"Light touch" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... a light touch told Vince that Mike had crawled silently up behind him; and they both crouched there now, in the darkness, watching the lad, till he suddenly seemed to become impressed by the fact that the hole went right in underground, and he stood staring in till the two boys felt that he was looking at them ...
— Cormorant Crag - A Tale of the Smuggling Days • George Manville Fenn
... Involuntarily her eyes followed him,—involuntarily she stretched forth her arms, as if by a gesture to call him back; she would have given worlds to have seen him turn,—to have heard once more his low, calm, silvery voice; to have felt again the light touch of his hand on hers. As moonlight that softens into beauty every angle on which it falls, seemed his presence,—as moonlight vanishes, and things assume their common aspect of the rugged and the mean, he receded from her eyes, and the outward scene ...
— Zanoni • Edward Bulwer Lytton
... He felt her light touch on his arm. "Wait! There is one thing more—" She stood close to him, with entreaty written on her small passionate face. "There is one thing more," she repeated. "And that is, to believe that I am ...
— Madame de Treymes • Edith Wharton
... almost a whisper. He pressed nearer, bringing his face close to hers. At the same moment she felt a light touch on her shoulder, and drawing back to escape the disturbing eloquence of his eyes, she discovered the presence of his encircling arm. The discovery brought her to her feet—flushed, palpitating, aquiver with anger at this first shadow of ...
— The Great Amulet • Maud Diver
... and their friendship, cemented by likeness of views and an absence of rivalry, kept them sympathetically together in clearly defined fields of activity. In a way each supplemented the other. Platt was neither self-opinionated nor overbearing. He dealt with matters political with the light touch of a man of affairs, and although without sentiment or ideals, he worked incessantly, listened attentively, and was anxious to be useful, without taking the centre of the stage, or repelling support by affectations of manner. But like Conkling he relied upon the use of patronage and the ...
— A Political History of the State of New York, Volumes 1-3 • DeAlva Stanwood Alexander
... distraction supported herself on the shoulder of Thaddeus. Politely begging his pardon, she took her seat between him and his uncle, but she ate nothing; she only fanned herself, or twirled the handle of her fan, or adjusted her lace collar, or with a light touch of her hand smoothed her ringlets and the knots of bright ...
— Pan Tadeusz • Adam Mickiewicz
... in a shadowy place, And a light touch and a winsome grace, And a thrilling tender voice which says: "Safe from waters that seek the sea,— Cold waters by rugged ...
— Poems • Christina G. Rossetti
... and felt my way cautiously to the rear of the house. Suddenly I remembered the dog. But of course he was gone. As I cautiously ascended the steps the dead leaves on the vines rattled, as at the light touch of a hand, and I was ...
— Sight Unseen • Mary Roberts Rinehart
... with steady hands. No light touch was his upon the reins, and the bronchos' wild plunging met with a check from those muscular hands of such iron rigidity as to fling them back helpless and amazed ...
— The Sky Pilot in No Man's Land • Ralph Connor
... clock: one, two! one, two! His head nodded a trifle and for one blissful second his eyelids fell. The clock began to strike eleven. One! he struggled, but it was too sweet. Two! He became dimly conscious of a rustling and movement by him. Three! there was a light touch on his arm and Webb stood near the chair he had dropped into. ...
— The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon • Josephine Daskam Bacon
... the diamonds in Lady Holme's hair with deft fingers, and the light touch seemed to wake Lady Holme from a reverie. She went to a mirror and looked into it steadily. The maid stood behind. After a moment Lady Holme lifted her hand suddenly to her head, as if she were going to take off her tiara. The maid could not repress a slight movement of startled ...
— The Woman With The Fan • Robert Hichens
... comedy of misunderstandings, told with a light touch, a venturesome spirit and an ...
— The Eternal City • Hall Caine
... in his right hand. Attention was riveted on him, and the singing of the hymn was a dismal failure. The young man stared straight before him, seeing only one figure, that of Ephraim Shine, until he felt a light touch on his arm. Someone was standing at his side, offering him the half of her hymn-book. Harry raised his hand to the leaves mechanically, and noticed that the hand on the other side was white and shapely, the wrist softly rounded and blue-veined. ...
