midday
On that summer day the sky over New York was unflecked by clouds , and the air hung motionless , the waves of heat undisturbed . The city was a vast oven where even the sounds of the coiling traffic in its streets seemed heavy and weary under the press of heat that poured down from above . In Washington Square , the urchins of the neighborhood splashed in the fountain , and the usual midday assortment of mothers , tramps and out-of-works lounged listlessly on the hot park benches . -LSB- Illustration : _ All gazed , transfixed , at the vast form that towered above them . _ -RSB- As a bowl , the Square was filled by the torrid sun , and the trees and grass drooped like the people on its walks . In the surrounding city , men worked in sweltering offices and the streets rumbled with the never-ceasing tide of business -- but Washington Square rested .