The effect of the alarum was instantaneous.
"Boo-hoo!" yelled the little girl, and broke into a paroxysm of weeping.
"Little girl—"
"Boo-hoo! Take me home. I want mammy!"
"Boo-hoo! I want mammy!"
"Dear me," cried Mr. Fogo wildly, "this is the most appalling situation in which I have ever been placed." He thought of running away, but his humanity forbade it. At length the alarum ran down; but the child continued to scream—
"I want mammy! Take me home!"
"Hush! hush! She shall go to mammy—ickle tootsey shall go to mammy. Did-ums want-ums mammy?" shouted Mr. Fogo, with an idiotic effort to soothe.
But it was useless. The screams merely increased in volume. Mr. Fogo, leaning against the hedge, mopped his brow and looked helplessly around.