The last he saw of them they were walking away in the rain eating bread and butter. And they took off their hats so the rain ran down and slid off on the bangs of their foreheads. Hatrack the Horse turned to the umbrellas and said, “We know how to make a surprise party when we get a visit from the Babylonian Baboons with their bangs falling down their foreheads—don’t we?” That is what happened, as Hatrack the Horse told it to the night policeman in the Village of Cream Puffs. [Illustration] [Illustration] How Six Umbrellas Took Off Their Straw Hats to Show Respect to the One Big Umbrella Wherever Dippy the Wisp went she was always changing hats. She carried two hat boxes with big picture hats on her _right_ arm. And she carried two hat boxes with big picture hats on her _left_ arm. And she changed from green and gold hats to purple and gray hats and then back to green and gold whenever she felt like it. Now the hill that runs down from the shanty of Hatrack the Horse toward the Village of Cream Puffs is a long, long hill. And one morning the old man sat watching and away down at the bottom of the long, long hill he saw four hat boxes. Somebody was coming to call on him. And he knew it was Dippy the Wisp. The hat boxes came up the hill. He saw them stop once, stop twice, stop more times. So he knew Dippy the Wisp was changing hats, changing from green and gold to purple and gray and then back to green and gold. When at last she got to the top of the hill and came to the shanty of Hatrack the Horse, she said to him, “Make up a story and tell me. Make up the story about umbrellas. You have traveled all over the Rootabaga Country, you have seen so many umbrellas, and such wonderful umbrellas. Make me up a big elegant story about umbrellas.” So Hatrack the Horse took his hat _off_ his head, reached around and hung it _on_ one of the shoulder bones sticking out behind on his back. And the old man looked with a faraway look down the long, long hill running from his shanty toward the Village of Cream Puffs. Then he told her this story: One summer afternoon I came home and found all the umbrellas sitting in the kitchen, with straw hats on, telling each other who they are. The umbrella that feeds the fishes fresh buns every morning stood up and said, “I am the umbrella that feeds the fishes fresh buns every morning.” The umbrella that fixes the clocks free of charge stood up and said, “I am the umbrella that fixes the clocks free of charge.” The umbrella that peels the potatoes with a pencil and makes a pink ink with the peelings, stood up and said, “I am the umbrella that peels the potatoes with a pencil and makes a pink ink with the peelings.” The umbrella that eats the rats with pepper and salt and a clean napkin every morning, stood up and said, “I am the umbrella that eats the rats with pepper and salt and a clean napkin every morning.”