The Washington herald., 1910-05-29

OF that. It's the best thing you can
do now"
Horatio followed straight line to the
nearest loan Office, laid three quarters
on the counter and said succinctly.
'Umbrella-best you got for that"
The man passed one out to him. He
grabbed IT and made "A dash for home
and COrdelia-his brain fairly buz-
zlng with its effort 10 frame tale to
! meet requirements.
Cordelia herself came to the door
when she heard his key wavering over
the Yale lock
"Oh. Horatio, how wet you must be,
You're late, too Are you cold? Are your
feet dnmp? What a terrible night, Let
me take your umbrella, Why. Horatio.
how odd you look! Has anything hap
pened? Give me your umbrella, Horatio %
Oh. yes, the umbrella, Of course, How
! absent-minded Of him 10 be holding Il
behind his back that way Well. ne
might as well make the plunge and de-
pend for salvation on the inspiration OF
the moment. He handed It over and
braced himself.
Cordelia opened the kitchen door-and
stood the umbrella In the sink Just Ike
that, And never a word said she Mr..
Dlbble. meanwhile. had started an ami
mated monoIogue touching on and apper-
tanning 10 every irrelevant subject under
the weeping heavens. Suddenly realizing
that Cordela showed no concern what
ever about the umbrella. he began 70
wonder If she were ul-on the verge Of
fever-Derhaps Unconscioust He glanced
al her sharply, She was placing upon the
table the hamburger steak. with onions,
20 all appearances quite as normal as
usual.
Horatio blinked. Could she have failed
20 notice the alien umbrella or was she
purposely bottling up the explosion, He
resolved 70 remove II 10 some more Sc
cluded spot where her eye would be less
likely to rest upon It, and thus tempo
rarily avert the verbal cataclysm. He
hastened 10 the sink
Now, remember that words have their
limitations and at best are feeble agents
of expression. To say that Mr.. HOratio
Dibble was electrified, galvanized, petri-
fed. and astouuded Is 10 convey but
scintilla Of his emotions as he gazed at
that umbrella In the sink, There were
Cordela's knobs upon II: that is 20 say,
the knobs on It's handle bore a strange
resemblance 10 the knobs on Cordelia's
gift There was droop about its broad
selvage that recalled the Grant one he so
carefully had stood IN the corner of the
(hushD bar He clapped his hand to his
forehead. The umbrella must be a-a-
a-mirage-a hgment or a dtsordered
brain-his brain-the aftermath Of those
two
He dashed forward and seized the
thing. His hand did not close upon thin
air. II was no dream. 1t was. on the
contrary, his own perfectly good UNI
brellal
Now all this had transpired in less than
two minutes. It takes so long 10 put
into numbering words these daramatic
moments that fash into our lives Mr..
Dibble's heart gave a mighty leap and
his feet did likewise. He resolved right
then and there never more 10 stray with
thirsty friends into the seductive by
paths Of mint juleps and cardamon seeds.
Never again, never again. never
again" he chanted beneath his breath,
as he curvetted across the room and
seized Cordelia just as she was decanting
the mashed tunips.
why. my dear Horatio" began Cor
della. helplessly waving the turnip spoon
as Mr., Dibble waltzed her about the
room. "Horatio, Have you been"
I have been thinking. Cordelia, dar-
ling broke in Mr.. Dibble hilariously,
how my having that umbrella tonight
that you gave me saved me from one Of
the worst storms Of the season.