100 BILL HOOD. 



come to meet her and Willie did not have an/ doubt 

 on the subject. 



"Oh, Willie," said Aunt Lucy, as soon as she could 

 get a breath and had brushed her loose hair out of her 

 eyes, "you are a love of a boy and so I always told 

 Mary," that was Willie's mother. "Jump over the 

 ditch and let me have that umbrel', quick." 



But instead of rushing towards her, Willie slid 

 over back of the stone, taking the green cotton um- 

 brella with him. 



"My sakes alive!" said Aunt Lucy, "what do you 

 mean, child? Don't you see I am getting wet and 

 spoiling every stitch of clothes on me? I'm a fright. 

 Come here this minute and give me that umbrel' or I'll 

 spank you until you'll see more stars than there are in 

 the Yankee flag." 



As W r illie did not move she dropped her skirts, 

 jumped the ditch and made a dash for him. He 

 dodged around the stone and hopped onto the road. 

 Just then there was a lull in the rain, but it could be 

 plainly seen that there was more coming. This led 

 to a parley, and, as the story was told to me, Willie 

 proposed trading the umbrella for the buck-horn 

 handled knife. Aunt Lucy would not hear of it, so 

 Willie said he would go home and take the umbrella 

 with him. Just then the rain started again and Aunt 

 Lucy surrendered. Willie closed the umbrella and, 

 after tossing it across the ditch, started for home on a 

 run. Aunt Lucy also learned on reaching home that 

 her husband had sent Willie with an umbrella, which 

 he had brought from town, to meet her while he went 

 to the pasture to get the cows up before the storm. 

 Aunt Lucv was what they termed "riled," in that 



