St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1870-07-29
Ncd 1SprucjngtOH's Umbreti0.

"Name ~
''Charles Blank
''Occupation ~
Civil engineer"
''Addrcss !''
''j0l Great George Street, Wes!min
ister and Verpena Villas, Hammer
smith"
"Ncrbena Villas, IIammcrsmith,'
slowly repeated the police sergeant, as he
entered the foregoing particulars in 4 big
book
"Well, you know the charge. steal
ng this GentIeman's umbrella. Have
you anything to say in addition to what
you have already stated ~
Nothing whatever" answered: Il
can only repeat that it was entirely a
mistake upon my part
"iust 50" was the grim reply. you'll
have an opportunity of proving that in
the morning. You are by no means the
first person we have had to deal with
hcre who has mistaken other peoples
property for his own. 'iake him 10 the
cells" And then j ut- marched Oft.
The circu"-;....,- which had brought
me .n;r iui- -crapc were ~ follows.
My>c}. and my friend Sprucin-rJ. were
III the employment OF a railway contract
or. whose utlicc, were situated in tine To-
callt, already mentioned. The duties OF
.ur department were shared 10y some halt
"a dozen other yUun5 gentlemen OF our
own ace. who, like Us were qualifying
themselves for the survey OF the ground
and construction OF lines in any par,
of the word which thcir genius shoul.!
call them TO. Bur plans and >pccifica-
;,oue are not particularly cNhiiarariuG in
themselves, apart from their professional
interest - il l. not TO be wondered ut.
that among several younL fellow. full OF
animal spirits, little practice. joking
should have been II times INDUCED In.
Ned NprucIn.tun and were Old Car
tuu-lau-. When W" met. therefore, al
Ter some years ut separation. at the Of
ice in Georyr Street. We had only To Ic-
new our friendship. The great dandy of
our room. nay, OF the entire house. WAS
Ncd. honestly believe. too, that he
Was one OF the most %uila>>, s!mp.c-hea
DltcIuW~ ;.,INr. lie had. however, one
cun>picuou, wcaknes>.-whlch was to he
taken .or Il man OF fashion, lie dress
ci. | admit, uncNccptiuuably and TO aid
him III producing the impression which
he desired upon brholdcr-, he carried
about with hlm. i'll all weatEcrS, Il beau
THU! silk umbrella, scarcely hu!hicr than
a Ia.ty's plra>ol, though, of course, con-
>idcrably longer. Judging from the GU;
ruvN handle, mounted in gold, it must
have cost him a mint of money.
We'll, this umbrella OF Ncd'e we tried
all We could think OF 10 yet hold of.
iut h was too wary for US; II WAS al
way- lett IN some safe place. If we had
succeeded IN gaining possession of it, il
would at once have taken a conspicuous
position i'll society, such a. covering the
old apple-wOman 1T the corner bat II
WAS III .pproachable. At last we became
- desperate that | accepted Il heavy wa
ger from one OF the other fellows that |
would present myself ut the office the
next morljuL, al all hazards, tine proud
po>S,>>or oi Ned ,1prucin2ton's umbrella
On that particular day. work being
slack. every one was enabled 10 leave uE-
usually early; 50 that by four o'clock III
the afternoon the house was cleared o.
all save myself. my brother-conspirator.
and the old soldier who lived with hi~
vic on the premises. My friend Ned
a. was his custom at such times, had an
noInCed his intention OF promenading the
Ladies Mile, there to air himself, his
aristocracy, and his umbrella. l de
cidcd upon following him thithcr. ~
there were yet two hours Of daylight,
/ however, | thought could not do better
th;n tortIly myself tor the enterprise by
taking some substantial retreshmcnt be-
fore commencing operations. After
which, | would trust to the chapter OF
accidents.
With this object in view, was repair
ing towards my tavolite place OF rciec-
tlun i'll the Strand, when who
-hJuid l see looking in ut the topograpi-
er's shop 10y Northumberland House but
Ned Spruciu9ton lie ought, 10y rights,
TO have been nearly two miles away NJ
Hyde Park Corner; yet here was lie al
Charing Cross, calmly studying some
map OF Il ''seat of war" He was 50 wed.-
cd i'll alnuhg other gazerS, that | could
not get at him TO speak OF even to have
i clear view ut his face. But | knew
him 10y his height, by the neatly braided
coat, the dchcately tinted trousers, the
well-pOIsed hat, and, last but not lea>t,
the umbrella. lie was holding his hands
behind his back, and i'll one OF them the
precious article WAS firmly elapsed. \ e.,
there 1t was, onyx handle mounting, and
all. As looked, Il sudden idea took
possession OF mc,-a foolish idea, | adj
nit, as it could hardly LEAD to a practi-
cal result. But | thought if could on
ly get the umbrella out OF his hand in
some way, and run off with it, that he,
seeing it the possession of Il friend would
give up the chase, knowing that he would
recover his property tue next day. AT
the worst, the result would only be day
) OF my freak.
No sooner thought than done. On
the pavement, | espled 4 piece Of clean
straw, well adapted for the purpose l
had in view. Picking it up, proceeded
,..," with Sprucngton's right ear
The experiment answered admirably.
Thinking it, suppose, to be a trouble.
some fly, he raised his hand to brush off
the assallant. But to do this, lie was
compelled to shift the umbrella from his
right hand to his left The moment ol
the transterence was enough Tor me.
Before the fingers Of his left hand could