ne."

"And Miss Meade has just told you that you will please her most by
keeping away from her at all times," replied Darrin quietly but firmly.

"What? After all the good times she and I have enjoyed together?"
demanded Ardmore, as though astounded beyond measure.

"I? Good times with you?" cried Belle, her cheeks flaming. "I've never
even spoken to you when I could avoid it."

"That's false!" cried young Ardmore hotly.

"Stop, right there!" warned Dave Darrin in a quieter voice than ever,
though his face paled swiftly. "Did I understand you to remark that Miss
Meade had made a false statement?"

"You did!"

Whack! Darrin's clenched right fist caught the fop on the temple, felling
him to the ground.

"Go right on to Laura's, Belle," begged Dave quickly. "I'll be
along soon."

Miss Meade walked rapidly ahead.

Ardmore was on his feet in an instant. Not wanting in a certain amount
of animal courage, he rushed at Dave, only to be met with a blow in
the mouth that floored him again. The fop's lip was cut and bleeding
when he rose.

"You cur!" bellowed the fellow.

"The opinion of a person like you can't matter very much," Dave
retorted coolly.

A little crowd was beginning to gather. Dave's pallor increased, for his
very soul writhed at the thought of having Belle's name involved in a
brawl in this fashion.

"You're a--" began Ardmore, but Dave Darrin moved quickly up to him.

"Do you retract the statement you made?" demanded the midshipman in a
low voice.

"I retract nothing," quivered Ardmore. "I repeat, and repeat--"

Dave closed in like lightning, Ardmore attempted to guard himself, but he
was all but helpless before such a fast, trained hitter as Dave. The fop
went down under two well-aimed blows delivered almost together.

Once more Ardmore leaped to his feet, while Darrin disdainfully
awaited him.

But two or three men in the crowd leaped between the enemies, forcing
the fop back.

"Don't be a fool, Ardmore!" urged one of the men, speaking in the
fellow's ear. "That's Midshipman Dave Darrin, and he's one of the
quickest, hardest hitters in Gridley."

"Oh, that's the midshipman, is it?" demanded Ardmore in a sneering voice.
"Oh, well, then, I won't hit him again. I know another way of making his
skin smart."

Dave tarried only long enough to make sure that the fop did not care to
carry the encounter further. Then, turning on his heel, he walked rapidly
in the direction Belle had taken.