On finding herself borne swiftly through the air by a dragon, Edna had done what was the correct thing to do in the circumstances—she had promptly fainted.
— from In Brief Authority by F. Anstey

The lad was almost a match for his wiry antagonist, and by a desperate effort he tore loose and ran.
— from The Camp in the Snow; Or, Besieged by Danger by William Murray Graydon

He was to [Pg 11] be a banker, a diplomat; eventually he might attain, like the greatest of the Medici, to the station and dignities of a merchant prince.
— from Amerigo Vespucci by Frederick A. (Frederick Albion) Ober

Then nearer, nearer, still he crept, and by a desperate effort he touched his shoulder, as in a hollow, spectral voice he said— “Awake, Jacob Gray.”
— from Ada, the Betrayed; Or, The Murder at the Old Smithy. A Romance of Passion by James Malcolm Rymer

The water that came on board apprised Spike fully of the state in which he was now placed, and by a desperate effort, he clutched the tiller, and got the yawl again before the wind.
— from Jack Tier; Or, The Florida Reef by James Fenimore Cooper

The room had no space for pictures except one, an original portrait of Claverhouse, which hung over the chimney-piece, with a Highland target on either side, and broadswords and dirks (each having its own story), disposed star-fashion round them.
— from Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume 5 (of 10) by J. G. (John Gibson) Lockhart

Her imagination, heightened as by a drug, enabled her to see the white, dusty road and the sickly, yellow moon rising through the branches.
— from Evelyn Innes by George Moore

Fright gave Moxley the strength of a madman, and by a determined effort he tore loose from his plucky assailant, and springing to his feet started to run.
— from Canoe Boys and Campfires; Or, Adventures on Winding Waters by William Murray Graydon

Amid the horrors of the battle-field in the moonless night joy as bright as day entered his heart and with the low exclamation: "God and my people!" and a grateful glance upward to the starry firmament he left the corpse-strewn valley of death like a conqueror walking over palms and flowers scattered by a grateful people on the path of victory.
— from Joshua — Volume 5 by Georg Ebers