"Ma'am" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... "Yes, ma'am, I'll be careful," said Teddy, beginning very slowly to slide his feet down in the bed. Suddenly, the door-knob turned, and Teddy gave a start;—quick as a flash the Counterpane ...
— The Counterpane Fairy • Katharine Pyle
... there. One morning we had been pasting something, and the bell was rung by one of the daughters, a very fair girl with flaxen hair, who wanted some water to wash her hands. An Irish waiter answered the bell. "Did you ring, ma'am?"—"Yes, Peter, I want a little warm water."—"Is it to shave with, miss?" ...
— Diary in America, Series Two • Frederick Marryat (AKA Captain Marryat)
... he repeated, in quite another tone. "I was made aware there was a lady about, by that Pedro of ours; only I didn't know I should have the privilege of seeing you tonight, ma'am." ...
— Victory • Joseph Conrad
... "Sure, ma'am. That's his game. He t'rows phony fits. He eats a bit of soap and makes his mouth foam. Last week, he got pinched right ...
— The Best Short Stories of 1920 - and the Yearbook of the American Short Story • Various
... would drive us there," said Betty. She never had been called ma'am before, and it was most surprising. "It isn't a great many ...
— Betty Leicester - A Story For Girls • Sarah Orne Jewett
... "Yes, ma'am," he answered; "a mother and three children, one a baby, going to Dalton, where the father has just got work. They look poor, and are not very warmly clad. The conductor says he can't keep two cars warm; fuel is getting scarce; and he's going ...
— Kristy's Rainy Day Picnic • Olive Thorne Miller
... yes ma'am, she can now. Something happened that she didn't expect, and she is as glad to have us come as we are to do so." She hesitated a moment, but her young heart was filled to the brim with joy, and when a child is happy, it ...
— The King's Daughter and Other Stories for Girls • Various
... "Miss Fay," had him come to the house during the week, where she could din into him that it was God who made him and all creation. "Now, Joshua, when Dr. Hoppin says to you, 'Who made you?' you must answer, 'God, who made everything on earth and in heaven'—you understand?" "Yes, ma'am," and repeated the phrase until aunty thought him ripe to appear at Sunday-school, which he did on the following Sunday. You may imagine aunty's consternation when Dr. Hoppin asked Joshua, "Who made you?" and Joshua looked at aunty with a broad grin, showing all his teeth, and said, "Lor', ...
— In the Courts of Memory 1858-1875. • L. de Hegermann-Lindencrone
... "I cannot say, ma'am," answered the first mate. "His boat must have been terribly mauled, and I am afraid that she must have been sunk, or that her crew must have been taken prisoners. I cannot otherwise account for his ...
— Charley Laurel - A Story of Adventure by Sea and Land • W. H. G. Kingston
... to see some of them. This is a Quaker stock in comparison." He glanced down complacently at the vivid-hued silken scarf that the season's mode demanded. Immediately he was off again. "And the first thing you know, Mrs. McChesney, ma'am, we'll have a motor truck backing up at the door once a month and six strong men carrying my salary to ...
— Personality Plus - Some Experiences of Emma McChesney and Her Son, Jock • Edna Ferber
... where you are living, ma'am, but it isn't damp, that's one comfort. The bottom of your street is damp, and down here in a flood anything like what we had fourteen years ago, we are nearly drowned. If you'll step outside with me I'll show you how high the water rose." He opened the door, and Mrs. Fairfax thought ...
— Pages from a Journal with Other Papers • Mark Rutherford
... he swept his hat from his head and bowed to her. "Why, I reckon you have, ma'am," he said. "Didn't you have ...
— The Range Boss • Charles Alden Seltzer
... sure to do it, ma'am,' replied the gardener. 'I look we shall have a merry Christmas, and I do like to see the room ...
— Christmas, A Happy Time - A Tale, Calculated for the Amusement and Instruction of Young Persons • Miss Mant
... I am, ma'am," cried Jem, creeping from under the table, with some few remaining feathers which he had picked from the carpet; "I thought," added he, pointing to the others, "I had better be doing something than standing idle, ma'am." ...
— The Parent's Assistant • Maria Edgeworth
... "Ah, ma'am," says Clara, who is privileged to bemoan herself, and to have sad confidences made to her, "if we were but in town now, to see Mr. Chilvers, or any one that could be trusted; but in this ...
— Two Years Ago, Volume I • Charles Kingsley
... Margaret's degradation, (she sighed here,) without bothering his head about the theocratic principle, or the Battle of Armageddon. She had hinted as much to Dr. Knowles one day, and he had muttered out something about its being "the life of the dog, Ma'am." She wondered what he meant by that! She looked over at his bearish figure, snuff-drabbled waistcoat, and shock of black hair. Well, poor man, he could not help it, if he were coarse, and an Abolitionist, and a Fourierite, ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 8, No. 48, October, 1861 • Various
... tell you, but I must beg of you to remember where you are, sir, and to moderate your language," said the clerk, with some faint show of hieratic dignity. "And now, ma'am, what can I do for you?" he said, turning to a woman who ...
— Mike Fletcher - A Novel • George (George Augustus) Moore
... (with a heavy sigh.)—"The feelings, ma'am!" Then, after a pause, taking his wife's hand affectionately—"But you did quite right to think of the shirts; Mr. Dale ...
— Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851. • Various
... ma'am," replied Mrs. Brobson, the chief nurse; "but I don't think as these gardings is anyways equal to the Tooleries—nor to Regent's Park even. When I were in Paris with Lady Fitz-Lubin we took the children to the Tooleries ...
— The Lovels of Arden • M. E. Braddon
... I am ketchin' on and followin' ye, ma'am," returned Prosper timidly, "ye'll hev everything ye want—jest like it was yer own home. In fact," he went on, suddenly growing desperate as the difficulties of adjusting this unexpectedly fastidious and superior woman to his plan seemed ...
— Trent's Trust and Other Stories • Bret Harte
... of the eye remains to me, and I am a proficient in that, ma'am,' said Mat, roused by these efforts to deny her the right ...
— Shawl-Straps - A Second Series of Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag • Louisa M. Alcott
... deep one, ma'am, believe me when I say so," Mother Cockleshell nodded sapiently. "But foolish trouble has she given herself, when the death of Hearne natural, or by the pistol-shot ...
