three o'clock in the afternoon
cried Dr. Renaud . `` This is a big surprise -- a regular blizzard . We 'll have to stop somewhere till it 's over . I never beheld such darkness -- at three o'clock in the afternoon -- nor such sudden heaps of snow . Lucky for us if it does not turn to hail . '' He had scarcely uttered the words when the snow flagged , ceased to fall , then the hail began . Colder and colder grew the air with a strange , unnatural feel in it as if in the proximity of icebergs , or of the hour closest on dawn , and the hail , at first small and round , pretty and harmless , came gently chattering about the horse 's ears and back , came faster and larger , came at last too fast and too large , came as stones come that are flung by enemies and rioting mobs of people anxious for vengeance .