It was the season of rain and sleet, of rude northerly winds.

The roads, across a tract of flat fields and in among the low woods that fringed the rivers, were heavy with mud.
After riding half the night on a pillion behind the Danite, Susannah entered the Mormon camp.

Up and down the sides of a dirty road, in waggons, in small tents, and in the open, men, women, and children were lying huddled in family groups.

How far these crowds extended she could not see.

Watch-fires were burning here and there, and in the fields on either side a patrol of Missouri militia were heard scoffing and shouting in the darkness.