— Red Money • Fergus Hume
... "No, ma'am, I will not take anything from you 'cept that apron! When we get to Washington, you will not want it any more, an' I'll keep it all my life to remember you, and leave it to my children! Lord! there isn't another lady in ...
— Half a Century • Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm
... in the house who are perfect idiots. They can't remember to say "yes, my lady" and "no, my lady" and "very good, my lady" whenever Lady Filson speaks to them. One of them actually addressed her yesterday as "ma'am." I wonder the roof ...
— The Big Drum - A Comedy in Four Acts • Arthur Pinero
... congratulations on the occasion; but I recollect only, that, after the second glass of grog furnished by my mother,—a refreshment to which Tom was only too partial,—he executed another spring from the floor, snapped his fingers and cried, "Tired, ma'am!—not a bit of it! For all I've done to-day, by the blessed binnacle I should think nothing at all of jumping over a meetin-us,—yes, a meetin-us, ma'am!" to the amazement, at the idea of such a feat, of certainly all the younger fry who ...
— Old New England Traits • Anonymous
... "You keep it, ma'am, an' buy yorese'f somethin' for a p-pretty. I'd jes' b-blow it anyhow. Hope you'll be r-real happy. If this yere young s-scalawag don't treat you h-handsome, Tom an' Dud'll be glad to ride over an' beat him up proper 'most any time you give 'em the ...
— The Fighting Edge • William MacLeod Raine
... came from the street; There's a wag of the tail and a twinkle of feet, And the little white dog did not even say, "Excuse me, ma'am," as he scampered away; But I'm sure as can be his greatest joy Is just to trot behind ...
— The Dog's Book of Verse • Various
... "I'm his wife, ma'am," the visitor continued sadly to Alice. "I'm sorry to have to tell you. I'm his wife. I'm the rightful Mrs. Henry Leek, and these are my sons, come with me to see that I ...
— Buried Alive: A Tale of These Days • Arnold Bennett
... location being after a while adjusted, comes the last struggle. Everybody wants to take off a bonnet, or look for a shawl, to find a cloak, or get a carpet-bag, and all set about it with such zeal that nothing can be done. "Ma'am, you're on my foot!" says one. "Will you please to move, ma'am?" says somebody, who is gasping and struggling behind you. "Move!" you echo. "Indeed, I should be very glad to, but I don't see much prospect of it." "Chambermaid!" calls a lady who is struggling among a heap of carpet-bags ...
— The Wit of Women - Fourth Edition • Kate Sanborn
... this." He put down her many things and received it. Her dress was sage green, and pretty nice too. "You porter," said she, "open every window. Why, they are, I declare! What's the thermometer in this car?" "Ninety-five, ma'am. Folks mostly travelling—" "That will do, porter. Now you go make me a pitcher of lemonade right quick." She went into the state-room and shut the door. When she came out she was dressed in what appeared ...
— The Jimmyjohn Boss and Other Stories • Owen Wister
... "Yes, ma'am. I locked it a-purpose.... I thought as it would keep the police employed a bit when they come. I seen my cousin Sarah when I went to tell Miss Ingate as you instructed me. My cousin Sarah seen Keeble. They been to Frinton to Mrs. Spatt's, and they found out about that. And now the 'tec's ...
— The Lion's Share • E. Arnold Bennett
... ma'am, that funny-looking gentleman with the long hair has brought his jug for some more water. And could you oblige him ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 153, Oct. 10, 1917 • Various
... no orders regarding you, ma'am," declared the footman, slowly. "Mr. Starkweather is at 'is club. The young ladies are ...
— The Girl from Sunset Ranch - Alone in a Great City • Amy Bell Marlowe
... by a furious wink, came nobly to the fore. "I'm afraid the train ain't goin' to do ye much good, ma'am. Not for some time, anyway. I never see ...
— Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 5, June 1905 • Various
... soon be ready, Mrs. Stanley," he said in imitation of a servant girl they had had when they were in better circumstances. "The water is jest comin' on to a bile, ma'am, an' the eggs am ...
— The Young Treasure Hunter - or, Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska • Frank V. Webster
... "No, Ma'am; but it is because you won't try to sleep; and you told us all, when my mother died, that"—and Katie ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, Number 59, September, 1862 • Various
... truth, ma'am. If you're ever in a tight place, we'll send you what help we can, hard men, such as can't be raised in your cities, to keep the flag flying, but we stop there. Don't think we belong to you—we stand firm on our own feet, a new free nation. I"—he paused in an impressive ...
— Prescott of Saskatchewan • Harold Bindloss
... ma'am," grinned Corwin. "I've been years tryin' to think up a word that would fit him. You've hit it. He's different. Looks like one of them statesmen with cowpuncher duds on—like a governor or somethin', which is out ...
— The Trail Horde • Charles Alden Seltzer
... evenin', Mis' McChesney, ma'am. Good even'! Well, it suh't'nly has been a long time sense Ah had the pleasuh of yoh presence as ...
— Emma McChesney & Co. • Edna Ferber
... had a right to burn it up, if she'd 'a' been a mind to; only it made me ache to see it go so, when there was thousands of poor starvin' ragged orphans needin' it so bad. All to once Miss Jaynes wheeled and spoke to me: 'Well, Miss Tira,' says she, 'can I have a dollar from you?'—'No, ma'am,' says I.—'I supposed not,' says she; which would have been sassy in anybody but the parson's wife. But I held my tongue, and out she went, takin' no more notice of me than she did of Vi'let, nor half so much,—for I see her kind o' look towards the old woman, as if she was half a mind to ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 1, Issue 2, December, 1857 • Various
... ma'am,' said the little fellow, with a townsman's politeness, hardly understanding, however, a word of her north-country dialect—' I'm not hungry.—You've got a picture of General Washington there, ma'am;' and, raising a small hand trembling with nervousness and fatigue, he pointed to one of the ...
— The History of David Grieve • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... ma'am," he asked, "that during his tirade he mentioned about a cove fishing-village? Might I suggest that that is where Mr. Paul is and Mr. Locke will not be ...
