scorn. It is ignominious. He will be a policeman or robber or judge or executioner, just as the exigencies of the game demand. These are honorable positions worthy of one who ...
— Humanly Speaking • Samuel McChord Crothers
... Helen's sake—or rather for obscurity's sake. Anyhow, the mournful touch in it was not his own, but taken from the poems of certain persons whose opinions resembled his, but floated on the surface of mighty and sad hearts. Tall, stately, comfortable Helen walked composedly by his side, softly shared his cigar, and thought what a splendid pleader he would make. Perhaps to her it sounded rather finer than it was, for its tone of unselfishness, the aroma of self-devotion that floated about it, pleased and attracted her. Was not here a youth in the prime of being ...
— Thomas Wingfold, Curate • George MacDonald
... did tints hitherto red extinguish their tremulous glow—softly there flared up, dusted purple in the sunset's sheen, the peak of Kara Dagh. Vice versa, the foam of the rivulet now blushed to red, and, seemingly, assuaged its vehemence—flowed with a deeper, a more pensive, note; while similarly the forest hushed its voice, and appeared to stoop towards ...
— Through Russia • Maxim Gorky
... good to look at. So Miss Vesta thought. There was a little look, too—it could hardly be called a resemblance—yet he reminded her somehow—Miss Vesta's face changed from a white to a pink rose, and she said, softly, "If I had had a son, he might have looked like this. The Lord be with him ...
— Geoffrey Strong • Laura E. Richards
... arranged, Geoffrey. I hid in the garden close by the terrace as soon as it became dark. An hour later she came out and sauntered along the terrace until I softly called her name; then she came to me. She loves me with all her heart, and is ready to share my fate whatever it may be. Her father only two days ago had ordered her to prepare for her marriage with Don Philip, and she was in despair until she recognized my voice yesterday morning. She is going with ...
— By England's Aid or The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604) • G.A. Henty
... start in the wilderness. Everything He taught He put through the test of use. He was what He taught. As a man He has gone through all He calls us to. He blazed the way into every thicket and woods, and then stands ahead, softly, clearly calling, "Come along ...
— Quiet Talks about Jesus • S. D. Gordon
... of laughter be hind me, something struck me softly upon the cheek, and stooping, I picked up that which lay half unrolled at my feet, but when I looked round ...
— My Lady Caprice • Jeffrey Farnol
... the slightly opened door, then, receiving no answer, opened it softly. She paused irresolutely on the threshold, Anne peering over her shoulder. Laura Atkins had left the room, but Mildred Taylor, fully dressed, sat at the window looking listlessly out. If she heard Grace's light knock she paid no attention to it. It was not until Grace ...
— Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College • Jessie Graham Flower
... softly, a light step entered, and a female servant whispered something to the countess. She started and looked suddenly at Margaret. The invalid had caught the whisper, low as it was. A slight tinge was visible on ...
— The Truce of God - A Tale of the Eleventh Century • George Henry Miles
... The Unknown.—Softly, if you please; I must not allow you to mistake my view. I think it probable that some subtle matter is derived from the atmosphere connected with the functions of life; but nothing can be more remote from my opinion than to suppose ...
— Consolations in Travel - or, the Last Days of a Philosopher • Humphrey Davy
... glancing at him once or twice, saw that his eyes were wide open and gazing fixedly before him. After awhile, his utter immobility no less than Mrs. Danvers' regular snoring, got on Eleanor's nerves, and rising quietly she slipped from the room, closing the door softly behind her. ...
— The Rebellion of Margaret • Geraldine Mockler
... can resist her husband's wooing? Maria did not. She lifted her face, her eyes shone through happy tears, she whispered softly: "My Robert, it is a joy to please you. I will be kind; I will be grateful about Thomas. You shall see that I will ...
— Remember the Alamo • Amelia E. Barr
... garden—," he said softly in English; and Sylvia, leaning over the bar of her window, thought he added the word "Maud"—but of course that could not have been so, for her name, as the Count knew well, was Sylvia! And equally of course he ...
— The Chink in the Armour • Marie Belloc Lowndes
... now the clear bright Moon her zenith gains, And, rimy without speck, extend the plains: The deepest cleft the mountain's front displays [99] Scarce hides a shadow from her searching rays; 360 From the dark-blue faint silvery threads divide The hills, while gleams below the azure tide; Time softly treads; throughout the landscape breathes A peace enlivened, not disturbed, by wreaths Of charcoal-smoke, that o'er the fallen wood, 365 Steal down the hill, and ...
— The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth - Volume 1 of 8 • Edited by William Knight
... chastised them, he said, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous, therefore, and repent" (Rev. 3:19; 2 Chron. 6:26, 27). This done, he bid them go on their way, and take good heed to the other directions of the Shepherds. So they thanked him for all his kindness, and went softly ...
— The Works of John Bunyan • John Bunyan
... silent for a few moments, and by the light of a lamp he saw that her eyes were full of tears. "Roger," she said softly after a while, "I sometimes think that my affection for you is greater than my love for Vinton, but it is so different. It seems almost like my religion. You are a refuge for me, no ...
— Without a Home • E. P. Roe
... always afternoon,'" quoted Mr. Collier softly, as they drove up to the house where they were to stay, a small hotel overlooking a narrow fiord of rock, into which the translucent water rippled. Beyond, upon the gleaming bay rested three ...
— The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries • Francis Rolt-Wheeler
... off one of the guns and bring the outlaws to his hiding-place. How could he warn him of the danger he was in? Suddenly the bound lad was seized by an ingenious idea. Assuring himself by their deep breathing, that his captors were fast asleep, he began to whistle, softly at first, then gradually louder and louder till the weird, mournful strains of the "Funeral ...
— The Boy Chums in the Forest - or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades • Wilmer M. Ely
... arm-chair, the other chairs would make a scraping sound, and, with a feeling as though a cold shiver (the precursor of appetite) were running down one's back, one would seize upon one's damp, starched napkin, nibble a morsel or two of bread, and, rubbing one's hands softly under the table, gaze with eager, radiant impatience at the steaming plates of soup which the butler was beginning to dispense in order of ranks and ages or according to the favour ...
— Youth • Leo Tolstoy
... here when he returns," sighed Dame Hansen, but so softly that her daughter did not hear ...
— Ticket No. "9672" • Jules Verne
... silence and emptiness every time Robert passed it; and the professors' houses looked like the sentry-boxes of the angels of learning, soon to come forth and judge the feeble mortals who dared present a claim to their recognition. October faded softly by, with its keen fresh mornings, and cold memorial green-horizoned evenings, whose stars fell like the stray blossoms of a more heavenly world, from some ghostly wind of space that had caught them up ...
— Robert Falconer • George MacDonald
... cream set on a slow fire, put into it twelve eggs very well beat and strained, stir it softly till it boils gently and breaks into whey and a fine soft curd; then take the curd as it rises off the whey, and put it into an earthen pan; then break four eggs more, and put to the whey; set it on the fire, and take off the curd as before, and put it to the rest: then add fourteen ounces of ...
— The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory; • Charlotte Campbell Bury
... was Sir William's son Godfrey, who faded at seven years old. When his mind was wandering, one of his dreamy utterances was, "I should like to fly softly." And therefore Mr. Keble suggested that the words on his little grave (outside the mausoleum) should be "Who are these that fly as ...
— John Keble's Parishes • Charlotte M Yonge
... divine mission of Christ, said I, why need I prove it? Not being able to draw me into an argument they said what they wished to say, namely, that I had no other proof for the miracles of Christ than they had for those of Mohammed, which is tradition. 'Softly' I said, 'You will be pleased to observe a difference between your books and ours, when by tradition we have reached our several books, our narrators were eye witnesses; yours ...
— Life of Henry Martyn, Missionary to India and Persia, 1781 to 1812 • Sarah J. Rhea
... he's a disgrace," she said slowly, "but he's—he's the only husband I've got, Boy, and—he has his points," she concluded softly with the ...
— Jonah and Co. • Dornford Yates
... features of the Secretary were set with resolution. He pushed his way to the door of Mr. Davis' room, rapped for admission and without waiting for an answer softly and swiftly entered. His mission was too important to ...
— The Victim - A romance of the Real Jefferson Davis • Thomas Dixon
... no remedy, drew up close to Minerva, and whispered very softly in her ear this sage remark: "Since the world is grown so depraved, they ought to be esteemed most wise who have eyes to see and ...
— Journeys Through Bookland V2 • Charles H. Sylvester
... silence. Arthur was swinging his long legs backwards and forwards, and whistling softly to himself. I looked at him for a moment curiously. The words of an ancient proverb flitted through ...
