"You see," she said, "the poor
creature was so insane about little Jimmy that I couldn't go near
the child."
"What!" exclaimed Alfred in a mighty rage. "I'll soon tell the
boy what to do with her," he declared, and he rushed to the
'phone. Barely had Alfred taken the receiver from the hook when
the outer door was heard to bang. Before he could speak a
distracted young woman, whose excitable manner bespoke her
foreign origin, swept through the door without seeing him and
hurled herself at the unsuspecting Zoie. The woman's black hair
was dishevelled, and her large shawl had fallen from her
shoulders. To Jimmy, who was crouching behind an armchair, she
seemed a giantess.
"My baby!" cried the frenzied mother, with what was unmistakably
an Italian accent. "Where is he?" There was no answer; her eyes
sought the cradle. "Ah!" she shrieked, then upon finding the
cradle empty, she redoubled her lamentations and again she bore
down upon the terrified Zoie.
"You," she cried, "you know where my baby is!"
For answer, Zoie sank back amongst her pillows and drew the bed
covers completely over her head. Alfred approached the bed to
protect his young wife; the Italian woman wheeled about and
perceived a small child in his arms. She threw herself upon him.
"I knew it," she cried; "I knew it!"
Managing to disengage himself from what he considered a mad
woman, and elevating one elbow between her and the child, Alfred
prevented the mother from snatching the small creature from his
arms.
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