"Ahem" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... 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
... ordered it, an' I suppose it would 'a' cost thousands. Tried to sneak it on me. Can ye think o' anything meaner? It would 'a' cost me a pretty penny for insurance an' storage the rest o' my life, an' then think of our—ahem—our poor children! Why, it would be as bad as a mortgage debt. Every time I left home I would have worried about that silver service; every time the dog barked at night I would have trembled in my bed for the safety o' the silver service; every time we had company I would ...
— Keeping up with Lizzie • Irving Bacheller
... one, she is," declared the girl on the table. "But, enough of Picolet. It is these small infants we have to judge; not that old cat. We say they have shown temerity in coming to Briarwood—is it not so, friends and fellow members—ahem! is it not so?" ...
— Ruth Fielding at Briarwood Hall - or Solving the Campus Mystery • Alice B. Emerson
... Bishop, though with a gratification he could not restrain, "would you recall the demon I strove to exorcise! It is true that the change is less of a disfigurement than I feared—ahem, hoped—but after all, may not the wish to please the eye of man be excusable? You shall receive a rich reward. Do you happen to have such a thing as change for a ...
— Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 100., February 7, 1891 • Various
... 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 ...
— The Flyers • George Barr McCutcheon
... Weston knew that Margaret Paget was going abroad for a 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 ...
— Mother • Kathleen Norris
... "Ahem! Three dollars is quite a sum. I don't know of any other boy in Riverport who gets as much as three dollars in one ...
— Randy of the River - The Adventures of a Young Deckhand • Horatio Alger Jr.
... agreeable retort with a most expressive "Ahem!" and then paused a moment before adding in ...
— The Doctor's Daughter • "Vera"
... perfectly," assented Mr. Illington, much reassured. "We are always glad, at the Furmville National, to do the reasonable and accommodating thing. Yes; that will be thoroughly satisfactory.—Ahem! I have a new note here. You might sign it? To ...
— The Winning Clue • James Hay, Jr.
... "Ahem, ahem!" Mrs. Forbes cleared her throat with desperate loudness and tugged at her son's shirt sleeve with an energy ...
— Jewel - A Chapter In Her Life • Clara Louise Burnham
... 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." ...
— Miss Mehetabel's Son • Thomas Bailey Aldrich
... 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 ...
— The Congo Rovers - A Story of the Slave Squadron • Harry Collingwood
... 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
... circumstances, it was not strange that Wilford did not enter into Katy's delight, even after she told him how Helen had made every stitch of the dress herself, and that it would on that account be very dear to her. This was a favorable time for getting the poplin off his mind, and with a premonitory ahem, he said: "Yes, it is very nice, no doubt; but," and here he turned to Helen, "after Mrs. Ryan's services were declined, my mother determined to have two dresses fitted to Sister Bell, who I think is just Katy's size and figure. I need not say"—and his eyes still rested on Helen, who gave ...
— Family Pride - Or, Purified by Suffering • Mary J. Holmes
... "Ahem!" he said softly to himself. Except for swallowing once or twice, he never made a move, but stood there in the water and waited. He waited for Master Meadow Mouse's raft to drift closer; for it was plain to him—as to Master Meadow Mouse—that ...
— The Tale of Master Meadow Mouse • Arthur Scott Bailey
... 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
... 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 you-you couldn't save ...
— The Junior Classics, Volume 1 • Willam Patten
... this—anything, you understand, which puts you in a position to treat with us, I'm afraid—I'm afraid I must ask time to think over this. If your friend is really dead, I suppose your authority is determined. Perhaps, however, his—ahem—anxiety to preserve his incognito has led him to allow this rumour of his ...
— The Giant's Robe • F. Anstey
... your sex!" said the enthusiastic Mr. Jinks, "how can I express the delight which your presence inspires me with—ahem!" ...
— The Last of the Foresters • John Esten Cooke
... "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 this purpose? Mr. Beazley! ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... The General coughed. "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 for money. I—By George!" He broke off to stare with glittering eyes at the ...
— Her Weight in Gold • George Barr McCutcheon
... went 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, ...
— The Motor Girls Through New England - or, Held by the Gypsies • Margaret Penrose
... dutiful son. Moreover, his appetite was enormous, and he invariably finished his bottle every day. I did not therefore feel any serious alarm as to his health, but I nevertheless replied, "Matrimony is a subject upon which I have never thought"—(ahem! a De Benyon never tells an untruth!), "I am very young yet, and am too happy ...
— Japhet, In Search Of A Father • Frederick Marryat
... Douglas glanced at the cheque. "Well, then, I wish to show you and the members of the vestry how I value such, ahem, ...
— The Unknown Wrestler • H. A. (Hiram Alfred) Cody
... "Ahem!" said the King, looking rather downcast. "I don't like to trouble you with my misery; so you needn't ...
— The Emerald City of Oz • L. Frank Baum
... he said, "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 Him forgiveness ...
— CELEBRATED CRIMES, COMPLETE - DERUES • ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE
... "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 ...
