"Mum" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... mum, sure, and a hard pull I had of it. I beat the whole town through, and at last I found him a rollin' bowly alleys, and I giv him your letther. Sich dreadful swears as he giv, mum, a walkin' up and down an' a crushing ...
— Punchinello, Vol. II., No. 39., Saturday, December 24, 1870. • Various
... to compose Domestic jars, and matrimonial strife, The best elixir t' appease man and wife; Strange are th' effects, the qualities divine, 'Tis water called, but worth its weight in wine. If in his sullen airs Sir John should come, Three spoonfuls take, hold in your mouth—then mum: Smile, and look pleased, when he shall rage and scold, Still in your mouth the healing cordial hold; One month this sympathetic medecine tried, He'll grow a lover, you a happy bride. But, dearest niece, keep this grand secret close, Or every ...
— The Tatler, Volume 1, 1899 • George A. Aitken
... Dolores. 'Oh, there's Uncle William!' as on the top of the stairs she spied the welcome sight of his grey locks and burly figure. Before he had descended, her other uncle had vanished, and she fancied she had heard something about, 'Mum about our meeting. ...
— The Two Sides of the Shield • Charlotte M. Yonge
... my life and soul!" cried the tall gentleman, shaking his head and laughing again. "Mum's the word, of course, and I swear a shaven ...
— The Broad Highway • Jeffery Farnol
... metal"—he meant the case of curiosities—"and don't open your mouth, unless you get the fool in you and want the taste of a six-inch knife. That's my risk, and I haven't brought you here to share it; so mum's the word, mum, mum, mum; and keep a hold on your eyes, whatever you see or whatever you hear. Do I look ...
— The Iron Pirate - A Plain Tale of Strange Happenings on the Sea • Max Pemberton
... the largest of the five, and forms the prominence in the front of the neck, called Po'mum A-da'mi, (Adam's apple.) It is composed of two parts, and is connected with the bone of the tongue above, and with the ...
— A Treatise on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene (Revised Edition) • Calvin Cutter
... "Yes, mum. I seem to fancy him. You don't remember as him and me was engaged in '48. He was my first, like. I broke it off because he was in that Chartist lot, and I knew as Mr. Baines would never stand that. Now he's asked me again. He's been a ...
— The Old Wives' Tale • Arnold Bennett
... Army once, and I don't like these officer boys. Maybe I've something against your captain, too. Anyway, keep mum and take good advice, and I'll help you to make him wish he'd ...
— Uncle Sam's Boys with Pershing's Troops - Dick Prescott at Grips with the Boche • H. Irving Hancock
... "Come right along, Mum," called Mr. Coffin to the horror-stricken woman, who stood contemplating the spot where a convulsive floundering and heaving beneath the snow showed that the frozen element had not yet extinguished the fire ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 25, November, 1859 • Various
... always did—"For my part I wish we could study or read something or other that would give us something to talk about when we meet in sewing society and other places. I'm tired going to sewing society and sitting perfectly mum by the side of my next neighbour, because I don't know what under the sun to say. After we have done up the weather and house cleaning and pickling and canning, and said what a sight of work it is, and asked whether the children took the measles ...
— Divers Women • Pansy and Mrs. C.M. Livingston
... you know?" answered Molly. "To be sure—took it the minute she got home. But that wasn't all, neither. Old Polesworth told Mum"—which meant Lady Delawarr—"that he might have stood small-pox, but he couldn't saintship; so Saint Gatty lost her chance, and much she'll ever see of such another. Dad and Mum were as mad as hornets. Dad said he'd have horsewhipped her if she'd been out of bed. Couldn't, in bed, ...
— The Maidens' Lodge - None of Self and All of Thee, (In the Reign of Queen Anne) • Emily Sarah Holt
... whose clear-cut features and two lovely black eyes betrayed a mixture of Semitic blood, was examining the 'turnip'—as she called the watch—when Leonora, saying 'Mum's the word,' rather violently called my attention (with her elbow) to a strange parcel lying ...
— HE • Andrew Lang
... mum, just got home from Florida; but I guess he's going somewhere else mum, for he's packing ...
— The Errand Boy • Horatio Alger
... "Which, if you please, mum," said Martha, interrupting her excitedly, "we won't talk about a place—it is utterly useless, and I might be forgettin' myself; but I never thought," she continued, brushing away a hasty tear, "as it was Master Guy, meaning my lord, as would send ...
— The Cryptogram - A Novel • James De Mille
... him to bed, mum. I spect Miss Alice has took him to her bed. She knowed how crowded the chil'un all ...
— Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy • Frank Richard Stockton
... period of her narrative the gentlemen came into the drawing-room. "But here comes Sir Benjamin! mum, mum! not a word more for my life! You understand, Lady Cecilia! husbands must be minded. And let me whisper a favour—a whist-party I must beg; nothing keeps Sir Ben in good-humour so certainly as whist—when he ...
— Helen • Maria Edgeworth
... here to take thy part? Then what has quelled thy stubborn heart? Have these bones rattled, and this head 205 So often in thy quarrel bled? Nor did I ever winch or grudge it, For thy dear sake. (Quoth she) Mum budget Think'st thou 'twill not be laid i' th' dish Thou turn'dst thy back? Quoth Eccho, Fish. 210 To run from those t'hast overcome Thus cowardly? Quoth Eccho, Mum. But what a vengeance makes thee fly From me too, as thine enemy? Or if thou hast no thought of ...
— Hudibras • Samuel Butler
... retorted Rhoda defiantly. "It's been there for five minutes, and good it is for you, mum, as I ain't above listening. What do you mean, sir," she cried, turning on Lucian like a fierce sparrow, "by coming 'ere to frighten two lone females, and her as innocent as a ...
— The Silent House • Fergus Hume
... "Mum! Dorothy's just behind us and she has ears all round her head! But we'll do it, yet; either with or without him. It'll be rippin' fun, but if that girl gets wind of it she'll stop ...
— Dorothy on a Ranch • Evelyn Raymond
... you into this stunt on the ground floor," went on Logan. "But I will as soon as the turn's over. For all sakes, keep mum while I talk." ...