— The Master Mystery • Arthur B. Reeve and John W. Grey
... the bed after breakfast, and the door was locked; and not a mouse to be heard; and it's been just so silent ever since. But I thought, may be, you had both gone off and locked your baggage in for safe keeping. La! la, ma'am!—Mistress! murder! Mrs. Hussey! apoplexy!"—and with these cries, she ran towards the ...
— Moby Dick; or The Whale • Herman Melville
... ma'am!' exclaimed the old man, starting from his chair, while sympathizing friends gathered round her with words ...
— Parables from Flowers • Gertrude P. Dyer
... by the master's orders, ma'am," replied the butler; "he bade me open them, that you and the ladies might get a better hearing ...
— The Argosy - Vol. 51, No. 2, February, 1891 • Various
... rightly. Pender attended, whilst aunt with spectacles on was looking at the cream-pans, and asking questions, I looking as if deeply interested in the matter, was pinching Pender's bum as she stood besides my aunt. "How hot you are Pender," said my aunt looking at the woman. "It is hot ma'am," she replied, perspiration streaming down her face. How ...
— My Secret Life, Volumes I. to III. - 1888 Edition • Anonymous
... hardly giving me time to reply. Every now and then she would pause and look at me with the greatest tenderness. We might have continued thus until the next morning had not Dame Gredel Dick begun to call from the foot of the stairs: "Annette! Annette! Are you never coming?" "Right away, ma'am!" answered the poor child reluctantly. She tapped me lightly on the cheek and ran toward the door; but just as she was crossing the threshold, she suddenly stopped. "By the way," she cried, "I was forgetting to tell you; but perhaps ...
— The Dean's Watch - 1897 • Erckmann-Chatrian
... Russo-Serbo-French-Italian combine, and said the Albanians wanted none of it, and that she could yet have the whole country on her side But she continually quoted the advice of. Carmen Sylva, Queen of Roumania, till I had to say: "Yes, ma'am. But Albania is not Roumania. Here you will do much better by appealing direct to the people." I left promising to support her to the best of my ability. She struck me as honest, intelligent, and ...
— Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle • Durham M. Edith
... ma'am, attend to me, please, and speak up so that the jury can hear you. Where did you sleep last night? Where did Hero sleep? Will you swear that she slept in her own room? Will you swear that you do not know where she slept?' I feel ...
— The Story of My Life - Recollections and Reflections • Ellen Terry
... "Congratulate him for me. I didn't know the little milksop had it in him. You ought to thank Sissy, ma'am, for proving that he is not really stuffed with sawdust. Where is ...
— The Madigans • Miriam Michelson
... "That's nothing. I can raise a hundred and fifty easy enough on my house and pay it off again next winter, so there's nothing to fuss about. And now, ma'am," turning to Mrs. Appleby, and abruptly cutting off any further discussion of the topic, "now, ma'am, I'll give you a little order for groceries, if you please—which was ...
— The Boys of Crawford's Basin - The Story of a Mountain Ranch in the Early Days of Colorado • Sidford F. Hamp
... the bell loudly). I do hope you will moon be better, sir! (Calls up to the window.) I can leave him now, ma'am! (To EVJE, as he goes.) This has been a bit of luck, for me; but you shall have some more of it! (Disappears into the fog as EVJE goes into his house. The two Passers-by, that were seen at the beginning of the scene, are now indistinctly ...
— Three Dramas - The Editor—The Bankrupt—The King • Bjornstjerne M. Bjornson
... the fourth floor, next their mother, and play in the day-time in the servants' 'all, they'll be no manner of difficulty nor bother to me and the maids. We shall love to 'ave 'em, the darlin's. And they'll serve to cheer you up a bit ma'am ...
— Mrs. Warren's Daughter - A Story of the Woman's Movement • Sir Harry Johnston
... "No, ma'am, thank you," replied the major, and then a sort of internal subterraneous curse could be heard ...
— The Rifle Rangers • Captain Mayne Reid
... Far From the Madding Crowd now, with its delicious woodcuts by H. Paterson. It is dated 1874—I was a boy then, newly arrived in this antipodean land—and the frontispiece shows Gabriel Oak soliciting Bathsheba: 'Do you happen to want a shepherd, ma'am?' No, I cannot say my readings of Hardy have been good for me here. There is Jude the Obscure now, a masterpiece of heart-bowing tragedy that. And, especially insidious in my case, there are passages like this from that other tragedy in the ...
— The Record of Nicholas Freydon - An Autobiography • A. J. (Alec John) Dawson
... matter, ma'am?" asked the ring-master, in his shiny tall hat, as he cracked his long ...
— The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook • Laura Lee Hope
... stopping the papers. For she could remember how often she went to the bell-rope saying to herself as she pulled it, "sum of all villanies!" then "enormous wrong," with another pull, and then "stupendous injustice," with another. Several times she says Judith has rushed up to the parlor with "Ma'am, whath the matter! the bell rung three timth right off." She thinks that her nervous system will last longer without the papers than with them. As she told me this, she was shutting down the lid of the piano for the night. As it fell into its place, the ...
— The Sable Cloud - A Southern Tale With Northern Comments (1861) • Nehemiah Adams
... kicking his feet in toeless boots to warm them, and blowing his chilled fingers, for in the pockets of his ragged trousers the keen air had stiffened them. He was revolving a weighty question in his mind. Which should he do,—go down to "Ma'am Vesey's" and get one of her hot mutton pies, or stray a little farther up the alley, where an old sailor kept a little coffee-house for the benefit of newsboys and boot-blacks such as he? Should it be coffee ...
— St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. V, August, 1878, No 10. - Scribner's Illustrated • Various
... 'You hear him, ma'am?' said Mr Pluck, looking round; 'you hear the unimpeachable testimony of my friend Pyke—that reminds me,—formalities, formalities, must not be neglected in civilised ...
— The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby • Charles Dickens
... "Now, you see, ma'am," he went on, after he had aroused her interest in this way, "we've reason to believe that they jumped on our chum right over where you noticed us examining the ground. And seeing you standing here, with your ...
