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"JOHN DARBY".
Although it was snowing hard, it was not a dark night.

There was a half moon hidden behind those thin, fleecy clouds, which carry the snow across the North Sea and cast it noiselessly upon the low-lying coast, from Thanet to the Wash, which knows less rain and more snow than any in England.
A gale of wind was blowing from the north-east; not in itself a wild gale, but at short intervals a fresh burst of wind brought with it a thicker fall of snow, and during these squalls the force of the storm was terrific.

A man, who had waited on the far shore of the river for a quiet interval, had at last made his way to the Farlingford side.

He moored his boat and stumbled heavily up the steps.
There was no one on the quay.