152 The Cop and the Anthem
"Oh, is it?" sneered Soapy, adding insult to petit larceny. "Well, why don't you call a policeman ? I took it. Your umbrella ! Why don't you call a cop ? There stands one on the
��corner."
��The umbrella owner slowed his steps. Soapy did likewise, with a presentiment that luck would again run against him. The police- man looked at the two curiously.
"Of course," said the umbrella man "that is well, you know how these mistakes occur I if it's your umbrella I hope you'll excuse me I picked it up this morning in a restaurant if you recognize it as yours, why -I hope you'll-
"Of course it's mine," said Soapy vi- ciously, a
The ex-umbrella man retreated. The policeman hurried to assist a tall blonde in an opera cloak across the street in front of a street car that was approaching two blocks away.
Soapy walked eastward through a street damaged by improvements. He hurled the umbrella wrathfully into an excavation. He muttered against the men who wear helmets and carry clubs. Because he wanted to fall
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