— Fred Fenton on the Track - or, The Athletes of Riverport School • Allen Chapman
... Mrs. Flanagan, and here we are at me door. I'll take the porther bottles, thank ye kindly, Ma'am. Well, this was the way av it. When they shtarted the recruitin' av the groups they found that 'twas too many officers they were afther gettin'. I heard there was half a million as had to be given their shtars! An' I needn't ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, January 26, 1916 • Various
... heaven's hill a radiant saint Comes flying with a palm, 'Are you here, Bridget O'Flaherty?' St. Bridget cries, 'Yes ma'am.' ...
— Holiday Stories for Young People • Various
... a wink of sleep, for after being so angry with him that I could have hit him, I lay crying and thinking what a wicked woman I was for half-wishing that he was dead; for he is my husband, my dear, after all, and—Morning, ma'am—I mean, good-afternoon," cried the woman respectfully. "I am so sorry to be late this week, and I ...
— Trapped by Malays - A Tale of Bayonet and Kris • George Manville Fenn
... thank you, ma'am," said Dick quickly, "but I should like some tea, I am so thirsty." And in five minutes Dick was sitting at the round table and telling Mrs. Grey a little bit of his story, while Pat finished a saucerful of sop and then looked up knowingly at his master, as if to say, "These are famous quarters—don't ...
— Dick Lionheart • Mary Rowles Jarvis
... please, ma'am," said Seppi, his eyes shining, "up on the mountain when we were lost, we saw your house and we just supposed that maybe you might ...
— The Swiss Twins • Lucy Fitch Perkins
... before the King of Hanover, and she consulted me about it, and how it should be arranged. I told her majesty that I supposed it should be settled as we did at the Congress of Vienna. 'How was that,' said she, 'by first arrival?'—'No, ma'am,' said I, 'alphabetically, and then, you know B comes before H.' This pleased her very ...
— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. - From George III. to Victoria • E. Farr and E. H. Nolan
... "Indade, ma'am, that same Danny is the upsettinest one of the nine, and him only four come March. It was only this morn's mornin' that he sez to me, sez he, as I was comin' away, 'Ma, d'ye think she'll give ye pie for your dinner? Thry and remimber the ...
— Sowing Seeds in Danny • Nellie L. McClung
... "Yes, ma'am," choked Harry, drying his face on the sleeve of his gingham shirt. He sat down on a box before the door, the plate of food in his lap, and made an attempt to eat the daintily cooked meal, but ...
— Stories Worth Rereading • Various
... "No, ma'am—oh, no! No one is living there. It was burnt down about harvest time. The fire broke out ...
— The Worlds Greatest Books - Vol. II: Fiction • Arthur Mee, J. A. Hammerton, Eds.
... "Oh, ma'am, but I don't want to leave you. That is just what I told Terence. 'If master and mistress are willing that I shall marry you and stay on with them as before, I won't say no, Terence; but if they say that they would not take a married servant, then Terence, ...
— On the Pampas • G. A. Henty
... you are, Mrs. Fairfax! And us trying and trying to telefome you! No ma'am, he's not home. He left on the three-twenty. He'd only come out in a rush for some papers, and he had to get back to town to see some one at once. There's ...
— Poor, Dear Margaret Kirby and Other Stories • Kathleen Norris
... traipse all ofer," volunteered the latter. "Ye-es, Miss Sophy, ma'am, ve vork youst like niggers. Und it's only ven ve gets back real handy here, by de pig Falls, dat ve strike someting vhat look mighty good. Hugo here he build a good log-shack. He got de claim all fix an' vork on it some to vintertime. Nex spring ...
— The Peace of Roaring River • George van Schaick
... was rather crabbed, and had not quite believed Hermione sincere, so she did this to try her, and expected to see her pout and refuse. To her surprize, Hermione only said "Oh thank you, ma'am," with a quite smiling face, and going behind the chair, sat down on the floor to her worsted. For a few moments the old lady kept thinking "It won't last long: she'll soon be glad of an excuse to come out:" but no such thing happened; and just what Hermione expected did happen. The ...
— The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales • Mrs. Alfred Gatty
... the table behind you, and you will see is this a scarce house! That is what is set out for yourselves, ma'am, lobsters from Aughanish! A fat turkey from the barley gardens! A spiced and larded sucking pig! Cakes and sweets and all sorts! It is not the want of provision was ever brought ...
— Three Wonder Plays • Lady I. A. Gregory
... recite. As it happened, John felt shaky in the geographical lesson of that day, and he feared to be humiliated in the presence of his cousin; he felt embarrassed to that degree that he could n't have "bounded" Massachusetts. So he stood up and raised his hand, and said to the schoolma'am, "Please, ma'am, I 've got the stomach-ache; may I go home?" And John's character for truthfulness was so high (and even this was ever a reproach to him), that his word was instantly believed, and he was dismissed without any medical examination. For a moment John was delighted ...
— Baddeck and That Sort of Thing • Charles Dudley Warner
... as much as my place is worth, ma'am, to answer that question; and hard enough it is for an honest girl to get a place now-a-days. If it hadn't been for Barney McGuiggan, who married my brother's sister-in-law, and who is own cousin to Mr. Flaherty, the butler's ...
— Caesar's Column • Ignatius Donnelly
... thing for the children, ma'am. You've none of your own, Mrs. Lopez, but there's a good time coming. You were up to-day, ...
— The Prime Minister • Anthony Trollope
... say "Yes, ma'am," in her usually meek style. She smarted a little yet from the harsh words, and ...
— The End Of The World - A Love Story • Edward Eggleston
... The policeman's name was Grogan. He was a genial giant, a terror to the riotous element of the waterfront, but obviously ill at ease in the presence of death. He drew in his breath, wiped his forehead, and whispered: "Look at his eyes, ma'am!" ...
— Death At The Excelsior • P. G. Wodehouse
... body!" Mrs. Donovan murmured helplessly. "Will you come down to my rooms, ma'am," she said to Mrs. Black, as she tried to remember her manners and not think how she was to tell Larry the truth. Why, this child was undersized rather than over. Her mother might have weighed a hundred and twenty-five pounds when she was twelve but Mary Rose couldn't weigh seventy. ...
— Mary Rose of Mifflin • Frances R. Sterrett
... else, ma'am, and father had to have his medicine regularly," Agnes replied gravely. "Even when Doctor Evans did send a nurse, she used to fall asleep at night, and forget ...
