Charlevoix county herald., 1919-09-12
BLUE UMBRELLA
BY LIZZIE M. PEABODY.

opiuoueu upOu the Swing ihuShihc 40
her Aunt Polly's voice shrilled mo-
notonously on and on.
With a sudden change of mood the
girl stopped the motion of the machine
and faced about.
"'Tis blue umbrella all day long,
and dream of 1t at night she cried
out impatiently. II hated to carry the
faded old thing anyway, and now
there has been SO much trouble about
II I'll never carry 1t again. even II you
find It,"
Then she returned to her stitching
with a sob In her throat. while Aunt
Polly resumed her monologue.
IF Annette returned the umbrella,
where Is it?' she asked with an air of
triumph. The thin. trembling lips
frightened as she continued: Those
Plumbs They're such careless,
happy go-lucky, shiftless lot. ! have
determined that neither Annette nor
her brother, Stacy, shall come here
again with my consent until that UNI
brella is found"
Don't worry" Eileen returned Qui-
city. ~ don't think they want to
come"
When lending the umbrella TO An
nette Eileen had whispered: Return
II as soon as possible, dearie; Aunt
Polly values 1t for the sake of bygone
associations" And careless little An
nette. their neighbor, had promised
IL IN rot
within "a hours.
Ever since that time she had stOutly
maintained that she brought back the
umbrella the night of Eileens candy
party, and that she had set 1t In the
corner of the little entry at the foot
of the stairway.
That was three months ago, and
Stacy and Annette had ceased to visit
the Waverlys; for Aunt Polly, al
though constantly forgetting things OF
greater Importance, always remem-
bered TO ask each time she saw them
If the umbrella had been found yet,
and fair-minded Eileen could not blame
them for remaining away. although
she missed them terribly.
When spring came the mystery was
as far from being solved as ever.
Eileen had grown pale and thin,
Stacy had gone TO distant city to
work. Annette now greeted Eileen
very coldly. and Aunt Polly, tiresOme-
ly lnsistent, still asked daily: IF An
nette brought back that umbrella,
where Is it?"
Then, one particularly bright and
warm morning Aunt Polly told Eileen
that II would be a fine time to put
things to rights in the attic, and Eileen
gathered pals, brooms, brushes and
soap, and sang at her work. She
jerked up the cover of the large box
In which they kept the extra bedding,
Her brown eyes widened In surprise
as something went crashing to the
floor and with little scream Of Joy
she seized the old blue umbrella and
Rugged 1t closely. No one could COM
plain of lack of color in Eileen's
cheeks now as, clutching tightly the
umbrella, she ran swiftly down the
stairs to the sitting room, where her
aunt rocked slowly back and forth by
the window.
"See what / found In the bedding
box" she shouted joyously, and Aunt
Polly's face turned slowly to an ashy
gray, while it in turn expressed sur
prise. pleasure and-yes-chagrln
"Why, Eileen! You have found the
umbrella" she cried family.
But, Eileen, where did you find IT'D"
she asked. breathlessly And then,
again, with slight wrinkling of her
forehead, "Who could have placed 1t
In the boxi" 81 wonder" was all that
Eileen said.
1t happened that Stacy came home
the next day for short visit. and
after Eileen had told her story he re-
manned silent for a moment.
Eileen" he cried at last, don't
you remember that we cleared out the
lower bedroom the night of the candy
party to make room for playing games?
And don't you remember that as
reached the entry l struck the pile
of quilts was carrying against the
rail at the foot of the stairway? 1
dropped some of them and had to
stoop to pick them up again.
You called out to me to hurry and
get the bedding In the box up to the
attic, as the guests were beginning to
come.
II hurried and l must have first
knocked down the umbrella, and then
must have picked 1t up among the
quilts"
Then with q cheerful grin Ge re-
remarked: "Your Aunt Polly'il y, 4
told you so! Just Plumb careless
ness"
But Aunt Polly received the expla-
nation very quietly and not ut all as
she was expected to. Afterward Ell
leen found her crying softly.
Forgive me, Ely" she sobbed.
"Oh, have been so hateful. I remem-
Der now that l placed the umbrella
among the folds of the comforters, in
tending to take 1t upstairs myself, and
then forgot all about IL. And, Ely,
thought perhaps you knew where It
uaS and uyo,,ldn,t foil mo uauI