— Winnie Childs - The Shop Girl • C. N. Williamson
... still, or is this bird really talking to me?—In Hermes' name then, good creature, out with your better reason; I will be mum, never fear; it shall go no further. Why, who would believe the story, when I told him that I had it from ...
— Works, V3 • Lucian of Samosata
... books I need. You know what they are. Bring the bill to me. Have it made out in your name, though, I'll settle the account. Mum's the word, Paul. I won't have snobs laughing at the learned shoemaker. The ...
— The Continental Monthly , Vol. 2 No. 5, November 1862 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various
... Hal. "He can be as mum as an oyster when he wants to. Well, old boy, I'll leave you alone now and go out and look around a bit. Maybe I can stumble on this ...
— The Boy Allies At Verdun • Clair W. Hayes
... "T'ank you, mum," mumbled the Flopper, as the money dropped into his hat. "God reward you, sir.... Ah, miss, may you never know a tear.... 'Twas heaven ...
— The Miracle Man • Frank L. Packard
... "Well, mum," said Buffle, with a delighted but sheepish look, which would have become a missionary complimented on the number of converts he had made, "I hev been around a good deal, that's a fact. I reckon I've staked a claim purty much ...
— Romance of California Life • John Habberton
... best dairy," young—very young!—Mr. Pretty was assuring the poor, respectable woman who was hanging back from putting his assertion to the test. "Fresh in, every day, mum. Like to put a bit on your tongue to ...
— Mrs. Day's Daughters • Mary E. Mann
... looked very grave upon him, I found he was disposed to be very familiar with me. In short, I observed after a long pause, that the gentlemen did not care to enter upon business till after their morning draught, for which reason I called for a bottle of mum, and finding that had no effect upon them, I ordered a second and a third, after which Sir Harry reached over to me and told me in a low voice, "that the place was too public for business, but he would call upon me again to-morrow ...
— Isaac Bickerstaff • Richard Steele
... fair for all the rest to tell their part and you just sit mum and stare and stare and stare! Honey Doll, I'm ...
— Dorothy's Travels • Evelyn Raymond
... "You're as mum as the oldest inhabitant of a deaf and dumb asylum," was the lightkeeper's comment. "And ugly as a bull in fly time. ...
— The Woman-Haters • Joseph C. Lincoln
... before she settled down to her work. Loving both of them the thought of their happiness hung about her all the afternoon and made her very tender and forgiving when the little parlourmaid arrived with a piece of the blue and white china smashed to atoms. "I can't think 'ow it 'appened, Mum. I ...
— Fortitude • Hugh Walpole
... Larry, mum," said the man, touching his forelock politely; "as dacent a lad as iver lived, when he 's not in liquor; an' I 've known him to be sober for days to-gither," he added, reflectively. "He don't mane a ha'p'orth o' harum, but jist now he's not quite ...
— A Rivermouth Romance • Thomas Bailey Aldrich
... he'd collapse on the altar. A housekeeper of one of those fellows if you could pick it out of her. Never pick it out of her. Like getting l.s.d. out of him. Does himself well. No guests. All for number one. Watching his water. Bring your own bread and butter. His reverence: mum's the word. ...
— Ulysses • James Joyce
... of Fokieu, and Macao a Chinese and Portuguese Town near Canton in China. The Habits of a Tartarian Officer and his Retinue. Their Presents, excellent Beef. Samciu, a sort of Chinese Arack, and Hocciu a kind of Chinese Mum, and the Jars it is bottled in. Of the Isle of Formosa, and the five Islands; to which they give the Names of Orange, Monmouth, Grafton, Bashee, and Goat-Islands, in general, the Bashee-Islands. A Digression concerning the different ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898—Volume 39 of 55 • Various
... at the door-bell," said Belinda, breaking in upon her. "He's rung twict, which I can go, mum, if I ...
— Vagabondia - 1884 • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... was a great tease, pretended to think for quite a long time, until his silence had driven the children nearly desperate. "Yes," he then said, "I should, mum, provided you let me find a trustworthy man to go on with the garden. Otherwise I shouldn't dare to face Mrs. Collins when ...
— The Slowcoach • E. V. Lucas
... inquiries, 'Yes, mum, the office is next door,' was vouchsafed to us in the broadest Scotch dialect, by a clerk, who escorted us there, carrying with him a huge bunch of keys, looking more like a gaoler conducting prisoners, than two ladies innocently requiring ...
— A Girl's Ride in Iceland • Ethel Brilliana Alec-Tweedie
... I am the only one who suspects the real truth. If it came to be generally known all human motives would be lacking, all human activities would be paralyzed—the whole world would come to a standstill. Mum's the word. For if the problem is insoluble and meant to be, just as sure is it that we were not intended to suspect ...
— Under the Skylights • Henry Blake Fuller
... the little man. "Good evening, mum! Good evening, Tilly! Good evening, Unbeknown! How's Baby, mum? ...
— The Cricket on the Hearth • Charles Dickens
... "Well," says the Cock, "the same with me; I curse the eyes that go to sleep Just when they ought sharp watch to keep Lest evil to their lord befall." Thus fools contrariously do all; They chatter when they should be dumb, And, when they ought to speak, are mum. ...
— Children's Literature - A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes • Charles Madison Curry
... know that Grandma's makin' Loads of mince and pun'kin pies? Don't you smell those goodies cookin'? Can't you see 'em? Where's your eyes? Tell that rooster there that's crowin', Cute folks now are keepin' mum; They don't show how fat they 're growin' When they ...
— Cape Cod Ballads, and Other Verse • Joseph C. Lincoln
... losings. But this was by no means Harry Warrington's notion. When he was at home he had taken a part in scores of such games as these (whereby we may be led to suppose that he kept many little circumstances of his life mum from his lady mother), and had learned to play and pay. And as he practised fair play towards his friends he expected it ...
— The Virginians • William Makepeace Thackeray
... mum from now on," said his chum with a slight smile. "But now I guess we may as well get what things we ...
— The Boy Allies Under the Sea • Robert L. Drake
... "Oh, mum dear, do let me come back now. I am sure I have learned enough, and oh! how I long for a sight of you and dad, and dear old Jack and Frenchy, and Jim Travers, and all of you in fact. Let me come, oh! do let me ...
