"I guess I've got somethin' here that you folks need in your
business," he called, nodding toward the now utterly demoralised
Jimmy.
"Jimmy!" exclaimed Aggie, having at last got her breath.
"The Joker!" cried Alfred, bearing down upon the panting Jimmy
with a ferocious expression.
"I caught him slipping down the fire-escape," explained the
officer.
"Again?" exclaimed Aggie and Alfred in tones of deep reproach.
"Jimmy," said Alfred, coming close to his friend, and fixing his
eyes upon him in a determined effort to control the poor
creature's fast failing faculties, "you know the truth of this
thing. You are the one who sent me that telegram, you are the
one who told me that I was a father."
"Well, aren't you a father?" asked Aggie, trying to protect her
dejected spouse.
"Of course I am," replied Alfred, with every confidence, "but I
have to prove it to the officer. Jimmy knows," he concluded.
Then turning to the uncomfortable man at his side, he demanded
imperatively, "Tell the officer the truth, you idiot. No more of
your jokes. Am I a father or am I not?"
"If you're depending on ME for your future offspring," answered
Jimmy, wagging his head with the air of a man reckless of
consequences, "you are NOT a father."
"Depending on YOU?" gasped Alfred, and he stared at his friend in
bewilderment. "What do you mean by that?"
"Ask them," answered Jimmy, and he nodded toward Zoie and Aggie.
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