— On the Church Steps • Sarah C. Hallowell
... minute, apparently to collect his thoughts, and to Herbert's sensitive ears there was a sudden coldness and constraint in his voice and manner. "You will, of course, take instructions in the main from Grainge and Co.; but what I wished to point out to you was—ahem——" here his voice unaccountably faltered, and his eyes, as though drawn by a magnet, returned once more with ominous displeasure to that little heap of feminine finery that lay between them. Mr. Miller flung down his papers, and turning round in his chair, rested both ...
— Vera Nevill - Poor Wisdom's Chance • Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron
... "Ahem! Your very words, Louise, prove how unfit you are to judge and act in accordance with this emergency. You even dream that we are in a mood for jesting at this time, when our days and even hours may be numbered. No, indeed. I am resolved to unite with ...
— Miss Lou • E. P. Roe
... 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 ...
— John March, Southerner • George W. Cable
... see."—This with an air of favour. I thank him profusely—for nothing. My bill turns out to be higher than if I had been overcharged separately for everything. "Mr." is the Master of the Arts of extras. He does not wish to make a profit; oh no! but—ahem—he makes it. As for the outsiders who straggle in casually for luncheon and want to be sharp with "Mr." afterwards, they are soon settled. One who won't be done, complains of a prince's ransom for a potato-salad.—"If you haf pertatas, ...
— Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 103, August 27, 1892 • Various
... air of a cross-examining advocate, "the keewestion is not w'ether I could behave myself if I wos to try, but, w'ether I think I could. Well, ahem! that depends. I think I could, now, if there was offered a ...
— Rivers of Ice • R.M. Ballantyne
... lips congealed in an unmeaning grin, his eyes, which ran water against his will, fixed in mild reproach upon my beaming uncle, turning but once, I recall, to my solicitous self. With no unseemly outbreak—with but an inconsequent ahem and a flirt of his handkerchief over his lips—he returned to his composure. He would never again drink rum with my uncle, nor any other liquor, through all the years of our intimate connection; but this mattered not at all, since he had in the beginning pledged ...
— The Cruise of the Shining Light • Norman Duncan
... 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 ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell • James Lowell
... GRAUS. Hem; as it may be. D'ye see, most noble Senor Mask, that 'tis an orderly house this, frequented by certain honest gentlemen, that take their siesta, and eat a fried egg after their day's work, and so are not ashamed to show their faces. Ahem! ...
— Count Alarcos - A Tragedy • Benjamin Disraeli
... "Ahem! Todborough lies dangerously near to that most popular of watering-places, Commonstone," observed Cottrell; "and there is always attractive ...
— Belles and Ringers • Hawley Smart
... peers coaxingly from the shelves. Old tales, old myths, old wars, old dreams begin to chatter softly in the shadows—or it may be the chatter of the rain on the pavement outside. The Great Philosophers unbend, the Bearded Classics sigh, the Pontifical Critics of Life murmur "ahem." Yes, even the forbidding works of Standard Authors grow lonely on the high shelves on a rainy day. As for the rag-tag, ruffle-snuffle crowd in motley—the bulged, spavined, sniffling crew of mountebanks, troubadours, swashbucklers, bleary ...
— A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago • Ben Hecht
... "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 our best endeavours not only as regards our deceased friend, Bassett ...
— Scarhaven Keep • J. S. Fletcher
... 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
... "Ahem! Pauline is a favorite name of mine. I've read of her triumphs, too. She was out in Melbourne two years or more ago and carried the ...
— Miss Caprice • St. George Rathborne
... "Ahem! I was not aware that I was being examined under oath," responded the young lawyer, with quiet irony. "However, I am willing to give you my word of honor, as a gentleman, that this lady is accountable to no one in Boston ...
— The Masked Bridal • Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
... got me into 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
... chest gorilla fashion. "He doesn't need a dollar. Boy and man, I've loved that—ahem! son of yours. Why, he always did have guts. Keep your filthy money. The boy's credit is good with me. I'm no pauper, even I if do work for you. I work for fun. Understand. ...
— Kindred of the Dust • Peter B. Kyne
... voice interrupted. "Imprison these young persons, if you are so disposed, but pray allow me first my little opportunity to practise on them. This young lady—ahem! We will begin by extracting that large molar on the upper left-hand side, we will then have out ...
— The Wonderful Bed • Gertrude Knevels
... "Ahem!" said Dannie. "Then I will have to do my plowing by a heidlicht, so I can fish as much as ye do in the day time. I hereby make, enact, and enforce a law that neither of us is to fish in the Bass hole when the other is not there ...
— At the Foot of the Rainbow • Gene Stratton-Porter
... "Ahem!" said Frank pompously, as he arose. "My remarks shall be brief, but very much to the point. Patty's home must be in Vernondale because we live here. If ever we go to live in New York, or Oshkosh, or Kalamazoo, Patty can pick up her things and go along. Just get that idea firmly fixed ...
— Patty at Home • Carolyn Wells
... "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 ...
— Sweet Cicely - Or Josiah Allen as a Politician • Josiah Allen's Wife (Marietta Holley)
... interests. An American representative cannot be too cautious, Mr. Wiles. Perhaps you had better have also a blank transfer. The stock is, I understand, yet in the future. Mr. Dobbs, though talented and praiseworthy, is poor; he may wish to realize. If some—ahem! some FRIEND—better circumstanced should choose to advance the cash to him and run the risk,—why, it would only ...
