"Alfred!" called Zoie sharply. She was half out of bed in her anxiety.

"You'll do no such thing. 'Phone down to the boy to send her away. She's

crazy."

"Oh," said Alfred, "then she's been here before? Who is she?"

"Who is she?" answered Zoie, trying to gain time for a new inspiration.

"Why, she's--she's----" her face lit up with satisfaction--the idea had

arrived. "She's the nurse," she concluded emphatically.

"The nurse?" repeated Alfred, a bit confused.

"Yes," answered Zoie, pretending to be annoyed with his dull memory.

"She's the one I told you about, the one I had to discharge."

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"Oh," said Alfred, with the relief of sudden comprehension; "the crazy

one?"

Aggie and Zoie nodded their heads and smiled at him tolerantly, then

Zoie continued to elaborate. "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.

"Calm yourself, madam," he commanded with a superior air. "We are very

sorry for you, of course, but we can't have you coming here and going on

like this. He's OUR baby and----"




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