"Mr. Chase! Come quick!"
Then she fainted, just as Tod reached her.
THE AGONIZED SCREAM OF A MOTHER ROBBED OF HER YOUNG.
But poor Mrs. Hughes had heard the shriek and she answered it with one even more terrible—the agonized scream of a mother robbed of her young. Suddenly possessed of almost superhuman strength, she left the bed and staggered to the door while Tod, panicstricken, was dashing cold water into Paula's face, trying to revive her.
The policeman entered with his pathetic burden and laid the child gently on the bed.
"We've rung for an ambulance," he explained, "but——"
A fierce, hysterical outburst interrupted him. The wretched mother snatched her child from his grasp and, fondling it to her almost naked breast, tried with wild, staring eyes and trembling hands to find its injuries. Not understanding, unable to help, crushed under the awful weight of this supreme blow which had stricken her, she frantically kissed the child's white face and called upon her by name.
The tall, thin man in the linen duster advanced, felt the child's pulse, and then tried to lead the mother away.