The mother has just realized what the old man has been up to all along: he is a con artist who steals people's umbrellas and goes out into the street, where he accosts unsuspecting passersby and offers to sell them an umbrella in exchange for taxi fare. Once he has pocketed the money, he does not hail a taxi, but instead heads off to the nearest pub for a triple whiskey. There, he steals yet another umbrella.

The young girl's mother is the latest to fall victim to the Umbrella Man's con. It is her daughter who first notes that the old man is quite nimble on his feet for someone who claimed to have weak legs. After this, the girl's mother realizes what the Umbrella Man is up to and that his elaborate con is dependent on the presence of abundant rain. After all, it's only on such rainy days that people are likely to need an umbrella. This why the girl's mother says that she "bet[s] he prays like mad for rainy days." He knows that the more rain there is, the more opportunities there will be for him to pull his scam on unsuspecting members of the public.