"When I went to give it to her," replied Sancho, "she was hard at it swaying from side to side with a lot of wheat she had in the sieve, and she said to me, 'Lay the letter, friend, on the top of that sack, for I cannot read it until I have done
sifting all this."
Her father was usually
sifting and
sifting at his parliamentary cinder-heap in London (without being observed to turn up many precious articles among the rubbish), and was still hard at it in the national dust- yard.
(the public are not slow in the matter of
sifting evidence and arriving at a verdict), but that he could not be found.
She then cross-examined all the articles which had raised her fears on the other side, and found, on fairly
sifting the matter, that there was very little in them.
"Because when the twins went home from the Sons of Liberty meeting last night, news of the raid was
sifting in from everywhere, and Aunt Patsy was in distress to know if they had lost anything.
The troops,
sifting through the forest, were sullen.
He beheld him
sifting his seeds, and soaking them in liquids which were destined to modify or to deepen their colours.
He saw no beauty in the sunshine
sifting down through the green leaves, nor did the azure vault of the sky whisper as of old and hint of cosmic vastness and secrets trembling to disclosure.
"Shif'less!" said Miss Ophelia to herself, proceeding to tumble over the drawer, where she found a nutmeg-grater and two or three nutmegs, a Methodist hymn-book, a couple of soiled Madras handkerchiefs, some yarn and knitting-work, a paper of tobacco and a pipe, a few crackers, one or two gilded china-saucers with some pomade in them, one or two thin old shoes, a piece of flannel carefully pinned up enclosing some small white onions, several damask table-napkins, some coarse crash towels, some twine and darning-needles, and several broken papers, from which sundry sweet herbs were
sifting into the drawer.
I began to see as all this weighing and
sifting what this text means and that text means, and whether folks are saved all by God's grace, or whether there goes an ounce o' their own will to't, was no part o' real religion at all.
'I hope, Sir Patrick, I don't strike you as being an excessively obstinate man?'--'My dear Sir, you impress me with the highest opinion of your capacity for
sifting human testimony!
Whichever side you walk in the woods the partridge bursts away on whirring wings, jarring the snow from the dry leaves and twigs on high, which comes
sifting down in the sunbeams like golden dust, for this brave bird is not to be scared by winter.