"Cut it," shouted the officer. And before Jimmy could get further,

Alfred resumed with fresh vehemence.

"He's supposed to be a friend of mine," he explained to the officer, as

he nodded toward the wriggling Jimmy. "He was all right when I left him

a few months ago."

"You'll think I'm all right again," shouted Jimmy, trying to get free

from the officer, "before I've finished telling all I----"

"That won't help any," interrupted the officer firmly, and with another

twist of Jimmy's badly wilted collar he turned to Alfred with his most

civil manner, "What shall I do with him, sir?"

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"I don't know," said Alfred, convinced that his friend was a fit subject

for a straight jacket. "This is horrible."

"It's absurd," cried Zoie, on the verge of hysterics, and in utter

despair of ever disentangling the present complication without

ultimately losing Alfred, "you're all absurd," she cried wildly.

"Absurd?" exclaimed Alfred, turning upon her in amazement, "what do you

mean?"

"It's a joke," said Zoie, without the slightest idea of where the joke

lay. "If you had any sense you could see it."

"I DON'T see it," said Alfred, with hurt dignity.

"Neither do I," said Jimmy, with boiling resentment.

"Can you call it a joke," asked Alfred, incredulously, "to have our

boy----" He stopped suddenly, remembering that there was a companion

piece to this youngster. "The other one!" he exclaimed, "our other

boy----" He rushed to the crib, found it empty, and turned a terrified

face to Zoie. "Where is he?" he demanded.

"Now, Alfred," pleaded Zoie, "don't get excited; he's all right."

"How do you know?" asked the distracted father.

Zoie did not know, but at that moment her eyes fell upon Jimmy, and as

usual he was the source of an inspiration for her.

"Jimmy never cared for the other one," she said, "did you, Jimmy?"

Alfred turned to the officer, with a tone of command. "Wait," he said,

then he started toward the bedroom door to make sure that his other

boy was quite safe. The picture that confronted him brought the hair

straight up on his head. True to her promise, and ignorant of Jimmy's

return with the first baby, Aggie had chosen this ill-fated moment to

appear on the threshold with one babe on each arm.




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