Now, had Jimmy been less perturbed during the latter part of this
commotion, he might have heard the bell of the outside door, which
had been ringing violently for some minutes. As it was, he was wholly
unprepared for the flying advent of Maggie.
"Oh, plaze, sir," she cried, pointing with trembling fingers toward
the babes in Jimmy's arms, "me fadder's coming right behind me. He's
a-lookin' for you sir."
"For me," murmured Jimmy, wondering vaguely why everybody on earth
seemed to be looking for HIM.
"Put 'em down, sir," cried Maggie, still pointing to the three babies,
"put 'em down. He's liable to wallop you."
"Put 'em where?" asked Jimmy, now utterly confused as to which way to
turn.
"There," said Maggie, and she pointed to the cradle beneath his very
eyes.
"Of course," said Jimmy vapidly, and he sank on his knees and strove to
let the wobbly creatures down easily.
Bang went the outside door.
"That's Pa now," cried Maggie. "Oh hide, sir, hide." And with that
disconcerting warning, she too deserted him.
"Hide where?" gasped Jimmy.
There was a moment's awful silence. Jimmy rose very cautiously from the
cradle, his eyes sought the armchair. It had always betrayed him. He
glanced toward the window. It was twelve stories to the pavement. He
looked towards the opposite door; beyond that was the mad Italian woman.
His one chance lay in slipping unnoticed through the hallway; he made
a determined dash in that direction, but no sooner had he put his head
through the door, than he drew it back quickly. The conversation between
O'Flarety and the maid in the hallway was not reassuring. Jimmy decided
to take a chance with the Italian mother, and as fast as he could, he
streaked it toward the opposite door. The shrieks and denunciations that
he met from this direction were more disconcerting than those of
the Irish father. For an instant he stood in the centre of the room,
wavering as to which side to surrender himself.
The thunderous tones of the enraged father drew nearer; he threw himself
on the floor and attempted to roll under the bed; the space between the
railing and the floor was far too narrow. Why had he disregarded Aggie's
advice as to diet? The knob of the door handle was turning--he vaulted
into the bed and drew the covers over his head just as O'Flarety,
trembling with excitement, and pursued by Maggie, burst into the room.
"Lave go of me," cried O'Flarety to Maggie, who clung to his arm in a
vain effort to soothe him, and flinging her off, he made straight for
the bed.