How could his luck, how could the power of the Sword, have suddenly deserted him?

He found, quite suddenly, that his powers of speech had deserted him.

He could not plunge down wildly through the open- ing in the floor; for all power of motion had deserted him.

Why should that power have deserted her?

The power of speech suddenly deserted her totally.

In his last years, physical as well as mental powers deserted him and he became blind.

Mysticism and the power of the mind had deserted me in Chevy Chase.

His power had not deserted him, but some of his hits had.

The powers of motion and speech had deserted me.

This time, however, her extraordinary combative powers deserted her, and she missed.