seven o’clock
I must reconsider my ideas . '' He leaned back in the cab , and I could see by his drawn brow and his vacant eye that he was thinking intently . Miss Morstan and I chatted in an undertone about our present expedition and its possible outcome , but our companion maintained his impenetrable reserve until the end of our journey . It was a September evening , and not yet seven o'clock , but the day had been a dreary one , and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city . Mud-coloured clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets . Down the Strand the lamps were but misty splotches of diffused light which threw a feeble circular glimmer upon the slimy pavement . The yellow glare from the shop-windows streamed out into the steamy , vaporous air , and threw a murky , shifting radiance across the crowded thoroughfare .