— Little Folks (July 1884) - A Magazine for the Young • Various
... once, and with a touch of his rough forelock, looked sheepish, and said, "Please ma'am, he ...
— The Clever Woman of the Family • Charlotte M. Yonge
... "It has possibilities, ma'am. Undoubtedly," said Mr. Touris, the Scots adventurer for fortune, set up as merchant-trader in London, making his fortune by "interloping" voyages to India, but now shareholder and part and lot of the East India ...
— Foes • Mary Johnston
... and always crouched on the ground! But here are the new people. They have either come to their senses, or else are blundering worse than we; but they are not like us, anyway. Just look at those youngsters talking to the manager as to their equal! Yes, ma'am! Oh, if only my son Matvey were alive! Good-by, Pavel Vlasov! You stand up for the people all right, brother. God grant you his favor! Perhaps you'll find a way out. God grant it!" And he ...
— Mother • Maxim Gorky
... now whether or not Peacey had really murmured "Good day, ma'am," as they parted at the door of the church after their furtive marriage. She had certainly thought she had heard this ironic respectfulness, and she had stared after him with a sudden dread that under the cream of benignity there might after all be a ferment ...
— The Judge • Rebecca West
... England, the Princess of Wales, and all other female members of the royal family are addressed as "Ma'am"; the Prince of Wales and the male members as "Sir," and never, except by tradesmen, as ...
— The Complete Bachelor - Manners for Men • Walter Germain
... "the old man on the Bend is missing. It looks like murder. His two girls are left, orphaned and heart-broken. They need a woman's comfort, ma'am. Will you not go to them, and will you find a woman to stay with them for a ...
— The Plow-Woman • Eleanor Gates
... made her courtesy, her little tongue began to rattle like a mill clack."—"Mamma, said she, Tommy Careless was flogged for tearing his book, Jackey Fidget because he was a naughty boy and would not sit still, Polly Giddybrains, for losing her needle and thread paper, and, Lord bless me! my ma'am was so cross, that she was going to put the nasty fool's cap on my head, only for miscalling the first word in my lesson."—"In short she was such a notorious telltale, that she was soon dignified by her school ...
— Vice in its Proper Shape • Anonymous
... "Very well, ma'am," said Clover, demurely. But the minute Mrs. Nipson's back was turned, she gave a jump, ...
— What Katy Did At School • Susan Coolidge
... too romantic and Western, even for Jeff. "No, ma'am," he said modestly. "We just carry that to balance ...
— Hidden Water • Dane Coolidge
... and General Washington. She was grotesque in her manner and appearance, and a severe thorn in the side of her conventionally irreproachable companion, who has been known, on the approach of some coroneted carriage, to observe pointedly, "Mrs. Whitelock, there is an ekkipage." "I see it, ma'am," replied the undaunted Mrs. Whitelock, screwing up her mouth and twirling her thumbs in a peculiarly emphatic way, to which she was addicted in moments of crisis. Mrs. Kemble, who was as quick as Pincher in her movements, rang the bell and snapped out, "Not at home!" denying herself her stimulating ...
— Records of a Girlhood • Frances Anne Kemble
... indeed,' said the doctor; 'little, but well-formed. Halloa, Mrs Bangham! You're looking queer! You be off, ma'am, this minute, and fetch a little more brandy, or we shall have ...
— Little Dorrit • Charles Dickens
... mistake here, ma'am," said Oliver, his eye wandering absently about the large entrance-hall; "this is the Hospital for Sick Children, I think, and I've brought my little grandchild here, who is very ill indeed, yet the man at the ...
— Alone In London • Hesba Stretton
... "thank-you-ma'am" in the middle of the road that caused Arabella's angry speech to end ...
— Dorothy Dainty's Gay Times • Amy Brooks
... soldier—a Yankee. Yes ma'am. They sends me thirty dollars every month, before the fourth. Postman brings it right to me here at the house. ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States - Volume II. Arkansas Narratives. Part I • Work Projects Administration
... learned a new code of propriety altogether—cela a du bon et du mauvais, like ours. When I said 'my husband' Omar blushed and gently corrected me; when my donkey fell in the streets he cried with vexation, and on my mentioning the fall to Hekekian Bey he was quite indignant. 'Why you say it, ma'am? that shame'—a faux pas in fact. On the other hand they mention all that belongs to the production of children with perfect satisfaction and pleasure. A very pleasing, modest and handsome Nubian ...
— Letters from Egypt • Lucie Duff Gordon
... if I may use the word,' he said feelingly, 'kids which any city should be proud of. And to be the grandfather of such bricks ought to be as good as smush and a perpetual delight. And their nurse, ma'am Alison here, is an old lady as ...
— The Flamp, The Ameliorator, and The Schoolboy's Apprentice • E. V. Lucas
... seem to be on his high horse, ma'am. But you mustn't ask me what his business with Mr. Corey is, for I don't know. All that I know is that I met them at the landing, and that they conversed all the way ...
— Henry James, Jr. • William Dean Howells
... going up to the head of the class, ma'am. The gold—why, that's a dead easy one. Near as I can make out, I'm ...
— Brand Blotters • William MacLeod Raine
... — N. convexity, prominence, projection, swelling, gibbosity^, bilge, bulge, protuberance, protrusion; camber, cahot [U.S.]. thank-ye-ma'am [U.S.]. swell. intumescence; tumour [Brit.], tumor; tubercle, tuberosity [Anat.]; excrescence; hump, hunch, bunch. boss, embossment, hub, hubble; [convex body parts] tooth [U.S.], knob, elbow, process, apophysis^, condyle, bulb, node, nodule, nodosity^, tongue, dorsum, bump, clump; sugar loaf &c ...
— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget
... some such matter, 'Twould vamp my bill, said I, if nothing better; So sought a poet, roosted near the skies, Told him I came to feast my curious eyes; Said, nothing like his works was ever printed; And last, my prologue-business slily hinted. "Ma'am, let me tell you," quoth my man of rhymes, "I know your bent—these are no laughing times: Can you—but, Miss, I own I have my fears— Dissolve in pause, and sentimental tears; With laden sighs, and solemn-rounded sentence, Rouse from his sluggish ...
— Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns • Robert Burns
... "No, ma'am; she says she remembers it being brought in the last time it was sent out to be cleaned, but we can't find it now. We turned the cupboard out just ...
— Under Padlock and Seal • Charles Harold Avery
... "Shure, Ma'am, it can be used," said an Irish girl to me, after breaking the spout out of an expensive china jug, "It is not a hair the worse!" She could not imagine that a mutilated object could occasion the least ...
— Life in the Clearings versus the Bush • Susanna Moodie
... and he may be very good, but show me his wild oats I say—not a grain! Well, I happened to step in last Tuesday when he was here with your mamma, and I am sure they were talking about you, for he said, 'Discipline is discipline, and must be preserved. There can be but one command in a house, ma'am, and you must be the mistress ...
— Boys and girls from Thackeray • Kate Dickinson Sweetser
... very nice young lady indeed that brought me down this pink tunic, because it got stained last night, and she said her orders was to promise me a ticket if it came in time; but, oh my! ma'am, she looked as if she wanted to ...
— The Long Vacation • Charlotte M. Yonge
... just this, your Reverence: we've been paid off down yonder—my grateful thanks to you, ma'am,—and now everything's finished, I've been thinking it would be but right and proper if we, that have been working so honestly together all this time—well, I was thinking we ought to end up with ...
— Ghosts • Henrik Ibsen
... ma'am," said Gager. "And there's nothing wrong as I know of with the young woman." Then the husband and wife consulted together, and Mr. Gager was asked to take a seat in a little parlour, while the woman ran up-stairs for half an instant. Gager looked about him quickly, and took in at a glance ...
— The Eustace Diamonds • Anthony Trollope
... some of the glass in your feet, ma'am," insisted the young woman, picking up bits of the broken vase that were scattered upon the carpet. "And here's your ...
— The Awakening and Selected Short Stories • Kate Chopin
... hope, Ma'am; none meant, certainly. Wish you good-afternoon, Ma'am. Call and see you again some day, and hope ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 10, August, 1858 • Various
... "Lord! your Ladyship, Ma'am," he said, in tones that were getting tremulous, even while they retained the deep characteristic intonations of his profession, "we old sea-dogs never stop to look into an almanac, to see which way the wind will come ...
— The Red Rover • James Fenimore Cooper
... curiosity he persuaded Reuben to attend it with him. Perched on a back seat, they were watching the scene when an elderly Evangelical sister placed herself beside the old hunter, laid her hand on his arm, and asked him if he loved Jesus. He pondered for some moments and then replied thus: "Waal, ma'am, I can't go so far as to say that I love Him. I can't go so far as that. But, by gosh, I'll say this—I ain't ...
— Roving East and Roving West • E.V. Lucas
... a minute and they wouldn't count him out. Gee! You got to kill a guy in some towns before they'll give you a decision. At that, they couldn't do nothing so raw as make it anything but a win for my boy, after him leading by a mile all the way. Have you ever seen Bugs, ma'am?" ...
— The Adventures of Sally • P. G. Wodehouse
... to lend. "How spent you the summer?" Quoth she, looking shame At the borrowing dame. "Night and day to each comer I sang, if you please." "You sang! I'm at ease; For 'tis plain at a glance, Now, ma'am, you must dance." ...
— A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine • Jean de La Fontaine
... or they'll observe us. Don't be afraid—I won't hurt you. I'm always agreeable to the women, bless their kind hearts! Now! slip the purse into my hand. Bravo!—the best cly-faker of 'em all couldn't have done it better. And now for the fawney—the ring I mean. I'm no great judge of these articles, Ma'am; but I trust to your honour not to palm off paste ...
— Jack Sheppard - A Romance • William Harrison Ainsworth
... will vouchsafe us, ma'am, a little patience. Rome was not built in a day. The next victory of our Church must be won by the downfall of the English establishment. Ain't I ...
— Lord Kilgobbin • Charles Lever
... take care of this dress, Leah; I don't know when I shall have a new one again. Maybe, dear, the next time you hear from me, I'll be playing school—ma'am, and such robes will not be often brought into use. How would you like to be my pupil, Leah?" she said, with a ...
— Leah Mordecai • Mrs. Belle Kendrick Abbott
... "Go, ma'am! Don't worry, go!" she whispered, smiling, with the kind of familiarity that grows up between a nurse and ...
— War and Peace • Leo Tolstoy
... sight. Not so Dame Stavers, for he heard her say These words, or thought he did, as plain as day: "O Martha Hilton! Fie! how dare you go About the town half dressed, and looking so!" At which the gypsy laughed, and straight replied: "No matter how I look; I yet shall ride In my own chariot, ma'am." And on the child The Earl of Halifax benignly smiled, As with her heavy burden she passed on, Looked back, then turned ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
... fifty years, ma'am, and nothing take it away? Why, if it had been five hundred, I have something in my pocket will fetch it out in five minutes. D'ye see this elixir, ma'am? I will show you the ...
— The Fair Maid of Perth • Sir Walter Scott
... ma'am, and so can't cross-question," he answered, with a quick blush but a defiant little nod, "and if you were, no one is obliged to incriminate himself. I was merely passing, and the movements of that scamp, Bissel, slightly awakened my curiosity, and I followed him and the girl. I was ...
— Without a Home • E. P. Roe
... tremulously, going to his door. Miss Vane had been obliged to instruct him to say ma'am to her niece, whom he had at first spoken of ...
— The Minister's Charge • William D. Howells
... girl's beside herself: an Epilogue of singing, A hopeful end indeed to such a blest beginning. Besides, a singer in a comic set! — Excuse me, Ma'am, I know ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith • Oliver Goldsmith
... fingers. Old Jo Racket played this instrument more than sixty years ago; so far back I can answer for it. You remember Jo, Mrs. Bower, ma'am? Yes, yes, you can just remember him; you was a little 'un when he'd use to crawl round from the work'us of a Sunday to the "Green Man." When he went into the 'Ouse he give the fiddle to Mat Trent, Lyddy and Thyrza's father, Mr. Ackroyd. Ah, ...
— Thyrza • George Gissing
... said Mary, "how can you prosecute such a life! It is so wicked! Excuse me, ma'am, but I cannot suppress ...