— Fifty-Two Stories For Girls • Various
... "Mum!" said Peter. "I forgot; but don't it look as if the river was boiling hot and the steam rising, and the fire that hots it was shining up through the cloud? I say, nobody could hear me ...
— Trapped by Malays - A Tale of Bayonet and Kris • George Manville Fenn
... impossible. Jobson had an inveterate antipathy to giving any one pain, except in the field of battle. He caught Monthault by his cloak, pressed him to be secret, and whispered he might have that pleasure before he died. "Mum," said he, "for your life; Mr. Eustace is alive and merry, and only waits for the King's coming ...
— The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3 - An Historical Novel • Jane West
... the primitive Church, and by the fathers and councils of old times? Why lieth so ancient a cause thus long in the dust destitute of an advocate? Fire and sword they have had always ready at hand, but as for the old councils and the fathers, all mum—not a word. They did surely against all reason to begin first with these so bloody and extreme means, if they could have found other more easy and gentle ways. And if they trust so fully to antiquity, and use no dissimulation, ...
— The Apology of the Church of England • John Jewel
... wid yez! Wud I be workin' for the likes of a child like that? No, mum, I ain't no nurse; I'm a cook, and I want a mistress as has ...
— Patty at Home • Carolyn Wells
... grasped his comrade's hand and nearly wrung the fingers off. "Well, keep mum! Don't say anything to anybody but me. If Byers says anything, give him to understand you are in it from the word go, but no more. We'll ...
— Our Pilots in the Air • Captain William B. Perry
... The heavy Hollanders no vices know, But what they used a hundred years ago; Like honest plants, where they were stuck, they grow. They cheat, but still from cheating sires they come; They drink, but they were christened first in mum. Their patrimonial sloth the Spaniards keep, And Philip first taught Philip how to sleep. The French and we still change; but here's the curse, They change for better, and we change for worse; They take up our old trade of conquering, And we are taking theirs, to ...
— The Works of John Dryden, Vol. 6 (of 18) - Limberham; Oedipus; Troilus and Cressida; The Spanish Friar • John Dryden
... mum," said Beale, very gently and humbly, "to 'elp us along the road? My little chap, 'e's lame like wot you see. It's a 'ard life for the ...
— Harding's luck • E. [Edith] Nesbit
... and for all take them for granted. [Footnote: They have their uses, to be sure. Says Kircher: Cunices lectularii potens remedium contra quartanum est, si ab inscio aegro cum vehiculo congrua potentur; mulierum morbis medentur et uterum prolapsum solo odore in mum locum restituunt.] Let him note that most of the inns of this region are quite uninhabitable, for this and other reasons, unless he takes the most elaborate ...
— Old Calabria • Norman Douglas
... solemn face And a tender, melancholy grace. Improbable 'twas, no doubt, When you came to think it out, But the fascinated crowd Their deep surprise avowed And all with a single voice averred 'Twas the most amazing thing they'd heard— All save one who spake never a word, But sat as mum As if deaf and dumb, Serene, indifferent and unstirred. Then all the others turned to him And scrutinized him limb from limb— Scanned him alive; But he seemed to thrive And tranquiler grow each minute, As if there were nothing in it. ...
— The Devil's Dictionary • Ambrose Bierce
... greatness was the indefinable greatness of personality. He was not a clever man. He had no gifts of any kind. In the society of scholars he was mum and among the lovers of the beautiful he cut an awkward figure. At certain moments he had curious flashes of inspiration, but they came at long intervals and were seldom to be had in the day of drudgery, when his mind was not excited. On the whole his ...
— The Mirrors of Downing Street - Some Political Reflections by a Gentleman with a Duster • Harold Begbie
... "Yes mum," said Winnie, with unusual alacrity, and started off down the lane as fast as his copper-toed feet could carry him. It was quite a long lane, and a very pleasant one in summer. There was a row of hazel-nut bushes, always green and sweet, on one side, and ...
— Gypsy Breynton • Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
... and the crazy quilt and the doll-baby with him. John, the servant-man, searched everywhere, but not a trace of them could he find. "They must have all blown away, mum," he ...
— The Children's Book of Christmas Stories • Various
... Mrs. May," said Nick, with sudden cheerfulness. "We'll get out all right. I was just studying what must have happened. That's why I was so mum. I reckon the Padre must have been away—though why he left the key in the door beats me—and coming back he locked up for the night. Unless he went around in the direction of the auto he wouldn't have seen it. If he looked in here, of course ...
— The Port of Adventure • Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson
... door, mum, with his coat tucked over his ears, and such a cold in his head. Shall ...
— The Cockaynes in Paris - 'Gone abroad' • Blanchard Jerrold
... a view to expediting our relief by forcing the Boer back to defend his own State. Against this it was maintained that Kimberley was outside the ambit of the army's high and mighty consideration. Others argued that the Colonel's policy of "mum" was mainly intended as a protest against the traffic in "Specials." We were all weary; the strain was weakening our mental faculties; the most sensible and philosophic cherished the queerest thoughts. As a cynic observed, one night at souchong, it took a siege to test one's intelligence—and ...
— The Siege of Kimberley • T. Phelan
... to keep out of trouble, you must keep perfectly dark about this matter. It's being sifted on the quiet, and they'd take it very ill at headquarters if one of the guards was to "leak" on them, and maybe spoil their game. And if you should chance to meet this party again, remember, mum's the word.' ...
— Against Odds - A Detective Story • Lawrence L. Lynch
... "Keep mum," 'Frisco Kid whispered to him while the irate Frenchman was busy fastening the painter. "Don't talk back. Let him say all he wants to, and keep quiet. It ...
— The Cruise of the Dazzler • Jack London
... Comings, and I came from New York; that was all settled in my mind; but what was my business there? I expected to be there a few days, and there was the rub; finally, after failing to fix up a story I concluded to "keep mum," entirely. Later you will see the fix which that conclusion came near leading ...
