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diff --git a/33282.txt b/33282.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..688ac49 --- /dev/null +++ b/33282.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6261 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Boy Pilot of the Lakes, by Frank V. Webster + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Boy Pilot of the Lakes + Nat Morton's Perils + +Author: Frank V. Webster + +Release Date: July 28, 2010 [EBook #33282] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY PILOT OF THE LAKES *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +[Illustration: cover of The Boy Pilot of the Lakes by Frank V. +Webster] + + + + +[Illustration: "SAM FELL INTO THE WATER."--Page 110.] + + + + +The Boy Pilot of the Lakes + +Or + +Nat Morton's Perils + + +BY FRANK V. WEBSTER + +AUTHOR OF "ONLY A FARM BOY," "BOB THE CASTAWAY," "TOM THE +TELEPHONE BOY," "THE YOUNG FIREMEN OF LAKEVILLE," ETC. + +ILLUSTRATED + +NEW YORK +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + + + + +BOOKS FOR BOYS + +By FRANK V. WEBSTER + +12mo. Illustrated. Bound in cloth. + + ONLY A FARM BOY, Or Dan Hardy's Rise in Life + TOM THE TELEPHONE BOY, Or The Mystery of a Message + THE BOY FROM THE RANCH, Or Roy Bradner's City Experiences + THE YOUNG TREASURE HUNTER, Or Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska + BOB THE CASTAWAY, Or The Wreck of the Eagle + THE YOUNG FIREMEN OF LAKEVILLE, Or Herbert Dare's Pluck + THE NEWSBOY PARTNERS, Or Who Was Dick Box? + THE BOY PILOT OF THE LAKES, Or Nat Morton's Perils + TWO BOY GOLD MINERS, Or Lost in the Mountains + JACK THE RUNAWAY, Or On the Road with a Circus + +_Cupples & Leon Co., Publishers, New York_ + + + + +Copyright, 1909, by +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + +THE BOY PILOT OF THE LAKES + +Printed in U. S. A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I NAT SAVES A BOAT 1 + II A CRY FOR HELP 12 + III NAT'S BRAVE RESCUE 18 + IV GETTING A JOB 26 + V NAT IN TROUBLE 35 + VI AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY 42 + VII NAT HAS AN ACCIDENT 51 + VIII IN THE PILOT HOUSE 59 + IX A NARROW ESCAPE 67 + X SAM SHAW APPEARS 74 + XI CAPTAIN MARSHALL IS ANGRY 81 + XII THE INVESTIGATION 88 + XIII MAKING A CHANGE 95 + XIV A BLOW AND A RESCUE 103 + XV NAT HEARS SOME NEWS 113 + XVI JUST TOO LATE 120 + XVII PLANNING A CAPTURE 127 + XVIII NAT'S PLUCKY PILOTING 135 + XIX THE ACCUSATION 146 + XX OFF AGAIN 152 + XXI NAT INTERVENES 159 + XXII AFTER BUMSTEAD 166 + XXIII BUMSTEAD ESCAPES 173 + XXIV IN A COLLISION 182 + XXV BUMSTEAD'S ARREST--CONCLUSION 192 + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +"Sam fell into the water." frontispiece +"He fell to the floor of the hold" 58 +"The storm enveloped the vessel" 142 +"Shoot, then!" cried the mate 180 + + + + +The Boy Pilot of the Lakes + + + + +CHAPTER I + +NAT SAVES A BOAT + + +"There's a rowboat adrift!" exclaimed one of a group of men who stood +on the edge of a large pier at Chicago's water front. + +"Yes, and the steamer will sure smash it," added another. "She's +headed right for it! It's a wonder folks wouldn't learn to tie their +boats secure. Whose is it?" + +"I don't know. It's a good boat, though. Pity to see it knocked into +kindling wood." + +"That's right." + +The pilot of the big freight steamer, which was approaching her dock +after a voyage down Lake Michigan, also saw the drifting boat now, +and, doubtless thinking some one was in it, he pulled the whistle wire +sharply. A hoarse blast from the steamer's siren came across the +water. The signal was one of alarm. + +At the sound of it a boy, who had been sitting on a box at the edge of +the wharf, idly swinging his bare feet to and fro, looked up. He was a +lad about fifteen years old, with brown eyes and a pleasant face. +Though clean, his clothes--what few he had on--were very much patched. + +"Something's the matter," said the lad. "Something in the path of the +steamer, I guess," for he had been around the lake front so constantly +that he was a regular water-rat, and he knew what every whistle signal +meant. + +As the boy glanced out to where the steamer was he saw the rowboat, +almost in the path of the big vessel, for the pilot of the freighter +had shifted his wheel to avoid a collision, though changing his course +meant that he could not make as good a landing as he had expected. + +"Why, that rowboat's going to be smashed!" the boy exclaimed, +repeating the general opinion of the crowd. "The steamer can't get up +to the bulkhead without grinding it to pieces. There! He's reversing!" + +As he spoke there came across the narrow expanse of water the sound of +bells from the engine-room--bells that indicated, to the practiced ear +of the lad, the signal for the engineer to back the freight steamer. + +"That boat's worth saving," the boy murmured as he jumped off the box +and went closer to the end of the pier. "I'm going to do it, too. +Maybe I'll get a reward." + +He lost no time in useless thinking, but, throwing off his coat with +one motion and divesting himself of his trousers by another, he poised +himself for an instant on the stringpiece of the pier, clad in his +undergarments. + +"Here! What you going to do?" yelled a special officer who was +detailed on the pier. "Nobody allowed to commit suicide here!" + +"Who's going to commit suicide?" demanded the boy. "I'm going after +that rowboat." + +"The steamer'll run you down!" + +"Not much! Didn't you hear the reverse signal?" + +The officer had, but he did not know as much about boats and their +signals as did Nat Morton, which was the name of the lad about to leap +into the lake. + +In fact, the big steamer, which had slackened speed on approaching the +pier, was now slowly backing away. The action of the wind, however, +and the waves created by the propeller, operated to send the rowboat +nearer to the large vessel. + +With a splash Nat Morton dived into the lake, cleaving the water +cleanly. When he shot up to the surface a few seconds later he was +considerably nearer the boat, for he had swum under water as far as he +could, as it was easier and he could go faster. Few tricks in the +swimming or diving line were unknown to Nat Morton. + +"That's a plucky lad," observed one man to another. + +"Indeed he is," was the reply. "Who is he?" + +"I don't know much about him, except I see him along the lake and +river front every time a steamer comes in. What he doesn't know about +boats and the docks isn't worth knowing. They say he can tell almost +any of the regular steamers just by their whistles, before they can be +seen in a fog." + +"Well, he's a good diver, anyhow. Guess he'll save that boat, all +right. It's a nervy thing to do. He ought to get a reward." + +"So he had, but I don't suppose he will. Probably some sailor tied his +boat up while he went ashore, and the knot slipped. He'll never give +the boy anything." + +"Look! He's almost at her now." + +"So he is. Say, but he's a swift swimmer. I never saw any one who +could beat him." + +"Me either. There! He's in the boat and he's rowing her out of the +way." + +"That's right, and the crowd on the steamer is cheering him. Guess +that pilot's mad enough to chew nails. It'll take him ten minutes +longer to dock now, on account of that rowboat getting in his way." + +"Lots of pilots would have run right in, and not cared whether they +smashed the boat or not," said a third man, joining in the +conversation. + +"So they would, but John Weatherby isn't that kind. He's one of the +best and most careful pilots on the lake, but he's getting old. +Perhaps that's what makes him so careful." + +"Maybe; but now the steamer's coming in. The boy has the boat out of +the way. I've got to get my team. I'm expecting a big load this trip." + +"So am I," added the other two men, who were teamsters and freight +handlers. They separated to get ready for the unloading of the cargo, +which would soon follow the docking of the steamer, that was now +proceeding again after the delay caused by the drifting boat. + +In the meanwhile, Nat Morton had climbed into the small craft, and +finding a pair of oars under the seats, was propelling it toward a +float from which it had drifted. He had paid little attention to the +cheers of the crew of the freighter, who in this way showed their +appreciation of what he had done. Nat was anxious to find the owner of +the boat, for he had in mind a possible reward. + +As he reached the float he saw a young man hurrying down the inclined +gangplank that led to the top of the bulkhead. The youth seemed +excited. + +"Here! What are you doing in my boat?" he cried. "Get out of it right +away! I thought some of you dock-rats would try to steal it if I left +it alone an hour or so." + +"Oh, you did, eh?" asked Nat as he stepped out on the float. "Well, +you're mistaken. Next time you want to learn how to tie a knot that +won't slip when you leave your boat, if you don't want it knocked into +kindling wood by a steamer." + +"Tie a knot! Smash the boat! Why--why--you're all wet!" exclaimed the +other. + +"Shouldn't wonder," observed the boy calmly. "The Chicago River isn't +exactly dry at this time of the year." + +He finished tying the boat, making a regular sailor's knot, and then +started up the gangplank. Clearly he might expect no reward from this +man. + +"Hold on a minute," said the owner of the boat. + +"I'm in a hurry," replied Nat, "I want to get my clothes. They're up +on the pier, and somebody might take a notion to walk off with 'em. +Not that they're worth an awful lot, but they're all I have. Guess +you'll have to excuse me." + +"Going for your clothes? I don't exactly understand." + +"He jumped off the dock and got your boat, which went adrift right in +the course of that steamer," explained a 'longshoreman who had +listened to the conversation and who had seen what Nat did. "Plucky +thing it was, too. If it hadn't been for him you wouldn't have any +boat now." + +"Is that so? I didn't understand. I thought he was trying to steal my +boat." + +"Steal your boat? Say, you don't belong around here, do you?" + +"No. My father is the owner of a small steam yacht, and I am taking a +trip with him. This is the first time I was ever in Chicago. The yacht +is tied out there, beyond some other vessels, and I took this boat and +came ashore a while ago to see the sights. When I came back I saw that +boy in my boat." + +"Humph!" murmured the 'longshoreman as he turned away. "You want to +take a few lessons in tying ropes. That boy did you a good service." + +"I see he did, and I'm sorry I spoke the way I did. I'll give him a +reward." + +By this time Nat was up on the pier from which he had jumped. He found +his clothes, and put them on over his wet undergarments. The day was +hot, and he knew the latter would soon dry. + +Besides, he was used to being wet half the time, as he and other lads +of his acquaintance frequently dived off the stringpiece and swam +around in the lake. So when the owner of the rescued rowboat looked +for the boy he could not see him. But he determined to make up for his +unintentional rudeness, and so went after Nat. + +He found the boy with a number of others crowded about the entrance to +the freight office. + +"May I speak to you a few moments?" asked the young man. + +"Guess you'll have to excuse me," replied Nat. "I'm busy." + +"What doing?" + +"I'm waiting for a job. I may get one helping carry out some light +freight, and I need the money." + +"How much will you get?" + +"Oh, if I'm lucky I may make a dollar." + +"I'll give you more than that for saving my boat. I want to explain +that I didn't understand what you had done when I spoke so quickly." + +"Oh, that's all right," said Nat good-naturedly. "But if you're going +to give me a dollar I guess I can afford to quit here," and he stepped +out of the line, the gap immediately closing up, for there were many +in search of odd jobs to do about the dock whenever a steamer came in. + +"Here are five dollars," went on the young man, producing a bank bill. + +"Five dollars!" exclaimed Nat. "Say, mister, it ain't worth all +that--saving the boat." + +"Yes, it is. That craft cost my father quite a sum, and he would have +blamed me if she had been smashed. I'm much obliged to you. I'm sorry +I thought you were stealing her, but it looked----" + +"Forget it," advised Nat with a smile. "It's all right. I'll save +boats for you regularly at this price." + +"Do you work around the docks--er----" + +"My name's Nat Morton," said the lad. + +"And mine is John Scanlon," added the other, and he explained how he +had come to leave his boat at the float. "I don't know that I will +have any more boats to save, as my father's yacht will soon be leaving +for Lake Superior. Wouldn't you like a place on her better than your +regular job?" + +"My regular job? I haven't any. I do whatever I can get to do, and +sometimes it's little enough." + +"Where do you live?" + +"Back there," replied Nat with a wave of his hand toward the tenement +district of Chicago. + +"What does your father do?" + +"I haven't any. He's--he's dead." And Nat's voice broke a little, for +his loss had been a comparatively recent one. + +"I'm sorry--I beg your pardon--I didn't know----" + +"Oh, that's all right," said Nat, bravely keeping his feelings under +control. "Dad's been dead a little over two years now. He and I lived +pretty good--before that. My mother died when I was a baby. Dad was +employed on a lumber barge. He had a good job, and I didn't have to +work when he was alive. But after he was lost overboard in a storm +one night, that ended all my good times. I've been hustling for myself +ever since." + +"Didn't he have any life insurance, or anything like that?" + +"Not that I know of. I remember he said just before he went on--on his +last trip--he told me if it turned out all right he'd have a nice sum +in the bank, but I never heard anything about it. They found his body, +but there was no money in the clothes, nor any bank books." + +"That's too bad. How do you get along?" + +"Oh, I make out pretty well. I live with a Mr. William Miller and his +wife. They're poor, but they're good to me. He's a 'longshoreman, and +he works around the docks. I do, too, whenever there is any work to be +had, and I manage to make a living, though it isn't very much of a +one." + +"No, I presume not. Perhaps if I speak to my father he might give you +a position on his boat." + +"I'm much obliged to you," replied Nat. "I like boats and the water. +I'd like to be a pilot." + +"I'm afraid dad couldn't give you that job," answered young Mr. +Scanlon. "We have a good pilot." + +"And I don't want to leave the Millers," added the boy. "They've been +good to me, and I want to pay them back. But isn't that some one +calling you?" + +He pointed to a figure down on the float, where the boat was tied. + +"Yes. That's the mate of my father's steam yacht. Probably father sent +him for me. Well, I'll have to say good-by. I hope I'll see you +again." + +"I hope so, too, especially if you have any more boats you want saved. +I'm afraid five dollars is too much." + +"Not a bit. Take it and welcome." + +"It's more than I could earn in a week," went on Nat as he carefully +folded the bill and placed it in his pocket. "All the same, I think +I'll try for a job here now. It looks as if they needed lots of hands, +because the boat is late." + +Bidding John Scanlon good-by Nat turned back to the freight office, in +front of which there was now only a small throng looking for +employment. