St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-10-10

waterproof, and the umbrella put on
Mr.. Thompson's rubber coat and hat,
and taking Mr.. Thompson under his
arm, went to the front door to await
her coming 1t was then that poor Mr..
Thompson realized the bitterness OF be-
ing an umbrella.
To shield Miss Angelina from the rain
was in itself pleasure; but to be
obliged to listen to the chatter of the
odious umbrella which had taken his
shape, to see her leaning conidingly on
it's arm, and to hear it saying pretty
things to her, was too much. But he
was powerless, and he got through the
shopping somehow.
On the wav home it had stopped
raining, and the umbrella carried Mr..
Thompson under its arm at an angle OF
about forty-tive degrees, in imminent
danger of poking some ones eyes out
with his brass ferrule. Twice poor Mr..
Thompson was forgotten in dry-goods
store, once he was taken at the door by
an Objectionable little boy, and pushed
into rack with leather strap and
brass check around his neck, alongside
of umbrellas of high and low degree,
squeezed between natty dude, silk
covered, with silver head, and faded
plebeian green Bingham.
At last he was taken home, but in
stead of being taken upstairs to his
room, he was carelessly left IN the
boarding house hat-stand, while the
umbrella went into the parlor; present
" he was taken upstairs and stood IN
the corner to drip. He felt the water
slowly settling around his ankles, and
he knew that it was rotting the silk.
He was fast becoming desperate, when
| the door opened and in walked the
young man whose remark had been the
cause of all the trouble
Hello, Thompson" he said; Il
hope you don't bear any malice about
what said / know I'm
''Oh, don't mention it, said the
umbrella. which was sitting in Mr..
Thompson's fayorite chair, reading his
best editions of g Woods Natural His
tory "-''don't mention it. To show
you that I don't mind it, will make
you present of the umbrella :; and it
I glanced maliciously at MI. Thompson,
who was standing in the corner.
This was too much. To be given to
ones worst enemy by ones own UNI
brella was more than Mr.. Thompson
could stand. He made one mighty eff
fort and sprang for the wretched thing.
/ He grasped it round the ivory neck,
and extending it toward the young man
he almost shrieked: ''Here, take it; /
never want.to see it again.
! With his spring the relative positions
seemed changed. He suddenly found
himself standing midway between the
chair and the corner, with the curiously-
carved umbrella in his clutch The
Young man was near him, murmuring
d profusion of thanks.
That's all right" said Mr.. Thomp-
son, hurriedIy-' only take the thing
away and as the young man left the
room he muttered:
II hope he will change into an UNI
brella and stay so. !" Then he thought
what delight it would be to borrow and
lose him.
Now Mr.. Thompson carries an UNI
brella with plain wooden handle, and
preserves a mysterious silence in regard
to why he gave away his ivory-headed
umbrella. He, however, told the story,
under pledge OF secrecy, 10 MISS AHSe-
lima, who impaired it in strictest conf
dence TO five of the lady boarders, who
all told me, after had promised faith
fully never to breathe it to living soul
| So you must never tell anybody / told
you or you Will get me into trouble with
my old friend Thompson, who is still
rather sensitive about the fact that he
looks like his umbrella. Allan F0rna01e
In Harper's Young People.