"Ahem" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... "Ahem-m!" repeated the professor shrilly and shifting a trifle uneasily in his seat. "I fawncy that a student always does better work in a subject ...
— Winning His "W" - A Story of Freshman Year at College • Everett Titsworth Tomlinson
... "Ahem! Well, you will perhaps let me know where any relations of his are yet to be found, and I will look up the former suit, and go into the whole case without delay. In the meantime, you do right, sir—if ...
— Night and Morning, Volume 5 • Edward Bulwer Lytton
... as I! Well, there! Salome has, in the three years since her first entrance into society, refused half a score of eligible men. She is, and always has been, perfectly free from any such engagement. If you are equally free, my dear marquis—(If I could only be her mother for three seconds)—Ahem! if you are equally free, and if you admire my girl as you say you do, and if you can win her affections—she—she shall be yours, and I will settle Lone upon her. There, her mother would have done this better, I know. So much better that you would have ...
— The Lost Lady of Lone • E.D.E.N. Southworth
... "Ahem! Eddie, I'd give a good deal to see that girl married. Leave the bottle on the table, boy. She will have money —a lot of it—one of these days. There are dozens of young men that we know who'd do 'most anything ...
— Her Weight in Gold • George Barr McCutcheon
... "Ahem! Mrs. Thorne," he said, pompously, "we try to do our duty by the young people intrusted to our charge. We do not limit our endeavors to their mental culture, but strive to promote their physical ...
— Frank and Fearless - or The Fortunes of Jasper Kent • Horatio Alger Jr.
... little beside their wealth to stand as a bulwark for them; they were the daughters of New York City's newly rich whose ancestry would hardly court inspection) "and even during your school days you would get a taste of New York's social advantages; a thing utterly impossible in this dull—ahem!—this remote place. I shall strongly advise dear Neal to consider this. You simply cannot remain buried here. I shall, of course, since I feel it my duty to do so, but I can have someone pass the winter with me, and can make frequent ...
— Peggy Stewart at School • Gabrielle E. Jackson
... a tiresome afternoon," the factor said finally, "but the prospect looks bright—very bright. You will be glad to hear, Mr. Burley, that his lordship—ahem! I mean your client—need not remain at Fort Garry any longer than he wishes. At least ...
— The Cryptogram - A Story of Northwest Canada • William Murray Graydon
... say good-bye here. If you've nothing on for to-morrow we'll visit the Castle grounds and—ahem!—take a look about the place. Come to the hotel early. I'm going over to the gun-shop. So long!" As he crossed the square, his mind full of the beautiful women he had seen, he was saying to himself in a wild strain of exhilaration: "I'll bet my ...
— Truxton King - A Story of Graustark • George Barr McCutcheon
... "Ahem!" said the King, looking rather downcast. "I don't like to trouble you with my misery; so you ...
— The Emerald City of Oz • L. Frank Baum
... of my glasses) I am not very clear as to the path; and as for you, Mr. David, you will find Torrance a pleasant kind of body to speak with. Only let me remind you, it's quite needless he should hear more of your adventures or those of—ahem—Mr. Thomson." ...
— Kidnapped • Robert Louis Stevenson
... "Ahem! that?" replied Munchausen, trembling, as he reflected upon the Captain's threat. "What? Nobody knows what island that is? Why, ...
— The Pursuit of the House-Boat • John Kendrick Bangs
... opinion they were in safe hands, and he was glad to register his support of the measure proposed. The chairman had well said in his speech: 'de l'audace, toujours de l'audace!' Shareholders would agree with him that there could be no better motto for Englishmen. Ahem! ...
— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy
... deadliness. The Butterfly Man's lips drew back from his teeth and his eyes narrowed to gimlet points behind his glasses. "I have heard of you from Mr. Hunter. And so you collect butterflies! Very interesting and active occupation for any one that—ahem! likes that sort of ...
— Slippy McGee, Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man • Marie Conway Oemler
... to hear a gruff "Ahem" from a point in front of him, and glancing up hurriedly from his work he discovered a man standing leaning on a long-barreled rifle and surveying him with ...
— Canoe Mates in Canada - Three Boys Afloat on the Saskatchewan • St. George Rathborne
... wise man that knows so much about the ways of birds, if you were shut up in a big cage—in Windsor Castle, let us say—with scores of menials to wait on you and anticipate your every want? That is, I must explain, every want compatible with—ahem!—the captive condition. Would you be happy in your confinement, practising with the dumb-bells, riding up and down the floors on a bicycle and gazing at pictures and filigree caskets and big malachite vases and eating dinners of many, many courses? Or would you begin to wish ...
— Birds in Town and Village • W. H. Hudson
... the cure, buttoning and unbuttoning the top of his coat in his agitation, "you seem to be in a great hurry to go to work. The union of the man and the woman—ahem—is a serious matter, which ought not to be undertaken without due consideration. That is the reason why the Church has instituted the sacrament of marriage. Hast ...
— Serge Panine • Georges Ohnet
... Mrs. Basil, much miffed, "is a man of hereditary ijees, Colonel Reybold. He is now in pursuit of the—ahem!—the Kinvas-back on his ancestral waters. If he should hear that you suggest a pacific life and the groveling associations of the capital for him, he might ...
— Short Story Classics (American) Vol. 2 • Various
... I declare! Who'd have thought of seeing you, After what occurred last night, Out here on the Avenue! Oh, you awful! awful girl! There, don't blush, I saw it all." "Saw all what?" "Ahem! last night— At the Mather's—in the hall." "Oh, you horrid—where were you? Wasn't he the biggest goose! Most men must be caught, but he Ran his own neck in the noose. I was almost dead to dance, I'd have done it ...
