It was some time before the little wolves got any idea of the outside thorniness and brambleness which hid them from the public gaze.
"Dusty Star"
Olaf Baker
Despite grayness and thorniness, however, you saw that they were in the summer of their life-bloom; and singularly above even their beauty of blooming they held what is rare in the eyes of either men or women-they held a look of being just.
"Bride of the Mistletoe"
James Lane Allen
The kinder he was, the more she yielded, almost eagerly at times, as though the thorniness of her own speech had hurt herself most, and there were behind it all a sad life, and a sad heart that only asked in truth for a little sympathy and understanding.
"Lady Rose's Daughter"
Mrs. Humphry Ward