It had rained during the night and was still raining, or sleeting, and freezing as fast as it fell.

The sky was a leaden grey; the drops that came down only went to thicken the sheet of ice that lay upon everything.

No face of the outer world could be more unpromising than that which slowly greeted him, as the night withdrew her veil and the stealthy steps of the dawn said that no bright day was chasing her forward.

Fast enough it lighted up the slippery way, the glistening fences, the falling sleet which sheathed fields and houses with glare ice.
And the city, when they came to it, was no better.

It was worse; for the dolefulness was positive here, which before in the broad open country was only negative.