— The Master Mummer • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... by the man's words that he was ready to go back at once. But Bob was made of different stuff, and he began now to work the boat along by paddling softly, fish-tail fashion. ...
— Quicksilver - The Boy With No Skid To His Wheel • George Manville Fenn
... little, alert, very lively old man, with a pointed beard and curly black hair like a negro's. By day he walks up and down the ward from window to window, or sits on his bed, cross-legged like a Turk, and, ceaselessly as a bullfinch whistles, softly sings and titters. He shows his childish gaiety and lively character at night also when he gets up to say his prayers —that is, to beat himself on the chest with his fists, and to scratch with his fingers ...
— The Horse-Stealers and Other Stories • Anton Chekhov
... evening softly shines the sun. The cat lies lazy on the stone. Two small mice, Cream, thick and nice, Four bits of fish, 1 stole behind a dish, And am so lazy and tired, Because so well ...
— A Study of Fairy Tales • Laura F. Kready
... he thought of American Beauty roses of which something had been said once—so long ago, it seemed now. And in that moment, Elinor Wream's sweet face, with damp dark hair which the lamplight from Dr. Fenneben's door was illumining, and the softly spoken words, "I shall always remember you as one with whom I could never be afraid again"—all this came swiftly in an instant's vision, as the team caught its breath for ...
— A Master's Degree • Margaret Hill McCarter
... said softly, as he dropped into one of the vacant seats on the same bench, "how goes it with ...
— A Comedy of Masks - A Novel • Ernest Dowson and Arthur Moore
... inscription. Behind him is Holbein's favourite early background,—the blue of the sky, here broken by the warm brown and green of the branch, and the faint glimpse of far-away mountains. Under his soft cap, with a cross for badge, his intensely gleaming blue eyes look out beneath grave brows. The lips are softly yet firmly set; the mouth framed by the sunny beard which repeats the red-brown of his hair. The black scholar's gown, with its trimming of black fur, discloses his rich ...
— Holbein • Beatrice Fortescue
... there was a bitter word upon her tongue, but she refrained from uttering it. The struggle lasted for a moment only; then she went over to him, and laid her hand softly upon his arm. ...
— Under False Pretences - A Novel • Adeline Sergeant
... slowly with the little, anxious lady, and every now and then she crept softly out of the tent and gazed expectantly up the steep hillside. Still, each time she did it, there was nothing that she could see except the long ranks of somber firs, and the oppressive silence was broken only by the sound ...
— The Gold Trail • Harold Bindloss
... so happy and so beautiful together, the fair lily from the English dale and the deep red rose of Persian Gulistan. The sun slanted low through the trees and sank in rose-coloured haze, and the moon, now just at the half, began to shine out softly through the mangoes, and still the lovers walked, pacing slowly to and fro near the well. No wonder they dallied long; it was their last evening together, and I doubted not that Isaacs was telling her of his sudden departure, necessary for reasons which ...
— Mr. Isaacs • F. Marion Crawford
... coffee. They mumbled a bit together—about to-morrow's doings, about the children, the work, the hard times and their troublesome landlord, the farmer of the woodside—when there came a noise from the little bedroom and the door creaked softly. Horieneke suddenly appeared in the middle of the floor in her little nightgown; and, before father and mother had got over their surprise, the child was ...
— The Path of Life • Stijn Streuvels
... in his bed, miss?" he asked softly. "Mr. Hugh here said he was ill; it would be a turn for the worse, no doubt, after Mr. Hugh ...
— Dead Men's Money • J. S. Fletcher
... burst from the woodshed adjoining the one in which rested Lily. The Wildcat surrendered to his racing legs and galloped a panic jazz to the exit of the alley before his common-sense reacted. "Sho! Me a Konk'rin' Hero!" He chuckled softly to himself. "Ol' mule whut b'longs to Cap'n Jack's neighbour sho' ...
— Lady Luck • Hugh Wiley
... desirous to make their royal master the slave of that power, under the name of its ally. He expressed the opinion, accordingly, that James would do better in obeying only the promptings of his own superior wisdom, rather than the suggestions of the intriguers about him. The adroit De Rosny thus softly insinuated to the flattered monarch that the designs of France were the fresh emanations of his own royal intellect. It was the whim of James to imagine himself extremely like Henry of Bourbon in character, ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley
... seven-year-old Susan. When the blinds were drawn, at the close of the religious meeting, and non-members retired, Susan sat still. Soon she saw a thin old lady with blue goggles come down from the "high seat." Approaching her, the Quakeress said softly, "Thee is not a member—thee must go out." "No; my mother told me not to go out in the cold," was the child's firm response. "Yes, but thee must go out—thee is not a member." "But my father is a member." ...
— Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 • Elizabeth Cady Stanton
... professed himself unable to "put a name on," he proceeded to the door in question, and found it barred, chained, and bolted. While he was standing wondering what it meant, he noticed the light as of gas shining from underneath the library door; but when he softly turned the handle and peeped in, the room was dark as the grave, and "like cold water seemed running down ...
— The Uninhabited House • Mrs. J. H. Riddell
... "And he is blind. Ah, well, for her, beauty is again possible, but for him"—he shrugged his shoulders—"it is bad, bad!" he said softly, and, turning to a shelf of books that stood against the wall, he drew out a volume and sat down ...
— Claire - The Blind Love of a Blind Hero, By a Blind Author • Leslie Burton Blades
... to call the weeny woolly ones," said Marion softly. "Dear little boy, I wish he were here now. I remember once when he was much smaller we were walking on Bessmoor where you get such a wonderful view—he looked up and said, 'Does God live up there?' and I said, 'Yes,' ...
— East of the Shadows • Mrs. Hubert Barclay
... friend," said he, with that playful, petulant smile flitting over his face again. "It is my first and last fight. Let me down as softly as you can on mother earth, the mother of both you and me; so we are brothers; and this may be a brotherly act, though it does not look so, nor feel so. Ah! ...
— Septimius Felton - or, The Elixir of Life • Nathaniel Hawthorne
... her room, but had kept her eyes closed, so that even her wakefulness should not seem to reproach him. But when he had returned, so soon after herself, too, this timid little heart had felt more at ease, and turning towards him as he stept softly out of the room, she had fallen into a light sleep. George came in and looked at her again, entering still more softly. By the pale night-lamp he could see her sweet, pale face—the purple eyelids were fringed ...
— Vanity Fair • William Makepeace Thackeray
... daughter," he said, softly smoothing her hair; "it could hardly be a sadder thing to you than to me, should that enemy of yours succeed in overcoming you again. Try, dear child, to be constantly on ...
— Christmas with Grandma Elsie • Martha Finley
... he, and forthwith set key to padlock; but scarce had he freed the head-board than he falls a-cursing 'neath his breath. "Easy, comrade, easy!" quoth he, softly. "Bide still awhile—hither cometh yon beefy fool back again—so will I make show of miscalling ye till he be gone." The which he did forthwith, giving me "scurvy rogue" and the like. Now, lifting my head, whom should I behold but that same tall fellow had been my chief tormenter, and who now hasted ...
— Black Bartlemy's Treasure • Jeffrey Farnol
... His abnormal power of vision made abstractions take on concrete form. In the alchemy of his brain, trigonometry and mathematics and the whole field of knowledge which they betokened were transmuted into so much landscape. The vistas he saw were vistas of green foliage and forest glades, all softly luminous or shot through with flashing lights. In the distance, detail was veiled and blurred by a purple haze, but behind this purple haze, he knew, was the glamour of the unknown, the lure of romance. It was like wine to him. Here was adventure, something to do with head ...
— Martin Eden • Jack London
... airy skirt was caught on one of the blue clusters, and Lizzie knelt down to arrange it as she spoke. Belle leaned toward her and said softly: "Money alone can't pay you for this kindness; so tell me how I can best serve you. This is the happiest night of my life, and I want to make ...
— Marjorie's Three Gifts • Louisa May Alcott
... many years; why so much money had been put into expensive instruction, and so many hours devoted to daily practise. It was for this—for this particular night—for this particular man. I saw it in a flash. I sang a song in English. "In a Garden," it was called. Softly I played the opening phrases, and then raised my chin a little and began. My voice isn't strong, but it can't help but behave nicely. It can't help but take its high notes truly, like a child who has been taught pretty manners ...