— The Story of a Mine • Bret Harte
... Out came the jovial smile in its full 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
... over the girl to whom he is devotedly attached, and having married somebody else whom he met abroad. "Now," says the dramatist, "what is the shortest possible space of time I can allow for this? Ahem!—say a month." So he gives him a month. "Then," says he, next, "what is the shortest possible time we can allow for an engagement and a marriage? Say six weeks. Good. Six weeks be it. Only, hang it, this muddle has to last for six weeks! Well, it can't be helped. I can't give any more trouble ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 104, January 14, 1893 • Various
... "Ahem! I am not clear as to that," answered Professor Robinson thoughtfully. "You see you are not called upon ...
— Walter Sherwood's Probation • Horatio Alger
... impressive argument. I was also glad to be reminded of teeth of camel and tarsal bones. (145/4. 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
... with astonishment—ahem!—and with indignation, a great many unseemly and disrespectful remarks concerning money, and more particularly concerning money that runs to millions," he said, opposing a grave and wooden countenance to the battery of eyes. "Allow me to present you my card, ...
— Copper Streak Trail • Eugene Manlove Rhodes
... my lord,' repeated the jackal; 'and if your lordship's eyes had not been dazzled by—ahem!—the sun, your lordship would have seen her ...
— Tales Of The Punjab • Flora Annie Steel
... "Ahem—well, I cannot tell, sure. You know, sir, we have to know a person before we can love him. But I must confess I do feel very favorably ...
— The Rector of St. Mark's • Mary J. Holmes
... We dine 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 ...
— A Singer from the Sea • Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
... became far-sighted. 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 ...
— Rest Harrow - A Comedy of Resolution • Maurice Hewlett
... "Hem! ahem!" quoth the Doctor, hoping with one effort to clear his throat of the dregs of a ten-years' cough. "Matters are not so far gone with me as I thought. I have known mighty sensible men, when only a little age- stricken or otherwise out of sorts, to ...
— The Dolliver Romance • Nathaniel Hawthorne
... as 'O law!' are out of order, especially when they're only so much bluff.... I must now approach a subject which may have sordid recollections for you, but in the interest of the law I am bound to allude to it. Were you whacked—ahem!—chastised a few days ago by the ...
— Tell England - A Study in a Generation • Ernest Raymond
... Winifred," Farva answered for him. "She was sent for to help with the epidemic. Dyin' like flies in Dawson—h'm—ahem!" (Apologetic glance at Maudie.) "Sister Winifred promised to keep Kaviak with her. ...
— The Magnetic North • Elizabeth Robins (C. E. Raimond)
... my friends; a land, I say, which nobody hasn't ever thought of "developing the resources" of,—that's the proper phrase, I believe. There are the people, with clothing enough for comfort and—ahem!—good manners, but, mark you, no more. No manufacture of luxurious skirts and hulsters and togs o' that kind by the exploited classes. No, for no exploited classes don't exist! All are equal, my friends. Up ...
— Demos • George Gissing
... "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 break down before ...
— Hans Brinker - or The Silver Skates • Mary Mapes Dodge
... sick man," explained Mr. Bingle, lowering his voice; "and he hasn't known very much happiness in his lifetime, so I suppose we ought to overlook—er, ahem! Let me see, where was I?" He favoured young Mary Sykes with a genial ...
— Mr. Bingle • George Barr McCutcheon
... men drew nearer Alicia looked at them smilingly and said "Ahem" in a low but distinct voice. The young men looked at her and smiled, whereupon Doris purposely dropped a book she had been holding. The young men sprang to pick it up, Doris took it and thanked them, and then made a further remark as to the beauty of the weather. The young men replied affably, and ...
— Patty in Paris • Carolyn Wells
... Gobobbles was going in fine style, bounding over the hedges and stone-walls like a kangaroo, and thumping vigorously, as usual, with his wings, and Davy and the Goblin were just setting off on a run to join in the chase, when a voice said, "Ahem!" and, looking up, they saw Badorful staring at them over the top ...
— Davy and The Goblin - What Followed Reading 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' • Charles E. Carryl
... (the Examiner), after a preliminary "ahem!" spoke to the boys in a clear ringing voice, going straight to the ...
— Wilton School - or, Harry Campbell's Revenge • Fred E. Weatherly
... 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 privileges. Your ...
— The Idol of Paris • Sarah Bernhardt
... dusting 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
... we 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
... President, "opinions differ as much among the saints as among the—ahem—sinners!" He glanced at the cabinet whence the materialized specters were to emerge if called upon, and added: "The celestials' talk and advice sound very much like the talk ...
— The Lincoln Story Book • Henry L. Williams
... that we do want to sell. That's a pretty good piece of property over there and some day—Ahem! Oh, well, never mind. But I wish you would let us know before you sell Pulcifer your holdings. It might—I can't say positively, you know—but it MIGHT be worth ...
— Galusha the Magnificent • Joseph C. Lincoln
... silence, 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 ...
— My Novel, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton |
