nearly nine o'clock
The trees were covered with the tender greens of the new birth , and even President Arthur and Roscoe Conkling , less green than in winter , looked reconciled to their lot . A few people were sunning themselves on the benches , many more were on top of the busses over on Fifth Avenue , and even the hurrying throngs , preoccupied with crass business , seemed to walk with a lighter step , their heads up , instead of sullenly defying winds and sleet . The eight streets that surrounded or debouched into the Square poured forth continuous streams of figures , constantly augmented by throngs rising out of the earth itself . There was a vivid color running like ribbons through the crowds , for it was nearly nine o'clock and the doors of offices and shops and business houses were open to women as to men . Overhead a yellow sun shone in a pale filmy sky and the air was both warm and sharp . The doves were circling and settling . The prize-fighters had taken their prowess elsewhere , and a circus had come to Madison Square Garden .