Again, if you should happen to carry an umbrella of the vast blue
style--to your own disgust and the amusement of the multitude--and,
under such circumstances, you meet a particular lady friend, your best
course will be to pass rapidly by, screening yourself from observation
as much as possible.
It would also be awkward should the day be windy, and, as you advance
with a winning smile to offer an asylum to the _stricken dear,_ the
umbrella should blow inside out.
The poet has raised the umbrella still higher by making it the symbol of
the marriage tie. He says,
"Just as to a big umbrella
Is the handle when 'tis raining.
So unto a man is woman.
Though, the handle bears the burden,
'Tis the top keeps all the rain off;
Though the top gets all the wetting,
'Tis the handle still supports it.
So the top is good for nothing
If there isn't any handle;
And the case holds _vice versa_."
All will appreciate the delicate pathos of the simile. Speaking of
similes reminds us that there is one on Broadway. An enterprising
merchant has for his sign an American eagle carrying an umbrella.
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