— Point Lace and Diamonds • George A. Baker, Jr.
... what has kept you so quiet and demure all day that I have scarcely once heard you laugh or sing; quite an unusual state of things of late," and Adelaide playfully pinched the round, rosy cheek. "Ahem! let me put on my thinking cap," assuming an air of comic gravity. "Ah! yes, I have it! your miniature, little one, of course; what could ...
— Elsie Dinsmore • Martha Finley
... pleasant one. Only by an effort could he realize she was still of this world, and that by and by they would be back in Suez again, meeting casually, habitually, and in a much more commonplace and uninteresting way than ever they had done in the past. He shuddered, then he sighed, and then he said ahem! and gave himself the look of a man of affairs. On men who stared at him he retorted with a frown of austere inquiry, not aware that they were merely noticing how handsome ...
— John March, Southerner • George W. Cable
... "Ahem!" said Mrs. Piper, laughing, and settling her head-dress, which was Susy's red scarf: "are your feet ...
— Little Prudy's Sister Susy • Sophie May
... "Ahem! Mrs. Heath, there is something very strange—very inexplicable about what you have told me," Mrs. Farnum ...
— Virgie's Inheritance • Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
... and an honor, Master Arundel," he said, "to see again a discreet young gentleman like yourself, whose spirits—ahem!—are lively as my own ale, and yet chastised by a godly 'havior. You must have had something of a walk this morning. What refreshment may ...
— The Knight of the Golden Melice - A Historical Romance • John Turvill Adams
... "Ahem, ahem!" Mrs. Forbes cleared her throat with desperate loudness and tugged at her son's shirt sleeve with an energy which caused him ...
— Jewel - A Chapter In Her Life • Clara Louise Burnham
... felt in his pockets. "Ahem, gentlemen," he resumed. "The Court being, as it were, broke, will some one be so good as to lend the Court a silver coin? Thank you," to Williams, "and now, gentlemen, will you toss for the order ...
— The Way of a Man • Emerson Hough
... on Cora, "when we came up the road we did see a fellow sneaking around the cottage. I'm not exactly afraid, ahem! but I may as well admit that I am glad you boys appeared just now, and I hope the interloper caught a glimpse, ahem! ...
— The Motor Girls Through New England - or, Held by the Gypsies • Margaret Penrose
... isn't tryin' to back out of anythin', Donal. But as we were sayin' to-day when we heard that His Majesty, the King of Great Britain and Ireland, Australia, Canada, and India, as well.—(Looks at Sir Denis who is trying to light a clay pipe) Ahem! ahem! Sir Denis, ...
— Duty, and other Irish Comedies • Seumas O'Brien
... sonore Virgea suggeritur costis undantis ahem, Exsultantque aatu latices, furit intus aquae vis. Fumidus atque alte spumis exuberat amnis, Nec jam se capit unda; volat vapor ...
— The Essays of Montaigne, Complete • Michel de Montaigne
... time to look round you and imbibe the sense of awe which the magnificent mahogany counter and the brazen fittings, all the evidences of wealth, are so calculated to inspire. The hollow sound of your footstep on the floor does not seem heard; the slight 'Ahem!' you utter after you have waited a few moments attracts no attention, nor the rustling of your papers. The junior clerks are adding up column after column of figures, and are totally absorbed; the chief cashier is pondering deeply over a letter and annotating it. By-and-by he puts it ...
— Hodge and His Masters • Richard Jefferies
... "Ahem!" coughed Maxwell loudly; and at that there was a universal shriek of merriment. Peggy's clear "Ho! ho!" rang out above the rest, and her mother looked at her with sparkling eyes. Yes, yes, yes; the child was happy! She had settled ...
— About Peggy Saville • Mrs. G. de Horne Vaizey
... be a saddler, must I? Ahem! Well! it takes two to play at that, so we'll see who makes high, low, Jack, and the game this deal. Hurst was about right when he said things would come to a compass afore long. Guess they have, but who cares? I reckon I know which ...
— Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII No. 6 June 1848 • Various
... "Ahem! Gentlemen of the Club! our adventures, thus far, have not been altogether contemptible. We have a President and a Secretary; ought we not also to have a Recording ...
— The Dodge Club - or, Italy in 1859 • James De Mille
... words and adding the full orbit of his eye to his sincerity of manner. "Not at all, Satt. This is all friendly, all friendly. But," he coughed slightly, as if in apology, "if Henry shouldn't turn up all right, we'll—ahem—be back." ...
— Nan of Music Mountain • Frank H. Spearman
... repeated the jackal; 'and if your lordship's eyes had not been dazzled by—ahem!—the sun, your lordship would have seen her pigtail hanging ...
— Tales Of The Punjab • Flora Annie Steel
... "Ahem!" croaked Vanderbilt pere, as he buttoned up his fur overcoat, and stalked out of the open door. He has always had a high opinion of William since ...
— Lights and Shadows of New York Life - or, the Sights and Sensations of the Great City • James D. McCabe
... a lamb now; but when his strength comes back, if it ever comes back,—she will hae her ain adoes with him. Still—she's a sensible woman, and she canna but hae her ain thochts about him, and—and about— ahem—the gear he must soon—in the course o' nature—leave behind him. Weel! it will fall into good hands; it could hardly fall into better, unless indeed, the Brownrig, that young Douglas of Fourden married against the will o' his friends some forty years ago, should ...
— Allison Bain - By a Way she knew not • Margaret Murray Robertson
... man, he wasn't thinking about bridges that time," said the cheerful bore. "There was a girl with him. Elea—Ahem! I say, old man, what the devil time is it? Time for the confounded 'bus? Don't want to miss the train." He had caught the scowl of warning from Carter and, for ...
— The Flyers • George Barr McCutcheon
... But this was changed, as swiftly as Reuben's emotions themselves, to a state of freezing discomfort when Aunt Rachel bolt upright, and with a mincing precision in her speech, demanded to know if this young—ahem!—this person ...
— Aunt Rachel • David Christie Murray
... "Ahem! I hear you can be funny." No response from person addressed. Then to himself: "I don't much believe she can do anything—don't look like it." To me: "Well, now, if you can be funny, why don't you?" I could not help laughing then. "Yes, if you can, you ought to go into the ...
— A Truthful Woman in Southern California • Kate Sanborn
... to!" said my Father. He cleared his throat and put on his eye-glasses all over again. "Ahem!" he said. ...
— Fairy Prince and Other Stories • Eleanor Hallowell Abbott
... things with regard to the purchase of one lot of horses, of which I disapproved, were being looked into when I came away, and when——Well, colonel, it is against the rule of our regiment, to talk to outsiders of one another" ("Like—ahem!" was old Whaling's muttered comment as he recalled what he had heard of Gleason's revelations at the store), "and I would not allude to this but that, as commanding officer, you will be sure to ...
— Marion's Faith. • Charles King
... a half-pint of trouble, anyway," old Mr. Crow insisted. "And that's too much, for a person of my age. You'll have to keep away from my—ahem!—from Farmer Green's cornfield. And what's more, Fatty Coon says the ...
— The Tale of Dickie Deer Mouse • Arthur Scott Bailey
... "Ahem!" says he. "Ahem, as it were—as I was saying, my dear madam, these angelic angels of our homes are too ethereal, too dainty, to mingle with the rude crowds. We political men would fain keep them as they are now: we are willing to stand the rude buffetings ...
— Sweet Cicely - Or Josiah Allen as a Politician • Josiah Allen's Wife (Marietta Holley)
... that; it makes me shiver!' cried Polly. 'I'm going to write an ode to it at once. Ahem! It shall begin—let me ...
— A Summer in a Canyon: A California Story • Kate Douglas Wiggin
... "Ahem!" said the stranger, with dubious slowness. "A poet—a genius, you say? And I understand that I am reputed to have been ...
— The Panchronicon • Harold Steele Mackaye
... use a more elegant word, seems to be a sport which gives great pleasure to those who pursue it. Dr. Johnson, it is true, spoke slightingly of it, and described a fishing-rod as a stick with a hook at one end, and—ahem! he was probably in jest, my dears—a fool at the other. But Izaak Walton was a meek and devout person; and my dear father was fond of angling, and—and—others I have known. Go on, my lad, ...
— Hildegarde's Holiday - a story for girls • Laura E. Richards
... look at your tongue," said Dr. Porpoise, stroking his beard with one fin, impressively. "Ahem! somewhat coated, I see. And your pulse is far from normal; no appetite, I presume? Yes, my dear, your system is sadly out ...
— A Little Book of Profitable Tales • Eugene Field
... Only children and nursemaids believe in them nowadays. As soon as you have quite recovered, my dears, we will return to the garden, and I think that under the circumstances, the rather peculiar circumstances, ahem! it will be better to say nothing to your mother. Do you understand?" Mr. Whittingen went on, eyeing the servants, ...
— Scottish Ghost Stories • Elliott O'Donnell
... "Ahem!" said Mr. Bob Bucknor, with a significant glance at his cousin, "I must confess that I can't always do so. I find that entertaining Cousin Ann Peyton, for months at a time, is about all I can do in the way of coercion where the ladies of my family ...
— The Comings of Cousin Ann • Emma Speed Sampson
... a preliminary "Ahem!" which I knew of old meant, "I have an idea of my own, and I mean to get it carried out," said, "Oh, if you please 'm, if I might be so bold, did you think serious of engagin' the boy that's waitin' ...
— J. Cole • Emma Gellibrand
... rat in the hole. 'Dear me, dear me, what a sad story!' he said; and then remembering that his client had profited, 'but out of evil—ahem! As I understand, sir, you wish all your real property, including the capital mansion house and demesne, to go to the eldest son of your uncle Mr. Anthony Soane in tail, remainder to the second son in tail, and, failing sons, to daughters—the usual ...
— The Castle Inn • Stanley John Weyman
... the judge, after an embarrassed pause. "Ahem!" And he addressed the prisoner. "Your answer has its romantic value, Lou Garou, but the court is unable to attach to it any ethical significance whatsoever. Did you shoot Ruddy Boyd because of this lady's appearance ...
— The Spread Eagle and Other Stories • Gouverneur Morris
... "Ahem! we will skip the particulars, however partial," said Mr. Thompson. "Ah!—what do you mean here, sir,—but enough! I think we may be excused your Legal Considerations on such a Case. This is how you employ your law-studies, sir! You put them to ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... is come with a little piece of news for her; it will make her smile—she has a very pretty smile, which reminds me of the gallant Blyth. And now, my child, the third piece of news concerns yourself—your good, and dutiful, and exceedingly sensible self. Ahem!" cried the Admiral, as he always did, when he feared that he might have overstepped ...
— Springhaven - A Tale of the Great War • R. D. Blackmore
... "Ahem! Not exactly. But 'tis natural for one to inquire after the health of an old neighbor. Are you living here, or with ...
— Mark Hurdlestone - Or, The Two Brothers • Susanna Moodie
... by and forgot to Remind us of Aunt and her qualms? Of the stains of the old Journalisten? Of the rose that I begged from your hair? When you turned, and I saw something glisten— Dear Kitty, don't frown; it was there! But that idiot Delane in the middle Bounced in with 'Our dance, I—ahem!' And—the rose you may find in my Liddell And Scott when ...