— The Fifth Wheel - A Novel • Olive Higgins Prouty
... effect is produced by this trivial reading of a passage, by which the composer meant to convey, as it were, a maiden's tender and warm effusions of gratitude. [Footnote: See the close of the Aria in E, known as "Softly sighing," in Der Freyschutz (No. 8).] Truly, certain people who sit and listen again and again to a vulgar effect such as this, whenever and wherever the Freyschutz overture is performed, and approve of it, and talk of "the wonted excellence of our orchestral ...
— On Conducting (Ueber das Dirigiren): - A Treatise on Style in the Execution of Classical Music • Richard Wagner (translated by Edward Dannreuther)
... red Roman brick, The good grey stone is over all In arch and floor of the tower tall. And maidens three are living there All in the upper chamber fair, Hung with silver, hung with pall, And stories painted on the wall. And softly goes the whirring loom In my ladies' upper room, For they shall spin both night and day Until the stars do pass away. But every night at evening. The window open wide they fling, And one of them says a word they know ...
— Spirits in Bondage • (AKA Clive Hamilton) C. S. Lewis
... Guy, 'tain't so easy to find him if he don't want to be found, and you must speak softly if you hunt him, whether or no. He's a dark man, that Guy Rivers—mother always said so—and he lives a long ...
— Guy Rivers: A Tale of Georgia • William Gilmore Simms
... schemes had begun to form in her mind like bubbles rising to the surface of a rushing river. By the time the door had closed behind Bream Mortimer she had at her disposal no fewer than seven, all good. It took her but a moment to select the best and simplest. She tip-toed softly to her son's room. Rhythmic snores greeted her listening ears. She opened the ...
— Three Men and a Maid • P. G. Wodehouse
... splendid as they are considered as pages in a parody. I do not dispute that men have said and do say that "the libation of freedom must sometimes be quaffed in blood," that "their bright homes are the land of the settin' sun," that "they taunt that lion," that "alone they dare him," or "that softly sleeps the calm ideal in the whispering chambers of imagination." I have read too much American journalism to deny that any of these sentences and any of these opinions may at some time or other have been uttered. I do not deny that there are such opinions. But I do deny ...
— Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens • G. K. Chesterton
... had a dream. Yes, some one softly said, "He's gone," and then a sigh went round the room; And then I surely heard a priestly voice Cry Subvenite; and they ...
— English Literature - Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English Speaking World • William J. Long
... up all hope, mother," he said softly. "He may yet come back." He did not know what else ...
— Paul Patoff • F. Marion Crawford
... no country in the world whose scenery is more sweetly diversified, or more delicately shaded away into that exquisite variety of surface which presents us with those wavy outlines of beauty that softly melt into each other, than is that of our own green island. Alas! how many deep valleys, wild glens, green meadows, and pleasant hamlets, lie scattered over the bosom of a country, peopled by inhabitants who are equally moved by the impulses of mirth and sorrow; each valley, and glen, and pleasant ...
— Lha Dhu; Or, The Dark Day - The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two • William Carleton
... chuckled softly while at work, but neither he nor Bruno made reply in words. And then, his arrangements perfected save for closing the circuit, which could only be done after all hands had entered the air-ship, he ...
— The Lost City • Joseph E. Badger, Jr.
... you looking so careworn, Mrs. Kinloch," said he, with his blandest air. "I intended to bring up a topic more agreeable, it is to be hoped, than runaway house-maids or old documents." He rubbed his hands softly and turned his eyes with a glance meant to be tender towards the place where her chair stood; if he had been a cat, he would ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 10, August, 1858 • Various
... so. It was covered with snow, and upon the robe itself the snow lay deep. The whole forest was white, and, as he stood up, he heard branches cracking beneath the weight that had gathered on them in the night. It had come down in thick and great flakes, but so softly that it ...
— The Eyes of the Woods - A story of the Ancient Wilderness • Joseph A. Altsheler
... object the training of the instrument to freedom and responsiveness; but the true art of vocal expression begins when the instrument is used in obedience to such objects of thought as should cause its strings to vibrate loudly or softly, all together or in partial harmony, in obedience to that vital impulse which the instrument itself was ...
— Expressive Voice Culture - Including the Emerson System • Jessie Eldridge Southwick
... prayers, according to his wont, I climbed out of a window into the court-yard, slipped through the opening in the wall, and took up my station at no great distance, hidden in the deep shade. I had not long to wait before Cardillac appeared and stole softly up the street, me following him. He bent his steps towards the Rue St. Honore; my heart trembled with apprehension. All of a sudden I lost sight of him. I made up my mind to take post at your house-door. Then ...
— Weird Tales, Vol. II. • E. T. A. Hoffmann
... at us, unseeing, one arm flung about the child protectingly, holding him partially under one of her long, sleek red wings. The fingers of her other hand clutched convulsively at the bed coverings; she was moaning softly with a grief and terror all the more intense because it ...
— The Fire People • Ray Cummings
... progress and new spiritual experiences as if he alone were the one interested. His efforts to control his irritability and profanity were both odd and pathetic, and Haldane would sometimes hear him swearing softly to himself, with strange contortions of his wrinkled face, when in former times he would have vented his spite in ...
— A Knight Of The Nineteenth Century • E. P. Roe
... sat there with her little child. She was so downcast, so afraid that it should die! It was so pale, the small eyes had closed themselves, and it drew its breath so softly, now and then, with a deep respiration, as if it sighed; and the mother looked still more sorrowfully on the ...
— A Christmas Greeting • Hans Christian Andersen
... any of my signals; I cannot speak without terrible danger for both of us, and at this moment your life is of the first importance." Then she added: "My mistress is in a room on the ground floor. To get into it we must pass through her husband's room and close to his bed. Do not cough, walk softly, and follow me closely, so as not to knock against the furniture or tread anywhere but on ...
— The Muse of the Department • Honore de Balzac
... studying the wind all week—its power, effects, etc.—until the subject had been pretty well exhausted. To stimulate interest, the kindergartner said, in her most enthusiastic manner: "Children, as I came to school today in the trolley-car, the door opened and something came softly in and kissed me on the cheek. What ...
— More Toasts • Marion Dix Mosher
... at him, still exalted, still flushed, and said softly, as though she could not help it, "'On to the bound of the waste—on to ...
— Lady Merton, Colonist • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... floods the country with silver light and glints upon the stacked bayonets of this British Army in France when the men lie down beneath their coats, with their haversacks as pillows. Each sleeping figure is touched softly by those silver rays while the sentries pace up and down upon the outskirts of the camp. Some of the days have been intensely hot, but the British Tommy unfastens his coat and leaves his shirt open at the chest, and with the sun ...
— The Soul of the War • Philip Gibbs
... and Deerfoot was sure of a slight cessation of the pain, though the relief was not marked. When the caressing had been repeated a number of times, the dwarf softly laid the foot on the ground and rose to his feet. Another vigorous discharge of unintelligible words followed, and he wabbled rapidly off beyond the rocks from behind which he had ...
— Deerfoot in The Mountains • Edward S. Ellis
... the PERI, as softly she stole The farewell sigh of that vanishing soul, As true as e'er warmed a woman's breast— "Sleep on, in visions of odor rest "In balmier airs than ever yet stirred "The enchanted pile of that lonely bird "Who sings at the last his own death-lay[165] ...
— The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore • Thomas Moore et al
... mind to enter the tent, but she finally crept in, hoping to remain unnoticed and hear how Sahwah was getting along. Nyoda looked up as she came in, and pitied her from the bottom of her heart. "Come in, Gladys," she said softly, ...
— The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods - Or, The Winnebagos Go Camping • Hildegard G. Frey
... that it bore four strings. She swept them back and forth with rhythmic forefinger and lifted a voice, thin and mellow, in a fashion of melody that was strange, and in a foreign tongue, warm-voweled, all-voweled, and love-exciting. Softly throbbing, voice and strings arose on sensuous crests of song, died away to whisperings and caresses, drifted through love-dusks and twilights, or swelled again to love-cries barbarically imperious in which were ...
— The Valley of the Moon • Jack London
... her eye, and laughed softly at the extreme improbability of her hope being realized, while he ...
— Ester Ried • Pansy (aka. Isabella M. Alden)
... then strolled away, softly whistling to himself. He was unwilling to admit even to himself that this speech had really the sinister meaning it seemed to have. In a few days the two young men made their way back to Italy, and lingered a while in Florence before going on to Rome. In Florence Roderick seemed to have ...
— Roderick Hudson • Henry James
... men who understand people-machines, who understand iron machines, and who understand how to make people-machines and iron machines run softly together. ...
