"Oh, do come along," a corpulent lady in the crowd observed to her
companion. "We've seen everybody here that we know, and I want to go
down to Winter Street and get some buttons for my grey dress. Miranda
wanted me to have them covered with the cloth, but I think steel ones
would be prettier."
"Yes, they say steel's going to be awfully fashionable this spring. Are
they going to put that statue up just as it is?"
"Oh, they bake it or paint it or something," was the lucid answer, as
the corpulent lady threw herself against Mr. Hubbard, nearly
annihilating him in her effort to clear a path through the crowd.
"I think, my dear," Hubbard observed to his wife, "unless you've
designs on my life insurance, you'd better take me out of this crowd."
"But we haven't seen the statue," she returned.
"I have," he retorted grimly, "and I assure you you haven't lost
anything. You'll see it enough when it's set up, and you'll go about
perjuring your soul by denying that I was ever on the committee."
"Hush," she said, "do be quiet; people will think you're cross because
you were overruled."
On the other side of the statue the sculptor had been receiving
congratulations all the afternoon, and now Mr. Calvin and Mrs.
Frostwinch chanced to approach him at the same time to take their
leave.
"I am so glad to have seen the statue," was the latter's form of adieu,
"it is distinctly inspiring.
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