— Between the Lines - Secret Service Stories Told Fifty Years After • Henry Bascom Smith
... have a song to sing, O! [SHE] Sing me your song, O! [HE] It is sung to the moon By a love-lorn loon, Who fled from the mocking throng, O! It's the song of a merryman, moping mum, Whose soul was sad, whose glance was glum, Who sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb, As he sighed for the love of a ladye. Heighdy! heighdy! Misery me - lackadaydee! He sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb, As he sighed for the ...
— Songs of a Savoyard • W. S. Gilbert
... To see the editor? That's Mr. Hardwick. Have ye an appointment with him? Ye haven't; then I very much doubt if ye'll see him this day, mum. It's far better to write to him, thin ye can state what ye want, an' if he makes an appointment there'll be no ...
— Jennie Baxter, Journalist • Robert Barr
... their talents, and their tastes the same; 380 Each prompt to query, answer, and debate, And smit with love of poesy and prate. The ponderous books two gentle readers bring; The heroes sit, the vulgar form a ring. The clamorous crowd is hush'd with mugs of mum, Till all, tuned equal, send a general hum. Then mount the clerks, and in one lazy tone Through the long, heavy, painful page drawl on; Soft creeping, words on words, the sense compose, At every line they stretch, they yawn, they doze. 390 As to soft gales ...
— Poetical Works of Pope, Vol. II • Alexander Pope
... such spirited habitudes,' says Mr. Carlyle, after affirming that Nicolai wrote against Kant's philosophy without comprehending it, and judged of poetry, as of Brunswick Mum, by its utility, 'is now by the Germans called a Philister. Nicolai earned for himself the painful pre-eminence of being Erz Philister, Arch Philistine.' 'He, an old enemy of Goethe's,' says Mr. Hill, in explanation of the title in which he appears in the Walpurgisnacht, ...
— The Prose Works of William Wordsworth • William Wordsworth
... when he was carrying you, bent down like he was, with that queer shako of his. When I was behind he looked something like a bear, and I couldn't help having a good grin. Mum, though; here ...
— !Tention - A Story of Boy-Life during the Peninsular War • George Manville Fenn
... at the office just as another assistant was bringing in Walt Baxter. The two exchanged glances, but said nothing. But the glance given Walt meant, "Keep mum," and the other ...
— The Rover Boys on Snowshoe Island - or, The Old Lumberman's Treasure Box • Edward Stratemeyer
... you hurry worry By worrying lest it come. To flurry is to worry, 'Twill miss you if you're mum. ...
— Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul • Various
... "And mum's the word about the wager, or Captain Putnam will spoil the whole affair if he gets wind ...
— The Rover Boys in the Jungle • Arthur M. Winfield
... it. He is a perfect sphinx. Never before has he opened his mouth so widely, and only an occasion like this could have moved him. You must have unconsciously revealed a hidden law, or else he would have been as mum as an oyster." ...
— Nature's Serial Story • E. P. Roe
... so. There are six of us that will stand pat at any cost. If we play our cards right and keep mum the surprise of it is bound to shake votes loose when we spring the bomb. The whole point is whether we can take advantage of that surprise to elect a decent man. I don't say it can be done, but there's ...
— Ridgway of Montana - (Story of To-Day, in Which the Hero Is Also the Villain) • William MacLeod Raine
... friends" (here he lowered his voice, and looked round the kitchen), "she was very whimsical, expensive, ill-tempered, and, I'm afraid, a little—upon the— flightly order—a little touched or so;—but mum for that—the lady is now dead; and it is my maxim, de mortuis nil nisi bonum. The young squire was even then very handsome, and looked remarkably well in his weepers; but he had an awkward air and shambling gait, stooped mortally, and was so shy and silent that he would not look a stranger ...
— The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves • Tobias Smollett
... gypsy in a whining voice, "I don't mean you no harm, my pretties, and it's no affair of mine telling the good ladies at Lavender House what I've seen. You cross my hand, dears, each of you, with a bit of silver, and all I'll do is to tell your pretty fortunes, and mum is the word with the gypsy-mother as far as ...
— A World of Girls - The Story of a School • L. T. Meade
... laughed in kindly derision, and declared before he went out: "I expect you would spell his name B-r-i-double l. Don't forget to invite me to the wedding, Phyllie. Meanwhile I'll be mum as a clam till you ...
— Mavericks • William MacLeod Raine
... stopped, fished a silver dollar out of his pocket, and gave it to the old negro. "There now, Auntie," he said, "my job depends upon the lady not knowing about this wine; keep it mum." ...
— Stories by Modern American Authors • Julian Hawthorne
... all acrost that way," said the boot-boy, pointing with his stumpy black forefinger, "and then acrost that way, an' Mister Jenks" Jenks was the gardener "'e've gone about in rings, 'e 'ave. And there ain't no sign nor token, mum, not a ...
— Those Who Smiled - And Eleven Other Stories • Perceval Gibbon
... every where! Nor play with costarmongers, at mum-chance, tray-trip, God make you rich; (when as your aunt has done it); But keep The gallant'st ...
— The Alchemist • Ben Jonson
... ju'ror mut'ter mur'mur fru'gal tu'mor rud'der tur'ban tru'ly stu'por shut'ter tur'nip tru'ant tu'tor suf'fer tur'key cru'et cu'rate sup'per pur'port bru'in lu'cid mum'my curl'y dru'id stu'dent mus'ket fur'ry ru'in stu'pid num'ber fur'nish ru'by lu'nar nut'meg cur'vet bru'tal tu'mult ...
— McGuffey's Eclectic Spelling Book • W. H. McGuffey
... sister's best black silk dress on another chair, and a hat with a white feather on, on the bureau, and some frizzes on the gas bracket, and everything we could find that belonged to a girl in my mum's sister's room. O, we got a red parasol too, and left it right in the middle of the floor. Well, when I looked at the lay-out, and heard Pa snoring, I thought I should die. You see, Ma knows Pa is, a darn good feller, but she is easily excited. My chum slept with ...
— Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa - 1883 • George W. Peck
... about this letter and the key. You'll get into trouble for letting a stranger come in here and carry away evidence. Better keep out of the law, Etienne." He grabbed the "No Trespassing" sign for a hand-hold and climbed over the fence. "I'll come back and tell you, Etienne. But keep mum," he advised. ...