— Crowds - A Moving-Picture of Democracy • Gerald Stanley Lee
... the paper and read it through carefully and laid it down. Then he reflected a moment, picked it up and read it again. Then he whistled softly. ...
— Hidden Treasure • John Thomas Simpson
... ways, O lady of my heart, have O'er all my thought their golden glamour cast; As amber torch-flames, where strange men-at-arms Tread softly 'neath the damask shield of night, Rise from the flowing steel in part reflected, So on my mailed thought that with thee goeth, Though dark the ...
— Ezra Pound: His Metric and Poetry • T.S. Eliot
... and lay down beside it. The night was a glorious one. The dark green sea splashed against the rocks below; above us spread the majestic calm of the blue heavens, and around us sweet-scented trees and bushes rustled softly. The moon was rising, and the delicate tracery of the shadows, thrown by the tall, green plane trees, crept over the stones. Somewhere near a bird sang; its note was clear and bold. Its silvery trill seemed to ...
— Creatures That Once Were Men • Maxim Gorky
... Contrary to the custom of the Danes, they did not linger over the meal; and, as soon as they left the table, Beatrix and Lorimer strolled away to the conservatory at the back of the house. The yellow sunset light was still gilding the place, and through the wide-open windows the night breeze crept in, softly stirring the heavy palm leaves and scattering the scent of a few late ...
— The Dominant Strain • Anna Chapin Ray
... their footsteps sounding dreary and mournful on the uncarpeted floor, and awakening strange rumbling echoes. Helen looked at them for a moment, all clustered round the single sofa which stood in the middle of the apartment, and then stepped softly back again into the hall. She looked around her eagerly, ...
— The New Tenant • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... Softly the little voice began: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth." Then she read of the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations; and of the water of life, that flows near ...
— Nanny Merry - or, What Made the Difference • Anonymous
... the side of a confessional, at the steps of the altar. How hushed and calm and sweet it was! She crept into a pew in a side aisle in the shelter of a pillar; and sat down. Presently, in the far apse, an organ began to play, its notes stealing softly out through the great spaces like a benediction. She fancied that the saints, the glorified martyrs in the painted windows illumined by the sunlight, could feel, could hear, were touched by human sympathy in ...
— Baddeck and That Sort of Thing • Charles Dudley Warner
... be refused once a week and sate all the longer ... allowed everybody in the house (and a few visitors) to see and hear him in fits of hysterical sobbing, and sate on unabashed, the end being that he sits now sole regnant, my poor sister saying softly, with a few tears of remorse for her own instability, that she is 'taken by storm and cannot help it.' I give you only the resume of this military movement—and though I seem to smile, which it was impossible to avoid at ...
— The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846 • Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett
... the old wilding that bears them; it may catch your veil; it may scratch your fingers! Pray, take care: it has many thorns about it. And now, Leonora! you shall hear my last verses! Lean your ear a little toward me; for I must repeat them softly under this low archway, else others may hear them too. Ah! you press my hand once more. Drop it, drop it! or the verses will sink into my breast again, and lie there silent! ...
— Imaginary Conversations and Poems - A Selection • Walter Savage Landor
... herself without another word on the bed, and in two minutes was asleep. Then, softly laying another bit of coal on the fire, Teen lifted the table back to the hearth, got out pen, ink, and paper, and set herself to a most unusual task, the composition and writing of a letter. I should be afraid to say how long it took her to perform this great task, nor how very poor ...
— The Guinea Stamp - A Tale of Modern Glasgow • Annie S. Swan
... material part. The light fell on a tilted hat; a powerful shoulder, that seemed to cleave the darkness; on a leg stepping out. He swung about and stood still, facing the illuminated parlour window at her back, turning his head from side to side, laughing softly to himself. ...
— To-morrow • Joseph Conrad
... or, say, it is like some miraculous eye, which sees in all directions and is indifferent to distance. Go into one quiet, soft-carpeted room, and certain small glittering machines flash in the bright light. "Click, click—click, click!"—long strips of tape are softly unwound and fall in slack twisted piles. One of those machines is printing off a long letter from Berlin, another is registering news from Vienna, and by a third news from Paris comes as easily and rapidly as from Shoreditch; subdued men take the tapes, expand and make fluent the curt, halting ...
— Side Lights • James Runciman
... embittering scenes should be passed by. He had not long to wait for this event. When again in motion his eye fell upon the skirt of a lady's dress opposite, the owner of which had entered and seated herself so softly as not ...
— A Laodicean • Thomas Hardy
... proceeded to attend to one or two matters before returning to the tower. It was whilst thus employed, that I heard a fumbling at the door, and the latch was tried. Keeping silence, I waited. Soon, I heard several of the creatures outside. They were grunting to one another, softly. Then, for a minute, there was quietness. Suddenly, there sounded a quick, low grunt, and the door creaked under a tremendous pressure. It would have burst inward; but for the supports I had placed. The strain ceased, as quickly as it had ...
— The House on the Borderland • William Hope Hodgson
... Albert?" said she, softly. "I heard it just as I lay down to rest, and could not sleep while you were thus exposed to the damp night air. You do not answer; surely it is your voice: when did I mistake it for another's?" Mastering with a violent effort his emotions, ...
— The Pilgrims Of The Rhine • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... out of the broad stream of philosophical, or, in other words, truth-loving, investigations. The causes of disease, in the mean time, have been less earnestly studied in the eagerness of the search for remedies. Speak softly! Women have been borne out from an old-world hospital, two in one coffin, that the horrors of their prison-house might not be known, while the very men who were discussing the treatment of the disease were stupidly ...
— Medical Essays • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
... not seen the bay, and the talk tapered off desultorily to a final "So-long, see yuh later." Lone rode on, careful not to look back. So she was Brit Hunter's girl! Lone whistled softly to himself while he studied this new angle of the problem,—for a problem he was beginning to consider it. She was Brit Hunter's girl, and she had told them at the Sawtooth that she had spent the night at Rock City. He wondered how much else she had told; how ...
— Sawtooth Ranch • B. M. Bower
... was stumbling through the bracken of the little copse that was like a tuft of hair on the brow of the great white quarry. It was quite dark, in among the trees. I made the circuit of the copse, whistling softly my three bars of "Lillibulero." Then I plunged into it. The bracken underfoot rustled and rustled. I came to a halt. A little bar of light lay on the horizon in front of me, almost colourless. It was crossed again and again by the small ...
— Romance • Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer
... asked softly. "After all that has passed I think I may claim your confidence, Mr. Mafferton." I had some difficulty afterwards in justifying this, but it seemed ...
— A Voyage of Consolation - (being in the nature of a sequel to the experiences of 'An - American girl in London') • Sara Jeannette Duncan
... conservatory. Half hidden among languorous scented flowers were a thousand tiny lights, while overhead in the gloom towered graceful palms and bananas. A fountain murmured pleasantly amidst a cluster of maidenhairs. The music from the ballroom fell softly over all. ...
— With Edged Tools • Henry Seton Merriman
... town asleep? The healing July sun softly warms the silent houses and their broken walls and closed doors. No one is in sight. Yet we have come with our camionette well laden with clothing for the inhabitants. Ah! they are all away working in the ...
— Where the Sabots Clatter Again • Katherine Shortall
... his retreat, watching the brilliant sunshine shimmer over the blue-green haze of spruce and pine that furred the way down to the valley. He basked in it like a cat blinking its content. The rails were beginning to hum softly, and it would not be ...
— The City of Fire • Grace Livingston Hill
... in the next apartment. Was it her tyrant, who was sleeping so near? She sat with her shoes in her hand, her eyes fastened on the door. At last it opened, and Debby's brown face peeped in. They passed out together,—the mulatto taking the precaution to lock the door and put the key in her pocket. Softly they went down stairs, through the kitchen, out into the adjoining alley. Two gentlemen with a carriage were in attendance. They sprang in, and were whirled away. After riding some miles, the carriage was stopped; one of the gentlemen alighted ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. II, No. 8, June 1858 • Various
... violins, concertinas, guitars, &c., simply because the sound produces the same effect on them as the shrill buzzing of a captive fly. I have frequently seen spiders come down walls or from ceilings, attracted by the sound of a guitar, softly played; and by gently touching metal strings, stretched on a piece of wood, I have succeeded in attracting spiders on to the strings, within two or three inches of my fingers; and I always noticed that the spiders ...
— The Naturalist in La Plata • W. H. Hudson
... colour had stolen into her cheeks; the wonderful eyes had grown very bright and wistfully tender and deep. The rare old lace on her bosom fluttered with her quickened breath, as softly she murmured: ...
