teeming pavements of Times Square. He groaned to think that he
himself, by his conscientious labours, had helped to put this girl in
such a position that he could hardly dare approach her.

He would never have approached her again, on any pretext, if the
intensity of his thoughts had not caused him, unconsciously, to grip
the railing of the bridge with strong and angry hands. For at that
moment a sack was thrown over his head from behind and he was violently
seized by the legs, with the obvious intent of hoisting him over the
parapet. His unexpected grip on the railing delayed this attempt just
long enough to save him. Swept off his feet by the fury of the
assault, he fell sideways against the barrier and had the good fortune
to seize his enemy by the leg. Muffled in the sacking, it was vain to
cry out; but he held furiously to the limb he had grasped and he and
his attacker rolled together on the footway. Aubrey was a powerful
man, and even despite the surprise could probably have got the better
of the situation; but as he wrestled desperately and tried to rid
himself of his hood, a crashing blow fell upon his head, half stunning
him. He lay sprawled out, momentarily incapable of struggle, yet
conscious enough to expect, rather curiously, the dizzying sensation of
a drop through insupportable air into the icy water of the East River.
Hands seized him--and then, passively, he heard a shout, the sound of
footsteps running on the planks, and other footsteps hurrying away at
top speed. In a moment the sacking was torn from his head and a
friendly pedestrian was kneeling beside him.

"Say, are you all right?" said the latter anxiously. "Gee, those guys
nearly got you."

Aubrey was too faint and dizzy to speak for a moment. His head was
numb and he felt certain that several inches of it had been caved in.
Putting up his hand, feebly, he was surprised to find the contours of
his skull much the same as usual. The stranger propped him against his
knee and wiped away a trickle of blood with his handkerchief.

"Say, old man, I thought you was a goner," he said sympathetically. "I
seen those fellows jump you. Too bad they got away. Dirty work, I'll
say so."

Aubrey gulped the night air, and sat up. The bridge rocked under him;
against the star-speckled sky he could see the Woolworth Building
bending and jazzing like a poplar tree in a gale. He felt very sick.

"Ever so much obliged to you," he stammered. "