— The Gold-Stealers - A Story of Waddy • Edward Dyson
... relinquished his efforts, and his head dropped forward on his desk. In a little he was fast asleep. He was roused by a light touch on the ...
— The Grell Mystery • Frank Froest
... wing passing, the light touch of a kiss upon her hair, this time made her smile. He was surely here; and her whole being went out toward him, in the great flood of tenderness with which her heart overflowed. How kind and cheerful he was, and what a love for others underlay his passionate love of life! Perhaps he, too, had ...
— Doctor Pascal • Emile Zola
... boy; we are nearing the end. It will soon be over; but you must pass these horses, and win the race." With this remark LeMonde gave free rein to his horse, pressed his knees a little tighter against the animal's sides, and gave him a light touch with the whip. The noble horse instantly responded to his master's urge. He released fold after fold of knotted muscle, his stride increased, and when his hoofs descended, they seemed to spurn the ground. Now as steady as a Corliss engine this ...
— The Kentucky Ranger • Edward T. Curnick
... youth passed along the verandah to a window of the darkened library—a French window which swung open without noise to his light touch. Stepping within he crossed the room to a door which opened at the foot of a narrow stairway—a convenient little stairway which had often let the Hon. Jonas Prim to pass from his library to his second floor bed-room unnoticed ...
— The Oakdale Affair • Edgar Rice Burroughs
... now, and without separation before him—it was a miraculous dawdle, more wonderful than those on the Downs, or along the river Thames. It was love-in-a-mist—one of those illumined pages of Life, where every word and smile, and every light touch they gave each other were as little gold and red and blue butterflies and flowers and birds scrolled in among the text—a happy communing, without afterthought, which lasted thirty-seven minutes. They reached the coppice at the milking hour. Jon would not take her ...
— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy
... smile? Was she not happy when the music ceased, and St. Amand called "Lucille"? Did not her own name uttered by that voice seem to her even sweeter than the music? Was she not happy when they walked out in the still evenings of summer, and her arm thrilled beneath the light touch of one to whom she was so necessary? Was she not proud in her happiness, and was there not something like worship in the gratitude she felt to him for raising her humble spirit to the ...
— The Pilgrims Of The Rhine • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... think the brute saw you; he was hard hit and was going blind, and he side-swiped you and sent you flying into the air among those icy rocks." He drew a long breath, managed to smile in response to her light touch on his hand. "And that's how it was, dear. He crashed headlong into a tree; your last shot did it. But Miller and I thought he'd got you. We ...
— The Danger Mark • Robert W. Chambers
... he brought a saddle, but it was not broad enough for my back; he saw it in a minute, and went for another, which fitted nicely. He rode me first slowly, then a trot, then a canter, and when we were on the common, he gave me a light touch with his whip, and we ...
— Black Beauty, Young Folks' Edition • Anna Sewell
... A light touch on my arm interrupted me, and, a trifle irritated, as any man might be when checked in the full flow of eloquence, I turned to find Mildred ...
— Police!!! • Robert W. Chambers
... her face looked white and drawn. The previous evening had been the occasion of her reception, and she had carried it pluckily through single-handed. Quiet and composed, she had moved about amongst her guests, covering Max's absence with a light touch and pretty apology, her demeanour so natural and unembarrassed that the tongues, which would otherwise have wagged swiftly enough, were ...
— The Splendid Folly • Margaret Pedler
... daughter of Petamounoph clung nervously to the edge of the car; her cheeks turned pale under the light touch of rouge which Nofre had put on, and as if she felt herself fainting, she breathed in rapidly and often the scent of her ...
— The Works of Theophile Gautier, Volume 5 - The Romance of a Mummy and Egypt • Theophile Gautier
... That light touch thrilled his veins like sorcery. He bent his head and passionately kissed the white, soft hand. "You failed, oh, my Princess! because you are still mortal woman. Thank Heaven for it! You failed because memory and love were still strong ...
— The Mystery of a Turkish Bath • E.M. Gollan (AKA Rita)
... hand was on his arm, but more as if she liked to have it there, than as though necessary. "Your little finger could pilot me through Hades" he said, lovingly, gratefully, as a light touch told him of a step to go down, and again she laughed; it was very ...
