Lena had a coffee kiosk at Elm Street station. She also sold umbrellas from a rack by the bench.
On every rainy day, at half past three, one umbrella disappeared. The next dry morning it was back, folded, with a note: "Borrowed with thanks." Lena thought, "A thief with good manners!"
She tied a little bell to a bright pink umbrella. On the next rainy day, at half past three, the bell rang. Lena ran after the sound to the school gate.
There old Mr. Petrov, the retired stationmaster, was walking children to the bus under the pink umbrella, two at a time. "I cannot watch a child get wet," he said.
Lena did not call the police. She hung a sign on the rack: "Free umbrellas. Bring back when dry." And she gave the pink umbrella to Mr. Petrov.