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A CRY FOR HELP + + +Owing to the time he had spent talking to the young man whose boat he +saved, Nat lost a chance of getting work in helping to unload the +steamer. Still he did help to carry some freight to the waiting trucks +and drays, and for this he received fifty cents. But as he had five +dollars, he did not mind the small sum paid him by the freight agent. + +"You weren't around as early as usual," remarked that official as he +observed Nat. "You usually make more than this." + +"I know it, but I had a job that paid me better," and our hero told +about the boat incident. + +"Another steamer'll be in day after to-morrow," went on the agent. +"Better be around early." + +"I will, thanks." + +Then, as there was no further opportunity for work on the pier that +day, Nat started for the place he called home. It was in a poor +tenement, in one of the most congested districts of Chicago. + +But if there were dirt and squalor all about, Mrs. Miller did her +best to keep her apartment clean. So though the way up to it was by +rather dirty stairs, the rooms were neat and comfortable. + +"Well, Nat, you're home early, aren't you?" asked the woman, who, with +her husband, had befriended the orphan lad. + +"Yes, Mrs. Miller." + +"I suppose you couldn't get any work?" + +"Oh, yes, I got some." + +"What's the matter, then? Don't you feel well?" + +She could not understand any one coming away so early from a place +where there was work, for work, to the poor, means life itself. + +"Oh, I did so well I thought I'd take a vacation," and Nat related the +incident of the day. + +The boy's liking for the water seemed to have been born in him. Soon +after his mother had died his father placed him in the care of a +family in an inland city. The child seemed to pine away, and an old +woman suggested he might want to be near the water, as his father had +followed all his life a calling that kept him aboard boats. Though he +did not believe much in that theory, Mr. Morton finally consented to +place his son to board in Chicago. Nat at once picked up and became a +strong, healthy lad. + +As he grew older his father took him on short trips with him, so Nat +grew to know and love the Great Lakes, as a sailor learns to know and +love the ocean. + +Soon Nat began asking questions about ships and how they were sailed. +His father was a good instructor, and between his terms at school Nat +learned much about navigation in an amateur sort of way. + +Best of all he loved to stand in the pilot-house, where he was +admitted because many navigators knew and liked Mr. Morton. There the +boy learned something of the mysteries of steering a boat by the +compass and by the lights on shore. He learned navigating terms, and, +on one or two occasions, was even allowed to take the spokes of the +great wheel in his own small hands. + +In this way Nat gained a good practical knowledge of boats. Then came +the sad day when he received the news of the death of his father. +Though up to that time he had lived in comparative comfort, he now +found himself very poor. + +For though, as he told John Scanlon, his father had said something +about financial matters being better after the delivery of the big +load that was on the lumber barge on which he met his death, the boy +was too young to understand it. + +All he knew was that he had to leave his pleasant boarding place and +go to live with a poor family--the Millers--who took compassion on the +homeless lad. + +Mr. Miller had made an effort to see if Mr. Morton had not left some +little money, but his investigation resulted in nothing. + +For about two years Nat had lived with the Millers, doing what odd +jobs he could find. His liking for the water kept him near the lake, +and he had never given up his early ambition to become a pilot some +day, though that time seemed very far off. + +Every chance Nat got he went aboard the steamers that tied up at the +river wharves. In this way he got to know many captains and officers. +Some were kind to him and allowed him the run of their ships while at +dock. Others were surly, and ordered the boy off. + +In this way he became quite a familiar figure about the lake front, +and was more or less known to those who had business there. + +When Mr. Miller came home the night of Nat's adventure he +congratulated the lad on what he had done in the matter of saving the +rowboat. + +"And I got well paid for it," added Nat as he finished his story and +showed the five-dollar bill. "There, Mrs. Miller, we'll have a good +dinner Sunday." + +"But I can't take your money, Nat," objected the woman. + +"Of course you will," he insisted. "That's what it's for. I owe you a +lot of back board, anyhow. I didn't get hardly any work last week." + +"I hope business will be better next week," said Mr. Miller. "I didn't +earn much myself these last few days." + +There was little to do at the pier the next day, and the following day +quite a severe storm swept over the lake. The boats were late getting +to the docks, and the longshoremen and freight handlers had to labor +far into the night. + +"I don't believe I'll be able to get home to supper, Nat," said Mr. +Miller to the lad as they were working near each other on the dock +late in the afternoon. "Could you spare time to go up and tell my +wife?" + +"Sure. I'm almost done with taking out the light stuff. I'll go in +about half an hour. Shall I bring you back some lunch?" + +"Yes, that would be a good idea, and then I'll not have to stop, and I +can earn more." + +As Nat was about to leave, the freight agent called to him: + +"Where you going, Nat?" + +"Home to get some supper for Mr. Miller." + +"All right. See me when you come back. I have an errand for you, and +I'll give you a quarter if you do it." + +"Sure I will. What is it?" + +"I want to send a message and some papers to a firm uptown. It's +about some freight they're expecting, and the office is keeping open +late on account of it. Now hurry home and come back, and I'll have the +message ready for you." + +Nat was soon back at the pier, with a lunch for Mr. Miller. Then, with +the note and papers which the freight agent had ready for him, he +started off uptown. + +As he was on his way back from the errand, he walked slowly along the +water front. He decided he would call at the pier and see if he could +help Mr. Miller, so that his benefactor might get through earlier. + +Nat reached a wharf some distance away from the one where he had been +employed during the day. It seemed to be deserted, though there was a +large vessel tied up on one side of it, and two barges on the other. + +"I'd like to be a pilot on that big steamer," thought Nat as he +contemplated the craft in the glare of an electric light. "That would +be a fine job. Well, maybe I'll be on one like her some day." + +He was about to walk on, when suddenly the stillness of the night was +broken by a cry. It was a shout, and it seemed to come from near the +big freight barges. + +"Help! help!" cried the voice. "I'm drowning! I'm in the water and I +can't get out! Help! help!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +NAT'S BRAVE RESCUE + + +"Somebody must have fallen overboard from one of the barges," thought +Nat, for he could now easily determine that the cry came from the side +of the dock where the two big freight carriers were tied. "Why doesn't +some one there help him?" + +But though he thus wondered, he did not hesitate over what to do. He +ran out on the pier, and seeing a gangplank leading to one barge, he +sprinted up it. The cries continued. + +"I'm coming!" the boy shouted. "I'll help you! Where are you?" + +"Down between the two barges! I can't get out!" cried a man's voice. +"Hurry! help!" + +The voice ended in a gurgle. + +"He's gone down under water!" exclaimed Nat. "Man overboard!" he +loudly cried, thinking some one on the dock or aboard the vessels +might hear him and come to help aid in rescuing the imperiled one. But +there came no answer. The pier seemed to be deserted. + +Nat reached the deck of the first barge and rushed across it to the +farthermost rail. He tried to peer down into the black space between +the two freight boats, but he could see nothing. + +"Where are you?" he called again. + +"Here! Right here!" was the answer. "I fell down in between the two +barges. I got hold of a rope, but it slipped from me a moment ago, and +I went under. I managed to get hold of it again when I came up, but I +can't last much longer. Hurry and help me!" + +"I will!" exclaimed Nat. "I'm coming down as soon as I can find a rope +to cling to. There isn't room to swim down there." + +"No; that's right. I can hardly move. But I can't hold on much +longer." + +"Don't give up!" yelled Nat. "I'll be right there. Queer there isn't +some of the crew here," he murmured to himself. + +He glanced rapidly about him. There was a lantern burning high up on +the smokestack of one of the barges, which were of the latest type, +with big engines to turn the large propellers. It was the work of but +an instant for Nat to loosen the lantern rope from the cleat and lower +the light to the deck. Then cutting the rope, as the quickest method +of detaching it from the stack, he hurried with it to the space +between the two barges. He lowered the light, and by its gleam saw an +elderly man clinging to a rope that dangled from the side of the +barge the boy was on. + +"That's good; show a light!" exclaimed the man. "Now you can see what +to do. But please hurry. My arms are nearly pulled from the sockets." + +"I'll have to get a rope that will bear my weight," replied Nat. "Hold +on a moment more." + +He fastened the lantern cord to the rail, so that the light would hang +down in the space between the two vessels. Then he got a long rope, a +simple enough matter aboard a vessel. Securing one end to a stanchion, +Nat threw the other end down between the barges. Then giving the cable +a yank, to see that it was secure, he went down it hand over hand. + +"I'll have you out of here now in short order," he said to the +half-exhausted man. "Can you pull yourself up by the rope?" + +"I'm afraid not. I'm too weak." + +This was a problem Nat had not considered. He thought for a moment. He +was a bright lad, and his life about the docks had made him +resourceful in emergencies. + +"I have it!" he exclaimed. "Hold on just a few seconds more." + +Twining his legs about the cable to support himself, Nat with one hand +made a loop in the rope, using a knot that would not slip. Thus he +had a support for his feet. + +Standing in the loop he quickly made another below it, for the rope +was plenty long enough. + +"There!" he cried to the man. "Work your arms into that and then get +your head and shoulders through. Put it under your arm-pits, and that +will support you until I can haul you up." + +"Good idea," murmured the man weakly. With one hand he grasped the +loop which Nat let down to him. He evidently was used to cables, for +he knew how to handle this one, and in a few seconds he had his head +and arms through the loop. This supported him so that he was out of +water up to his waist. + +"I'll have you out in another minute," declared Nat as he scrambled up +the rope hand over hand, until he was once more on the deck of the +barge. Then he tried to pull the man up by hauling on the rope, but he +found the task too great for his strength. + +"I'll have to get help," he said. + +"No, no! Don't leave me!" begged the man. "Just lower me another rope, +and I can pull myself up." + +Nat understood the plan. Quickly running to the other side of the +barge, he found a long cable. This he fastened as he had done the +first, and he let the length of it dangle between the two vessels so +that the man could reach it. + +"Pull now!" called the man. + +Hauling on the rope about the stranger's shoulders, while the latter +aided himself in the work of rescue by pulling on the second rope, the +rescued one was soon on the deck of the barge beside Nat. He was so +weak that he sank down in a heap as soon as he was over the rail. + +"Are you hurt? Can I get you anything? Do you belong aboard this +barge?" asked the boy. + +"No--no, my lad," said the man slowly. "I'll be all right in a few +minutes. I'm exhausted, that's all. My name is Weatherby----" + +"What, John Weatherby, the pilot of the _Jessie Drew_?" asked Nat, who +knew a number of pilots by their names. + +"That's who I am, my lad. You may think it queer that a pilot should +fall overboard, but I'll tell you how it happened. First, however, let +me thank you with all my heart for what you did for me. But for you I +would have been drowned." + +"Oh, I guess not." + +"Yes, I would. I couldn't have held on much longer, as I'm getting old +and I'm not as strong as I was." + +"Some one else would have come to your aid." + +"I don't know about that. There is no one aboard either of the barges. +I didn't know that, or I shouldn't have come here to-night. That +vessel over there has gone out of commission, and there is no one +aboard her. There's a watchman on the pier, but he didn't hear me +calling for help. You saved my life, and I'll not forget it." + +"I am glad I was able to," responded Nat. + +"What is your name?" asked the pilot. He seemed to be feeling better. + +"I'm Nat Morton." + +"Nat Morton! I've heard of you. Why, you're the boy who got the +rowboat out of the way of the vessel I was bringing in the other day, +aren't you?" + +"I guess I am." + +"Well, I've wanted to meet you to thank you for that. Then, before I +get a chance to do it, you do me another favor. I heard about you from +a friend of mine--a pilot. He said you were always about the docks." + +"Yes, I spend a good deal of my time here. I get occasional jobs, and +I like the ships." + +"So do I, my lad. The lakes are wonderful bodies of water." + +"But hadn't you better go home?" suggested Nat. "You're wet, and, +though it's a warm night, you may take cold. It's going to rain," he +added, as a flash of lightning came. + +"Yes, I will go home if you will help me." + +"I will, gladly. Where do you live?" + +"I board near here, as it's handy for my business. The _Jessie Drew_ +is to sail day after to-morrow. I came down here to-night to see a +friend of mine, who is captain of one of these grain barges, the +second one over there. I didn't know that he and his crew, as well as +all those on this barge we're on, had gone ashore. I started to cross +from one barge to the other, and I fell down between them. I called +and called, but it seemed as if help would never come." + +"I'm glad I happened to be passing," replied Nat. "Now, if you feel +able, we'll go ashore." + +"Yes, I'm all right now. I'll go to my boarding place and get some dry +things. Do you work around here?" + +"I help Mr. Miller--he's the man I live with--whenever I can. He's +working to-night, helping unload a vessel that was delayed by the +storm." + +"Yes, it's blowing quite hard. I didn't notice it so much down between +those barges, but now I feel quite chilly. So you work on the pier, +eh?" + +"Whenever I can get anything to do. But I'd like to get a job on a +steamer." + +"You would, eh? What kind?" + +"Well, I'd like to be a pilot, but I suppose I'd have to work my way +up. I'd be willing to start at almost anything, if I could get on a +vessel." + +"You would, eh?" said the pilot, and then he seemed to be busily +thinking. + +The two walked down the gangplank and off the pier, meeting no one, +for the wind, and an occasional dash of rain, made it unpleasant to be +out, and the watchman was probably snugly sitting in some sheltered +place. + +"This is my boarding place," said Mr. Weatherby at length, as they +came to a small house on a street leading up from the lake front. "I +can't properly thank you now, but--I wish you'd come and see me +to-morrow, when you're not working," he added. + +"I'll be glad to call and find out how you are." + +"Oh, I'll be all right. Now, be sure to come, I--I may have some good +news for you." And with that the old pilot went into the house, +leaving a very much wondering youth on the sidewalk. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +GETTING A JOB + + +"Now, why in the world didn't he tell me what he wanted of me, instead +of keeping me guessing?" thought Nat, as he made his way back to the +dock where Mr. Miller was working. "I wonder what it can be? If he +wanted to thank me he could just as well have done it now as +to-morrow. + +"Maybe he wants to give me a reward," the boy went on musingly. "I +don't believe I'd take it. Accepting money for rescuing a boat is all +well enough, but not for saving life. Besides, if I hadn't done it +somebody else would. No; if he offers me money I don't believe I'll +take it. Still, I do need some new clothes," and he glanced down at +the rather ragged garments he was wearing. + +"I've been waiting for you some time," Mr. Miller said when Nat got +back. "I thought you said you wouldn't be gone long on that errand." + +"Neither I was." + +"What kept you, then?" + +"Well, I had to rescue a man." + +"Rescue a man? Are you joking?" + +"Not a bit of it. I pulled Mr. Weatherby, the pilot, out from between +two barges." And Nat proceeded to relate his adventure. + +"Well, things are certainly coming your way," remarked Mr. Miller. +"Maybe he'll give you a big reward." + +"I'd rather he'd give me a good job," returned Nat. "Maybe he could +get me a place on some boat. That's what I'd like. I could earn good +money then." + +"I wouldn't like to see you go away from us, Nat. My wife and I have +become quite attached to you." + +"I would not like to go, Mr. Miller, for I have been very happy in +your home. So I'm not going to think about it." + +"Still, I would like to see you prosper in this world," went on the +man who had befriended Nat. "If you have a chance to get a place on a +boat, take it. You may be able to come and see us once in a while, +between trips." + +"I will always consider my home at your house." + +"I hope you will, Nat." + +"Still, nothing may happen," went on the boy. "Did you get the ship +all unloaded?" + +"Yes, the holds are emptied, and I have a job to-morrow helping load +her. I guess you could get something to do if you came down." + +"Then I shall." + +"But I thought you were going to call on Mr. Weatherby?" + +"I am, but he told me to come when I was not working. He is going to +be home all day." + +"That will be all right, then. Now let's hurry home. I think it's +going to rain harder soon, and my wife will probably be worrying about +me." + +The storm, which had been a fitful one all day and part of the night, +showed signs of becoming worse. The wind was more violent, and when +Mr. Miller and Nat were nearly home it began to rain in torrents. + +The rain continued all the next day, but as the wharf where Mr. Miller +and Nat worked was a covered one, they did not mind the storm. At +noon-time the boy found a chance to go to the boarding-house of Mr. +Weatherby. + +"Well, here comes my life-saver!" greeted the old pilot. "How are you +feeling to-day?" + +"Very well, sir. How are you?" + +"Not so good as I might be. I'm lame and stiff from pulling on that +rope, but I think I'll be able to sail to-morrow. I believe you told +me last night that you would like a job on a ship," the pilot went on. + +"Yes, sir," replied Nat, his heart beating high with hope. + +"Hum! Well, what kind of a job would you like--pilot or captain?" + +"I think I'd rather begin a little lower down," replied Nat with a +smile, for he saw that Mr. Weatherby was joking. + +"Perhaps that would be best. Well, as it happens, I have a chance to +get a young lad a position on the steamer of which I am pilot. You +see, I have a steady job piloting. My vessel, the _Jessie Drew_, makes +trips all over the lakes, and Captain Wilson Marshall, who is a part +owner, is not so familiar with all the harbors and the various routes +as I am. So he engages me steadily. In fact, he and I are old friends, +as well as distantly related; so I have a somewhat different position +than do most pilots." + +"And can you get me a job on a boat--your boat?" asked Nat eagerly. + +"I think I can. I may say I am sure I can. The captain asked me +yesterday to look out for a bright youth to help with the cargo, +assist the purser, and be a sort of cabin assistant. I had no one in +mind then, but after our meeting last night, when you were of such +service to me, and I heard you say you wanted a job, I at once thought +of this place. I saw the captain this morning, and he has practically +engaged you--that is, if you want the berth, and he is satisfied with +you when he sees you. The last item I know will be all right. And now +it is for you to say whether you want the place." + +"Want it? Of course I want it! I can't tell you how much obliged I am +to you for this! I----" + +"Now--now--don't get excited over it," cautioned Mr. Weatherby. "If +you're going to be a pilot you must learn to keep cool. Shall I tell +Captain Marshall you'll take the place?" + +"Yes, and be glad to." + +"Not quite so fast. Why don't you ask me what the wages are, and how +long you'll have to work?" + +"That's so. I didn't think of that. But I don't mind how long I have +to work. It can't be much longer than I have to work now, and I get +very little for it." + +"Then I guess you will be satisfied with the hours and the wages paid +aboard the _Jessie Drew_. When can you come?" + +"Any time. I am not regularly hired at the dock." + +"Then perhaps you had better stop now, go home and get ready. We will +sail early to-morrow. Bring along a change of clothes, for it often +happens you'll get wet through in a storm, or when the lake is rough." + +"I'm afraid I can't do that," said Nat slowly, as a change came over +his face. + +"Why not?" + +"Well--er--that is--you see, I haven't any other clothes. These are +all I've got. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are very poor. Her husband doesn't +earn much, and I don't, either. It takes all we both get to buy food +and pay the rent. I don't have any left for clothes. They're not good +enough to go on board the boat with. I'm afraid I can't take the job." + +"There is no use denying that the clothes might be better," admitted +Mr. Weatherby gravely. "Not that I care anything about what garments a +man or boy wears, so long as they are clean, and yours are that. +Still, I think it would make a better impression on Captain Marshall +if you were to have a newer suit. I'll tell you what I'll do. Here, +you take this money and go and get yourself a good suit and some +underwear, and whatever else you need." + +"I can't take your money--I haven't earned it," objected Nat, who was +quite independent. + +"Nonsense, boy. Take it as a loan, then, to be paid back whenever you +feel like it. It's a pity if I can't do a good turn to the lad who +pulled me up from between those vessels. You will offend me if you +don't take it. Besides, I want you to have this job. I may need you to +save my life again, and, to be frank with you, I shouldn't like +Captain Marshall to see the boy I recommended in such clothes, +though, as I said, personally I don't care a rap about them." + +"All right," replied Nat quietly. "If you put it that way I'll borrow +this money." + +"That's the way to talk. Now you'd better go, buy what you need, and +then come back to me this evening," went on Mr. Weatherby, handing Nat +some bankbills. "I will then take you down to the ship and introduce +you to Captain Marshall. You'll probably stay aboard all night, so you +had better tell your friends good-by." + +"Where is the ship going to?" + +"I don't know exactly. We'll probably call at several lake ports to +unload or take on cargo. Now you'd better go, and be back here about +seven o'clock." + +Nat hurried back to the wharf to tell Mr. Miller the good news. His +friend rejoiced with him, though he was sorry to see the boy leave. +When Nat reached the tenement and told Mrs. Miller, that lady cried a +little, for she had grown to love the boy almost as a son. She went +out shopping with him, and in a few hours Nat was ready to step aboard +the _Jessie Drew_ and take a long voyage. + +It was not easy to part from his kind friends, but he was consoled by +the thought that he would soon see them again. + +At the appointed hour he was at Mr. Weatherby's boarding-house, and a +little later the two were going aboard the big lake steamer. + +"Ah, Mr. Weatherby!" exclaimed a man as Nat and the pilot stepped on +the deck, "you're aboard early, I see." + +"Yes; I didn't want to get left. Mr. Bumstead, let me introduce a +friend of mine to you. He did me a great service. This is Nat Morton. +Nat, this is Mr. Bumstead, the first mate." + +Nat shook hands with the mate. That official was not a very kindly +looking person. He had red hair, and he seemed surly, even when he +smiled, which was not often. + +"Is he going to take a voyage with you?" asked the mate of the pilot. + +"Yes. He's going to help out in the purser's office. I got him the +job." + +"You did!" exclaimed the mate. + +"Yes. What of it? You seem quite surprised, Mr. Bumstead. I +recommended Nat for the place because he saved my life." + +"Has Captain Marshall given him the place?" asked the mate in a surly +tone. + +"Yes. Why?" + +"Because I had recommended my nephew for the place, and he would have +got it, too, if you hadn't interfered. I'm going to see the captain +about it later. It's not fair, giving a landlubber a good job aboard +this ship. I'll have him put ashore. I told my nephew he could have +the job, and he's going to get it!" + +With that the mate strode off, muttering to himself. + +"I'm sorry about that," said Mr. Weatherby in a low voice. "I didn't +know he had any one for the place. Nat, I'm afraid he'll make trouble +for you. You'll have to be on your guard, but I'll do all I can for +you." + +"I guess I can look out for myself," replied the boy. "I haven't lived +around the docks all my life for nothing." + +But Nat did not know the perils that were in store for him, nor to +what lengths the vindictive mate would go to be revenged. