Before they could guess his intention Rankin stepped forward and swung the guard's own gun against the uncovered head, hard.

Before memory, too, clouds over, let us make a note or two of what could be seen.

Before he could duck, another stone struck him.

Before he left the apartment he knocked on their door and asked if there was anything he could do for them.

Before the Juniors entered the ring the Steward announced that after all Juniors had moved their dogs around the ring and set them up, they could relax with their dogs.

Before Roberts could move inside to cut upward toward his face, he slammed his right fist into Roberts' belly.

Before he could snap it on, a stinging blow caught him in the ribs.

Before he could return to Burma, Field Marshal Slim had to rally the defeated remnants of a discouraged army and unite them with fresh recruits.

Before he could pass the river with safety, however, it was necessary to subdue certain fortresses, one of which was for several days vigorously defended by the governor, Yussuf el-Harezmi, a Khwarezmian.

Before the passage of the lex annalis, individuals could run for the Aedileship by the time they turned twenty-seven.

Before the demolition could take place, Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair ( Director of Naval Intelligence and head of MI6 ) bought the site.

Before 1873, England had two parallel court systems: courts of " law " that could only award money damages and recognized only the legal owner of property, and courts of " equity " ( courts of chancery ) that could issue injunctive relief ( that is, a court order to a party to do something, give something to someone, or stop doing something ) and recognized trusts of property.

Before Stalin's consolidation of power, the Central Committee featured open debate, where even leading officials could be criticised.

Before a systematic excavation of the site could be undertaken, the village had to be relocated but the residents resisted.

Before the vote to award franchises in 1959, Murchison revealed to Marshall that he owned the song and Marshall could not play it during games.

Before many copies of the book could be printed, however, the printing press and most of the printed copies were destroyed by a mob in Missouri.

Before the advent of fast computing machines, solving a dynamical system required sophisticated mathematical techniques and could be accomplished only for a small class of dynamical systems.

Before the invention of the integrated circuit in 1959, electronic circuits were constructed from discrete components that could be manipulated by humans.

Before the question could be answered, the notion of " algorithm " had to be formally defined.

Before a new Grand Alliance could be concluded Leopold I prepared to send an expedition to seize the Spanish lands in Italy.

Before a lord could grant land ( a fief ) to someone, he had to make that person a vassal.

Before, geologists could only use fossils to date sections of rock relative to one another.

Before a new employee could rise to the level of mastery, he had to go through a schooling period during which he was first called an apprentice.

Before the assembled cardinals and delegations could engage in theological discussion, they had to decide how to sit during the proceedings.

Before the start of the 2004 season, he threatened to withdraw his support against the ban on traction control, but later withdrew this threat.

Before the 2005 Australian Grand Prix Stoddart initially threatened to withdraw his cars if they were made to comply with the revised regulations for 2005.

Before reaching Alexandria, his path was blocked by a single, old Roman ambassador named Gaius Popillius Laenas, who delivered a message from the Roman Senate directing Antiochus to withdraw his armies from Egypt and Cyprus, or consider themselves in a state of war with the Roman Republic.

Before the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009 no provision in the treaties or law of the European Union outlined the ability of a state to voluntarily withdraw from the EU.

Before the recording of their fourth album, 3D, Lopes originally wanted to withdraw from the group in order to see if they could duplicate their prior success without her contributions.

According to Livy, " Popilius ... placed in hand the tablets on which was written the decree of the senate withdraw ... drew a circle round the king with the stick he was carrying and said, ' Before you step out of that circle give me a reply to lay before the senate.

Before the start of the procedure, a local anesthetic can be given to the mother in order to relieve the pain felt during the insertion of the needle used to withdraw the fluid.

Before the men on Kettle Hill could withdraw, General Wheeler called aside Generals Kent and Sumner, and reassured them that the line could be held.

Before he could complete his objective Allon was instructed by David Ben-Gurion to withdraw from Egypt immediately.

Before the second Test, Yallop tore his calf muscle playing for Richmond — his club side — and had to withdraw from the Australian team.

Before the station can send a reply to the aliens, the Hyperion tells the aliens that this sector is under Earth jurisdiction and that they have no right to take over the planet, they have 9 hours to withdraw.

Before Laughlin could prepare his next move he was ordered to withdraw by Ferguson, and the attempt to dislodge the Chinese was subsequently abandoned.

Before this could be completed, however, the Japanese were able to withdraw from the position on the night of 21 / 22 July.

Before the offer ( or counteroffer ) is accepted, the offering ( or countering ) party can withdraw it.

Before that, he clashed with Russian forces under Dembków who were forced to withdraw to Kochovski and Kutuzov camps.

Before the production moved to the West End, he had to withdraw after developing pancreatic cancer.

Before entering the theater area, guests are placed in one of three preshow areas, called " Alpha Gate ", " Bravo Gate ", or " Charlie Gate ," ( named for the first three letters of the NATO phonetic alphabet ).