— The Glory Of The Conquered • Susan Glaspell
... closed dear eyes, But God be thanked that they, one and all, Had the heaven light touch them before the pall; They saw the fair land that we could not see, And one said, "Jesus is standing by me," And one, "The water of life I hear," And one, "There's no suffering nor sorrow here," One, "I have seen the city of countless charms," ...
— Victor Roy, A Masonic Poem • Harriet Annie Wilkins
... and he thought: "I shall lose all my energy, I shall lose even my talent! While I wear these chains I shall see ever before me—ah! tortures of Tantalus!—the vision of a new love, fresh as the dawn which beckons to me as it passes before my sight, which lays on me the light touch of a caress, while I am forced to see it glide away, to let it vanish, disappear forever! And alas! that is not all. If I have deceived an inexperienced heart by words spoken or deeds done in a moment of weakness or temptation, can I flatter myself that ...
— Jacqueline, Complete • (Mme. Blanc) Th. Bentzon
... (if trooper he be or have been) takes her bonnet off, with a light touch for so strong a hand, and pats her on the head. "You give the house almost a wholesome look. It wants a bit of youth as much as it wants fresh air." Then he dismisses her, lights his pipe, and drinks to Mr. Smallweed's friend in the ...
— Bleak House • Charles Dickens
... a full concert-grand? Then kindly step into our show-room, Sir. Now, this one," he said, indicating a handsome brunette, "is a magnificent piano. Best workmanship and superior materials employed throughout. Splendid tone and light touch. Price, one hundred guineas. Examine it; try it for yourself, Sir." And he opened the keyboard as ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, May 27, 1914 • Various
... believe that I should," Crane suggested, thoughtfully. "After all, they may have perfected their instruments, and yet may not have detected that extremely light touch of our ray last night. If so, why ...
— Skylark Three • Edward Elmer Smith
... player to exhibit a caricature of national sentiments, modes of speaking, and gestures. Shylock, however, is everything but a common Jew: he possesses a strongly-marked and original individuality, and yet we perceive a light touch of Judaism in everything he says or does. We almost fancy we can hear a light whisper of the Jewish accent even in the written words, such as we sometimes still find in the higher classes, notwithstanding their social ...
— Lectures on Dramatic Art - and Literature • August Wilhelm Schlegel trans John Black
... hall was crowded, ladies even sitting in the orchestra who could not get places in the room. 'But as the gay bonnets gave me a nice reception, and applauded when I came ... and as I found the instrument very excellent and of a light touch, I lost all my timidity, became quite comfortable, and was highly amused to see the bonnets agitated at every little cadenza, which to me and many critics brought to mind the simile of the ...
— Story-Lives of Great Musicians • Francis Jameson Rowbotham
... with events which belong essentially to Constitutional History, and must treat them with a light touch, that we may not trespass on appropriated ground. Our topic is, how absolute monarchy, which just then succeeded so brilliantly over the Channel, was attempted in England, under conditions of no apparent danger, failed ...
— Lectures on Modern history • Baron John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
... blending. Use the baby brush for this; there is nothing else so good. It is surprising in its results. Do not press the brush too hard on the face; dust the surplus powder off carefully with a light touch, to leave no streaks or patches anywhere. If now the face has a greasy look, you have ...
— The Art of Stage Dancing - The Story of a Beautiful and Profitable Profession • Ned Wayburn
... these thoughtful moods she asked Ailsa with plain directness how she thought a millionaire might best benefit Rhodesia, supposing he were willing to make an effort in that direction. Having asked, she added with a light touch, "I imagine you are hardly ready yet for libraries ...
— The Rhodesian • Gertrude Page
... the Quirinal. He did so, was met by the same messenger, and bidden wait under a portico. Before long there approached through the darkness a muffled figure, followed by two attendants with lanterns; the Syrian heard his name whispered; a light touch drew him further away from the lantern-bearing slaves, and a woman's voice, low, caressing, began to utter endearments and reproaches. Not to-night, it said, should he know who she was; she could speak a name ...
