CHAPTER VI
NAT ON LAKE ERIE
Nat was so completely astonished by the unexpected appearance of hisuncle and guardian, that for the moment he did not know what to say ordo.
"Thought you was goin' to run away, didn't you?" continued AbnerBalberry, with a gleam of triumph in his small eyes.
"Let go of me," answered Nat, trying to pull away.
"I ain't a-goin' to, Nat Nason. You're a-goin' back with me, an' on thenext train."
"I'm not going back, Uncle Abner."
"What!"
"I said I'm not going back, so there," repeated Nat, desperately. "Youdon't treat me half decently, and I'm going to strike out for myself."
"Jest to hear the boy! You are a-goin' back. Nice doin's, I must say!What did you mean by trying to burn down the barn?"
"Burn down the barn?"
"That's wot I said."
"I never burned down any barn. Is the barn burned down?"
"No; because I put out the fire."
"When was this?"
"You know well enough."
"I don't know a word about it, Uncle Abner."
"You set the barn afire."
"Never!"
"You did! An' you've got to go back."
"Uncle Abner, I never set fire to a thing," gasped Nat. "I left becauseyou worked me to death, and because you wouldn't let me have my supper.After this, I'm going to earn my own living in my own way."
"You're goin' back," snarled the farmer.
For answer, Nat gave a sudden jerk and pulled himself from his uncle'sgrasp. Then he started to run from the depot at his best speed.
"Hi! stop!" yelled the farmer. "Stop thet boy. I'm his guardian, and heis runnin' away from me."
The cry was taken up on all sides, and soon a crowd of a dozen men andboys were in pursuit of Nat, who by this time had reached the street.
Nat had always been fleet of foot, and now a new fear lent strength tohis flying feet. He was accused of setting fire to the barn! Perhaps hisuncle would have him arrested and sent to prison.
"He shan't do it," he muttered. "I must get away, somehow."
Down one street after another went poor Nat, with the crowd behind himgrowing steadily larger. Some thought they were after a thief, and somea murderer, and soon two policemen joined in the chase.
Coming to an alley way, Nat darted through it to a side street, and thenaround a corner to a thoroughfare leading down to the docks. This threwthe crowd off the trail for a moment, and gave him a brief breathingspell.
Reaching the docks fronting the lake, the boy came to a halt. Not faroff was a steamboat, getting ready to cast off.
"Where does that boat go to?" he asked of a man standing near.
"That's the boat for Buffalo," was the answer.
"And when does she leave?"
"She is getting ready to leave now."
"Then that's the boat I want," came from Nat, and he rushed to the endof the dock, and up the gangplank with all speed. A moment later thegangplank was withdrawn, and the steamboat started on her trip down LakeErie.
Trembling with excitement, Nat entered the cabin, and from the windowlooked back to the dock they had just left. It was not long before hebeheld Abner Balberry and several others, on the dock, gazing up anddown in perplexity. They did not know whether the boy was on the boat,or in hiding close by.
"What a narrow escape!" thought Nat, when the dock had faded from view."In another minute Uncle Abner would have collared me, sure."
"Had to run pretty hard to catch the boat, didn't you?" remarked a mansitting beside him.
"Yes," answered Nat.
"Bound for Buffalo, I suppose."
"Yes."
"First visit to that city?"
"Yes."
"Well, it's a fine city to visit, I can tell you. Of course you'll runup to look at Niagara Falls?"
"I hadn't thought of that."
"It's not very far away, you know. The trolley cars run from Buffalo tothe Falls and back."
"Then I'll certainly have to go up and look at the Falls," answered theboy.
He was too excited to make up his mind just what to do next, and sowalked away from the man. Finding a secluded corner of the deck, he satdown on a camp stool to think the situation over.
The fact that his uncle believed he had tried to burn down the barnfilled him with alarm. Certainly, the building must have been set onfire, but who had done the base deed?
"Perhaps that man I took to be Uncle Abner!" he cried to himself. Up tothe present time he had forgotten about seeing that individual in thesemi-darkness while on the way to get the cow.
The weather was warm and pleasant, and had Nat been less disturbed inmind he would have enjoyed the trip on Lake Erie thoroughly. Even as itwas, he gazed at the great lake in wonder.
"If this is only a lake, what must the ocean be!" he mused. "When I getto New York, I'll have to take a trip to Coney Island, or some otherocean beach."
The boat Nat was on carried more freight than passengers, and made halfa dozen landings before Buffalo was reached. But the boy thought thecraft one of the best on the lake, and wandered over her from end to endwith great interest. At noon he purchased a light lunch, and at suppertime a sandwich and a glass of milk.
"They charge pretty stiff prices on a boat," he thought, after payingover his money. "I've got to live cheaper after this, or I'll be abeggar before I settle down and find something to do."
It was dark when Buffalo was reached, and here Nat was more bewilderedthan he had been on arriving at Cleveland. He followed the crowd up fromthe dock to one of the main streets, and then stood on a corner, notknowing which way to turn, or what to do next.
"What a terrible lot of people and cars!" was his mental comment. "It'senough to make a fellow's head swim."
He felt that it would be useless to try to do anything that night, andso looked around for a cheap lodging house. Soon he found a place wherebeds could be had for twenty-five cents a night, and he entered.
"I'll take a bed," he said to the clerk at the desk.
"All right; twenty-five cents." And as the money was passed over, theclerk continued: "Leave your valuables at the desk."
"Valuables?" repeated Nat. "You mean my watch?"
"You may leave it if you wish, and your money too."
"No; I'll keep them on me," answered the boy.
He was conducted to an elevator, and soon found himself on the fifthstory of the building. Here was a big room containing twenty cots, tenon each side.
"Here you are; No. 134," said the attendant, and left him.
On several of the cots some men were already sleeping. They were notpleasant-appearing individuals, and a few of them smelt strongly ofliquor.
"This isn't so nice," thought Nat. "But it's cheap, and that'ssomething."
Before retiring, he placed his bundle and his clothing under his pillow,and stowed away his watch and money on his person.
Nat's actions were closely watched by a man who occupied the next cot onthe left. He was a seedy individual, with a face that was horriblypockmarked.
"Reckon he's got a dollar or two," thought this man, who was known amonghis associates by the name of Checkers.
Despite his surroundings, Nat slept soundly throughout the night, andcontinued to sleep long after the sun came up.
While it was still early, Bob Checkers arose, dressed himself, andslipped over to the sleeping boy's side. Making certain that nobody waswatching him, the fellow began a rapid search of Nat's clothing, andafterwards of the lad's person.
Soon he came in contact with a small roll of bills, which Nat, in thebelief that they would be quite secure, had placed in a pocket of hisshirt. A thrill of delight shot through the fellow as his hand touchedthem.
"Dis is de best yet!" he murmured to himself, and placing the bills inhis own pocket, he left the lodging house almost on a run.