— Green Bays. Verses and Parodies • Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
... ought to take a prize, Dora, for designing the most—ahem!—unexpected-looking stocking. Generous sized, too! Here goes my contribution to the chimney. (Hangs up a sock.) It's big enough to hold a coin of gold that will buy me a new bicycle. I ...
— Christmas Entertainments • Alice Maude Kellogg
... in leather chair.] I told you I'd reformed. Let us talk about something else. Why is it girls like prize-fighters? I should think—ahem—I mean it seems to me that girls would think ...
— The Human Drift • Jack London
... condescending, and humbly implore him To come along-side with his cotton umbrella. But the shower didn't come, and without a disaster, They reached the huge Library—christened of Astor. Then she shook down her skirts to their natural latitude— Ahem'd once or twice—struck out a nice attitude— And then she struck into this little oration, Though I'm sure I don't know where she ...
— Nothing to Say - A Slight Slap at Mobocratic Snobbery, Which Has 'Nothing - to Do' with 'Nothing to Wear' • QK Philander Doesticks
... directions for planting upon Turn-again. When shall we eat a cold luncheon there, and look at the view, and root up the monster in his abyss? I assure you none of your numerous vassals can show a finer succession of distant prospects. For the home-view—ahem!—We must wait ...
— Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume V (of 10) • John Gibson Lockhart
... Cockney Hairdresser.—"They say, sir, the cholera is in the Hair, sir!" Gent (very uneasy). "Indeed! Ahem! Then I hope you're very particular about the brushes you use." Hairdresser. "Oh, I see you don't nunderstand me, sir; I don't mean the 'air of the 'ed, but the hair hof ...
— Enquire Within Upon Everything - The Great Victorian Domestic Standby • Anonymous
... I landed yesterday, so I decided to come and have a look at you. And so it is only you, Cackles, after all"—(Lord Newhaven's habit of silence had earned for him the sobriquet of "Cackles")—"I quite thought I was going into—well, ahem!—into society. I did not know you had got a handle to your name. How did you find ...
— Red Pottage • Mary Cholmondeley
... "Ahem! What's this?" remarked the old gentleman aloud, fitting his glasses on his nose and leaning over to examine the wreath. Then he released the inscription from the pin and carefully read it twice, ...
— Molly Brown's Senior Days • Nell Speed
... go doing the sentimental you won't look like me a bit, and that will spoil all. There! keep your veil close, for it's windy, you know; throw back your head and fling yourself along with a swagger, as if you didn't care, ahem! for anybody, and—there you are!" said Cap, pushing Clara out and shutting the ...
— Capitola the Madcap • Emma D. E. N. Southworth
... "Thanks. Ahem! a trifle now. I shall remember you when I leave. I spoke a little testily just this minute. A little out of order, waiter. Touch of my old fever, ...
— Witness to the Deed • George Manville Fenn
... not. But you must make her do it! That's what you must do. And when that's done then you must start out and go systematically from door to door,—of business houses, I mean,—offering yourself for work befitting your station—ahem!—station, I say—and qualifications. I will lend you money to live on until you find permanent employment. Now, now, don't get alarmed! I'm not going to help you any more than I ...
— Dr. Sevier • George W. Cable
... said Horace. "I could preach, with jigger for a text. Ahem! He is like sin—the more you let him stay, the more you'll wish you hadn't. Come, Dotty, be ...
— Dotty Dimple Out West • Sophie May
... above two lines of poetry, would say: "Ahem! young gentlemen, if we assume that X plus—that is, that life is real—then things (all of which life includes) are real. Anything that is real is what it seems. Then if we consider the proposition that 'things are ...
— Strictly Business • O. Henry
... households that the brothers tease the sisters, and the sisters the brothers. Sometimes it is the color of the hair, or the shape of the features, or an affair of the heart. Sometimes it is by revealing a secret, or by a suggestive look, or a guffaw, or an "Ahem!" Tease! Tease! Tease! For God's sake quit it. Christ says: "He that hateth his brother is a murderer." Now, when you, by teasing, make your brother or sister hate you, you turn him or her into ...
— The Wedding Ring - A Series of Discourses for Husbands and Wives and Those - Contemplating Matrimony • T. De Witt Talmage
... will take just a little sip," returned the divine. "Thanks! ah—most delicious, Baron! A marriage on Christmas Day," he added, "is—ahem!—highly irregular. But under the unusual, indeed the truly remarkable, circumstances, I make no ...
— The Dragon of Wantley - His Tale • Owen Wister
... I mean to say, he's not precisely out, and he isn't just what one would call in. He is up in the—ahem!—the east wing, sir, taking down some correspondence ...
— A Fool and His Money • George Barr McCutcheon
... Betsey's thin lips were firmly compressed. "Ahem! yes—Mrs. Archibald McPherson. Why ...
— Bessie's Fortune - A Novel • Mary J. Holmes
... "Ahem! gentlemen," he commenced, in a pompous tone, assuming an air of importance; "I am deeply indebted to you for this ...
— Frank's Campaign - or the Farm and the Camp • Horatio Alger, Jr.
... "Ahem, that will be dangerous for the good father!" said he, shaking his head. "Austria also agrees to this magnificent plan of the Portuguese Minister Pombal, and I am inclined to think that this Austrian archduke has come to Rome only for the ...