— The Landloper - The Romance Of A Man On Foot • Holman Day
... "Me carackter, mum! Me stiffticket! You'll not be sending me away without one, peticklerly as 'twas meself ...
— The Secret of a Happy Home (1896) • Marion Harland
... "Please, mum, one of the vaiters here knows all about them there places as master talks so much on; p'raps Miss Alice would ...
— Tales from Blackwood, Volume 7 • Various
... he is so mum about, bless ye!" said Sir Jeoffry. "And that is not a thing to be hid long. He is to be shortly married, they say. My lady, his mother, has found him a great fortune in a new beauty but just come to town. She hath great estates in the West Indies, as well as a fine fortune in England—and ...
— A Lady of Quality • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... "Well, mum, the County Club, in session down to the store, delegated me to call on you. Leastway, I done told them I reckoned no one else ...
— A Son of the Hills • Harriet T. Comstock
... "Yes—yes. Mum's the word." "Poker" John indicated his approval with an upward leer as Lablache rose from his chair, and a grotesque pursing of his lips and his forefinger at the side of his nose. Then he, too, struggled to his feet, and, ...
— The Story of the Foss River Ranch • Ridgwell Cullum
... 'Vicious, mum? no, not a bit of vice about him,' answered Needham promptly, 'but he's a rare difficult horse to groom. There ain't none but me as dares touch him. I let the boy try it once, and I found the poor lad half an hour afterwards standing in the middle of the big loose box like ...
— The Golden Calf • M. E. Braddon
... been roun' heah for right smart days. It's all safe, an' Jehu an' his ole ooman knows how ter keep mum when Mas'r Anderson says mum; an' so does my peart boy Huey"—who, named for his father, was thus distinguished from him. "An' de hossifer is a Linkum man? Sho, sho! who'd a tink it, and his own son a 'Federate! Well, well, Mas'r Anderson isn't ...
— His Sombre Rivals • E. P. Roe
... until tomorrow, maybe," objected Don. "One of us had better beat it over to his place as soon as possible and ask him to keep mum." ...
— Left Guard Gilbert • Ralph Henry Barbour
... hope you will give me a trial, mum," pleaded the girl, as she rose to go; "I would try so hard to ...
— The Idler, Volume III., Issue XIII., February 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly. Edited By Jerome K. Jerome & Robert Barr • Various
... please, mum," said the voice of a domestic from somewhere round the angle of the door, "number ...
— Beyond the City • Arthur Conan Doyle
... struck dumb, And never answered her a mum: The humble reptile fand some pain, Thus to be bantered wi' disdain. But tent neist time the Ant came by, The worm was grown a Butterfly; Transparent were his wings and fair, Which bare him flight'ring through the air. Upon a flower he stapt his flight, And thinking on ...
— An Elementary Study of Insects • Leonard Haseman
... "Quite correct, mum—miss!" (he wished he knew the proper form for addressing a goddess) "that ring is my property. I'm sure it's very civil and friendly of you to come all this way about it," and he held out his hand ...
— The Tinted Venus - A Farcical Romance • F. Anstey
... Why, gentlemen, what do you think, but a set of them, as they were bragging to me, turned out of a boarding-house at Cheltenham, last year, because they had not peach pies to their lunch!—But, here they come! shawls, and veils, and all!—streamers flying! But mum is my cue!—Captain, are these girths to your fancy now?" said the landlord, aloud: then, as he stooped to alter a buckle, he said in a voice meant to be heard only by Captain Bowles, "If there's a tongue, male or female, in the three kingdoms, it's ...
— Tales and Novels, Vol. 6 • Maria Edgeworth
... in it nowhere, mum. It's a bargain, if ever there was one, and I'm more'n 'arf sorry I let it go at the price; but we can't resist the lydies, can we, sir?' and he winked at father and ...
— The Phoenix and the Carpet • E. Nesbit
... that splendid big khaki-colored waterproof tent belonging to Whitlatch the photographer," Jack said as the others were leaving, "and all other necessities we'll pick up at our various homes. Goodnight, fellows, and mum is ...
— Jack Winters' Campmates • Mark Overton
... since the war a favorite place for our young gentry, and heard with some satisfaction that Potzdorff was married to the Behrenstein, Haabart had left the dragoons, the Crown Prince had broken with the —— but mum! of what interest are all these details to the reader, who has never ...
— The Fitz-Boodle Papers • William Makepeace Thackeray
... a blessed thing about the fellow they accuse of burning a house," said Jack, sternly. "Just act as if you knew nothing—I mean you, Buster, for if anybody gives the secret away, it will be you. Mum's the word, now. There, you can tell from that they're heading down the river bank, and will ...
— Motor Boat Boys Mississippi Cruise - or, The Dash for Dixie • Louis Arundel
... between us to this money, and that we shall go on being good friends as before. Leave it to me to make arrangements to acquit myself honourably of my obligations towards you. I need say no more; till a year's up, mum's ...
— Celebrated Crimes, Complete • Alexandre Dumas, Pere
... she replied; "his mother is always telling me he has so much mind, and yet he can't say two words; he stands planted before me as mum as a post—" ...
— The Jealousies of a Country Town • Honore de Balzac
... eleven times. He was a man of few words, and he soon got through with them. The first time he said, "E's a good un;" the next time he said, "My word!" the third time he said, "Well, mum," and after that he simply blew enormously each time, scratched his head, and looked at his scales with an unprecedented mistrust. Every one came to see the Big Baby—so it was called by universal consent—and ...
— The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth • H.G. Wells
... 'No, mum—or else, they have said some things about Mr. Huntingdon too.' 'I won't hear them, Rachel; ...
— The Tenant of Wildfell Hall • Anne Bronte
... know his place. Two or three times nearly all hands agreed to it, with the exception of those who used to slink off during such discussions; and swore that they would not any more submit to being ruled by Jackson. But when the time came to make good their oaths, they were mum again, and let every thing go on the old way; so that those who had put them up to it, had to bear all the brunt of Jackson's wrath by themselves. And though these last would stick up a little at first, and ...