— Autographs for Freedom, Volume 2 (of 2) (1854) • Various
... "Yes, Ma'am," said Mrs. Meager, "he did take the key with him. Amelia remembers we were a key short at the time he was away." The absence here alluded to was that occasioned by the journey which Mr. Emilius took to Prague, when he heard that evidence of his former marriage ...
— Phineas Redux • Anthony Trollope
... those Shuffle and Screw are rotten, snickey, bad yarns," said Mistress Carey. "Now ma'am, if you please; fi'pence ha'penny; no, ma'am, we've no weal left. Weal, indeed! you look very like a soul as feeds on weal," continued Mrs Carey in an under tone as her declining customer moved away. "Well, it ...
— Sybil - or the Two Nations • Benjamin Disraeli
... plate of polished metal, with the name GERRISH cut into it in black letters; the sills of the wide windows were of metal, and bore the same legend. At the threshold a very prim, ceremonious little man, spare and straight, met Mrs. Munger with a ceremonious bow, and a solemn "How do you do, ma'am I how do you do? I hope I see you well," and he put a small dry hand into the ample clasp of ...
— Annie Kilburn - A Novel • W. D. Howells
... ma'am?" said the clerk, as soon as his indignation permitted him to articulate, "Farmer Rutledge is in as handsome enjoyment of his health as you are—it's all a bam, ma'am—all a bamboozle and a bite, that affair of his illness; and if you did ...
— Rob Roy, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott
... not heavy at all, ma'am," he replied, and then noting that her eyes were fastened on his cheek he put up his hand, in this way discovering for the first time, a ...
— Darry the Life Saver - The Heroes of the Coast • Frank V. Webster
... right, ma'am," quoth the imperturbable Frank. "But as I was saying, this is a pitiable business, this about poor Archie; and you and I might do worse than put our heads together, like a couple of sensible people, and bring it to an end. Let me tell ...
— Weir of Hermiston • Robert Louis Stevenson
... if you had my job, Mrs. Nolan, I'm thinkin' you'd be worrying, too; even if 'twas big and strong and a man you were, and but thirty years of age. I'm the Republican speaker, ma'am, that has been sent to ye here. And for why? ...
— Sonnie-Boy's People • James B. Connolly
... Davy, ma'am, not when he's with me." His long whip was swinging in the air, but he checked it, that he might turn to me and ask: "Now, Davy, you're sure you ...
— David Malcolm • Nelson Lloyd
... last, ma'am. Don't be hard on us. 'Tis only a night of our lives, an' we'll be all ...
— Duty, and other Irish Comedies • Seumas O'Brien
... "Please, ma'am," said the child, timidly, "I s'pose he hired 'em out." (This is an actual fact, and the name of the town where it ...
— Harper's Young People, March 23, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various
... the darkness. It seemed as if my heart would burst. When the time for Ellen's departure drew nigh, I could hear neighbors and friends saying to her, "Good by, Ellen. I hope your poor mother will find you out. Won't you be glad to see her!" She replied, "Yes, ma'am;" and they little dreamed of the weighty secret that weighed down her young heart. She was an affectionate child, but naturally very reserved, except with those she loved, and I felt secure that my secret would be safe with her. I heard the gate close after her, with such feelings ...
— Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Written by Herself • Harriet Jacobs (AKA Linda Brent)
... me in the kitchen, ma'am; I'm teaching him to make a plum cake for himself. He's so happy! I hope you don't want ...
— The Evil Genius • Wilkie Collins
... "No, ma'am," said Donald, "it's not a truce. That implies war and we haven't fought. It's not armed neutrality; it's not even watchful waiting. It's my friend, Linda Strong. Me for her and her for me, if ...
— Her Father's Daughter • Gene Stratton-Porter
... much tangle about me just now, thanks to our dear doctor's most excellent prescription. It was a veritable stroke of genius, this setting me free from myself. From the first day, the sense of emancipation was indescribable. I enjoy being addressed as "Ma'am"; I revel in being without a maid, though it takes me ages to do my hair, and I have serious thoughts of wearing it in pigtails down my back! When I remember the poor, harassed, exhausted, society-self I left behind, I feel like buying a wooden spade and bucket and starting out, all ...
— The Mistress of Shenstone • Florence L. Barclay
... 'Well, ma'am,' resumed Mr. Chillip, as soon as he had courage, 'I am happy to congratulate you. All is now over, ...
— David Copperfield • Charles Dickens
... keeps him much longer, you will not have one virgin in your house except myself. And yet I can't conceive what the wenches see in him, to be so foolishly fond as they are; in my eyes, he is as ugly a scarecrow as I ever upheld."—"Nay," said the lady, "the boy is well enough."—"La! ma'am," cries Slipslop, "I think him the ragmaticallest fellow in the family."—"Sure, Slipslop," says she, "you are mistaken: but which of the women do you most suspect?"—"Madam," says Slipslop, "there is Betty the chambermaid, ...
— Joseph Andrews Vol. 1 • Henry Fielding
... in his amazement; then he turned and roared to the gaping and snickering soldiers, "Get out of here, every doodle of you, and be—to you!" Keeping his back to the bed, he said, "I pray your pardon, ma'am, for disturbing you; our spies assured us that only Hessian ...
— Janice Meredith • Paul Leicester Ford
... this point. Warn him, in as few words as possible, that you will not take the habit out of his shop unless it suits you, and do not allow yourself to be overawed by the list of his patrons, all of whom "wear their habits far tighter, ma'am." Unless you can draw a full, deep breath with your habit buttoned, you cannot do yourself or your teacher any credit in trotting, and you will sometimes find yourself compelled to give your escort the appearance of being discourteous by drawing ...
— In the Riding-School; Chats With Esmeralda • Theo. Stephenson Browne
... think, ma'am," put in Nanny, with the quiet simplicity of her nature as well as of her habits, "that the gentleman must have bought his boots in Paris, for they seem to pinch his feet, and all the Paris boots and shoes pinch one's feet,—at least, ...
— Homeward Bound - or, The Chase • James Fenimore Cooper
... I may become, ma'am," said Bill, inclined to smile at Mrs Crofton's enthusiasm. "At present I am but a midshipman, but I will try, as I always have, to do ...