— The Daughter of an Empress • Louise Muhlbach
... envy to Susie Graham, and Anna Thorn, and Carrie Bell, either of whom would gladly have taken her place as bride-elect of an M.C., while proud old Captain Markham's frequent mention of "my nephew in Congress, ahem!" and Mrs. Dr. Van Buren's constant exultation over the "splendid match," helped to keep up the glamour of excitement, so that her promise had never been revoked, and now he was there to claim it. He had not gone at once to Miss Bigelow's on his arrival in Chicopee, for ...
— Ethelyn's Mistake • Mary Jane Holmes
... I am—with less excuse! Ahem! But it certainly is queer that Mr. Brown has not yet wreaked vengeance upon us. (You see, I can do it too.) We pass on our ...
— The Secret Adversary • Agatha Christie
... "Ahem! Where are we?" exclaimed Lambert, changing the subject. "Halloo! The others are way ahead of us—all but Jacob. Whew! How fat he is! He'll ...
— Hans Brinker - or The Silver Skates • Mary Mapes Dodge
... critical. Lady Palliser, you will insist, I hope, that your daughter removes to an apartment at some distance from her husband's for the present. A few days hence, when the delirium is subjugated, as I trust it may be, by—ahem—the removal of the exciting cause, Mrs. Wendover may resume her attendance upon her husband. Just at present the less she sees of him the better ...
— The Golden Calf • M. E. Braddon
... point, which I shall later confide to you. I can easily get her fiance to agree. Your nephew, dear uncle, should live in the land of honey for the future. I have already had orders for three portraits, and of three pretty women, which assures me that the portraits will be successful. Ahem! I am taking all my notes to-day and will be with you the day after to-morrow. It is up to you, dear uncle, to distribute in unequal or suitable doses my respects and love and affection amongst all those anxious to receive such ...
— The Idol of Paris • Sarah Bernhardt
... he further ejaculated "Ahem!" very loudly, without visible result or consequence. The silence growing tenser, Colonel ...
— Driftwood Spars - The Stories of a Man, a Boy, a Woman, and Certain Other People Who - Strangely Met Upon the Sea of Life • Percival Christopher Wren
... young man will not be orthodox—ahem! But ye know, sir, in the Kirk, we are not using hymns, but just the pure Psawms of Daffit, in the meetrical fairsion. And ye know, sir, they are ferry tifficult in the reating, whatefer, for a young man, and one that ...
— Little Rivers - A Book Of Essays In Profitable Idleness • Henry van Dyke
... hunger that's vexing her poor brute!" continued he, with an air of us feigned sympathy; "she knows the dinner hour as well as any of us. Indeed, the instinct of dogs in that respect is wonderful. Providence has really—ahem!—indeed it's no joke to tamper with dogs, when they've got the notion of dinner in their heads. A friend of mine had a very fine animal—just such another as poor Beauty there—she had always been accustomed, like Beauty, to attend ...
— Marriage • Susan Edmonstone Ferrier
... 'Ahem!' There he stood like an idiot. He was not prepared for such a speech; he did not know what to say, although he wanted to ...
— The Yellow Fairy Book • Various
... lassie," he said within himself, his sarcastic eyes on Sissy's holy face, "that you've not a more religious and more conventional man for a father. 'T is one like that would yank you out of your play-acting preaching, or my name's not Madigan—ahem!" ...
— The Madigans • Miriam Michelson
... she giggled. "Good evening, Miss Peckham! This—this is Mrs. Watkins, Daddy," and she directed her father's attention to the faded-out lady. "Ahem! I am glad to see you, Miss Peckham—and Mrs. Watkins," Mr. Day said, bowing in that nice way of his that Janice so much admired. Even with a blacking brush in one hand and a can of stove polish in the other, Mr. Broxton Day was ...
— Janice Day, The Young Homemaker • Helen Beecher Long
... Ele, "as I was saying; being a perfectly honorable man—in fact, unusually honorable, I happen to know that he is in trouble—ahem! ahem! ...
— Trumps • George William Curtis
... gentleman, an uncle to the Signor Ercole. The plate of maccaroni looked as if Gargantua had ordered it—the salad might have been put in a bushel measure, the bread been carried in a donkey-cart, and the wine—ahem! in the expressive language of the Celts, there was 'lashings ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2 No 4, October, 1862 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various
... He had very blue eyes. "Ahem!" he said, in his Scotch fashion. "He'll not be here again, I doubt. He'll be away, the headstrong young man." But he warmed to it. "Ay," he said, "ay, Miss Percival. For your sake I'll listen to what he has to tell me." She felt that she must be content with that. Each ...
— Rest Harrow - A Comedy of Resolution • Maurice Hewlett
... us recollect ourselves. There is a time for all things. Yea, earth yieldeth her increase—h-m! The Lord ariseth to shake visibly the earth—ahem! Sylvia, will you stand before the sophy? Master Lummis on the right side. Let ...
— Good Cheer Stories Every Child Should Know • Various
... taught a very pretty one quite lately; stop a moment ... ahem ... What is it? How ...
— The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman - (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme) • Moliere (Poquelin)
... tragedy occurred in Indian Territory, but I understand that Hank Kildare, the sheriff at Elreno, has offered three hundred dollars reward for the capture of Black Harry himself, and fifty dollars each for his men. Er—ah—ahem! My name is—Walker. I am ...
— Frank Merriwell's Bravery • Burt L. Standish
... and he has a generous, impressionable nature which he inherits from his poor mother—the kind of nature likely to commit a rash act which would ruin his career. I have since become convinced that he has—ahem—inherited likewise a determination of purpose and an ability to get on in the world which I confess I had underestimated. My friend, Mr. Broke, has written me a letter about him, and tells me that he ...