— Redburn. His First Voyage • Herman Melville
... foolishly follow their track. So at midnight should wait At her garden-gate A carriage to carry the dear, precious freight Of Mrs. McNair who should meet Captain Brown At the Globe Hotel in a neighboring town. A man should be hired To convey the admired. And keep mum as a mouse, and ...
— The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems • H. L. Gordon
... most important bit of news till the last, as lady correspondents are said to do. Observe, I write 'are said to do,' because in this matter I have very little personal experience of my own to go upon. You, dear mum, are my solitary lady correspondent, and postscripts are a luxury in which you rarely indulge. But to proceed, as the novelists say. Some two years ago it was my good fortune to rescue a little yellow-skinned princekin from the clutches of a very fine young tiger (my ...
— The Argosy - Vol. 51, No. 5, May, 1891 • Various
... there is no time to lose. That drunken fool, Furness, proposed throwing me over the bridge. It was lucky for them that they did not try it, or I should have been obliged to settle them both, that they might tell no tales. Where's Mum?" ...
— The Poacher - Joseph Rushbrook • Frederick Marryat
... should I ever have done without my dearest Mum?' added Ted, with a filial hug which caused both to disappear behind the newspaper in which he had been mercifully absorbed ...
— Jo's Boys • Louisa May Alcott
... be aware that anything more was required and his brow darkened. "If it was me," he thought, "how eager I would be to explain what was taking me away from her, but she is mum!" ...
— The Deaves Affair • Hulbert Footner
... survived, were restored to their country. These and other acts of cruelty aroused a spirit of vengeance against the Romans, that soon culminated in war. But the Achaeans and their allies were defeated by the consul Mum'mius, near Corinth (146 B.C.), and that city, then the richest in Greece, was plundered of its treasures and consigned to the flames. Corinth was specially distinguished for its perfection in the arts of painting and sculpture, and the poet ANTIP'ATER, of Sidon, thus describes the desolation ...
— Mosaics of Grecian History • Marcius Willson and Robert Pierpont Willson
... They darted from bed and commenced in the middle of the chamber, a great pillow-fight amicable and hurtless, but furiously waged, till the approach of a broad footstep sent them scampering back to their couches, mum as mice. Mopsey, well aware of these frisks, tarried till they were blown over, in her own chamber hard by, a dark room, mysterious to the fancy of the children, with spinning wheels, dried gourd-shells hung against the wall, a lady's riding-saddle, now out ...
— Chanticleer - A Thanksgiving Story of the Peabody Family • Cornelius Mathews
... any superior to them," said Elizabeth. But she brought, as she spoke, her eye of fire to bear upon her cousin, who gave way before it and was mum. ...
— Hills of the Shatemuc • Susan Warner
... pardon, my lady, Mrs Mostyn," said old Tummus, "I'm as much your gardener as Dan Barnett, mum. What I says I sticks to. He was allus agin' poor John Grange, and if he arn't made an end on him, what I says is this here—wheer ...
— A Life's Eclipse • George Manville Fenn
... "mum as a church mouse," as Elephant called it. But by degrees he took more or less interest in what the boys ...
— The Airplane Boys among the Clouds - or, Young Aviators in a Wreck • John Luther Langworthy
... Yan was interested in all, but especially the last. He teased and bribed till he was admitted to the secret. It consisted in spelling every word, leaving the five vowels as they are, but doubling each consonant and putting a "u" between. Thus "b" became "bub," "d" "dud," "m" "mum," and so forth, except that "c" was "suk," "h" "hash," "x" "zux," and ...
— Two Little Savages • Ernest Thompson Seton
... "All right, mum," said the other, and went below to communicate the pleasing tidings. Both husbands came up on deck hastily, and a glance served to show them ...
— Sea Urchins • W. W. Jacobs
... to know we were here, William, so you wouldn't by any chance throw a surprise that would give us away. That's all. Keep mum about us"—with a sly wink at him and another at Matilda—"and you two can goo-goo at each other like a popular ...
— No. 13 Washington Square • Leroy Scott
... men's breath behind the plank; And she had whispered if she dared some word Of promise; but afraid to be o'erheard, Leaned her head close and toucht it with her cheek, Then drew again to Priam, schooled and meek. But Menelaus felt her touch, and mum Sat on, nursing his mighty throw to come; And Aias started, with some cry uncouth And vile, but fast Odysseus o'er his mouth Clapt hand, and checkt his foul perseverance To seek in every deed ...
— Helen Redeemed and Other Poems • Maurice Hewlett
... "If it is whist, mum, I know it. I played every afternoon at Hampton last summer, and we spoiled a nice polished table, we scratched it so with our nails, picking ...
— The Morgesons • Elizabeth Stoddard
... about his book, without any invitation from him at all. However, since Woggs is there, we must make the best of her. I fancy that she was a year or two younger than Wiggs and of rather inferior education. Witness her low innuendo about the Lady Belvane, and the fact that she called a Countess "Mum." ...
— Once on a Time • A. A. Milne
... sight rayther you called me Tildy, mum. It seems like as though a lump o' ice got on my ...
— The School Queens • L. T. Meade
... to tell me where the young lady saw it, mum," said Scott, "I'll let Bill on it sudden. He's death ...
— The Manor House School • Angela Brazil
... at once, and announced "a lady to see you, mum," to an elderly lady in black satin and gold spectacles, who was surrounded by several blooming daughters and a young gentleman stretched lazily upon the sofa. Clemence again made ...
— Clemence - The Schoolmistress of Waveland • Retta Babcock
... She didn't tell. It was doubtless the first. Perhaps everybody knew, for no one was surprised. Even Caniveau kept mum. ...
— Maupassant Original Short Stories (180), Complete • Guy de Maupassant
... was mum as to her adventures. Having changed her clothes in her own little bower in the pines, she sought out Musq'oosis and told him ...
— The Huntress • Hulbert Footner
... hearing those of larger size, The husband-confessor prepared his ears:— Said she, Good father, ('mid a flood of tears), My bed receives, (the fault I fear's not slight,) A gentleman, a parson, and a knight. Still more had followed, but, by rage o'ercome, Sir Arthur cut the thread, and she was mum; Though, doubtless, had the fair been let proceed, Quite long her Litany had ...
