the Saturday noon
Neither of the girls having the slightest idea of what a hospital was like , nor of any other of the sights in the city which they might see instead , no objection was made to this plan . They made inquiries of a near-by policeman and found that they could reach it by the elevated . Their encounter with this metropolitan facility for transportation turned out to be among the most memorable bits of sightseeing of their trip . Neither of the girls had ever imagined anything so lurid as the Saturday noon jam , the dense , packed throngs waiting on the platforms and bursting out through the opened doors like beans from a split bag , their places instantly taken by an even greater crowd , perspiring , fighting grimly for foot-room and expecting and receiving no other kind . Judith was fired contagiously with the spirit about her , set her teeth , thrust out her elbows , shoved , pushed , grunted , fought , all with a fresh zest in the performance which gave her an immense advantage over the fatigued city-dwellers , who assaulted their fellow-citizens with only a preoccupied desire for an approach to a breathing space , and , that attained , subsided into lurching , strap-hanging quiescence . Judith secured with ease , on all the public vehicles they utilized that day , a place on the outside edge of a platform , where she had fresh air in abundance and could hang over the grating to watch with extreme interest the intimate bits of tenement-house life which flashed jerkily by . But Sylvia , a shuddering chip on the torrent , always found herself in the exact middle of the most crowded spot , feeling her body horrifyingly pressed upon by various invisible ones behind her and several only too visible ones in front , breathing down the back of somebody 's neck , often a dirty and sweaty one , with somebody breathing hotly down the back of her own .