— The Crossing • Winston Churchill
... congratulate you, Captain Rallywood,' he said, bending forward to shake hands with his visitor in the English fashion. 'There may possibly be some trifling difficulties at the outset. The first step in any undertaking usually costs something, but you will not, I beg, permit yourself to be drawn into,—ahem, any shallow quarrels. Our friends of the Guard, you will understand, are a little prone to pick up even a careless ...
— A Modern Mercenary • Kate Prichard and Hesketh Vernon Hesketh-Prichard
... "Ahem! This is better than nothing," added the beggar, in a different tone, after he had counted the money. "And now haven't any of the rest of you little maidens something to give a poor old wayfarer that's been in the wars and stove ...
— Dotty Dimple at Her Grandmother's • Sophie May
... pipe that reposed in my coat pocket. Another minute and I could turn down the surgery gas and shut the outer door. The fussy little clock gave a sort of preliminary cough or hiccup, as if it should say: "Ahem! ladies and gentlemen, I am about to strike." And at that moment, the bottle-boy opened the door and, thrusting in his head, ...
— The Mystery of 31 New Inn • R. Austin Freeman
... "Ahem!" interrupted Mr. Dennie. "A moment, my dear. There is nothing, I believe," he continued, waxing a little oracular, "nothing like plain speech. We are all friends—we have a common cause—justice! It may be that justice demands ...
— Scarhaven Keep • J. S. Fletcher
... a very good speech, Tomty," said Nibble, with a patronizing air, "though it was short. Now hear mine, all of you. Ahem!" and the young orator, standing on the top of his hay-cock, struck an imposing attitude. "Friends, Romans, and Tomty, lend me your ears! this is Peepsy's birthday, and he is one year old. I bought him ...
— Five Mice in a Mouse-trap - by the Man in the Moon. • Laura E. Richards
... "Ahem!" said Kotick. "Good sport, gentlemen?" The big things answered by bowing and waving their flippers like the Frog Footman. When they began feeding again Kotick saw that their upper lip was split into two pieces that they could twitch apart about a foot and bring together again with ...
— The Jungle Book • Rudyard Kipling
... vanity. I am, perhaps, taking a most unwarrantable liberty in presuming to offer you advice on so delicate a subject, or, indeed, in alluding to it at all; but, to tell you the truth, I have taken rather a liking for you in spite of—ah—ahem—that is—I mean that you struck me as being a first-rate fellow notwithstanding the little failing at which I have hinted. You are quite good enough every way to pass muster without the necessity for any attempt to clothe yourself with fictitious attributes of any kind. Of course, in the ...
— The Congo Rovers - A Story of the Slave Squadron • Harry Collingwood
... Tracys bury their own dead,' he said to his wife before he left home, and he said it again in substance now, as with a tremendous 'ahem!' he commenced his speech standing close to little Jerry, who never took her eyes from him, but watched him with a face which varied in its expression with every variation in his voice and manner, and reached its climax when he said: 'I don't b'lieve ...
— Tracy Park • Mary Jane Holmes
... some good news for you, Ned," said Mr. Prendergast, while Tom smiled. "Mr. Swift er—ahem—one of our largest depositors, has spoken to me about you, Ned. I find that you have been very faithful. You are hereby appointed assistant cashier, and of course you will ...
— Tom Swift and his Submarine Boat - or, Under the Ocean for Sunken Treasure • Victor Appleton
... 'Ahem!' said Mr Tappertit. 'Would you permit me to shut the door, sir, and will you further, sir, give me your honour bright, that what passes between us ...
— Barnaby Rudge • Charles Dickens
... are trying to do, as the captain acknowledges, more than could be hoped of ordinary recruits, we being (ahem!) of the intelligent class. But intellectually we are uneven, some of us plainly not being born to be soldiers, so that with the best of will they lag. Again, the Plattsburg movement has reached the stage ...
— At Plattsburg • Allen French
... "Ahem!" said Colonel Killigrew, who believed not a word of the doctor's story; "and what may be the effect of this fluid ...
— English Prose - A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice • Frederick William Roe (edit. and select.)
... and plumps up her cushions—for the yellow-faced old gentleman is reported to have tender knees—but keeps her glazed, pew-opening eye on the young couple who are walking round the church. 'Ahem,' coughs Mrs Miff whose cough is drier than the hay in any hassock in her charge, 'you'll come to us one of these mornings, my dears, unless ...
— Dombey and Son • Charles Dickens
... the Jackal, "I confess you have given me a very good dinner; you have also made me laugh-and cry-ahem! But, after all, the great test of friendship is beyond ...
— The Junior Classics, Volume 1 • Willam Patten
... "Well, ahem! I am afraid that I am rather an idler. My father left me a quarter of a million, and so I don't feel the need ...
— The Erie Train Boy • Horatio Alger
... King handed the wallet over to the uneasy Ambassador, who had been invited to the conference, "you have heard what our good Captain says. If, as you say, Spain claims this landfall, we willingly make over to you our—ahem!—share of the emolument." And the Spaniard, looking rather foolish, saw nothing better to do than to bow his thanks and ...
— Days of the Discoverers • L. Lamprey
... year with those rich people, and had written her mother from the Lusitania. Letters from London, from Germany, from Holland, from Russia, followed. "We are going to put the girls at school in Switzerland, and (ahem!) winter on the Riviera, and then Rome for Holy Week!" ...
— Mother • Kathleen Norris
... an interesting case," said the man in green and yellow. "A prominent politician—ahem!—suffering from overwork." He glanced at the breakfast and seated himself. "I have ...
— Tales of Space and Time • Herbert George Wells
... are but the reflection of your master's prosperity, you rogue, and so much the greater need that you took to his interests. If the substance is wasted, what will become of the shadow? When I get delicate, you will sicken: when I am a-hungered, you will be famished; when I die, you may be—ahem—Euclid. I leave thee in charge with goods and chattels, house and stable, with my character in the neighborhood. I am going to the Lust in Rust, for a mouthful of better air. Plague and fevers! I believe the people will continue to come ...