— The Tales and Novels, Complete • Jean de La Fontaine
... are very ordinary; his early precocity seemed, rather to the delight of his parents, to have vanished. He was not a prig, though rather exclusive; not ungenial, though retiring. "A dreadful boy," he writes of himself, "who is as mum as a mouse with his elders, and then makes his school friends roar with laughter in the passage: dumb at ...
— Memoirs of Arthur Hamilton, B. A. Of Trinity College, Cambridge • Arthur Christopher Benson
... I likes it best pure naked. I'd be thankful to 'ee, mum, if ye wouldn't call me Mr. Maine; it don't ...
— North, South and Over the Sea • M.E. Francis (Mrs. Francis Blundell)
... mum," answered the coachman "he never once left the heels of my horses. He must have been trained to it. He's a powerful beast, and two men couldn't scare him. Look at ...
— The Wandering Jew, Complete • Eugene Sue
... 'It's you, mum?' said the necromancer. A look of relief came into his wizened face. 'I didn't know but what it might be——' His voice trailed off into an indistinct murmur, and he smeared his hand heavily across his face, and looked at it, mistrustfully, as if he rather expected to find something ...
— Julia And Her Romeo: A Chronicle Of Castle Barfield - From "Schwartz" by David Christie Murray • David Christie Murray
... agitations. The jolly Guelphs had it their own way more or less in the city; those that were Ghibelline in principle or Ghibelline by sentiment were wise enough to keep their opinions to themselves. Such exiled Ghibellines as had been permitted to return kept very mum and snug. The Reds and the Yellows wore a show of peace, and the city would have appeared to any stranger's eyes to be a very marvel of union and agreement. Under these circumstances it was thought by many, and ...
— The God of Love • Justin Huntly McCarthy
... know jes how old I is. Yes mum I show do member the war jes lack as if it was yesterday. I was born in Lincoln County, Georgia. My old mistress was named Frances Sutton. She was a real old lady. Her husband was dead. She had two sons Abraham and George. One of them tried to get old missus to sell my ma jes ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves: Volume II, Arkansas Narratives, Part 2 • Works Projects Administration
... known as "Mumme"—heavy, unpalatable stuff. If any one will take the trouble to consult Whitaker's Almanac, and turn to "Customs Tariff of the United Kingdom," they will find the very first article on the list is "Mum." "Berlin white beer" follows this. One of the few occasions when I have ever known Mr. Gladstone nonplussed for an answer, was in a debate on the Budget (I think in 1886) on a proposed increase of excise duties. Mr. Gladstone ...
— The Days Before Yesterday • Lord Frederick Hamilton
... am a Rhymer[477:6], And now at least a merry one, Mr. Mum's Rudesheimer[477:7] And the church of St. Geryon Are the two things alone 5 That deserve to be known In the body-and-soul-stinking town ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Vol I and II • Samuel Taylor Coleridge
... paragraph: "Roger Peacey, described as a clerk, fined forty shillings for being drunk and disorderly and obstructing the police in the course of their duty...." She had asked quickly, "What is he like? Does he get violent?" The woman had answered: "Oh no, mum; just silly-like," and had laughed, evidently at the recollection of some ...
— The Judge • Rebecca West
... the captain of the highwaymen interposed. "Just you say another word, and I'll put daylight into you with my own hand. Stand there and keep mum, and I'll give ...
— Lahoma • John Breckenridge Ellis
... father was less shocked at the incident than I should have expected, and reminded my mother that Noah had been overtaken in a similar manner. He also narrated how a certain field-chaplain Grant, of Desborough's regiment, having after a hot and dusty day drunk sundry flagons of mum, had thereafter sung certain ungodly songs, and danced in a manner unbecoming to his sacred profession. Also, how he had afterwards explained that such backslidings were not to be regarded us faults of the individual, but rather as actual obsessions of the evil ...
— Micah Clarke - His Statement as made to his three Grandchildren Joseph, - Gervas and Reuben During the Hard Winter of 1734 • Arthur Conan Doyle
... George felt greatly relieved when Sweetwater paused in the middle of a long block before a lofty tenement house of mean appearance, and signified that here they were to stop, and that from now on, mum was to be ...
— Initials Only • Anna Katharine Green
... the sort; all done by rule and compass; knew women as well as dice, and calculated the exact moment when his snares would catch them, according to the principles of geometry. D——d clever fellow, faith; but a confounded rascal: but let it go no further; mum's the word! must not slander the dead; and 'tis only my suspicion, you know, after all. Poor fellow: I don't think he was such a rascal; he gave a beggar an angel once,—well, boy, have a pinch?—Well, so I said to Sir Charles, 'I think ...
— Devereux, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... slowly. "I guess I ver' foolish," she murmured. She waited, obviously to give him a chance to speak. He was mum. ...
— The Fur Bringers - A Story of the Canadian Northwest • Hulbert Footner
... who had taken Mrs. Bugsby's had left, as usual, after the very first night, the poor little infant blistered all over with bites on its dear little face; how the Miss Leary's were going on shameful with the two young men, actually in their sitting-room, mum, where one of them offered Miss Laura Leary a cigar; how Mrs. Cribb still went cuttin' pounds and pounds of meat off the lodgers' jints, emptying their tea-caddies, actually reading their letters. Sally had been told so by Polly, the Cribb's maid, who was kep', how ...
— History of English Humour, Vol. 2 (of 2) • Alfred Guy Kingan L'Estrange
... you're 'is mother hain't you, mum?" she said, gaping at Miss Templeton's rather fashionable clothes in open-mouthed wonder. "I told 'im 'ee ought not to go out, but 'ee ...
— The Sorcery Club • Elliott O'Donnell
... greatly, but I must be mum For how could we do without sugar and rum? Especially sugar, so needful we see; What! Give up our desserts, our coffee ...
— All About Coffee • William H. Ukers
... that sort. It's a good wash they want, both for health and comeliness; and I make 'em take it that way. The powder's nought—it's the wash does it, look you: but they'd never do it if I told 'em so. Mum, ...