— High Noon - A New Sequel to 'Three Weeks' by Elinor Glyn • Anonymous
... awfully cross, Thirza, and can't bear anybody to tread on his crops or touch a tree or a bush that belongs to him. I'm kind of afraid, but come along and mind you step softly in between the rows and hold up your petticoat, so you can't possibly touch the turnip plants. I'll do the same. Skip along fast, because then we won't ...
— New Chronicles of Rebecca • Kate Douglas Wiggin
... her feelings. I mentioned Danvers' good looks, and she quoted me back "The Cotter's Saturday Night." I praised his conduct, and she answered with "The Epistle to Davie." It was the name of Burns that was constantly upon her lips; she set his verses to the music of old songs, singing them softly to herself in the gloaming, and I could see had made a god of him by ...
— Nancy Stair - A Novel • Elinor Macartney Lane
... sudden and violent flame that which might have slumbered on for months. Before the end of the first week Crothers had noticed how lovely Cynthia's shining braids were as they twined around her pretty, bent head. His eyes grew thoughtful as he noted the lines of the softly rounded shoulders and dainty girlish bosom. The little dent in the back of the slim neck was like a dimple and even the small roughened hands ...
— A Son of the Hills • Harriet T. Comstock
... had his temper up, my grandfather spoke softly, being a quiet, peaceable man, and in wonder what he had said to ...
— Old Man Savarin and Other Stories • Edward William Thomson
... old bridge where salmon wait for autumn floods, toward the pleasant upland on the west. Above the town the hills close in, cushioned with deep oak woods, through which juts here and there a crag of fern-fringed slate; below they lower, and open more and more in softly rounded knolls, and fertile squares of red and green, till they sink into the wide expanse of hazy flats, rich salt-marshes, and rolling sand-hills, where Torridge joins her sister Taw, and both together flow quietly toward the broad surges of the bar, and the everlasting ...
— Westward Ho! • Charles Kingsley
... exhaustion is the most pathetic thing about them. They fall asleep even when their wounds are being dressed. When all was made straight and comfortable for them, the nurses turned the lights low again, and stepped softly about the ward with their ...
— My War Experiences in Two Continents • Sarah Macnaughtan
... Ermine, softly, "do not speak about it, but I think you will be comforted to hear that this matter of yours, by leading to the matron's confession, may have removed an obstacle that was far more serious in my eyes than even my own helplessness, willing as Colin was to cast both aside. Oh, Rachel, there ...
— The Clever Woman of the Family • Charlotte M. Yonge
... in the above list in distinct articulate whispers; then with vocality, softly and gently. Avoid hissing ...
— The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 • Ministry of Education
... went a couple of them in childish loving way, with their arms about each other's necks. Matrons and shy young maidens sat upon the door-steps near. Many a merry laugh filled up the interludes of music. And when evening came softly down upon us, the band finished with "God save the Queen," the little circle of those who would hear the last note moved off, there was a clattering of shutters, a shining of lights through casement-windows, and soon the ...
— Friends in Council (First Series) • Sir Arthur Helps
... paintings, fans, embroideries, and porcelain was hung, nailed, pinned, or stuck against the wall; finally the domestic altarpiece, the mystical Corot landscape, was hoisted to its place over the parlour fire, and then all was over. The setting sun streamed softly in at the windows, and peace reigned in that redeemed house and in the ...
— Democracy An American Novel • Henry Adams
... He laughed softly to himself. The mule had been loaded with things belonging to the corporal's mess, and he felt certain that he ...
— Our Soldier Boy • George Manville Fenn
... Then Laieikawai spoke softly to Hauailiki, "Go away now, for death and life have been left with my guardians, and therefore I pity you; arise and ...
— The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai • Anonymous
... climb. He had climbed many a tree when he was a boy. He put the birds softly, one by one, into their warm little home. Two other baby birds were there, that had not fallen out. All cuddled down together and ...
— Fifty Famous People • James Baldwin
... Suddenly the door opened softly and somebody looked in, somebody who said: "Miss Maxwell told me I should find Miss ...
— Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm • Kate Douglas Wiggin
... be intrusive, held back during the rough greetings between John and me. But in proper time she felt it due to herself to come forward and assert her presence; so, setting her tail bolt upright like a standard, she began pacing softly backwards and forwards, purring affectionately, and rubbing herself against John's legs ...
— Cat and Dog - Memoirs of Puss and the Captain • Julia Charlotte Maitland
... cautiously round at the door, which was slightly ajar. He got up softly and shut it. Then he advanced gently across the room and came up close to ...
— Dickory Dock • L. T. Meade
... weeping softly. Her father, restored to himself, was a stranger who spoke in a foreign tongue. Billie was ...
— The Motor Maids at Sunrise Camp • Katherine Stokes
... Rembrandt in the middle of a long wall, and a great expanse of ochre-coloured parquetted floor were all that saved it from the suggestion of a royal tomb. As it was, I left the apartment with a feeling of treading softly as when we pass through a door hung with crape. Vagaries of this kind are remediable when they occur in cravats, or bonnets, or gloves—but a room in the wrong colour! Saints and the ...
— Principles of Home Decoration - With Practical Examples • Candace Wheeler
... only me," she said softly. "And then only because of you. You see, Baby, he isn't like us. He's got old fashioned notions you and I've got strings tied around each other already just because ...
— The Very Black • Dean Evans
... limbs, whose joints and parts consist of wheel within wheel, chains, bars, and thick iron wires. Enter, and see how the glowing iron masses are formed into long bars. Bloodless spins the glowing bar! see how the shears cut into the heavy metal plates; they cut as quietly and as softly as if the plates were paper. Here where he hammers, the sparks fly from the anvil. See how he breaks the thick iron bars; he breaks them into lengths; it is as if it were a stick of sealing-wax that is broken. The long iron bars rattle before your feet; iron plates are planed into ...
— Pictures of Sweden • Hans Christian Andersen
... for help!" she cried, and broke down utterly. She dropped into a chair in the chart-room and cried softly, helplessly, while I stood by, unable to think of anything to do or say. I think now that it was the best thing she could have done, though at the time I was alarmed. I ventured, finally, to put my ...
— The After House • Mary Roberts Rinehart
... that Jenny was asleep, and they went up softly. Lawrence wrote out his directions for the night and came down, Stella accompanying him. At the door ...
— Stories by American Authors, Volume 7 • Various
... Duffer," Biddy said softly. "That's why I wouldn't answer you for good and all, that night at Philae. I felt then it might be kinder to tell you I could never care. But I've thought of nothing else since—except a little about Monny—and I ...
— It Happened in Egypt • C. N. Williamson & A. M. Williamson
... absence of voice, want of voice; dysphony[obs3]; cacoepy[obs3]; silence &c. (taciturnity) 585; raucity[obs3]; harsh voice &c. 410, unmusical voice &c. 414; falsetto, "childish treble mute"; dummy. V. keep silence &c. 585; speak low, speak softly; whisper &c. (faintness) 405. silence; render mute, render silent; muzzle, muffle, suppress, smother, gag, strike dumb, dumfounder; drown the voice, put to silence, stop one's mouth, cut one short. ...
— Roget's Thesaurus • Peter Mark Roget
... wud take away fr'm war its entire moral purpose. I must ask ye again to cease thinkin' on this subjick in a gross mateeryal way an' considher th' moral side alone,' he says. Th' conference was much moved be this pathetic speech, th' dillygate fr'm France wept softly into his hankerchef, an' th' dillygate fr'm Germany wint over an' forcibly took an open-face goold watch fr'm th' ...
— Mr. Dooley Says • Finley Dunne
... negroes not being able to withstand the hot fire kept up on them. Jack and Needham set up as loud a cheer as their parched throats would let them give, when, in a short time, they saw Hemming in a boat and Adair in another, approaching the brig. Fortunately she had taken the ground so softly that she was hove off that very evening. Adair, however, in consequence of the exertions he had gone through, was too ill to accompany Rogers in charge of her to Sierra Leone; and so Jack, much to his regret, had to go by himself, not forgetting ...
— The Three Midshipmen • W.H.G. Kingston
... abominable articles—and, finally, finally darkness. All this he felt hovering very close at hand; one nod too many of his nurse's head, and up she would start, off she would go, off he would go.... He watched her and stroked very softly his ...
— The Golden Scarecrow • Hugh Walpole
... said Dick softly. "What about your going round to his house and seeing if he's in, and what he's likely to be ...
— None Other Gods • Robert Hugh Benson
... you will not mention it—What are my Disappointments when your Happiness is in Debate [softly]. 'Sdeath I shall be ruined ...
