sharp as a tack

Having graduated Juilliard last spring, Alex Sharp is too young to have given the performance of a lifetime.

Now-a-days it is the bankrupt who flouts, and his too confiding creditors who are jeered and laughed at.

A sob rose in her throat, and broke from her lips transformed into a trembling, sharp, glad cry.

He felt himself the meanest, vilest thing a-crawl upon this sinful earth, and she—dear God!

All that scientific bric-a-brac in the cupboard had far better be thrown away.

It was one of those long moments that makes a fellow draw his breath sharp when he thinks about it afterward.