Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-12-09
BLUE. UMBRELLA. "A
BY LIZZIE M. PEABODY
-

and faced about.
"'Tis blue umbrella all day long,
and dream of it at night" she cried
out impatiently. II hated to carry the
faded old thing anyway, and now
there has been so much trouble about
It I'll never carry 1t again, even If you
and It." s,y. .-l..
Then she returned to her stitching
with sob in her throat, while Aunt
Polly resumed her monologue,
IF Annette returned the umbrella,
where is itY' she asked with an air of
triumph. The thin, trembling lips
tightened as she continued: Those
Plumbs! They're such q careless,
happy-golucky, shiftless lot. I have
determined that neither Annette nor
her brother, Stacy. shall come here
again with my consent until that um-
brella is found"
Don't worry!" Eileen returned qui-'
etly. II don't thinl: they want to
come" i -c..
when lending the umbrella to, An
nette Eileen had whispered: Return
it as soon as possible, dearie; Aunt
Polly values It for the sake Of bygone
associations And careless little An.
nette, their neighboI. had promised
with, a sweet little giggle to return 1t
within "a hours, ~
Ever since that time she had stoutly
maintained that she brought back the
/ umbrella the night of Eileen's candy
party, and that she had set It in the
corner of the little entry at the foot
Of the stairway. 70. D.. ...a.
That was three months ago, and
Stacy and Annette had ceased TO visit
| the WaYerlys;, for Aunt Polly, al
though constantly forgetting things OF
greater importance, always remem.
| bered to ask each. time she saw them
| IL the umbrella had been found yet,
and fair-mlnded 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,
J. =
Eileen had grown pale and thin,
Stacy had gone to e. distant city TO
work. Annette now greeted Eileen
very coldly, and Aunt Polly, tiresome-
ly insistent, still asked daily:, IF An
nette brought back that umbrella,
where is itp" ....... -.
| Then, one partcu arly bright and
warm morning, Aunt Polly told Eileen
that 1t would be q Hne time to put
things to rights In the attic. and Eileen
gathered pals, brooms, brushes and
| soap, and sang Sat her work. She
jerked up the cover Of the large box
In which they kept the extra bedding
| q, Her brown eyes wilened in surprise
as something went crashing to the
floor, and with a little scream Of Joy
she seized the old blue umbrella and
hugged it closely. No one could com,
plain Of lack Of color in Eileens
cheeks now as, clutChlng 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 1t In turn expressed sur,
prise, pleasure and-yes-chagrin.
. "Why, Eileen! You have found the
umbrella" she cried family.
"But, Eileen, where did you find itP
she asked, breathlegsly. And then
again, with a slight wrinkling Of her
forehead, "Who coul1 have placed II
in the boxT II wonder" was all that
Eileen said. s~ ..:
/ 1t happened that STACY came home
the next day for a short visit, an6
after. Eileen had told her story. he re
manned silent for a moment.
"Eileen !" he cried at: last, "don''
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 / struck the pile
| Oh QulllS Wuo NohiyAhS oboASe NA>
rail at the foot Of the stairway?
dropped some Of them and had tt
stoop to pick them up again. .
"You called out to me to hurry and
get the bedding in the box up to th'
attic, as the guests were beginning tc
come. ~ ....
"I hurried and I must have first
Knocked down the umbrella, and then
1 must have picked it up among the
quilts"
Then with q cheerful grin he re
remarked: "Your Aunt Pollyll say, =
told you so! Just Plurab careless
ness" .....
But Aunt Polly received the expla
nation very quietly and not at all as
she was expected to. Afterward Eli
leen found her crying softly. ...
Forgive me, Ely" she sobbed
"Oh, have been so hateful. remem
ber now that I placed the umbrells
among the folds Of the comforters, In
tending to take 1t upstairs myself, and
then l forgot all about it. And, Ely
1 thought perhaps you knew where II
was and wouldn't tell me. Well
g-g-give the umbrella to the junkman,