— One Snowy Night - Long ago at Oxford • Emily Sarah Holt
... Mrs. Jennifer, mum," Mrs. Dibble had said, "fear that child does not know—so Mr. Thomas hisself says; an' set an' smile he did, an' talked to his lordship as if they'd been friends ever since his first hour. An' the Earl ...
— Little Lord Fauntleroy • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... overcome with it. Both the King and the Duke of York took notice of us, as he saw us at the window. The show being ended, Mr. Young did give us a dinner, at which we were very merry, and pleased above imagination at what we have seen. Sir W. Batten going home, he and I called and drunk some mum ...
— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys
... lass as gave its sister the slip came toddling across the line. He looked up sudden, see'd the child, darted on the line, cotched it up, and his foot slipped and the train came over him in no time. The child's safe. Poor captain would be glad of that, mum, wouldn't ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol IV. • Editors: Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton
... as many more; yet was it, to my panic-stricken imagination, as if I were the central object in nature, and assembled millions were gazing upon me in breathless expectation. I became dismayed and dumb. My friends cried, 'Hear him!' but there was nothing to hear." He was nicknamed "Orator Mum," and well did he deserve the title until he ventured to stare in astonishment at a speaker who was "culminating chronology by the most preposterous anachronisms." "I doubt not," said the annoyed speaker, "that 'Orator ...
— Architects of Fate - or, Steps to Success and Power • Orison Swett Marden
... see to your sweetbread, mum. Good-by, back to dinner," and with a hasty kiss, Tom ...
— An Old-fashioned Girl • Louisa May Alcott
... imagine how unpleasant it is to me. My dear Hilda, I am afraid I shall not be able to keep Miss Mills, she seems to get sillier every day; it is my private conviction that she has a love affair on, but she's as mum as possible about it. Poor Sutton cried in a most heartrending way when she left; she said when leaving, 'I'll never get another mistress like you, ma'am, for you never interfere, even to the clearing of the jellies.' I am glad she appreciates me, I didn't think she did ...
— A Young Mutineer • Mrs. L. T. Meade
... pay you many times over. I'll not mention your trouble to either of my chums, though for that matter both Toby and Steve would feel just as sorry as I do. Still, there's no way they could help you, and for your sake and peace of mind I'll keep mum." ...
— Jack Winters' Gridiron Chums • Mark Overton
... "Oh no, h'indeed, mum,—no, you won't," put in Mrs. Barrett, who at that moment appeared, gruel-cup in hand. "I don't never let my ladies lie in their berths a moment longer than there is need of. I h'always gets them on deck as soon as possible to get the h'air. It's the best medicine you can 'ave, ma'am, the fresh ...
— What Katy Did Next • Susan Coolidge
... "Mum's the word," said the soldier, taking it. "My name's Ned Travers, and, barring cells for a spree now and again, there's nothing against it. ...
— Captains All and Others • W.W. Jacobs
... windward of us alter her course, keeping away three or four points on an angle that would presently bring her across our bows a good way ahead. I was getting pretty well versed in the tricks of the trade now, so I kept mum, but strained my eyes in the direction for which the other ship was steering. The chief was looking astern at some finbacks, the look-out men forward were both staring to leeward, thus for a minute or so I had a small arc of the horizon to myself. The time ...
— The Cruise of the Cachalot - Round the World After Sperm Whales • Frank T. Bullen
... was a medley of questions, of explanations, of promises to keep mum and of expressions of heartfelt thanks from the young couple. The professor was the only one who thought it incumbent to scold them for a silly prank and to point out the serious danger in which they had been involved. It sobered them, and at the same time it made them realize what a tremendous ...
— The Mermaid of Druid Lake and Other Stories • Charles Weathers Bump
... and execute all your commissions, mum," declared Marjorie with a little obeisance, her spirits rising a little at the prospect of actual errands to perform. She was already tired of aimlessly wandering along the wide, well-kept streets of Sanford, feeling herself to be quite out of things. Even errands were actual ...
— Marjorie Dean High School Freshman • Pauline Lester
... Lion, mum, wants to know what's to be done with the trunks. There's six of 'em, an' they're all that 'eavy as he says he wouldn't lift one alone ...
— A Fair Barbarian • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... a greater gift o' speech than you can make pretence to," said the woman abruptly. "I often wonder that of two twin-brothers one should be so glib and t'other so mum-chance." ...
— The Delectable Duchy • Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
... was impertinent in his talk, Foker, on the other hand, so bland and communicative on most occasions, was entirely mum and melancholy when he danced with Miss Amory. To clasp her slender waist was a rapture, to whirl round the room with her was a delirium; but to speak to her, what could he say that was worthy of her? What pearl of conversation could he bring that ...
— The History of Pendennis, Vol. 2 - His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy • William Makepeace Thackeray
... "Mum's the word, sir; but you must stay in the cottage, or others will see you, and it may come ...
— The Children of the New Forest • Captain Marryat
... I'll stand by you; 'sbud, an she do frown, she can't kill you. Besides—harkee, she dare not frown desperately, because her face is none of her own. 'Sheart, an she should, her forehead would wrinkle like the coat of a cream cheese; but mum for that, fellow-traveller. ...
— The Way of the World • William Congreve
... this was the governor's room, and we should be put through our first examination. My head was too stupid to think, and I made up my mind to keep perfectly mum. Yes, even if they tried thumbscrews. I had no kind of story, but I resolved not to give anything away. As I turned the handle I wondered idly what kind of sallow Turk or bulging-necked German we should ...
— Greenmantle • John Buchan
... you in a way to make more money than you'll ever know what to do with. You'll be right here where I can put my hand on you when anything turns up. I've got some prodigious operations on foot; but I'm keeping quiet; mum's the word; your old hand don't go around pow-wowing and letting everybody see his k'yards and find out his little game. But all in good time, Washington, all in good time. You'll see. Now there's an operation in corn that looks well. ...
— The Gilded Age, Complete • Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner
... for themselves. Why didn't they sit up straight and firm, with their hands in their muffs and their eyes on hers, and say with a rising inflection and lips that moved as little as possible,—"What wages, mum?" or ...
— The Other Girls • Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney |
