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I've got a quote rattling around in my head that I am trying to identify. Unfortunately, I don't know the exact wording. The scenario is the "narrator" commenting on a character's run-on sentence saying something like this:
At this point (character) was out of breath and very much out of commas.
The author's style feels a little cheeky, like Dickens, C.S. Lewis, or Twain.
Looks like you're thinking of Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge (1865), which is available on Wikisource:
"And did the saint do it?" asked Gretel, delighted, well knowing what the answer would be.
"Of course he did. The pickled pieces flew together in an instant, and out jumped the young gentlemen from the brine tub. They cast themselves at the feet of Saint Nicholas, and he gave them his blessing, and--oh! mercy on us, Hans, it will be dark before you get back if you don't start this minute!"
By this time Dame Brinker was almost out of breath and quite out of commas. She could not remember when she had seen the children idle away an hour of daylight in this manner, and the thought of such luxury quite appalled her.
(emphasis added)
Found through a Google search for "out of breath" "commas".
