way in entering or issuing from the houses, but generally no one
appeared to notice him. In some of the windows there were flowers in
painted pots, and in others little marble images on stands.

There were more images in the garden that Barker came to presently:
an image of Washington on horseback, and some orator speaking, with
his hand up, and on top of a monument a kind of Turk holding up a
man that looked sick. The man was almost naked, but he was not so
bad as the image of a woman in a granite basin; it seemed to Barker
that it ought not to be allowed there. A great many people of all
kinds were passing through the garden, and after some hesitation he
went in too, and walked over the bridge that crossed the pond in the
middle of the garden, where there were rowboats and boats with
images of swans on them. Barker made a sarcastic reflection that
Boston seemed to be a great place for images, and passed rather
hurriedly through the garden on the other side of the bridge. There
were beds of all kinds of flowers scattered about, and they were
hardly touched by the cold yet. If he had been in better heart, he
would have liked to look round a little; but he felt strange, being
there all alone, and he felt very low-spirited.

He wondered if this were the Public Garden that Mrs. Sewell had
spoken of, and if that kind of grove across the street were the
Common. He felt much more at home in it, as he wandered up and down
the walks, and finally sat down on one of the iron benches beside
the path. At first he obscurely doubted whether he had any right to
do so, unless he had a lady with him; most of the seats were
occupied by couples who seemed to be courting, but he ventured
finally to take one; nobody disturbed him, and so he remained.