— The Water-Witch or, The Skimmer of the Seas • James Fenimore Cooper
... sharply into his son's grave eyes. "Ahem!" he coughed. "Money," he mused, "and a good deal of ...
— Billy Topsail & Company - A Story for Boys • Norman Duncan
... observing that Egerton did not return to the newspaper, Randal said, "Ahem, sir, I have a note from Frank Hazeldean, who wants much to see me; his father has arrived ...
— My Novel, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... carelessness. Ahem!" Jerry teased. "If you want to know the time, it is twenty-seven minutes past five. Your kindred spirit should appear in ...
— Marjorie Dean, College Sophomore • Pauline Lester
... "Ahem!" said the doctor, clearing his throat, "that is just what I came to advise you about. Hiram told me this afternoon of the chase you two had had, and of your illness this morning. Now, as it is half over the village by this time that Bessie Stewart has been rescued from the Shaker ...
— On the Church Steps • Sarah C. Hallowell
... the latter, "humph! lots of stony ground! ahem! yet it is pretty and so near town. I wonder you ...
— The Son of Clemenceau • Alexandre (fils) Dumas
... provide for that. My young man, ahem! I mean my secretary, shall sit here and wait, and bring him on to my house: he shall lodge with me and ...
— The Cloister and the Hearth • Charles Reade
... saying—ahem—I was saying that we shall be having some Yankee inventing steam thinking-mills and galvanic loving- batteries soon. What a lot of wear and tear it would save! I should go about covered with a number of electric love-wires for ...
— Fashionable Philosophy - and Other Sketches • Laurence Oliphant
... "Ahem!" said Miss Benson, rather inclined to "testify" against the invariable calmness of Sally's mind at any hour of the day; but her brother went on as if he ...
— Ruth • Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
... "Ahem!" sez he. "Ahem, as it were. As I was saying, my dear madam, these angelic angels of our homes are too ethereal, too dainty to mingle with rude crowds. We political men would fain keep them as they are now; we are willing to stand the rude buffetin' of—of—voting, ...
— Samantha on the Woman Question • Marietta Holley
... lie apart. My, ahem! position will secure for Edgar an entrance into fashionable society, while your son, though doubtless a deserving boy, must necessarily ...
— Mark Mason's Victory • Horatio Alger
... "Ahem! law business, I suppose," said the lawyer's assistant, looking wise. "State your case, and I may be able to assist you. Is it a case of trespass, or do you wish to obtain a habeas corpus, or a caveat, or a ...
— Sam's Chance - And How He Improved It • Horatio Alger
... sir!" said Mr. Bultitude, losing his temper; "I haven't been searching the whole school for sweetmeats! I have other things to occupy my mind, sir. And, once for all, I demand to be heard! Dr. Grimstone, there are, ahem, domestic secrets that can only be alluded to in the strictest privacy. I see that one of your assistants is writing at his table there. Cannot we go where there will be less risk of interruption? You have a ...
— Vice Versa - or A Lesson to Fathers • F. Anstey
... "Ahem," said a voice close to him. Tom started, and, to his great surprise, saw a small man about the size of his own baby, sitting composedly at his elbow. He was dressed in green,—green hat, green coat, and green shoes. He had very bright black eyes, and they twinkled very ...
— De La Salle Fifth Reader • Brothers of the Christian Schools
... no confusion In my idees consarnin' them,— I think they air an Institution, A sort of—yes, jest so,—ahem: Do I own any? Of my merit On thet pint you yourself may jedge; 70 All is, I never drink no sperit, Nor I haint never signed ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell • James Lowell
... Donne broke in on the mild tones of Mr. Hall. "Ahem!" he began, clearing his throat evidently for a speech of some importance—"ahem! Miss Keeldar, your attention an ...
— Shirley • Charlotte Bronte
... "take courage; your sufferings here will be counted to you above: God will weigh ahem in the scales of His infinite mercy. Listen to the words of His holy minister, cast your sins into His bosom, and obtain from ...
— CELEBRATED CRIMES, COMPLETE - DERUES • ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE
... was glad my mother felt so about you, for he could go away more contented now, and satisfied that all would be right. For though— ahem!—he had the fullest confidence in me, I was too young to ...
— The Young Castellan - A Tale of the English Civil War • George Manville Fenn
... married Mehetabel," said Mr. Jaffrey, slowly, and then he hesitated. I blew a ring of smoke into the air, and, resting my pipe on my knee, dropped into an attitude of attention. "If I had married Mehetabel, you know, we should have had—ahem!—a family." ...
— Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 1 • Charles Dudley Warner
... "Ahem!" he began, with a slight cough. After several ineffectual attempts to attract her attention in this way, ...
— Kidnapped at the Altar - or, The Romance of that Saucy Jessie Bain • Laura Jean Libbey
... best that you should be placed in charge of a worthy man, who I see is now approaching the house. You will therefore accompany him without resistance. If you obey him and read the Bible regularly, you will—ahem!—you will some time or other see the ...
— Paul Prescott's Charge • Horatio Alger
... the B. & A. yards for six months, when she wasn't in the shops. She's economical (I call it mean) in her coal, but she takes it out in repairs. Ahem! I presume you found Boston somewhat isolated, madam, ...
— The Day's Work, Volume 1 • Rudyard Kipling
... glanced at the contents of the box with a supercilious smile. "Too old-fashioned, my lord,—long ago played out. Yet," he added, with a gleam of interest, "for a consideration I might offer something—ahem!—that would make a taking substitute for these trifles. Give me," he continued, in a brisk, business-like way, "a slight percentage and a bonus down, ...
