There was no temptation to come
abroad, for those who were not absolutely obliged to leave their
warm rooms; indeed, the dusk hour showed that it was the usual
tea-time for the humble inhabitants of that part of the town
through which Ruth had to pass on her shopping expedition. As she
came to the high ground just above the river, where the street
sloped rapidly down to the bridge, she saw the flat country
beyond all covered with snow, making the black dome of the
cloud-laden sky appear yet blacker; as if the winter's night had
never fairly gone away, but had hovered on the edge of the world
all through the short bleak day. Down by the bridge (where there
was a little shelving bank, used as a landing-place for any
pleasure-boats that could float on that shallow stream) some
children were playing, and defying the cold; one of them had got
a large washing-tub, and with the use of a broken oar kept
steering and pushing himself hither and thither in the little
creek, much to the admiration of his companions, who stood
gravely looking on, immovable in their attentive observation of
the hero, although their faces were blue with cold, and their
hands crammed deep into their pockets with some faint hope of
finding warmth there. Perhaps they feared that, if they unpacked
themselves from their lumpy attitudes and began to move about,
the cruel wind would find its way into every cranny of their
tattered dress.
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