— The School For Scandal • Richard Brinsley Sheridan
... displeasure ran through the crowd of wedding guests at this bold proposal, and the King grasped his sword in a rage. But, to everyone's amazement, the Princess seemed neither displeased nor daunted. She blushed rosy red, and smiled softly. ...
— Tales From Scottish Ballads • Elizabeth W. Grierson
... the electricity, and little Karen said softly, "I never felt so strange before. The lights go up and down my back to the ...
— Gerda in Sweden • Etta Blaisdell McDonald
... Delia, softly-smiling fair, Whose spotless soul no sordid thoughts deform: Her accents mild would still each throbbing care, And harmonize ...
— The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer - With Lives, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes • Rev. George Gilfillan [Ed.]
... thought you'd never come back. Such a piece of news! Sister has gone to bed; she's had a headache—with the excitement, I think; but she says it's new bread. Come upstairs softly, my dear, and I'll tell you what it is! Who do you think has been here,—drinking tea with us, too, in the ...
— Wives and Daughters • Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
... said Bettina. "Susie, let us sing together, very softly at first, then we will raise our voices little by little, ...
— L'Abbe Constantin, Complete • Ludovic Halevy
... my dear sir," I replied softly but eagerly to his look, "than a quarter of an hour ago that I ...
— The Experiences of a Barrister, and Confessions of an Attorney • Samuel Warren
... each of Amanda's front windows. One was hers, the other was Mrs. Babcock's. Amanda's old blond face, with its folds of yellow-gray hair over the ears and sections of the softly-wrinkled, pinky cheeks, was bent over some needle-work. So was Mrs. Babcock's, darkly dim with age, as if the hearth-fires of her life had always smoked, with a loose flabbiness about the jaw-bones, which seemed to make more ...
— Jane Field - A Novel • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
... increased, as we got a few miles from home; and by the time we reached White Plains, the "south wind" did not blow "softly," but freshly, and the snow in the road became sloppy, and rills of water were seen running down the hill-sides, in a way that menaced destruction to the sleighing. On we drove, however, and deeper and deeper we got among the hills, until we found not only ...
— Satanstoe • James Fenimore Cooper
... ready to act upon the instant, and the steps of the two men coming on could be heard plainer than ever, rays of light beginning to show under the door. The men said nothing, and came on softly, but Dick's ears were very sharp, and he could ...
— The Liberty Boys Running the Blockade - or, Getting Out of New York • Harry Moore
... Irene softly, "think the moon on her back is evil; to me she's always lovely. Look at those cypress shadows! Jon, Father says we may go to Italy, you and I, for two months. ...
— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy
... been in character, my dear. Ha, ha!" he laughed, softly, "we imposed upon the officer neatly. Our young friend got ...
— Paul the Peddler - The Fortunes of a Young Street Merchant • Horatio Alger, Jr.
... the shadow of a hand upon the latch. Slowly, slowly, to the hand came a wrist, and to the wrist an arm—another minute, and this maddening suspense would be over. Despite Charmian's restraining clasp, I crept a long pace nearer the softly moving door. ...
— The Broad Highway • Jeffery Farnol
... chance to be sorry for people," said Fanny. "Mrs. Bailey, next door, had lots of trouble, and I went in and said softly, 'I'm so sorry. Mrs. Bailey!' and she said, ...
— Dew Drops, Vol. 37, No. 8, February 22, 1914 • Various
... years, had become conscious of a real aesthetic passion for it, so that he knew all its points and would tell you just where to stand to see them in combination and just the hour when the shadows of its various protuberances which fell so softly upon the warm, weary brickwork—were of the right measure. Besides this, as I have said, he could have counted off most of the successive owners and occupants, several of whom were known to general fame; doing so, however, ...
— The Portrait of a Lady - Volume 1 (of 2) • Henry James
... father," at last Esther said softly, "and to think that His death was for even little Rosa, and the poor child knew nothing about it! I felt ashamed and speechless when she asked me why she had never been told before, having no reasonable answer ...
— Rosa's Quest - The Way to the Beautiful Land • Anna Potter Wright
... slew him. Hence the chariot-drawing dolphins of Spenser, softly swimming along the shore lest they should hurt themselves against the stones and gravel. Hence Shakespeare's Ariel, living under blossoms, and riding at evening on the bat; and his domestic namesake in the Rape of the Lock (the imagination ...
— English Critical Essays - Nineteenth Century • Various
... came near being dashed to pieces. This alarm was caused by one of the sentinels riding up near to where they were, dismounting from his horse and lighting, by his flint and steel, his cigarretto. On seeing this, Kit Carson, who was just ahead of Lieutenant Beale, pushed back his foot and kicked softly his companion, as a signal for him to lie flat on the ground as he (Carson) was doing. The Mexican was some time, being apparently very much at his leisure, in lighting his cigarretto; and, during these moments of suspense, ...
— The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, from Facts Narrated by Himself • De Witt C. Peters
... Softly through arching forest-trees Came stealing up a fresh salt breeze; One fair cheek kissing, till it burned Like to ...
— Daisy Dare, and Baby Power - Poems • Rosa Vertner Jeffrey
... oligarchic ages like our own. We have passed the age of the demagogue, the man who has little to say and says it loud. We have come to the age of the mystagogue or don, the man who has nothing to say, but says it softly and impressively in an indistinct whisper. After all, short words must mean something, even if they mean filth or lies; but long words may sometimes mean literally nothing, especially if they are used (as they mostly are in ...
— George Bernard Shaw • Gilbert K. Chesterton
... keg to one side of the room, Nick beckoned to the Girl to come close to him, which she did; and pointing to Johnson, who was strolling about the room, humming softly ...
— The Girl of the Golden West • David Belasco
... lay these mated crescents, gently curved and softly rounded. It was upon these that the eyes of the field-cornet ...
— The Bush Boys - History and Adventures of a Cape Farmer and his Family • Captain Mayne Reid
... rock of valor and patriotism—exclaimed, "They can't do it; they'll never reach the top!" His chief-of-staff, watching the struggle with equal earnestness, placed his hand on his commander's arm and said softly, "Time, time, General; give them time;" and presently the moist eyes of the brave leader saw his soldiers victorious upon the summit. They were American soldiers. So are we. They were fighting our American battle. So are we. They were climbing a precipice. So are we. The great heart of their ...
— History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II • Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage
... Bright as the day and the sky; Like the stream of gold and the sky above, Dear were your eyes in the grey. We have lived, my love, O, we have lived, my love! Now along the silent river, azure Through the sky's inverted image, Softly swam the boat that bore our love, Swiftly ran the shallow of our love Through the heaven's inverted image, In the reedy mazes round the river. See ...
— New Poems • Robert Louis Stevenson
... Communion Table, and the last book had been carefully dusted and arranged, Nell sat down at the little organ and began to play. Joe came and sat down in one of the choir seats at the left. Hymn after hymn Nell played, and when she at last stopped, Joe stepped softly ...
— The Unknown Wrestler • H. A. (Hiram Alfred) Cody
... ever rebelled against thy will?" said he, softly; and buried the point of his sword in the earth. "Yet, Leoline, yet," added he, looking at his kneeling brother, "yet art thou already better avenged than by ...
— The Pilgrims Of The Rhine • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... an effort which left Rachel racked in every muscle and swaying giddily. But she could not have made much noise, for still there was no sign from the study. She scarcely paused to breathe. A latchkey closed the door behind her very softly; she was in the crisp, clean air ...
— The Shadow of the Rope • E. W. Hornung
... she said softly, "the British are some bad, some good, and there are no doubt cruel men to be found in all wars. Moppet, as you came by the north door, whom did you see on ...
— An Unwilling Maid • Jeanie Gould Lincoln
... Steady, my lass, steady," he said softly, as the boat made a plunge or two. "Don't kick. Say, youngster, any message for that ...
— To The West • George Manville Fenn
... Wind was not afraid of the warrior hawk. He breathed softly among the branches of the trees and set every little leaf quivering and whispering. Then he ran across the meadows and the wheat fields. As he sped along, great waves like those of the sea rolled in wide sweeps across the meadow and through the ...
— The Magic Speech Flower - or Little Luke and His Animal Friends • Melvin Hix
... ascertaining first of all from Teresa that Fanny was now awake, and might be seen without harm, he stole softly to her room on the tips of his toes, went up to the bed, gently smoothed down her hair, took her hand in his, ...
