At the door I was nearly blown back by the unbridled violence of the squall, and Rowley and I must shout our parting words.

All the way along Princes Street (whither my way led) the wind hunted me behind and screamed in my ears.

The city was flushed with bucketfuls of rain that tasted salt from the neighbouring ocean.

It seemed to darken and lighten again in the vicissitudes of the gusts.

Now you would say the lamps had been blown out from end to end of the long thoroughfare; now, in a lull, they would revive, re-multiply, shine again on the wet pavements, and make darkness sparingly visible.
By the time I had got to the corner of the Lothian Road there was a distinct improvement.