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his jaw, he got to his feet and fled with his companion, just as a mounted policeman rode out from the park.
    In a few minutes, the officer had the traffic unsnarled, the bruised driver back in his seat, and everything under control.
    “It was those same men!” Trixie said emphatically, rubbing her elbow. “I told you I saw them in the park, Jim. The same ones who followed us last night. They’re thieves.”
    “What were they after?” the policeman asked.
    “My purse!” Trixie said indignantly.
    “I think not,” the old cab driver said. “Not a little girl’s purse. They have grander ideas than that, the rapscallions. They were like as not making a quick getaway from some job. They made off in a great hurry.”
    “They got into a car that was cruising along the Avenue. I saw them!” Ned said. “They brushed by our carriage and went north.”
    “The things that happen now in broad daylight!” the policeman said. “Everyone has sense enough to stay out of the park at night. But daylight! Are you all right, miss?”
    Trixie grimaced instead of answering.
    “Your knee is bleeding!” Honey cried, horrified. She used her handkerchief to try to stop the flow. “It’s a disgrace! Those men should be put in jail!” Honey looked at the policeman.
    “There’s little the officer can do,” the old driver put in. “Sure, they were a couple of crooks runnin’ away from a job. We just happened to be in the way. Shall I stop at the drugstore so you can get something for the young lady’s knee?”
    The policeman jotted down their names and where they lived, then moved on.
    “I think, instead, we’ll just go straight back to the apartment,” Brian told the driver. “I’ll look after your cuts there, Trixie. Some antiseptic and a bandage will do the trick.” Brian planned to be a doctor someday, and he was always eager to do first-aid work. “Does your knee hurt very much?”
    “Not too much,” Trixie sputtered, “but I’m mad clear through. I’ve ruined my brand-new pantyhose, and I’m afraid the afternoon is spoiled. I can’t go to the zoo looking like this! Please go without me, won’t you, Ned, Bob, Barbara?”
    “I don’t want to go anyplace till I’m sure you’re not badly hurt, Trixie,” Barbara declared firmly. “Heavens, bad things surely can happen in this city, as well as good things.”
    “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Barbara.”
    Dan helped her back into the carriage. “You can’t wear rose-colored glasses all the time—not in New York!”
    “You’re dead right, Dan,” Jim agreed. “I’m sure Trixie’s going to be all right, though. I’ll go back to the apartment with her... Brian, too. The rest of you go on to the zoo.”
    “Please do,” Trixie begged. “All I need is an antiseptic and some fresh stockings.”
    “I’ll go with you,” Honey insisted. “The rest of you can tell us about the zoo later.”

“It Isn’t Any Joke!” ● 5

    TRIXIE LIMPED SLIGHTLY as they left the cab at their apartment. “It did hurt you more than you admitted, didn’t it, Trixie?” Brian asked. “Sit down here and let me look at it. Say, the skin sure took a beating. It’s all off your knee. I’d better put a bandage on it as soon as I clean it thoroughly.”
    “Brian, it doesn’t hurt at all,” Trixie insisted. “Heavens, when you think of all the accidents Bobby has! I can’t remember him without a bandage on his body somewhere. The only thing that hurts me is thinking about those terrible men. And they got away! You landed a good punch on that shorter one, Jim. He’ll remember that for a while.”
    “You don’t suppose he could possibly have thought the horse was going to run away, do you, and really was a hero trying to stop him?” Honey’s face showed her concern.
    “Don’t waste any tears over him,” Trixie answered. “I saw the two men slinking along trying to hide behind the shrubbery just before we turned onto Fifth Avenue—you know I