— Veranilda • George Gissing
... the time, Elizabeth's light touch upon his will was like the curb on a stubborn horse. Once as he passed her table angry curiosity took him to look at some finished work that was lying there. Perfection! Intelligence, accuracy, the clearest of scripts! All his hints taken—and bettered in the taking. ...
— Elizabeth's Campaign • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... as a light touch fell on his shoulder, and he saw the Queen standing beside him. She held the paper he had given her in one hand, and as he looked at her enquiringly she touched it with her lips, and placed it in ...
— Temporal Power • Marie Corelli
... his fingers on the table, while his host still maundered on after the fashion of old age, which has so few topics that it cannot drop them with the light touch-and-go ...
— Flint - His Faults, His Friendships and His Fortunes • Maud Wilder Goodwin
... touches which, with the compliment, mollified Ethelinda a trifle, in spite of her resentment over the former speech. But it still rankled, and she could not forbear saying a little spitefully, "Thanks! What a soft, light touch you have. Quite like a maid I had last year. By the way, her name was Mary. And it was awfully funny. It happened at that time that every maid in the house was named that, and whenever mamma called 'Mary' five or six of them would come running. I used to tell my maid ...
— The Little Colonel's Chum: Mary Ware • Annie Fellows Johnston
... sleepless care oppressed, On many a night had risen, and addressed His hand to make him out of joy and moan An image of sweet sleep in carven stone, Light touch by touch, in weary moments planned, He would have wrought her with a patient hand, Not like her brother death, with massive limb And dreamless brow, unstartled, changeless, dim, But very fair, though fitful and ...
— Among the Millet and Other Poems • Archibald Lampman
... at feeling its soft, light touch on my hands. And I sat there, my heart beating with disgust and desire, disgust as at the contact of anything accessory to a crime and desire as at the temptation of some ...
— Maupassant Original Short Stories (180), Complete • Guy de Maupassant
... and then a slender figure in a gown of soft, pink satin seated itself at the piano, and with light touch and brilliant execution, played a ...
— Dorothy Dainty at the Mountains • Amy Brooks
... the hand and then started on his ride that meant life or death to his comrades. The horse was a magnificent Kentuckian and seemed to know what was required of him. Carefully and slowly Hogan pushed his way to the place opposite the ravine, and then giving his mount a light touch with the spurs, he took to the cold water. The stream was filled with floating ice but was only about fifty yards wide and in a few minutes he was safely over, and climbing up the other bank through the ravine. Finally, the end was reached and he ...
— Danger Signals • John A. Hill and Jasper Ewing Brady
... want any playthings, father," with the old light touch; and then she looked him full in the eyes. "I promise to do nothing more to create comment if, on the other hand, you will promise to give me two years more ...
— The Goose Girl • Harold MacGrath
... leading detachment there somehow was no surgeon, and as men were going down and something had to be done, it devolved upon me, as having some experience in this kind of work in previous campaigns, to undertake a spell of amateur surgery. John behaved magnificently as my assistant. With his light touch and long lissom hands, the fellow seemed to have a natural instinct for successful bandaging. I was glad that we could do no more than bandage, and that we had no instruments, else I believe that John would not have hesitated to undertake a capital operation. ...
— The Idler Magazine, Vol III. May 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly • Various
... trouble you for a light?' A light touch of his hand accompanied the words, and I turned slowly, favoured him with a look of as well-managed stupidity and inquiry as I could muster, drew from my pocket a little ear-tube, and, adjusting it to my ...
— Against Odds - A Detective Story • Lawrence L. Lynch
... "monsieur!" Then I felt her light touch. "God is good. I have prayed for your safety night and day. Ah—but your shoulder! They did not tell me. Are you ...
— Montlivet • Alice Prescott Smith
... right, sir; on'y me," cried Gedge, for, awakened by the light touch, Bracy seized one hand and made an effort to pull out ...
— Fix Bay'nets - The Regiment in the Hills • George Manville Fenn
... trade, help you in the least. But still you must remember that although it is impossible to fully carry out these orders, you can do a good deal towards doing so, and preventive measures are the great thing, for it is better to escape fever altogether, or to get off with a light touch of it, than to make a sensational recovery ...
