The sky was dark and a bitter wind from the prairie blew down the empty street.

Blocks of square-fronted houses stood out harshly against the snow, which sparkled here and there in a ray of light.

The settlement looked ugly and very desolate, and Sadie studied it with a feeling of weariness and disgust.
It seemed strange that she had once thought it a lively place, but this was before she met Charnock, who had taught her much.
Shutting the door, she returned to the office and glanced critically at her reflection in a mirror on the wall.

She had been ill, in consequence of the strain she had borne while her father was sick, and looked older.
Her face was thin and she felt tired, but her skin had not lost its silky whiteness, and her black dress hung in becoming lines.

It was a well-cut dress, for Sadie was extravagant in such matters and knew how to choose her clothes.