— A Hungarian Nabob • Maurus Jokai
... mass of blossom; the rose gardens come into bloom; the cultivated lands are covered with springing crops; the desert itself wears a light livery of green. Every sense is gratified; the nightingale bursts out with a full gush of song; the air plays softly upon the cheek, and comes loaded with fragrance. Too soon, however, this charming time passes away, and the summer heats begin, in some places as early as June 18 The thermometer at midday rises to 90 or 100 degrees. Hot gusts blow from the desert, ...
— The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media • George Rawlinson
... as usual Penhallow went to his library for the company of the pipe, which Ann disliked, and the Tribune, which she regarded as the organ of Satanic politics. Seeing both John and her aunt absorbed in their books, Leila passed quickly back of them, opened the library door, and said softly, "May I ...
— Westways • S. Weir Mitchell
... certainly expecting him to speak. Every second her hesitation seemed more purposeful. Julien, however, with an effort which was almost savage, set his teeth and walked on. She looked after him for a moment and began to laugh softly to herself. Julien walked steadily on till he had reached the corner of the street. Then he turned away abruptly and without glancing around. He was angry with himself, angry at the sound of that faint, musical laugh. He had quite made up his mind not to call upon Madame Christophor. ...
— The Mischief Maker • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... Now let's be tender! Look how softly floats Queen Luna on her throne o'er lawn and lea!— Well, but you are ...
— Love's Comedy • Henrik Ibsen
... have spoken aloud; for, at least, I hardly needed to do more than motion to Jean Lafitte, and as we resumed our softly chugging progress, having broken out our shallow anchorage, he steered the boat to the motion of my hand. We passed close alongside the Belle Helene and I examined her keenly as we did so. Then, apparently unnoticed, we dropped down-stream a bit, ...
— The Lady and the Pirate - Being the Plain Tale of a Diligent Pirate and a Fair Captive • Emerson Hough
... Keineth had thrown her arms about Mrs. Lee's neck. "Oh, I was so frightened!" she cried. "Thank you for not letting me go. I'd have just hated Miss Edgecombe's—after this! And I do want to stay with Peggy!" she finished with a tight hug. Then, as they climbed the stairs together, she said softly—without knowing why in the ...
— Keineth • Jane D. Abbott
... "Girdel," he said, softly, "when you told me that day that you were going to marry the 'Cannon Queen,' I was frightened. The woman's look displeased me. Does ...
— The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume II (of 2) • Alexandre Dumas pere
... greatly to the general effect. The backs of the wall cases should be, if the specimens are mounted on pegs, of some light tint slightly contrasting with that of the walls, or, if the specimens are to be pictorially treated, with softly graduated skies applicable to ...
— Practical Taxidermy • Montagu Browne
... teme of Dolphins raunged in aray Drew the smooth charett of sad Cymoent: They were all taught by Triton to obay To the long raynes at her commaundement: As swifte as swallowes on the waves they went. * * * * * "Upon great Neptune's necke they softly swim, And to her watry chamber swiftly carry him. Deepe in the bottome of the sea her bowre Is built of hollow billowes ...
— Halleck's New English Literature • Reuben P. Halleck
... the return of consciousness his hearing was bewitched with strange delicious melodies, the touch of stringed instruments, and others breathed into softly as by the breath of love, delicate, tender, alive with enamoured bashfulness. Surely, the soul that heard them dissolved like a sweet in the goblet, mingling with so much ecstasy of sound; and those melodies filling the white cave of the ear were even at once to drown the soul in ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... At the sound of the name the young man threw back his head and laughed softly. A Gideon Vetch was Governor of Virginia! Here also, he told himself, half humorously, half bitterly, democracy had won. Here also the destroying idea had triumphed. In sight of the bronze Washington, this Gideon Vetch, one of "the poor white ...
— One Man in His Time • Ellen Glasgow
... shoes in her hand and crept softly down the stairs. She opened the dining-room window and climbed out. It would have been just as easy to go out by the door, but the window was more romantic, and less likely to be ...
— Five Children and It • E. Nesbit
... for the prowlers to softly raise the trap door leading to the kitchen, and, once there, the rest of the house was practically open. Such a thing as burglary or sneak thieving about the officers' quarters had been unheard of at Frayne for many a year. One precaution ...
— A Daughter of the Sioux - A Tale of the Indian frontier • Charles King
... Away he strode with a sullen frown, And alone in his teepee he sat him down. From the gladsome greeting of braves he stole, And wrapped himself in his gloomy soul. But the eagle eyes of the Harpstina The clouded face of the warrior saw. Softly she spoke to the sullen brave: "Mah-pi-ya Duta—his face is sad; And why is the warrior so glum and grave? For the fair Wiwaste is gay and glad; She will sit in the teepee the live-long day, And laugh with her lover—the brave Hohe Does the tall Red Cloud for the false one sigh? There are fairer ...
— The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems • H. L. Gordon
... She said it softly, but her eyes said it more plainly than her voice. I had hesitated a little before I finally closed the purchase. But Jennie's look and her soft "Thank you" made me sure I had ...
— Laicus - The experiences of a Layman in a Country Parish • Lyman Abbott
... stirs their hearts to thoughts of love. Marriage loses its terrors for them, and they think wistfully of hooking some fair woman up the back and buying her hats. Such was the mood of Mr Pickering, when through the dimness of the porch there appeared a white shape, moving softly toward him. ...
— Uneasy Money • P.G. Wodehouse
... beside him, and pressed a kiss on his pale face. "Father!—father!" said she, softly. He opened his eyes again, and a smile of pleasure broke over his wan face, and lighted up his eyes, as he feebly said, "God bless you, darlings! I thought you'd never ...
— The Garies and Their Friends • Frank J. Webb
... So softly did he come that when he reached the sharpie's counter all he had to do was to just put out his ...
— The Outdoor Chums on the Gulf • Captain Quincy Allen
... then a sound from the far-off town, or the dull, subdued thunder of cannon-firing from ships or forts distant some forty miles or more. Massive, white-bordered clouds, grey underneath, sail overhead; there was heavy rain last night, and they are lifting and breaking a little. Softly and slowly they go, and one of them, darker than the rest, has descended in a mist of rain, blotting out the ships. The surface of the water is paved curiously in green and violet, and where the light ...
— Pages from a Journal with Other Papers • Mark Rutherford
... hand lay in his for a few moments, but after a little she softly drew it away. Her right was in ...
— The Swindler and Other Stories • Ethel M. Dell
... gentle and long-continued control of breath results from the toy blow pipes with conical wire bowls by means of which light, celluloid balls of bright colors are kept suspended in the air, dancing on the column of breath blown softly through the tube. The more steadily the child blows, the more mysteriously the ball remains at a fixed point, whirling rapidly but without any ...
— What the Mother of a Deaf Child Ought to Know • John Dutton Wright
... Those human serpents scared him. Go softly, man! We must get him before he attempts to go down that cliff or he'll break his ...
— The White Waterfall • James Francis Dwyer
... still exalted, still flushed, and said softly, as though she could not help it, "'On to the bound of the waste—on ...
— Lady Merton, Colonist • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... of the 5th December the sun rose clear and bright, and a south-west wind softly threw out the silken folds of the Royal Standard on the main tower of the Castle. Haine was standing by a cromlech that in those days occupied the summit of the Town-hill; Prynne, Lempriere, and some officers, ...
— St George's Cross • H. G. Keene
... affections. He is the poet of the household, of the fireside, of the universal home feeling. The infinite tenderness and patience, the pathos, and the beauty of daily life, of familiar emotion, and the common scene, these are the significance of that verse whose beautiful and simple melody, softly murmuring for more than forty years, made the singer the most widely beloved ...
— Literary and Social Essays • George William Curtis
... thou, man, before dead Henry's corse? Speak softly; or the loss of those great towns Will make him burst his ...
— King Henry VI, First Part • William Shakespeare [Aldus edition]
... Duke of Friedwald at the distant venerable pile of stone; the majestic turrets and towers softly floating in a dreamy mist; the setting, fresh, woody, green. Long he looked at this inviting ...
— Under the Rose • Frederic Stewart Isham
... safe. You see, I have been in love really: the sort of love that only happens once. [Softly]. That's why Ellie is such a ...
— Heartbreak House • George Bernard Shaw
... in front of the altar and bidding her kneel, departed with the lamp which she hid away in some side chapel, so that now the darkness was intense. Presently, through the utter silence, Tua heard her creep back towards her, for although she walked so softly the dust seemed to cry beneath her feet, and her every footstep echoed round the vaulted walls. Moreover, a glow came from her, the glow of her life in that place of death. She passed Tua and knelt by the altar and the echo of her movements died away. Only it seemed to Tua that from each ...