— Travels in West Africa • Mary H. Kingsley
... He watched the light touch the far top of the crevice, saw the azure strip of the sky appear and then with a deep groan he forced himself to eat from his grub bag and started hurriedly on down the river. The stream was much deeper below the point of the accident, with several ...
— Still Jim • Honore Willsie Morrow
... It was no determination to struggle to a higher plane, no desire for it, but only the old cry for some one to be sent to cool the tip of his tongue because the flame tormented him. It was not, however, an appreciable lapse of time before he again felt his feet upon the floor and thrilled under the light touch upon his arm. The insight was over, the whirl was over; he was one of the guests talking to his host's probable daughter-in-law. He went on with his subject. "At least you have not changed your nature," he said with courteous freedom. "You are royal still ...
— The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1 • Various
... touched with gold the tops of the mountains before Bob felt a light touch on his arm. He opened his eyes to see Mr. Waterman with his hands to his lips in token of silence. He arose quietly and with a surge of pride and joy in his heart, for he felt that he was to be permitted to go on the expedition in ...
— Bob Hunt in Canada • George W. Orton
... thus evoked in that ancient Vatican, where their spirits assuredly awoke at night and prowled about the endless galleries and spreading halls in that tomb-like silence whose quiver came no doubt from the light touch of their gliding ...
— The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete - Lourdes, Rome and Paris • Emile Zola
... characteristic of French music, whether high-born or low. The best melody in the modern Italian vein flows in the second act when the genuine affection and fidelity of Caterina find expression and where a light touch is combined with considerable warmth of feeling and a delightful daintiness of orchestral color. Much of this is out of harmony with the fundamental character of Sardou's woman, but music cannot deny its ...
— A Second Book of Operas • Henry Edward Krehbiel
... smooth cream, she felt the light touch of hands on her shoulders—felt more than that on her cheek. Had the tears left any trace there?—that Mr. Linden brought her face round into view. He asked no such question, however, unless with ...
— Say and Seal, Volume II • Susan Warner
... confusion at the child's reasoning. She took my hand in hers as if she wanted to compensate for this home-truth by her light touch ...
— The Magic Skin • Honore de Balzac
... office, not pausing in his slow step. Some sudden impulse made him put his hand on the door as he brushed against it: just a quick, light touch; but it had all the fierce passion of a caress. He drew it back as quickly, and went on, wiping a clammy sweat from ...
— Margret Howth, A Story of To-day • Rebecca Harding Davis
... plant (schrankia angustata) occurs frequently, generally on the dry prairies, in valleys of streams, and frequently on the broken prairie bank. I remark that the leaflets close instantly to a very light touch. Amorpha, with the same psoralea, and a dwarf species of lupinus, are the ...
— The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California • Brevet Col. J.C. Fremont
... room, and Hester threw herself on her knees and covered her face with her trembling hands. Presently she was aroused by a light touch on her arm; it ...
— A World of Girls - The Story of a School • L. T. Meade
... over-tired, you don't mean what you say!" Chris said, putting his hand on her arm. Under the light touch she dropped her eyes, and stood still. "Norma, do be advised by me in this," he urged her earnestly. "It is one of the most important crises in your life. Annie can put you exactly where you want to be, introduced and accepted everywhere—a constant ...
— The Beloved Woman • Kathleen Norris
... assailant of optimism would arm himself with social pity. There is no social pity in "Candide." Voltaire, whose light touch on familiar institutions opens them and reveals their absurdity, likes to remind us that the slaughter and pillage and murder which Candide witnessed among the Bulgarians was perfectly regular, having been conducted according to the laws and usages of war. Had Voltaire lived to-day he would have ...
— Candide • Voltaire
... dainty. Hardly a masculine foot to that light touch. Don't be alarmed, Dozia. We are two to one and evidently that other one is a female." She said this with assumed confidence, for she feared Dozia might turn and run ...
— Jane Allen: Junior • Edith Bancroft
... of providing the combination pedals or pistons with a double touch was a distinct step in advance for it enabled the organist by means of a light touch to move only the manual registers and by means of a very much heavier touch on the combination pedal or piston to operate also his Pedal stops and couplers. Most large organs now built are furnished ...
