2. Be that as it will, I found myself suddenly awakened with a violent pull upon the ring, which was fastened at the top of my box for the conveniency of carriage. I felt my box raised very high in the air, and then borne forward with prodigious speed. The first jolt had like to have shaken me out of my hammock. I called out several times, but all to no purpose. I looked towards my windows, and could see nothing but the clouds and the sky. I heard a noise just over my head, like the clapping of wings, and then began to perceive the woeful condition I was in; that some eagle had got the ring of my box in his beak, with an intent to let it fall on a rock: for the sagacity and smell of this bird enabled him to discover his quarry at a great distance, though better concealed than I could be within a two-inch board.—Id.
(b) Give the exact meaning of each italicized preposition in the following sentences:—
1. The guns were cleared of their lumber.
2. They then left for a cruise up the Indian Ocean.
3. I speak these things from a love of justice.
4. To our general surprise, we met the defaulter here.
5. There was no one except a little sunbeam of a sister.
6. The great gathering in the main street was on Sundays, when, after a restful morning, though unbroken by the peal of church bells, the miners gathered from hills and ravines for miles around for marketing.
7. The troops waited in their boats by the edge of a strand.
8. His breeches were of black silk, and his hat was garnished with white and sable plumes.