"Madam," inquired Darrin, half turning, "may I have the pleasure
of escorting you to your friends?"

"If you will call a taxi-----" she began, eagerly.

At that moment a fareless taxicab turned the corner of Broadway
and came slowly down the street.

"Hold on, chauffeur!" cried Darrin, in a voice of command. Then,
as the cab stopped at the curb, Dave turned his back upon the
tormentor for a moment, while he assisted the young woman into
the taxicab.

"Do you feel satisfied to go without escort," asked Darrin, "or
may I offer my services in seeing you safely to your home?"

"I shall be all right now," replied the young woman, the troubled
look in her lustrous brown eyes vanishing as she favored her unknown
defender with a smile. "If the driver will stop, two blocks from
here, I will direct him where to take me."

"Step aside, boy!" ordered the unknown man, as he tried to brush
Dave away and enter the cab.

It was no time for gentle measures. Ensign Darrin's right fist
landed heavily on the face of the stranger, sending him prone to
the sidewalk.

At a wave of Dave's hand the chauffeur started away. Scenting
trouble, the chauffeur drove as fast as he could down the side