"Earl shuffled to the breakfast table and lowered himself carefully into a chair, bracing both hands on the arms for balance. He sat for a minute to catch his breath and smooth back his thinning hair. With a dry cough, he slowly reached a frail hand toward the teapot."
What is the most likely subtext of the reading?

a pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel sticking out of his pants.

bartender: isn't that uncomfortable?

pirate: arrgh! it's drivin' me nuts!

thunder! imagine dragons

if the italicized words are he ran switfly, we can rewrite the sentence using a verbal phrase as follows:

running swiftly he was able to overtake the child.