— From Powder Monkey to Admiral - A Story of Naval Adventure • W.H.G. Kingston
... of setting out, the poor little fellow said timidly to the good dame, as he took off his cap to her: 'Will you let me kiss you, ma'am?' ...
— The Wandering Jew, Complete • Eugene Sue
... ordered out, sir," or "ma'am," as the case might be. No need to add the well-worn cause of such ...
— A Daughter of the Sioux - A Tale of the Indian frontier • Charles King
... much perplexed and anxiously).—"Dear little souls. Ma'am, it does my heart good to hear them. They ought all to have been born sailors, and bred to the sea into the bargain. Yes, my darlings, you shall have a grand storm, no doubt you shall have all your wish, whatever I can ...
— Yr Ynys Unyg - The Lonely Island • Julia de Winton
... head upon her high pillows, and looked at him by the light of the candle on her breast. "Are you Jane's boy?" she questioned in suspicion, and at the child's "Yes, ma'am," she said, "Come nearer. There, stand between the curtains. Yes, you are Jane's boy, I see." She gave the decision flatly, as if his parentage were a matter of her pleasure. "And what is your name?" she added, as she ...
— The Battle Ground • Ellen Glasgow
... ma'am," replied the sheriff's officer, "when you are used to it. It is my unpleasant duty to arrest her for the sum of eighty-seven pounds, indorsed on this writ, issued at the ...
— The Experiences of a Barrister, and Confessions of an Attorney • Samuel Warren
... to Ninety-Two! A full half-century of story! And now, our Century's end in view. May's back once more in vernal glory, And with it brings your Jubilee, (Punch came to his one year before you!) "Many Returns," Ma'am, may you see, And honoured be the ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 102, May 21, 1892 • Various
... alarm yourself, ma'am," said Mr. Sclater, slowly recovering his breath: he was not yet quite sure of Gibbie, or confident how best he was to be managed; "this young—gentleman is Sir Gilbert Galbraith, my ward.—Sir Gilbert, this lady is Miss Kimble. ...
— Sir Gibbie • George MacDonald
... "Beg pardon, ma'am; never should have guessed it." And Charlie went off with a laugh, glad to have struck a spark out of ...
— Eight Cousins • Louisa M. Alcott
... this mean, ma'am?' inquired Mrs Combermere, very red in the face, and looking terribly frightened—'what does ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 441 - Volume 17, New Series, June 12, 1852 • Various
... to be wondered at, ma'am; all that is the natural consequence of teaching girls to read. On my way hither, Mrs. Malaprop, I observed your niece's maid coming forth from a circulating library: from that moment, I guessed how full of duty I ...
— Standard Selections • Various
... resumed Mr. Chillip, as soon as he had courage, 'I am happy to congratulate you. All is now over, ma'am, ...
— David Copperfield • Charles Dickens
... him to the city, ma'am, found he'd sailed the morning before, in company with one of his mates, the worst boy ...
— Bertie and the Gardeners - or, The Way to be Happy • Madeline Leslie
... dextra First to the left, and then t' other way; Aspice retro in vultu, You look at her, and she looks at you. Das palmam, Change hands ma'am Celere—run away, just ...
— A Nonsense Anthology • Collected by Carolyn Wells
... he, for he had heard the waiter call her by some such name, "if you WILL accept a glass of champagne, ma'am, you'll do me, I'm sure, great honor: they say it's very good, and a precious sight cheaper than it is on our side of the way, too—not that I care for money. Mrs. ...
— The Paris Sketch Book Of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh • William Makepeace Thackeray
... of a boy about his father, an intemperate man, who had been sick for some time, asked whether he had regained his appetite. "No, ma'am," said the boy, "not exactly; his appetite is very poor, but his drinkatite ...
— Harper's Young People, November 11, 1879 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various
... gawk that helps edit the Inquirer, he was jist in, lookin' for—yes, ma'am! Beg pardon, ...
— Crowded Out o' Crofield - or, The Boy who made his Way • William O. Stoddard
... with a supercilious scorn and pity. He characterized her in his own mind of extreme youth and brutal truth as an ugly old woman, and yet he noted the trembling and felt like reassuring her. He took off his little cap. "No, ma'am," said he. "Amy ...
— The Debtor - A Novel • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
... on, and towards it the lady walked, but found that it was locked, though the key was on the outside. The sailor personage had started up as she passed, and then gazed at her proceedings with no small surprise; but as she laid her hand upon the lock, he came forward, saying, "Ma'am, ...
— The King's Highway • G. P. R. James
... that for a moment words failed him. Then he said, meekly, "Does your mother object to tobacco smoke, ma'am?" ...
— An Encore • Margaret Deland
... more than get your bracelet back, ma'am," Mrs. Lawrence replied with acerbity. "Such a fuss and calling every one thieves, too! I'd be ashamed to ...
— The Tempting of Tavernake • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... I thank you, ma'am," replied Frank. "I have called to see you about something, and I want to see you alone," added he in a low tone; for he did not wish Tony, who was a great deal prouder than his mother, to know ...
— The Boat Club - or, The Bunkers of Rippleton • Oliver Optic
... "I was not aware of there being any wings to a violin." "No, ma'am," is the answer; "wings is a technical term we use to express that slender part with the straight cut line at the lower end of the sound hole. We shall have to open the violin ...
— The Repairing & Restoration of Violins - 'The Strad' Library, No. XII. • Horace Petherick
... "No, ma'am," was the unhesitating answer, and made in so emphatic a tone that there was no mistaking his sincerity. There was a change in his countenance and manner. ...
— After the Storm • T. S. Arthur
... the light of which it was quite easy to read. The nurse Katharine was standing by us, holding baby in her arms, and she heard me express my admiration: unable to put up with praises of a Highland moon, she exclaimed deliberately, "Sure, ma'am, then, you should see the Greenock moon; this is nothing ...
— Philip Gilbert Hamerton • Philip Gilbert Hamerton et al
... "Well, ma'am," he said, addressing his hostess, "it's a queer world, and no man's got sabe enough to say what's the rights and wrongs o' anything. Some folks believe one thing and act upon it, and other folks think differently and act upon THAT! The only thing ye kin safely say is that ...
— From Sand Hill to Pine • Bret Harte |
