Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1884 — The Story of an Umbrella. [ARTICLE]

The Story of an Umbrella.

We were living up in the mountains and had quite a herd of cows, among them one, an old cow, who wore a bell. The cows had been missing for several days, and the boys were out searching, and one afternoon I thought I would try what I could do. So I mounted a pony and rode quite a distance, when I thought I heard the old cow’s bell. I dismounted and started to prowl around among the rocks and bushes. “It had been raining during the early part of the afternoon, and I had an umbrella. After I bad gone a short distance I caught a glimpse of the cows. As I started toward them, suddenly they lifted their heads, crooked their tails, and started away on a dead run. I was just wondering what frightened them, when I heard a rustling in the bushes behind me. “I turned around, and there, not ten feet away, was a big mountain lion standing on a rock staring at me. I assure you I never felt so bashful in all my life. I hadn’t a gun or even a jackknife, and there was that beast staring and getting ready for a spring. All at once I thought of my umbrella, and as quick as thought I raised that much borrowed article and spread it right in Mr. Lion’s face. He didn’t stop to examine, bnt made one great jump clear across the gorge, and when he lighted gave a yell that shook the hills. “I saw no more of him. When I got home the cows were there.”— Gen. H. F. Sickles, of Colorado.