— The Recent Revolution in Organ Building - Being an Account of Modern Developments • George Laing Miller
... I love you— Not by singing sweetly of you— Oh, I love you far too much, For the daintiest rhyme's light touch; No, it needs no language signs, It's written here between the lines, How I love you! You will see If you look ...
— Cap and Gown - A Treasury of College Verse • Selected by Frederic Knowles
... walked through one of the long passages, but dimly lighted, leading from Mr Stoddart's apartment to the great staircase, I started at a light touch on my arm. It was ...
— Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood • George MacDonald
... Norah's cheeks burned, but neither girl looked to the right or the left; and both the matrons following avoided their friends' curiosity by a soldierly "eyes front." Freda walked up to her father, who looked up, not altogether pleased, at her light touch on his arm. ...
— Life at High Tide - Harper's Novelettes • Various
... contrivance which had soaked Brick Simpson's pursuers with water. It was a cunning arrangement. Where the slip led through a fence with a board missing, a long slat was so arranged that the ignorant wayfarer could not fail to strike against it. This slat was the spring of the trap. A light touch upon it was sufficient to disconnect a heavy stone from a barrel perched overhead and nicely balanced. The disconnecting of the stone permitted the barrel to turn over and spill its contents on the one beneath who ...
— The Cruise of the Dazzler • Jack London
... very closely entwined their hearts had been, how necessary they had grown to each other even before those latter days of full confidence. Every pursuit was mixed up with Caroline, every walk recalled her, every annoyance would have given way at her light touch. There was no one left with whom Marian could have anything like the conversations they had been used to enjoy from almost the earliest days of her coming to Oakworthy. Lionel was indeed a very agreeable companion, nay more, a friend, full of right feeling, ...
— The Two Guardians • Charlotte Mary Yonge
... as if scared by the masculine arms outstretched towards her. Serge called her a big stupid, and tried to catch her. But at the light touch of his fingers she cried out with such an expression of pain ...
— Abbe Mouret's Transgression - La Faute De L'abbe Mouret • Emile Zola
... full of episodes that only find a place because Vergil had borrowed similar episodes from Homer. But the Thebais is a professedly mythological epic, and Statius commands a light touch and brilliant colours. The reader merely groans when the heavy-handed Silius introduces his wondrously engraven shield,[610] his funeral games,[611] his Amazon,[612] his dismal catalogues,[613] his Nekuia.[614] In the latter episode, he even introduces ...
— Post-Augustan Poetry - From Seneca to Juvenal • H.E. Butler
... loser and which the winner. The losses on the two sides were about equal, and St. Luc, holding the hill, still lay across the path of rangers and Mohawks. Robert, who was crouched behind the trunk of a great oak, felt a light touch upon his arm, and, ...
— The Rulers of the Lakes - A Story of George and Champlain • Joseph A. Altsheler
... youth predominated, life became ampler and more free. The gardens were filled with the melody of nightingales, the meadow-grasses quivered in response to the light touch of a maiden's gown, while shadows deepened, and in the warm dusk eyes grew brighter and voices more tender, for love was ...
— Sanine • Michael Artzibashef
... clear and sweet as the beaming eyes. She held out her hand with a frank grace, and Sir Everard took it, its light touch thrilling to the core of ...
— The Baronet's Bride • May Agnes Fleming
... in this sacred water'; and Psyche obeyed, and, as her fingers sank into the basin she felt a light touch, as if other ...
— The Red Romance Book • Various
... bother to try to see the owners of the voices; her gaze was on the plains, far and vast; and the sky, clear, with a pearly shimmer that dazzled her. She closed her eyes. She could not have told how long she slept. She awoke to the light touch of the porter, and she saw Trevison standing in the open ...
— 'Firebrand' Trevison • Charles Alden Seltzer
... stone. Proceed as above until the gem meets a test stone that it does not attack. Its hardness is then probably equal to the latter and perhaps if pressed forcibly against it a slight scratch would result, but it is not advisable to resort to heavy pressure. A light touch should be cultivated in this work. Having now an indication as to the hardness of the unknown gem look up in the table of the previous lesson those gems of similar hardness and then by the use of some of the tests already given decide which of the stones of that degree of hardness you have. Never ...
— A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public • Frank Bertram Wade |