— Legends and Tales • Bret Harte
... "Ahem! you may be right; how is it possible that a Christian woman, with one foot in the grave, can be inspired with such bitter hatred of this family, and probably for what is the ...
— Major Frank • A. L. G. Bosboom-Toussaint
... I can help you," said the doctor from behind one of Herr Schulz's rank cigars; "I have it from Miss Trevert herself. Some one impersonating you Mr.—er, ahem,—Schulz—telephoned her this morning, after she had left her letter of introduction here, asking her to come out to lunch at your country-house. She suspected nothing and went off in the car ...
— The Yellow Streak • Williams, Valentine
... elbow, and his snuffbox in hand, listening attentively to some grievous complaint; you see him ponder deeply,—with a pinch of snuff to aid his judgment,—and you listen with intense admiration as he gives a loud preparatory "Ahem!" and clears away the intricacies of the case with a sweep of that strong practical sense which distinguishes the New-England farmer,—getting at the very hinge of the matter, without any consciousness of his own precision, and satisfying the defendant by the clearness of his talk ...
— Dream Life - A Fable Of The Seasons • Donald G. Mitchell
... Then she cried, "Ahem!" under cover of the MEA CULPA, striking her breast so vigorously that everybody, even the lady with the red cushion, turned round toward her. Porthos paid no attention. Nevertheless, he understood it ...
— The Three Musketeers • Alexandre Dumas, Pere
... kind of you to stay, Mr.—ahem. But they really needn't have troubled you. I can get along well enough myself, when it's absolutely necessary. Of course, my daughter will be easier in mind ...
— The Mystery of Murray Davenport - A Story of New York at the Present Day • Robert Neilson Stephens
... wives, and increased the favourable impression which Rebecca made; so much so that when, on the third day after the funeral, the family party were at dinner, Sir Pitt Crawley, carving fowls at the head of the table, actually said to Mrs. Rawdon, "Ahem! Rebecca, may I give you a wing?"—a speech which made the little woman's eyes ...
— Vanity Fair • William Makepeace Thackeray
... glad you kept it! But what fixed me was your portrait in the Daily Mirror a couple of years ago as 'the Brilliant young Advocate, Mr. David Vavasour Williams.' Somehow the 'Vavasour' seemed to fit in all right, though what you wanted with my—ahem—maiden name, with what was pore mother's reel name, before she lived with your grandfather—Well as I say, I soon saw through the whole bag o' tricks—But what a lark! Beat anythink I ever did. What have you done with your duds? ...
— Mrs. Warren's Daughter - A Story of the Woman's Movement • Sir Harry Johnston
... at seven. I will expect you to dinner. Do you—ahem!—excuse me, Mr. Tresham, perhaps you may require a little money in advance. I shall be pleased to ...
— A Singer from the Sea • Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
... "Ahem! Todborough lies dangerously near to that most popular of watering-places, Commonstone," observed Cottrell; "and there is always attractive mettle to be ...
— Belles and Ringers • Hawley Smart
... Op. cit. page 353. A reference to Cuvier's instance "of the secret relation between the upper canine-shaped incisors of the camel and the bones of the tarsus.") Descent from an intermediate form, Ahem! ...
— More Letters of Charles Darwin - Volume I (of II) • Charles Darwin
... was constant in his attentions to Foker. "And yet I don't like him somehow," said the candid young man to Mrs. Lightfoot. "He always seems as if he was measuring me for my coffin somehow. Pa-in-law's afraid of him; pa-in-law's, ahem! never mind, but ...
— The History of Pendennis • William Makepeace Thackeray
... Cassilis," said he. "Another protector—ahem!—another protector. Always welcome as a friend of my daughter's, Mr. Cassilis. How they have rallied about me, my daughter's friends! May God in heaven bless and reward them ...
— The Lock And Key Library - Classic Mystery And Detective Stories, Modern English • Various
... understand," said the pompous committeeman. "I think that can be arranged. I really think—er—Miss Preston, that there ain't any reason why you can't consider it settled. Ahem!" ...
— Cap'n Eri • Joseph Crosby Lincoln
... "Ahem!" exclaimed the somewhat surprised landlord. "How comes it that you know of this? And yet the girl grieves sorely. I will take you at ...
— The Sea-Witch - or, The African Quadroon A Story of the Slave Coast • Maturin Murray
... Ahem! Ahem! My reader noble, Are all your relatives quite well? Permit me; is it worth the trouble For your instruction here to tell What I by relatives conceive? These are your relatives, believe: Those whom we ought to love, caress, With spiritual tenderness; Whom, as the custom is of men, ...
— Eugene Oneguine [Onegin] - A Romance of Russian Life in Verse • Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin
... said Leon, coolly, "for your information I will simply state that the—ahem—lieutenant here is my very particular friend—in fact, my most intimate and most valued friend—and in his tender affection for me he undertook this little affair at my instigation. It's all my act, all ...
— The Living Link • James De Mille
... to conceal his name. Well, he has consulted with me as to the best mode of carrying your intention of increasing your business into effect, and I have, consequently, had interviews with certain commercial gentlemen, and, ahem! the result is, that as the thing must be done gradually, I have to present you, in the first place, with this order for a thousand pounds. You will then be so good as to sign this document, by reading which you will perceive ...
— Tales from Blackwood, Volume 7 • Various
... "Ahem, brother Pedro! This gentleman says that the greater part of Catalonia is in the hands of the royalists. Pray, sir, where may Don Carlos be ...
— The Bible in Spain • George Borrow |