— Morning Star • H. Rider Haggard
... still, though the fountain of her love had been sealed for a time. Stealing gently up to his chair, lest any sudden movement should agitate him too much, and yet quivering all the while in every limb from suppressed excitement, she bowed herself over him, and gathered his head softly to her bosom, whispering, "Poor, dear Orlando, you are glad, are you not, to see me?" Then, as the huge rapid drops of the thunder-cloud, which has hung overhead for a time in the midst of oppressive stillness, patter at first on the ...
— Amos Huntingdon • T.P. Wilson
... intended to give the professor a piece of his mind regarding the lack of tact and common sense displayed by Renmark in the camp, but, somehow, the scarcely awakened day did not lend itself to controversy, and the serene stillness soothed his spirit. He began to whistle softly that popular war song, "Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching," and then broke ...
— In the Midst of Alarms • Robert Barr
... through the woodland and stood watching her as long as I could; far down, she turned round and softly ...
— Pan • Knut Hamsun
... out one, and I went on softly, 'Well, boss Moss,' I said, 'we'll leave the female out of the question for the present. Underneath this cellar ...
— The Sorcery Club • Elliott O'Donnell
... as I have described, went softly on, into a vaulted chamber, now used as a store-room: once the chapel of the Holy Office. The place where the tribunal sat, was plain. The platform might have been removed but yesterday. Conceive the parable of the Good Samaritan having been painted on the wall of one of these ...
— Pictures from Italy • Charles Dickens
... dancing in swift ecstasy of movement; all about them the little waves ran glittering in the sunlight, plashing and slapping against the boat's low side, tossing tiny crests to the following wind, showing rifts of white here and there, blowing handfuls of foam and spray. Gideon went softly about the business of shortening his small sail, and came quietly back to his steering-seat again. Soon he would have to be making for what lea the western shore offered; but he was holding to the middle of the river as long as he could, because with every mile the shores ...
— The Best American Humorous Short Stories • Various
... of the unknown man sank lower and lower. Then he turned his head toward the east, and said softly, ...
— An Eagle Flight - A Filipino Novel Adapted from Noli Me Tangere • Jose Rizal
... of that glorious dome they could see into the fathomless depths of Eternity. Under the magic of the moon not even the sordid work of man struck a discordant note. At their feet the faint ripplings of this crystal lake whispered their ceaseless lullaby and close behind them the trees rustled softly in the languid breathings of the sleeping sea. Of a truth it was Paradise, fit above all fitness to gladden the hearts of men, worthy to fill the soul to overflowing with the ecstasy of living, deserving to be enshrined as a temple of the ...
— The Workingman's Paradise - An Australian Labour Novel • John Miller
... outer office a man stepped softly into the circle of the lamp. They could see his figure only from the waist down; the rest of him ...
— The Lost Road • Richard Harding Davis
... Sam Softly was bred a sugar-baker; but succeeding to a considerable estate on the death of his elder brother, he retired early from business, married a fortune, and settled in a country-house near Kentish-town, Sam, who formerly was a sportsman, and in his apprenticeship used to frequent Barnet ...
— The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes - Volume IV: The Adventurer; The Idler • Samuel Johnson
... looking back towards Loch Lomond, and wondering at the grandeur which Ben Vain and Ben Voirlich, and the rest of the Ben fraternity, had suddenly put on. The mists which had hung about them all day had now descended lower, and lay among the depths and gorges of the hills, where also the sun shone softly down among them, and filled those deep mountain laps, as it were, with a dimmer sunshine. Ben Vain, too, and his brethren, had a veil of mist all about them, which seemed to render them really transparent; and ...
— Passages From the English Notebooks, Complete • Nathaniel Hawthorne
... promised to keep it for him. He then unpacked his chest, putting all his valuable clothes into a large canvas bag, and told one of us, who had the watch, to call him at midnight. Coming on deck, at midnight, and finding no officer on deck, and all still aft, he lowered his bag into a boat, got softly down into it, cast off the painter, and let it drop silently with the tide until he was out of ...
— Two Years Before the Mast • Richard Henry Dana
... these are one of their principal articles of food in the neighbourhood of the Darling. In the attempts of the Spitting Tribe to steal from the English party, their feet were much employed, and they would tread softly on any article, seize it with the toes, pass it up the back, or between the arm and side, and so conceal it in the arm-pit, or between the beard and throat. The hoary old priest of the Spitting Tribe, ...
— Australia, its history and present condition • William Pridden
... steps of the altar. How hushed and calm and sweet it was! She crept into a pew in a side aisle in the shelter of a pillar; and sat down. Presently, in the far apse, an organ began to play, its notes stealing softly out through the great spaces like a benediction. She fancied that the saints, the glorified martyrs in the painted windows illumined by the sunlight, could feel, could hear, were touched by human sympathy in their beatitude. There was peace ...
— Baddeck and That Sort of Thing • Charles Dudley Warner
... walk steadily. Heaven knows how he managed to clamber with not too great indecency up the stairs to the Comte de Verneuil's flat on the first floor. Joanna opened the door with her latch key and we entered a softly-lit ...
— The Beloved Vagabond • William J. Locke
... I'm not going to yours," was the apology I graciously offered in return for that about the apple dumplings. "But I'd pay fifty dollars for a tenth row seat to hear you sing Tristan in the Metropolitan any day if I had to go hungry for a week to pay for it," I added, as I laughed as softly as he had pleaded. All the sorrow and strain of the last hours had vanished at the touch of his hand, and I felt ...
— The Heart's Kingdom • Maria Thompson Daviess
... Sacrifice of my Person, and, what is still dearer, my Virtue. Alas! added she, sheding some Tears, which flowed in Spite of her, that fatal Instant was drawing near. If it be so, replied Kelirieu, I pity you for having undesignedly lost an Enjoyment so necessary to your own Repose. For, added he, softly, I can discover through all your Affectations, that you really love the King. Your Heart is wounded, and only with-held by airy and unseasonable Scruples. Well, yes, answered she, I do love him. I do not endeavour to conceal it from you. Good God! what Woman in my ...
— The Amours of Zeokinizul, King of the Kofirans - Translated from the Arabic of the famous Traveller Krinelbol • Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crbillon
... which the women brought, Antler stretched it upon the ground. Then the women helped her lift the boy and lay him upon the skin. Gently they laid him upon the stretcher. Softly they stepped as they carried him home. They tended him carefully ...
— The Later Cave-Men • Katharine Elizabeth Dopp
... am in the true "Cambysis' vein."—"Coridon having softly withdrawn the rose-coloured gros de Naples bed-curtains, which by some might have been thought to have been rather too extravagantly fringed with the finest Mechlin lace, exclaimed with a tone of tremulous deference and affection, 'Monsieur a bien dormi?' ...
— Olla Podrida • Frederick Marryat
... "Ah, but," interposed, more softly, a young wife, holding a child by the hand, "let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will ...
— The Scarlet Letter • Nathaniel Hawthorne
... for you. No one knows that better than I, and that you should do it makes me love you more—if that's possible." He raised the hand to his lips, kissed it softly and dropped it. "I know how you can manage—it's as easy as possible. Say you have a headache, a splitting headache, and can't take the railway trip, but rather than disappoint them you'll ...
— Treasure and Trouble Therewith - A Tale of California • Geraldine Bonner
... Immediately his eyes opened to their full extent, and the fine bass stopped short, though the mouth did not close. With the irresistible impulse of a true sportsman he half rose, but Sandy Black, who sat near, caught him by the coat-tails and forced him firmly though softly down. ...
— The Settler and the Savage • R.M. Ballantyne
... you are here," she said softly, "you must forget those things. You are a diplomatist, and it is for you, is it not, outwardly, at any rate, to see only the good of the country in ...
— The Double Traitor • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... upon Syria's land of roses Softly the light of eve reposes, And like a glory, the broad sun Hangs over sainted Lebanon: Whose head in wintry grandeur towers, And whitens with eternal sleet, While summer, in a vale of flowers, Is sleeping rosy at his feet. To one who look'd from upper ...
— The Spirit of the Age - Contemporary Portraits • William Hazlitt
... led me to ST. BARBE'S study. He was now quiet, and only groaning softly as he reposed on the sofa; the fragments of furniture and the torn letters which covered the floor, proved, however, that the crisis had been severe, for a man who likes a quiet neighbourhood. I felt his pulse, injected morphine, and ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, December 17, 1892 • Various
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