The cloud was within fifty yards of where we lay, and we glared at it, all three, uncertain what horror was about to break from the heart of it.
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of Baskervilles
It was at my advice that Sir Charles was about to go to London.
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of Baskervilles
His plans were suddenly brought to a head by his knowledge that Sir Charles was about to leave the Hall on the advice of Dr. Mortimer, with whose opinion he himself pretended to coincide.
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of Baskervilles
I had raised my hat and was about to make some explanatory remark when her own words turned all my thoughts into a new channel.
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of Baskervilles
I was about to speak when she sat up alertly and said “Sh!” in a warning voice.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
MORE TO FOLLOW
Usage
1 use of ‘was about to’ in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
4 uses of ‘was about to’ in The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle