He overtook that young lady before she
reached the Bentley home.

[Illustration: Darrin's Blow Felled the Fop to the Ground.]

"If the fellow intends to trouble you again, I hope he'll do it before
my leave is finished," spoke Dave quietly. "I think I've given him a
little lesson, Belle, though there's no telling how long it will last
with inferior animals of Ardmore's type."

"He's a spiteful fellow, Dave. You must be on your guard against him,"
Belle urged.

"I guess Ardmore is wishing his own guard had been more effective,"
smiled the midshipman.

Caspar Ardmore was "busy" within an hour after Dave's summary handling of
him. Ardmore had never been considered a truly bad fellow, though he was
foppish, conceited and wholly unable to understand why anything that he
wanted should be denied him. Belle was now two years beyond her High
School days, and had developed into a most attractive young woman.
Ardmore had fallen victim to her charms and had decided that he would
make a better husband for her than any Naval officer could. Hence the
young dandy had pursued Miss Meade with his attentions; upon finding her
with Dave, he had hoped, in his foolish way, to put an end to Darrin's
pretensions.

Ardmore, therefore, having met only disaster, was now engaged in drawing
up a complaint to be sent to the Secretary of the Navy, complaining that
he had been set upon and treated with severe physical violence by
Midshipman Darrin.

Nor was there great difficulty in finding three men, out of the small
crowd that had witnessed the assault, to swear to affidavits that they
had seen Darrin knock Caspar Ardmore down repeatedly.

All this "evidence" Ardmore got together with great relish, and mailed
the mass of stuff, that same night, to the Secretary of the Navy at
Washington.

Then Ardmore went out of town for three days. Behind him he left an
active toady who promised to keep watch of matters and to advise him.

It was through this toady that Dave received an intimation that his case
would be attended to at Washington. Belle, also, received a hint, and
with it she went to Darrin.

"Can the fellow really make any trouble for you, Dave?" she asked
anxiously.

"Why, yes," admitted Dave. "Anyone can make trouble for a midshipman, to
the extent that the charge must be investigated by the Navy Department.
If the Secretary were satisfied that I am a reckless sort of bully, he
would decide that I am unfit to be an officer of the