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +NAT IN TROUBLE + + +Captain Marshall proved to be a kind man, but rather strict in his +views. The pilot introduced Nat to him, and the commander of the +_Jessie Drew_ gravely shook hands with the lad. + +"I have heard about you," he said, and Nat began to think he was +getting to be a person of some importance. "I saw what you did the day +that drifting rowboat got in our way, though, at the time, I didn't +know it was you. Mr. Weatherby has told me what you did for him, and I +must congratulate you on your quickness and wit in an emergency. That +is what we need on a vessel. + +"The purser will tell you what to do. You must remember one thing +aboard a ship, especially when we're out on the lake; the thing to do +is to obey orders at once, and ask the reason for them afterward. I +expect you to do that. If you do you'll not get into trouble. I shall +have a friendly eye on you, and I trust you will do as well as the +pilot thinks you will. Now you may report to the purser, who really +is more of a supercargo than he is a purser. He'll find plenty for you +to do." + +"Yes, sir," replied Nat, wondering just what his duties would be. He +knew where to find the man who was to be his immediate superior, for +on the way to the captain's cabin Mr. Weatherby had pointed out to Nat +where the purser's office was. + +"Oh, yes; you're the new boy," said the purser, whose name was George +Dunn. "Well, come into my office, and I'll show you part of what +you'll have to do during the voyage." + +It was fortunate that Nat knew something about ships and the terms +used aboard them, or he would have been sadly confused by what Mr. +Dunn told him. As it was, much that he heard he did not comprehend. He +found that part of his duties were to make out lists of the freight, +enter the shipments on bills, put them in various books, check up +manifests and way-bills, and help the purser verify the freight as it +was taken on or put off. + +Luckily Nat had had a fair education before his father died, and he +could write a good hand and read excellently. He was not very accurate +at figures, but he was bright and quick to learn. + +"I guess that will do for to-night," said Mr. Dunn when it came nine +o'clock. "I had most of the stuff checked up before you came aboard, +or there'd have been more to do. However, we'll manage to keep you +busy in the morning." + +"I wonder if I'll ever get a chance to learn to be a pilot?" said Nat, +for the purser seemed so friendly that he ventured to speak to him of +that pet ambition. + +"I shouldn't wonder. We're not very busy once we get loaded up, and +often when sailing between ports a long distance apart there is little +to do for days at a time. If you want to learn navigation, and Mr. +Weatherby will teach you, I don't see why you can't do it." + +"I hope I can." + +"Come on, and I'll show you where you'll bunk," went on Mr. Dunn. "You +want to turn out lively at six bells in the morning." + +"That's seven o'clock," observed Nat. + +"Right you are, my hearty. I see you know a little something about a +ship. That's good. Oh, I guess you'll get along all right." + +It seemed to Nat that he had not been asleep at all when six strokes +on a bell, given in the way that sailors ring the time, with short, +double blows, awoke him. He dressed hurriedly, had his breakfast with +the others of the crew, and then did what he could to help the purser, +who had to check up some boxes that arrived at the last minute, just +before the ship sailed. + +A little later, amid what seemed a confusion of orders, the _Jessie +Drew_ moved away down the river, and Nat was taking his first voyage +on Lake Michigan as a hand on a ship--a position he had long desired +to fill, but which hitherto had seemed beyond his wildest dreams. + +"How do you like it?" asked Mr. Weatherby, a little later, as he +passed the boy on his way to the pilot-house. + +"Fine." + +"I'm glad of it. Attend strictly to business, and you'll get along. +I'll keep you in mind, and whenever I get a chance I'll take you into +the pilot-house, and begin to instruct you in the method of steering a +ship." + +"I'll be ever so much obliged to you if you will." + +"Why, that's nothing, after what you did for me," replied Mr. +Weatherby, with a kind smile at Nat. + +As sailing on large vessels was not much of a novelty to Nat, except +of late years, since his father's death, he did not linger long on +deck, watching the various sights as the freighter plowed her way out +on Lake Michigan. He went to the purser's office, to see if there was +anything that needed to be done. He had temporarily forgotten about +the mate's threat to have him discharged. + +As Nat drew near the place, he heard voices in dispute, and, when he +entered, he was surprised to see the first mate, Mr. Bumstead, +standing at the purser's desk, shaking his fist in the air. + +"I tell you those boxes are not aboard!" exclaimed the mate. + +"And I say they are," replied the purser firmly. "They are down on my +list as being taken on this morning, and--er--what's his name--that +new boy--Nat--Nat Morton checked them off. You can see for yourself." + +"Oh, he checked 'em off, did he?" asked the mate, in altered tones. +"Now I begin to see where the trouble is. We'll ask him----?" + +"Here he is now," interrupted Mr. Dunn, as Nat entered. "Did you check +up these boxes?" he asked, and he handed a part of the cargo list to +Nat. + +"Yes, sir. They were the last things that came aboard this morning." + +"I told you so!" exclaimed Mr. Dunn, turning to the mate. + +"Wait a minute," went on that officer. "He says he checked 'em off, +but I don't believe he did. If he did, where are they? They can't have +fallen overboard, and I didn't eat 'em, I'm sure of that." + +"I checked those boxes off as you called them to me, Mr. Bumstead," +replied Nat. "You stood near the forward cargo hold, and the boxes +were stowed away there. I was careful in putting them down on my +list." + +"Yes! Too careful, I guess!" exclaimed the mate angrily. "You've got +down ten more boxes than came aboard. That's a nice mess to make of +it! But I knew how it would be if the captain took a greenhorn aboard! +Why didn't he get some one who knew how to check a cargo?" + +"I know how to check a cargo," replied Nat quietly. + +"I say you don't! There are ten boxes missing, and you've got to find +them, that's all there is about it!" + +"Everything down on my list came aboard," insisted Nat. + +"Well, those ten boxes didn't, and I know it. You made a mistake, +that's what you did, or else you let the boxes fall overboard, and +you're afraid to admit it." + +"No boxes fell overboard when I was checking up, Mr. Bumstead." + +"Well, where are those ten missing ones then?" + +"I don't know." + +"Of course you don't. And no one else does. You made a mistake, that's +all, and it's going to be a bad one. It puts me to a lot of work. I'll +have to check over all my lists to make up for your blunder." + +"I made no blunder." + +"I say you did, and I'm going to report you to Captain Marshall. I'm +not going to work with a greenhorn, who don't know enough to check up +a simple list. I'll report you, that's what I'll do, and we'll see +how long you'll have a berth on this ship!" + +Angrily muttering to himself, the mate started for the captain's +cabin, while poor Nat, much distressed over the trouble into which he +had gotten, stood dejectedly in the purser's office. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY + + +"Don't let him worry you," said Mr. Dunn consolingly. "He's a surly +fellow, and he's always interfering in my department." + +"But the captain may discharge me," replied Nat. "Still, I am sure +those boxes came aboard. I counted them carefully and I don't believe +I would be ten out of the way." + +"Of course not. Probably the mate stowed them in some other place and +he's forgotten all about it. They'll turn up." + +"I hope so, for I would not like to make a mistake the first day out." + +At that moment a deckhand came up to where Nat stood talking to the +purser. + +"Captain wants to see you," he said to the boy. + +"Don't get excited now," advised Mr. Dunn. "Here, take our checking +list with you and tell the captain exactly how it happened. If you are +sure the boxes came aboard say so--and stick to it." + +"I will," answered Nat, and, with rather an uneasy feeling, he went +aft to where the captain's cabin was located. + +He found the mate there, looking quite excited, while Captain Marshall +was far from calm. Evidently there had been high words between the +men. + +"What is this, Nat?" asked the captain. "The mate says he is short ten +boxes. You have them on your list as coming aboard, but they are not +to be found. You know that will make trouble, to have anything wrong +with the cargo." + +"I'm sure nothing is wrong," replied Nat. "I went over my list +carefully, and I am positive the boxes are on board." + +"And I say they're not," insisted the mate. "I guess I've been in this +business long enough to know more than a green lad who has only been +here a day." + +"You want to be careful, Nat," went on Captain Marshall. "I have +always depended on Mr. Bumstead in regard to matters connected with +the stowing of the cargo." + +"I am sure those boxes are aboard, sir," went on Nat firmly. "If you +will allow me to take a look I think I can find them." + +"What! Go through all the cargo after it's stowed away!" exclaimed the +angry mate. "I guess not much! I'll not allow it!" + +The door of the cabin opened and there entered the pilot, Mr. +Weatherby. He started back on seeing the mate and Nat. + +"Oh, excuse me," he said. "I didn't know you had any one in here, +Captain Marshall." + +"That's all right, come right in," replied the commander. "There's a +little difficulty between Nat and Mr. Bumstead, and I'm trying to +straighten it out." + +He related what had taken place, and told of the missing boxes. + +"And there you are," he finished. "It seems to be quite a mix-up, and +I'm sorry, for I like to keep my cargo and the records of it +straight." + +"Hum," murmured the pilot. "Mr. Bumstead says the boxes are not here, +and Nat says they came aboard, eh? Well, I should think the easiest +way would be to look and see if they are here or not." + +"That's what I proposed," exclaimed Nat eagerly. + +"Yes! I guess I'll have you disturbing the whole cargo to look for ten +small boxes!" exclaimed the mate. "Not much I won't! I'm right, and I +know it!" + +"No, I think Nat is right," said Mr. Weatherby quietly. + +"Do you mean to tell me I made a mistake?" inquired Mr. Bumstead. + +"I don't know whether you did or not. But I know Nat's plan is the +only one that can decide the matter. If the boxes came aboard the +last thing, they can't be very far down among the rest of the cargo. +It will not take long to look. What do you say, captain?" + +Captain Marshall was in a sort of quandary. The mate was his chief +officer, and he wanted to be on his side because Mr. Bumstead owned +some shares in the ship, and also because Mr. Bumstead relieved the +commander of a lot of work that, otherwise, would have fallen to the +share of the captain. On the other hand Mr. Marshall did not want to +offend the pilot. In addition to being a relative of his, Mr. +Weatherby was one of the stockholders in the company which owned the +steamer _Jessie Drew_, and, as the captain was an employee of this +company, he did not want to oppose one of the officers of it. + +"I suppose that's the only way out of it," the captain finally said, +though with no very good grace. "Only the whole cargo must not be +upset looking for those boxes." + +"I'll be careful," promised Nat. "I think I know where they were +stowed." + +"Um! You think you do, but you'll soon find you're much mistaken!" +said the mate scornfully. + +"I'll give you a hand," said the pilot. "Mr. Simmon, my helper, is in +the pilot-house," he went on, in answer to a questioning glance from +Captain Marshall. "The ship is on a straight course now, and we'll +hold it for an hour or two. Now, Nat, come on, and we'll see if we +can't solve this puzzle." + +It did not take long to demonstrate that Nat was right, and the mate +wrong. The ten boxes were found in the afterhold, where they had been +put by mistake, which accounted for the mate not being able to find +them. + +"What have you to say now?" asked the pilot of Mr. Bumstead, when the +search was so successfully ended. + +"What have I to say? Nothing, except that I think you did a mean thing +when you got this boy in here, and kept my nephew out of the place, +which he needs so much. But I'll get even with him yet for coming +here." It appeared the mate's protest to Captain Marshall, about +employing Nat, had been of no effect. + +"I guess Nat needed a place to work as much as did your nephew," +replied Mr. Weatherby, when his _protege_ had gone back to the +purser's cabin. "His father is dead, and you ought to be glad that the +orphan son of an old lake sailor has a chance to earn his living, +instead of making it hard for him." + +"Was his father a lake sailor?" asked the mate quickly. + +"Yes. Nat's father was James Morton, who was employed on a lumber +barge." + +"James Morton! On a lumber barge!" exclaimed the mate, turning pale. +"Are you sure of that?" + +"Certainly. But what of it? Did you know Mr. Morton?" + +"Jim Morton," murmured the mate. "I might have recognized the name. So +his son is aboard this vessel! I must do something, or----" + +"What was that you said?" asked the pilot, who had not caught the +mate's words. + +"Nothing--I--er--I thought I used to know his father--but--but it must +be another man." + +The mate was clearly very much excited over something. + +"Now look here!" exclaimed Mr. Weatherby sternly. "Nat is not to blame +for coming here. I got him the place, and I'll look out for him, too. +If you try any of your tricks I'll take a hand in the game myself. +Now, I've given you your course, and I want you to keep on it. If you +run afoul of me you'll be sorry for it." + +The mate turned aside, muttering to himself, but the pilot thought it +was because he had made a mistake about the boxes. + +"Look out for him, Nat," said Mr. Weatherby, a little later, after the +pilot had reported to the captain the result of the search for the +missing boxes. "He seems to have some grudge against you, and he'll do +you an injury if he can." + +"I believe that," replied Nat, "though I can't see why he should. I +never injured him, and it was not my fault that I got the place he +wanted for his nephew." + +"No, of course not. But keep your weather eye open." + +"I will." + +Captain Marshall showed no very great pleasure at finding that Nat was +in the right. The truth was he feared the mate would be chagrined over +the mistake he himself had made, and Captain Marshall was the least +bit afraid of Mr. Bumstead, for the commander knew the mate was aware +of certain shortcomings in regard to the management of the vessel, and +he feared his chief officer might disclose them. + +"You want to be careful of your lists," the commander said to Nat. +"You were right this time, but next time you might be wrong." + +Nat's pleasure at finding he had not made a mistake was a little +dampened by the cool way in which the captain took it, but Mr. +Weatherby told him not to mind, but to do his work as well as he +could, and he would get along all right. + +For two or three days after that the voyage proceeded quietly. On the +third day the ship stopped at a small city, where part of the cargo +was discharged. Nat and the purser were kept busy checking off, and +verifying cargo lists, and, when the _Jessie Drew_ was ready to +proceed, Nat took to the mate a duplicate list of what cargo had been +discharged. + +"Sure this is right?" asked Mr. Bumstead surlily. + +"Yes, sir," replied Nat, more pleasantly than he felt. + +"Don't be too sure, young man. I'll catch you in a mistake yet, and +when I do--well, look out--that's all." + +He tossed the list on his desk, and, as he did so, some papers slipped +to the floor of his office. He stooped to pick them up, and something +dropped from his pocket. + +It was a flat leather book, such as is used by some men in which to +carry their money or papers. Nat idly glanced at it as the mate +restored it to his pocket. Then the boy caught sight of something that +made his heart beat quickly. + +For printed in gold letters on the outside of the wallet was a name, +and the name was that of his dead father, James Morton! + +"That pocketbook! Where did you get it?" he eagerly asked of the mate. + +"Pocketbook? What pocketbook?" + +"The one that dropped from your pocket just now." + +"That? Why, that's mine. I've had it a good while." + +"But it has my father's name on it! I saw it. It is just like one he +used to carry. He always had it with him. Let me see it. Perhaps it +has some of his papers in it!" + +Nat was excited. He reached out his hand, as if to take the wallet. + +"You must be dreaming," exclaimed the mate, and Nat noticed that his +hands trembled. "That is my pocketbook. It has no name on it." + +"But I saw it," insisted Nat. + +"I tell you it hasn't! Are you always going to dispute with me? Now +get out of here, I want to do my work," and the mate fairly thrust Nat +out of the room, and locked the door. + +"I'm sure that was my father's pocketbook," murmured the boy, as he +walked slowly along the deck. "How did the mate get it? I wonder if he +knew my father? There is something queer about this. I must tell Mr. +Weatherby." + +Nat would have thought there was something exceedingly queer about it, +if he could have seen what the mate was doing just then. For Mr. +Bumstead had taken the wallet from his pocket, and, with his knife, he +was carefully scraping away the gold letters that spelled the name of +James Morton--Nat's father. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +NAT HAS AN ACCIDENT + + +Nat vainly tried to recall some of the circumstances connected with +his father's death, that would give him a clue to the reason why the +mate had Mr. Morton's pocketbook. But the trouble was Nat could +remember very little. The sad news had stunned him so that he was in a +sort of dream for a long time afterward. + +The body had been recovered, after several days, but there was nothing +in the pockets of the clothes, as far as Nat knew, to indicate that +Mr. Morton had left any money, or anything that represented it. Yet +Nat knew his father was a careful and saving man, who had good +abilities for business. + +"If I wasn't sure it was his pocketbook, I would say that there might +be plenty of such wallets, with the name James Morton on them," +thought Nat. "The name is not an uncommon one, but I can't be mistaken +in thinking that was poor dad's wallet. How the mate got it is a +mystery, unless he took it from my father. Or, perhaps dad gave it to +him, yet I don't believe he would do that either, for he once told me +the wallet was a present from mother, and I know he would not part +with it. I must consult with Mr. Weatherby." + +Nat did not get a chance to speak to the pilot about the matter until +the next day. Mr. Weatherby looked grave when he heard our hero's +story. + +"Are you sure you weren't mistaken?" he asked. + +"Positive," was Nat's answer. "I knew that wallet too well." + +"Then I'll make some inquiries. Suppose you come with me." + +Nat and the pilot found the mate in his office, looking over some +papers. + +"Nat thinks you have something that belonged to his father," said Mr. +Weatherby, pleasantly. + +"He does, eh?" snapped the mate. "Well, he's mistaken, that's all I've +got to say. Now I wish you'd get out of here. I'm busy." + +"But it won't do any harm to make some inquiries," went on the pilot. +"Do you mind showing me the pocketbook?" + +"There it is!" said Mr. Bumstead suddenly, pulling the wallet in +question from his pocket. "He said it had his father's name on? Well, +it hasn't, you can see for yourself," and he quickly turned the +pocketbook from side to side, to show that there were no letters on +it. Then, without giving Mr. Weatherby a chance to look at it +closely, he thrust it back into his pocket. + +"Are you satisfied?" he demanded. Nat hesitated. + +"I--I suppose so," answered the pilot. "There is no name on that. Nat +must have been mistaken." + +"I told him he was dreaming," answered the mate, with a leer. "Now +don't bother me again." + +"Are you sure you saw the name on that pocketbook?" asked Mr. +Weatherby of Nat when they were out on the main deck. + +"Positive." + +"Perhaps it was some other wallet." + +"No, it's the same one. I can tell because there's a dark spot on one +corner, where it got some oil on once, dad told me." + +"But his name is not on it," remarked the pilot. "I had a good enough +look at it to determine that." + +"I can't account for it," went on Nat, more puzzled than ever. He knew +he had seen the name, yet now, when he had another sight of the +wallet, it had disappeared. And no wonder, for the mate had done his +work well, and had so smoothed down the leather, where he had scraped +off the letters, that it needed a close inspection to disclose it. +This close inspection Mr. Bumstead was determined neither Nat nor the +pilot should make. + +Though he said nothing to Nat about it, Mr. Weatherby had some +suspicions concerning the mate. For a long time he had distrusted the +man, but this was because of certain things that had occurred aboard +the _Jessie Drew_. Now there was something else. Mr. Weatherby +questioned Nat closely as to the incidents connected with Mr. Morton's +death. When he had learned all he could he remained a few moments in +deep thought. Then he said: + +"Well, Nat, don't think any more about it. It is very possible you +were mistaken about the pocketbook. That form of wallet is not +uncommon, and of course there are lots of men with the same name your +father had. Why the mate should have a pocketbook, with some other +name on it than his own, I can't explain. But we'll let matters lie +quietly for a while. If you see or hear anything more out of the +ordinary, let me know." + +"I will," promised Nat; and then he had to go to do some work in the +captain's office. + +"I think you will bear watching, Mr. Bumstead," murmured the pilot, as +he went back to take the wheel. "I don't like your ways, and I'm going +to keep my eye on you." + +On his part the mate, after the visit of Nat and Mr. Weatherby, was in +a somewhat anxious mood. + +"I wish that boy had never come aboard," he mused. "I might have known +he would make trouble. I must be more careful. If I had only been a +few hours sooner my nephew would have had the place, and I would not +have to worry. Never mind. I may be able to get him here yet, but I +must first get Nat out of the way. He is too suspicious, and that +sneaking pilot is helping him. Still, they know nothing of the case, +nor how I got the wallet, and I'll not give it up without a fight. I +must hide that pocketbook, though. Lucky I got the name off, or I'd be +in a pretty pickle. If I had known he was Jim Morton's son I would +almost have given up my place, rather than be on the same boat with +him. But it's too late now." + +He placed the wallet in a secret drawer in his safe, and then went on +with his work, but it seemed that his attention was distracted, and +several times he found himself staring out of his cabin window at +nothing at all. + +Nat tried to follow the pilot's advice, and give no more thought to +the memento of his father which he had so unexpectedly discovered, but +it was hard work. + +For the next few days he was kept very busy. Captain Marshall found +plenty of tasks for him, and, with running errands for the commander +and the two mates, attending to what the purser had for him to do, and +rendering occasional services for the pilot, the lad found himself +continually occupied. + +He was learning more about ships than he ever knew before, and on one +or two occasions Mr. Weatherby took him into the pilot-house, and gave +him preliminary instructions in the exacting calling of steering big +vessels. + +The freighter had stopped at several ports, taking on cargo at some, +and discharging it at others. All this made work for Nat, but he liked +it, for he was earning more than he had ever received before. + +"Nat," said Mr. Dunn, one day, "I wish you would go down into the +forward hold, and check over those bales we took on at the last port. +We've got to deliver them at the next stop, and I Want to be sure the +shipping marks on them correspond to the marks on my list. I had to +put them down in a hurry." + +"All right," answered the boy. "Here are the manifest slips all +written up, Mr. Dunn," and he handed the purser some blanks, filled in +with figures. + +"That's good. You are doing very well, Nat Keep at it and you'll get a +better job soon." + +Taking a lantern Nat went down into the forward hold, to examine some +bales of goods, in accordance with the purser's instructions. The +bales were heavy ones, but they had been stowed away in such a manner +that the shipping marks were in sight. + +As Nat left the purser's office a man, who had been standing near a +window that opened into it, moved away. The man was the mate, Mr. +Bumstead, and as he saw Nat disappear below the deck he muttered: + +"I think this is just the chance I want. We'll see how that +whipper-snapper will like his job after to-day." + +While Nat was checking off the bales, finding only one or two slight +errors in the list the purser had given him, he heard a noise forward +in the dark hold. + +"Who's there?" he asked, for it was against the rules for any one to +enter the cargo hold, unless authorized by the captain, mate or +purser. + +No answer was returned, and Nat was beginning to think the noise was +made by rats, for there were very large ones in the ship. Then he +heard a sound he knew could not have been made by a rodent. It was the +sound of some one breathing heavily. + +"Is any one here?" asked Nat. "I shall report this to the purser if +you don't answer," he threatened. + +Still no reply came to him. + +"Perhaps it is one of the sailors who has crawled in here to get a +sleep," Nat thought. "Maybe I'd better not say anything, for he might +be punished." + +He listened, but the sound, whatever it was, did not come again. The +hold was quiet, save for the slight shifting of the cargo, as the +vessel rocked to and fro under the action of the waves. + +"There, all done but one bale," said Nat, half aloud, "and that one is +turned wrong so I can't see the marks. Never mind, it's a top one, and +I can easily shift it, as it's small." + +He climbed up on a tier of the cargo, first setting his lantern down +in a safe place, and then he proceeded to move the bale around. + +Hardly had he touched it when the big package seemed to tumble outward +toward him. He felt himself falling backward, and vainly threw out his +hands to grasp some support. Farther and farther the bale toppled +outward, until it struck against Nat, and knocked him from his feet. + +He fell to the floor of the hold, in a little aisle between two tiers +of freight, and the bale was on top of him. + +[Illustration: "He fell to the floor of the hold"] + +He heard a crash of glass, and knew that the lantern had been tipped +over and broken. Then everything was dark, and he heard a strange +ringing in his ears. Nat had been knocked unconscious alone down in +the big hold, but, worse than this, a tiny tongue of fire, from the +exposed lantern wick, was playing on the bales of inflammable stuff. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +IN THE PILOT-HOUSE + + +About half an hour after Mr. Dunn had sent Nat into the hold the +purser began to wonder what kept the boy. He knew his task should not +have taken him more than ten minutes, for Nat was prompt with whatever +he had to do. + +"I hope he isn't going to do the way one boy did I used to have," said +the purser to himself, "go down there and sleep. I think I'll take a +look. Maybe he can't find those bales, though they were in plain +sight." + +As he started toward the hatchway, down which Nat had gone, he met +Captain Marshall, who, as was his custom, was taking a stroll about +the ship, to see that everything was all right. He never trusted +entirely to his officers. + +When he saw the purser, Mr. Marshall came to a sudden stop, and began +to sniff the air suspiciously. + +"Don't you smell smoke, Mr. Dunn?" he asked. + +The purser took several deep breaths. + +"I certainly do," he replied, "and it seems to come from this hatch. I +sent Nat down there a while ago, to check off some bales." + +"I hope he isn't smoking cigarettes down there," said the captain +quickly. "If he is, I'll discharge him instantly." + +"Nat doesn't smoke," replied Mr. Dunn. "But it's queer why he stays +down there so long. I'm going to take a look." + +"I'll go with you," decided the captain. + +No sooner had they started to descend the hatchway than they both were +made aware that the smell of smoke came from the hold, and that it was +growing stronger. + +"Fire! There's a fire in the cargo!" exclaimed Captain Marshall. +"Sound the alarm, Mr. Dunn, while I go below and make an +investigation. If it's been caused by that boy----" + +He did not finish, but hurried down into the hold, while Mr. Dunn +sounded the alarm that called the crew to fire quarters. + +Meanwhile, Nat had been lying unconscious under the bale for about ten +minutes. The flame from the lantern, which, fortunately, had not +exploded, was eating away at the side of the bale which was on top of +him. Luckily the stuff in the bale was slow burning, and it smoldered +a long time before breaking into a flame, in spite of the fact that +the lantern was right against it. Considerable smoke was caused, +however, though most of it was carried forward. Still, enough came up +the hatchway to alarm the captain and purser. + +It would have been very dark in the hold, but for the fact that now a +tiny fire had burst out from the bale. By the gleam of this Captain +Marshall saw what had happened. A bale had toppled from its place and +smashed the lantern. But as yet he had no intimation that Nat was +prostrate under the bale. + +Meanwhile the smoke was growing thicker, and it was getting into Nat's +nostrils. He was breathing lightly in his unconscious state, but the +smoke made it harder to get his breath, and nature, working +automatically, did the very best thing under the circumstances. Nat +sneezed and coughed so violently, in an unconscious effort to get air, +that his senses came back. + +He could move only slightly, pinned down as he was, but he could smell +the smoke, and he could see the flicker of fire. + +"Help! Help!" he cried. "Fire in the hold! Help! Help!" + +That was the first knowledge Captain Marshall had of the whereabouts +of the boy. It startled him. + +"Where are you, Nat?" he cried. + +"Under this bale! I'm held down, and the fire is coming closer to +me!" + +Captain Marshall did not stop to ask any more questions. He sprang +down beside the bale, and, exerting all his strength, for he was a +powerful man, he lifted it sufficiently so that Nat could crawl out. +The boy had only been stunned by a blow on the head. + +But, during this time, Mr. Dunn had not been idle. With the first +sounding of the fire alarm, every member of the crew sprang to his +appointed station, and, down in the engine-room, the engineers set in +operation the powerful pumps, while other men unreeled the lines of +hose, running them toward the hold, as directed by the purser. + +So, in less than a minute from the time of sounding the alarm, there +was a stream of water being directed into the lower part of the ship +where the fire was. + +"Come on out of here!" cried the captain to Nat, as he helped the boy +up, and let the bale fall back into place. "This is getting pretty +warm. I wonder what's the matter with the water?" + +Hardly had he spoken than a stream came spurting into the hold, +drenching them both. It also drenched the fire, and, in a few minutes, +the last vestige of the blaze was out. + +"Good work, men!" complimented Captain Marshall, when he had assured +himself there was no more danger. "You did well. I'm proud of you." + +Nat, who had been taken in charge by the purser, when it was found +there was no danger of the fire spreading, was examined by that +official. Nothing was found the matter with him, beyond a sore spot on +his head where the bale had hit him. + +"How in the world did it happen?" asked Mr. Dunn, as the crew began +reeling up the hose, and returning to their various duties. Nat told +him about hearing the noise, and the bale falling. + +"Do you think it fell, or did some one shove it?" asked the purser. + +"I don't know. It seemed as if some one pushed it, but who could it +be? What object would any one have in trying to hurt me?" + +"I don't know, I'm sure. You must report this to Captain Marshall," +said the purser. "He'll want to know all about it." + +There was no need of going to the captain's cabin, however, for he +came to find Nat, as soon as the excitement caused by the fire had +subsided. + +"Now tell me all about it," he said. "Every bit. Were you smoking down +there?" + +"No, sir," replied Nat indignantly. + +He related all that had taken place, and the captain had every member +of the crew questioned, as to whether or not they had been in the hold +at the time. They all denied it. + +"Maybe it was because the bale wasn't stowed away level," suggested +Mr. Bumstead, with a queer look at Nat, as our hero, together with the +purser and the pilot were in Captain Marshall's cabin, discussing the +occurrence. + +"That's possible," admitted Mr. Dunn. "But what made the noise?" + +"Rats, probably," replied the mate. "There are some whoppers down in +that hold." + +"Would you say they were large enough to topple over that bale?" asked +the pilot suddenly. + +"No--no--I don't know as I would," answered the mate. "Of course not. +More likely the lurch of the vessel did it." + +"Well, it was lucky it was no worse," spoke the captain. "If that +lantern had exploded, and the blazing oil had been scattered about, +there would have been a different ending to this. Nat would probably +be dead, and the ship a wreck. After this no lanterns are to be +carried into the hold. Have some electric lights rigged up on long +wires, so they can be taken in," he added to the mate, who promised to +see that it was done. + +"Hum," remarked Mr. Weatherby, as he and Nat walked toward the +pilot-house. "You can't make me believe a lurch of the ship loosened +that bale so it fell. Bumstead doesn't stow his cargo in such a +careless fashion. He's too good a sailor." + +"What do you think then?" asked Nat. + +"I think some one pushed that bale down." + +"Do you think the person wanted to hurt me?" + +"I can't say as to that. It may have been done by accident, by a +sailor asleep in the hold. Certainly no rat did it," and the pilot +smiled. But he was more worried than he would admit to Nat. + +"I am glad I got out." + +"I don't suppose you feel much like taking a lesson in navigation?" + +"Oh, I'm always ready for that," was the answer. "I'm all right now. +My head has stopped aching." + +"Then come into the pilot-house with me, and I will explain a few more +things to you. I think you have a natural talent for this sort of +life, and I like to show to boys, who appreciate it, the different +things there are to learn. For there are a good many of them, and it's +going to take you a long time." + +Nat had no false notions about learning to be a pilot. He knew it +would take him several years to be a capable one, but he determined to +get a good ground work or the higher branches of it, and so he +listened carefully to all that Mr. Weatherby told him. + +He learned how to read the compass and how to give the proper signals +to the engineer. + +For a number of days he spent several hours out of the twenty-four in +the pilot-house with Mr. Weatherby. He got an understanding of the +charts of the lake, of the various signals used by other ships, to +indicate the course they were on, and he learned to know the meaning +of the shore signal lights, and the location of the lighthouses that +marked the dangerous rocks and shoals. + +"You're doing very well," Mr. Weatherby said to him one day. "Much +better than I expected. Some time I'll let you try your hand at +steering a bit." + +"Oh, that will be fine!" exclaimed Nat, but he little knew what was +going to result from it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A NARROW ESCAPE + + +Though he was much interested in beginning on his long-cherished plan +of becoming a pilot, Nat did not lose sight of the fact that there was +some mystery concerning his father, in which the mate had a part. He +had not given up his belief that Mr. Bumstead had Mr. Morton's wallet, +in spite of the mate's denials. But Nat saw no way by which he could +get at the bottom of the matter. + +"I guess I'll just have to wait until chance puts something in my +way," he said to himself. "At the same time I've got to be on the +watch against him. I believe he, or some one of his cronies, pushed +that bale on me. I don't suppose it would have killed me if it had +fallen flat on me, instead of only partly, but it looks as if he +wanted to drive me off of this ship. But I'll not go! I'll stay and +see what comes of it." + +The freighter was on quite a long voyage this trip. After calling at +the last port on Lake Michigan it was to go through the Straits of +Mackinaw into Lake Huron. There, Mr. Weatherby told Nat, it would not +be such easy navigation, as there were many islands, for which a pilot +had to watch, day and night. Some were not indicated by lights, and +only a knowledge of the lake would enable the steersman to guide a +ship away from them, after dark, or during a fog. + +"Do you think I'll ever be able to do it?" asked the boy. + +"Some time, but I shouldn't attempt it right away," replied the pilot +with a smile. + +Remembering the promise he had made to Nat, the pilot one day called +the boy into the little house where the wheel was, and said: + +"Now, Nat, I'm going to give you a chance to appreciate what it means +to steer a big vessel. I'll tell you just what to do, and I think you +can do it. We have a clear course ahead of us, the lake is calm, and I +guess you can handle the wheel all right. You know about the compass, +so I don't have to tell you. Now take your place here, and grasp the +spokes of the wheel lightly but firmly. Stand with your feet well +apart, and brace yourself, for sometimes there will come a big wave +that may shift the rudder and throw you off your balance." + +The pilot-house of the _Jessie Drew_ was like the pilot-houses on most +other steamers. The front was mainly windows, and the center space +was taken up with a big wheel, which served to shift the rudder from +side to side. So large was the wheel, in order to provide sufficient +leverage, that part of it was down in a sort of pit, while the +steersman stood on a platform, which brought his head about on a level +with the top spokes. On some of the lake steamers there was steam +steering gear, and of course a much smaller wheel was used, as it +merely served as a throttle to a steam-engine, which did all the hard +work. + +Nat was delighted with his chance. With shining eyes he grasped the +spokes, and gently revolved the wheel a short distance. + +"That'll do," spoke Mr. Weatherby. "She's shifted enough." + +Nat noticed that, as he turned the wheel, the vessel changed her +course slightly, so readily did she answer the helm. It was a +wonderful thing, he thought, that he, a mere lad, could, by a slight +motion of his hands, cause a mighty ship to move about as he pleased. + +"It's easier than I thought it was," he remarked to his friend the +pilot. + +"You think so now," answered Mr. Weatherby, "but wait until you have +to handle a boat in a storm. Then the waves bang the rudder about so +that the wheel whirls around, and almost lifts you off your feet. More +than once it's gotten away from me, though, when there's a bad storm, +I have some one to help me put her over and hold her steady. I like +steam steering gear best, for it's so easy, but it's likely to get out +of order at a critical moment, and, before you can rig up the hand +gear, the boat has gone on the rocks." + +"I hope we don't get wrecked on the rocks," said Nat, as, following +the directions he had received, he shifted the wheel slightly to keep +the vessel on her proper course. + +"Well, we'll be approaching a dangerous passage in a few hours," +replied the pilot. "There are a number of rocks in it, but I think +I'll be able to get clear of 'em. I always have, but this time we'll +arrive there after dark, and I like daylight best when I have to go +through there." + +"Do you want to take the wheel now?" asked the boy, as he saw that Mr. +Weatherby was peering anxiously ahead. + +"No, you may keep it a while longer. I just wanted to get sight of a +spar buoy about here. There it is. When you come up this route you +want to get the red and black buoy in line with that point, and then +go to starboard two points, so." + +As he spoke Mr. Weatherby helped Nat put the wheel over. The big +freighter began slowly to turn, and soon was moving around a point of +land that jutted far out into the lake. + +Nat remained in the pilot-house more than an hour, and, in that time, +he learned many valuable points. At the suggestion of his friend he +jotted them down in a note-book, so he might go over them again at his +leisure, and fix them firmly in his mind. + +As the afternoon wore on, and dusk approached, a fog began to settle +over the lake. Nat, who had been engaged with the work in the purser's +office, had occasion to take a message to the pilot, and he found his +friend anxiously looking out of the big windows in front of the +pilot-house, while Andrew Simmon, the assistant, was handling the big +wheel. + +"I don't like it, Andy; I don't like it a bit," Mr. Weatherby was +saying. "It's going to be a nasty, thick night, and just as we're +beginning that risky passage. I've almost a notion to ask the captain +to lay-to until morning. There's good holding ground here." + +"Oh, I guess we can make it," replied Andrew confidently. "We've done +it before, in a fog." + +"Yes, I know we have, but I always have a feeling of dread. Somehow, +now, I feel unusually nervous about it." + +"You aren't losing your nerve, are you?" the young helper asked his +chief. + +"No--but--well, I don't like it, that's all." + +"Shall I ask the captain to anchor?" + +"No, he's anxious to keep on. We'll try it, Andy, but we'll both stay +in the pilot-house until we're well past the dangerous point, that one +where the rocks stick out." + +"But there's a lighthouse there, Mr. Weatherby." + +"I know there is, but if this fog keeps on getting thicker, the light +will do us very little good." + +Nat listened anxiously to the conversation. This was a part of the +responsibilities of piloting that had not occurred to him. More than +on a captain, the safety of a vessel rests on a pilot, when one is in +charge. And it is no small matter to feel that one can, by a slight +shift of his hand, send a gallant craft to her destruction, or guide +her to safety. + +As night came on the fog grew thicker. Mr. Weatherby and his helper +did not leave the pilot-house, but had their meals sent to them. +Captain Marshall was in frequent consultation with them, and the speed +of the vessel was cut down almost one-half as they approached the +danger point. + +From Mr. Dunn, Nat learned when they were in the unsafe passage, for +the purser had been over that route many times. + +"We must be close to the point now," said Mr. Dunn, as he and Nat +stood at the rail, trying to peer through the fog. "We'll see the +lighthouse soon. Yes, there it is," and he pointed to where a light +dimly flashed, amid the white curtain of dampness that wrapped the +freighter. + +They could hear the lookout, stationed in the bow, call the position +of the light. The course was shifted, the great boat turning slowly. + +Suddenly there was a frightened cry from the lookout. + +"Rocks! Rocks ahead!" he yelled. "Port! Port your helm or we'll be +upon 'em in another minute!" + +The ship quivered as the great rudder was shifted to swing her about. +Down in the engine-room there was a crash of gongs as the pilot gave +the signals to stop and reverse. + +Would the ship be turned in time? Could her headway be checked? Had +the lookout cried his warning quickly enough? + +These questions were in every anxious heart aboard the _Jessie Drew_. +A shudder seemed to run through the ship. Nat peered ahead, and held +his breath, as if that would lighten the weight that was rushing upon +the dangerous rocks. + +But skill and prompt action told. Slowly the freighter swept to one +side, and as at slackened speed she glided past the danger point, Nat +and Mr. Dunn, from their position near the rail, could have tossed a +biscuit on the rocks, so narrow was the space that separated the ship +from them. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +SAM SHAW APPEARS + + +The vessel had not come to a stop, before orders were hurriedly given +to let go the anchor. The narrow escape had decided Captain Marshall +that it would not be safe to proceed, and, as there was good holding +ground not far from the rocks, he determined to lay-to until the fog +lifted. + +From the pilot-house came the captain, Mr. Weatherby, and Andy Simmon. +The pilot was very much excited. + +"Those were false lights, or else something is out of order with the +machinery," he exclaimed. "The light on the point flashes once every +five seconds. The next light, beyond the point, flashes once every +fifteen seconds. This light flashed once every fifteen seconds, for +Andy and I both kept count." + +"That's right," said the assistant. + +"And I calculated by that," went on the pilot, "that we were beyond +the point, for I couldn't see anything but the light, and I had to go +by that. I was on the right course, if that light was the one beyond +the point, but naturally on the wrong one if that was the point +light." + +"And it was the point light," said the captain solemnly. + +"It was, Mr. Marshall, and only for the lookout we would now be on the +rocks." + +"I can't blame you for the narrow escape we had," went on the +commander. "Still----" + +"Of course you can't blame me!" exclaimed the pilot, as though +provoked that any such suspicion should rest on him. "I was steering +right, according to the lights. There is something wrong with them. +The lights were false. Whether they have been deliberately changed, or +whether the machinery is at fault is something that will have to be +found out. It isn't safe to proceed until morning." + +"And that will delay me several hours," grumbled Mr. Marshall. + +"I can't help that. I'll not take the responsibility of piloting the +boat in this thick fog, when I can't depend on the lights." + +"No, of course not," was the answer. "We'll have to remain here, +that's all. Have the fog-horn sounded regularly, Mr. Bumstead," the +captain added to the mate; and all through the night, at ten-second +intervals, the great siren fog-whistle of the boat blew its melancholy +blast. Nat found it impossible to sleep much with that noise over his +head, but toward morning the fog lifted somewhat, and he got into a +doze, for the whistle stopped. + +Mr. Weatherby went ashore in the morning to make inquiries regarding +the false lights. He learned that the machinery in the point +lighthouse had become deranged, so that the wrong signal was shown. It +had been repaired as soon as possible, and was now all right. But as +the fog was gone and it was daylight, the ship could proceed safely +without depending on lighthouses. Nat was up early, and had a good +view of the point and rocks that had so nearly caused the destruction +of the _Jessie Drew_. + +Three days later, having made a stop at Cheboygan to take on some +freight, the big ship was on Lake Huron. This was farther than Nat had +ever been before, and he was much interested in the sight of a new +body of water, though at first it did not seem much different from +Lake Michigan. + +They steamed ahead, making only moderate speed, for the freighter was +not a swift boat, and on the evening of the next day they ran into +Thunder Bay and docked at Alpena. + +"Plenty of work ahead for you and me," said Mr. Dunn to Nat that +night. + +"How's that?" + +"Well, we've got to break out a large part of the cargo and take on +almost as much again. We'll be busy checking up lists and making out +way-bills. You want to be careful not to make a mistake, as that mate +will have his eye on you. It's easy to see he doesn't like you." + +"And I don't like him," retorted Nat. + +"I don't blame you. Still, do your best when he's around. I know you +always do, though. Well, I'm going to get to bed early, as we'll have +our hands full in the morning." + +Nat also sought his bunk about nine o'clock, and it seemed he had +hardly been asleep at all when six bells struck, and he had to get up. + +That day was indeed a busy one, and Nat was glad when noon came and he +could stop for dinner. He ate a hearty meal, and was taking a rest on +deck, for the 'longshoremen and freight handlers would not resume +their labors until one o'clock, when he saw coming up the gangplank a +boy about his own age. The lad had red hair and rather an unpleasant +face, with a bold, hard look about the eyes. + +"Hey, kid!" the youth exclaimed on catching sight of Nat, "tell me +where Mr. Bumstead hangs out. I want to see him quick. Understand?" + +"I understand you well enough," replied Nat, who resented the +unpleasant way in which the question was put. "You speak loud enough. +I know what you mean. Mr. Bumstead is at dinner, and I don't believe +he'd like to be disturbed." + +"Oh, that's all right. He'll see me. He expects me. Now you show me +where he is, or I'll report you." + +"You will, eh?" asked Nat. "Well, I'm not in the habit of showing +strangers about the ship. It's against orders. You can't go below +until you get permission from the captain, mate or second mate." + +"I can't, eh? Guess you don't know who I am," replied the red-haired +youth with an ugly leer. + +"No, and I don't care," retorted Nat, for his life about the docks had +made him rather fearless. + +"Well, I'll make you care--you'll see! Now, are you going to show me +where I can find Mr. Bumstead? If you don't I'll make trouble for +you." + +"Look here!" exclaimed Nat, striding over to the stranger. "Don't talk +to me like that. I'm not afraid of you, whoever you are. I'll not show +you to Mr. Bumstead's cabin, as it is against the rules. You can't go +below, either, unless the second mate, who's in charge of the deck +now, says you can. He's over there, and you can ask him if you want +to. Now, don't you say anything more to me or I'll punch your face!" + +Nat was no milksop. He had often fought with the lads on the dock on +less provocation than this, and, for the time being, he forgot he was +on a ship. + +"What's the row?" asked the second mate, who, hearing the sound of +high voices, approached to see what the trouble was. + +"Oh, here's a fresh fellow who wants to see Mr. Bumstead," replied +Nat. + +"He can't until after grub hour," said the second mate shortly. +"What's your business, young man? Tell it, or go ashore." + +"I want to see Mr. Bumstead," replied the red-haired lad more humbly +than he had yet spoken, for the second mate was a stalwart man. + +"What for?" + +"Well, he expects me." + +"Who are you?" + +"I'm his nephew, Sam Shaw, and I'm going to make the rest of the trip +with him. He invited me, and I'm going to be a passenger." + +"Oh, so you're his nephew, eh?" asked the second mate. + +"That's what I am, and when I tell him how that fellow treated me +he'll make it hot for him," boasted Sam Shaw. "Now will you show me +where Mr. Bumstead's cabin is?" he asked of Nat insolently. + +"No," replied our hero. "You can ask one of the stewards. I'll have +nothing to do with you," for Sam's threat to tell his uncle had roused +all the spirit that Nat possessed. + +"There's your uncle now," said the second mate as Mr. Bumstead came up +the companionway. + +"Hello, Uncle Joe!" called Sam; and as he went forward to meet his +relative Nat went below. In spite of his bold words he was not a +little worried lest Sam Shaw had come to supplant him in his position +aboard the freighter. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CAPTAIN MARSHALL IS ANGRY + + +News circulates quickly on a ship, and it was not long ere Nat heard +from some of the crew that the mate's nephew had come aboard to finish +out the voyage with his uncle. Sam Shaw was installed in a small +stateroom near the mate's, and when the _Jessie Drew_ resumed her way +that afternoon the red-haired youth stood about with a supercilious +air, watching Nat and the others at work. + +"Is that all you've got to do?" asked Mr. Dunn, the purser, of Sam, as +he saw the youth standing idly at the rail, when every one else was +busy. + +"Sure," replied Sam, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "I'm a +passenger, I am. I'm making this voyage for my health. Maybe after a +while I'll be an assistant to you." + +"Not if I know it," murmured Mr. Dunn. "I like Nat, and I hope I can +keep him. He's doing good work." + +He passed on, for he had considerable to do on account of taking on a +new cargo, while Nat, too, was kept busy. + +"This just suits me," said Sam Shaw to himself as he leaned over the +rail and looked down into the blue waters of the lake. "I'm glad Uncle +Joe sent for me to join him. He said in his letter there might be a +chance for me, after all, to get a place in the purser's office. I +thought by that he must mean that Nat Morton was out, but he isn't. +However, I'll leave it to Uncle Joe. He generally manages to get his +own way. I guess I'll take that fellow Nat down a few pegs before I +get through with him." + +Sam had received a letter at his home in Chicago from his uncle, the +mate, telling him to meet the _Jessie Drew_ at Alpena. Sam had done +so, as we have seen, and was now established aboard the vessel. But he +was a little puzzled as to his uncle's plans. + +Mr. Bumstead had said nothing further about providing a place for his +nephew where the lad might earn money, and this was what Sam wanted +more than anything else. He wanted an opening where there was not much +work, and he thought Nat's position just about filled the bill. He did +not know how hard our hero labored. + +"Wait until I get in the purser's office," he mused as he puffed at +his cigarette. "I'll soon learn all there is to know, and then I'll +have my uncle see the captain and have me made purser. I don't like +Mr. Dunn. When I get his job I'll take things easy, and have a couple +of assistants to do the work. Maybe I'll let Nat be second assistant," +he went on. "Won't I make him stand around, though!" + +These thoughts were very pleasant to Sam Shaw. At heart he was a mean +youth, and he was lazy and inefficient, faults to which his uncle was, +unfortunately, blind. Mr. Bumstead thought Sam was a very fine boy. + +In one of his trips about the deck, attending to his duties, Nat had +to pass close to Sam. He saw the red-haired lad smoking a cigarette, +and, knowing it was against the rules of the ship to smoke in that +part of it where Sam was, he said: + +"You'd better throw that overboard before the captain sees you." + +"Throw what overboard?" asked Sam in surly tones. + +"That cigarette. It's against the rules to smoke 'em here." + +"What do I care?" retorted Sam. "My uncle is the mate." + +"That won't make any difference if Captain Marshall sees you." + +"I'm not afraid of him. My uncle owns part of the ship. He could be +captain if he wanted to. I'll smoke wherever I please. Have one +yourself?" he added in a burst of generosity, for since he had had +his idea of becoming purser and having Nat for an assistant, Sam felt +in a little more tolerant mood toward our hero. + +"No, thanks, I don't smoke." + +"Afraid of being sick, I s'pose." + +"No, it isn't that." + +"Afraid the captain will see you and punish you, then?" + +"Well, that's part of it. I used to smoke when I was about the docks, +but I found it didn't agree with me, so I gave it up. I like a +cigarette, but I believe they're bad for one's health. Besides, if I +did smoke, I wouldn't do it here. It's against the rules, I tell you, +and you'd better stop." + +"Well, I'm not going to, and you can go and tell Captain Marshall if +you want to." + +"I don't do things like that," replied Nat quietly, though he felt +like punching Sam for his sneering tone. "But I'm advising you for +your own good." + +He turned away, and as he did so his coat, with an outside pocket +showing conveniently open, was close to Sam's hand. Then a daring and +mean scheme came into the mind of the red-haired youth. + +"If I get into trouble, I'll make trouble for him, too," he thought, +and with a quick motion he dropped into Nat's pocket a partly-filled +box of cigarettes. "If he squeals on me I'll have something to tell +on him," he continued. + +Hardly had he done this than he was startled by an angry voice +exclaiming: + +"Throw that cigarette overboard! How dare you smoke on this deck? +Don't you know it's against the rules? Go below at once and I'll +attend to your case!" + +Sam started guiltily, and turned to behold Captain Marshall glaring at +him and at the lighted cigarette which the youth still held between +his fingers. Nat, who had passed on only a few steps, turned likewise. +One look at the commander's face told him Captain Marshall was very +angry indeed. + +"I told you that you'd better stop," Nat whispered to Sam. + +"Aw, dry up!" was the ungracious retort. "I guess I can look out for +myself." + +"Look here," went on the captain, striding up to Sam, "didn't you know +it was against the rules to smoke up here? I don't like cigarettes in +any part of the ship, least of all up on this deck. Didn't your uncle +tell you about it?" + +"No--no, sir," replied Sam, who, in spite of his bravado, was startled +by the angry manner of the commander. + +"And didn't any one tell you that it was forbidden here? Didn't you +tell him?" he asked, turning to Nat. "You've been here long enough to +know that rule." + +"I did know it, sir," replied Nat respectfully, "and I told----" + +"He didn't tell me!" burst out Sam quickly. "He didn't say anything +about it. In fact, Captain Marshall, he asked me to smoke here. He +gave me the cigarette!" + +"What!" exclaimed Nat, astonished beyond measure. "I never----" + +"Yes, you did!" went on Sam quickly. "You gave me a cigarette out of a +box you had in your pocket, I--I thought it was all right to smoke +when he gave it to me." + +"Is this true?" demanded the captain sternly. + +"No, sir!" exclaimed Nat. "I haven't any cigarettes, and if I had I +wouldn't give him any. I haven't smoked in over a year." + +"He says you have a box in your pocket now," continued Captain +Marshall, remembering his suspicions about the fire in the hold. + +"He's telling an untruth," replied Nat quietly. "I don't carry +cigarettes about with me. You can----" + +"Then what's this?" asked the commander suddenly, as he stepped toward +Nat, and plunging his hand in the lad's pocket he pulled out the box +of cigarettes. The captain had seen a suspicious-looking bulge, and +had acted on what he considered his rights as a commander of a vessel +in searching one of his crew. + +"Why--why----" stammered Nat. "I didn't know----" + +"That's the box my cigarette came out of," said Sam, truthfully +enough. + +"It isn't mine!" exclaimed Nat. + +"Then what's it doing in your pocket?" inquired Captain Marshall. + +"I don't know, unless Sam put it there," said Nat firmly. + +"That's a likely story! I don't believe you." + +"I never put it there," declared Sam stoutly. Telling an untruth meant +nothing to him. + +"Then some one else, who wants to injure me, did it," declared Nat. "I +never use cigarettes--I haven't for over a year." + +"This will be looked into," said the captain. "One of you lads is +telling an untruth, and I propose to find out who. When I do I shall +take action. Meanwhile I'll hold these cigarettes as evidence. Don't +let me catch either of you smoking again aboard this ship. As for +you," he added, turning to Nat, "you've been idle long enough. Get on +with your work." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE INVESTIGATION + + +Nat hardly knew what to make of the strange turn of events. It had +happened so suddenly that he had no time to prepare himself. He was +positive Sam had dropped the cigarettes into his pocket, but to prove +it was another matter. He knew the mate would take the side of his +nephew, while Nat had no one to stand up for him. + +"Unless Mr. Weatherby does," he said to himself. "I guess I'll tell +him about it." + +"You leave it to me," said the pilot, when Nat had related his story. +"I think we can easily prove that Sam Shaw is guilty. Don't worry. +I'll stand by you." + +Nat felt better after this, and went about his duties with a lighter +heart. Nevertheless, he could not help being anxious when he received +a message telling him to report to Captain Marshall's cabin. + +"If you need any witnesses call on me," said the purser, as the boy +went aft. "I saw Sam smoking before you joined him, and I'll testify +to that effect." + +"Thank you," said Nat. "I may need you. He tried to play a mean trick +on me." + +In the cabin Nat found assembled Mr. Bumstead and Sam Shaw, besides +the commander of the ship, who, looking very stern, sat in a big chair +behind the table. + +"I wonder where Mr. Weatherby is?" thought Nat. "He said he'd stand by +me. I hope he comes." + +"There's no need to state the reasons why we are here," began the +captain. "I'm determined to get at the bottom of this smoking +business, and put a stop to it. Does your nephew smoke?" he asked, +turning to the mate. + +"I--er--I think he used to, but he told me he had given it up, I think +he has. Haven't you, Sam?" + +"Yes, Uncle Joe; but when Nat offered me one a while ago, I took it +before I thought of what I was doing. I forgot I had promised you I +wouldn't smoke any more." + +"I never gave him a cigarette!" burst out Nat. + +"That will do!" exclaimed the captain. "You'll have your chance +later." + +He placed the box he had taken from Nat's pocket on the table in front +of him. + +"Did you ever see that box before?" he asked of the mate. "Did you +ever see your nephew have it?" + +"No, sir." + +"Is that your box of cigarettes?" the captain asked Sam. + +"No, sir; it belongs to Nat," which was the truth, as far as it went, +since Sam had mentally made Nat a present of it. + +"So it's yours, then?" turning to Nat. + +"No, sir, it is not!" + +"Who is telling the truth here?" asked the puzzled captain. + +"I am!" declared Sam quickly. + +"You are not!" cried Nat. "I never owned that box." + +"I found it in your pocket," declared the commander. + +"Because he put it there." + +"I have already said I don't take any stock in that story. What object +would he have in doing that?" + +"I don't know, but he did it." + +"I'm sure my nephew would not do such a thing," said the mate. "I know +Nat smokes, for I have seen him smoking about the dock when we had +occasion to tie up there." + +"I used to," admitted our hero, "but I gave it up. If you will call +Mr. Dunn," went on Nat desperately, "I think he could give some +evidence." + +"What kind?" asked the captain sneeringly. "Did you make up some for +him?" + +"No, sir, but he says he saw Sam smoking before I passed him there on +the deck, and warned him it was against the rules." + +"Hum! Well, I suppose I'll have to send for him," which the captain +did. + +Mr. Dunn told how he had seen Sam smoking before Nat had occasion to +go to that part of the deck where the mate's nephew was. + +"Are you sure of this?" asked the mate sternly, before Captain +Marshall had a chance to question Mr. Dunn. "Remember you are +blackening a boy's character by what you say." + +Now, unfortunately for Nat, it so happened that Mr. Dunn had what is +termed a very "short" memory. He could recall matters distinctly for +only a short time after they occurred, unless he made a note of them. +That he had not done in this case. The mate saw his advantage, as the +purser hesitated, and he pursued it. + +"Wasn't it _after_ you sent Nat to that part of the deck that you saw +Sam smoking?" he asked. "Wasn't it _after_ that?" + +Mr. Dunn tried to recollect. His faulty memory went back on him, he +hesitated and stammered, he became confused, and the outcome was he +had to admit that he might have seen Sam smoking after Nat had met +him. The result was he did Nat's cause more harm than good. + +"Well, I hope you're satisfied with your witness," remarked the +captain dryly. "I don't see that you've proved anything, whereas the +box of cigarettes is very damaging evidence against you." + +Nat questioned Mr. Dunn, seeking to have him recall exactly what had +taken place, but the purser, much as he wanted to help his assistant, +failed dismally. + +"I am compelled to say I believe you gave Sam the cigarette," went on +Captain Marshall, "and, much as I regret it, for I think you are a +hard-working lad, I shall have to discharge you. You broke a very +strict rule of the ship, one on account of which we might, in case of +fire, lose all our insurance. It is too flagrant to pass over." + +"Then you believe him instead of me?" asked Nat faintly. + +"I must say that I do." + +"But I never had those cigarettes." + +"The evidence is against you. What object would Sam have in putting +them into your pocket? That is a question you cannot answer +satisfactorily." + +"I believe he wanted to injure me because I got this place that his +uncle wanted for him." + +"Nonsense! I have a better place in view for my nephew," said the +mate. "He will take it as soon as this voyage for his health is +ended." + +"As for traveling for his health, I wouldn't advise him to smoke any +more cigarettes," remarked the captain dryly, "no matter who gives +them to him." + +"I'll not," promised Sam eagerly, congratulating himself on the +success of his plot. + +"No, I'll see that he does not," added his uncle. + +Poor Nat did not know what to do or say. Mr. Dunn had slipped out of +the cabin. The purser was sorry for what had happened, and most of all +he regretted his inability to help Nat, for though he could not +testify to it in a way to carry conviction, he was sure in his own +mind of what had happened. + +"Why doesn't Mr. Weatherby come?" thought Nat. + +"You will be relieved of your duties in the purser's office," went on +Captain Marshall. "Mr. Bumstead, will you, as a favor to me, allow +your nephew to help Mr. Dunn for the remainder of the voyage?" + +"Yes, sir. I think he will be glad to do it. Will you not, Sam?" + +"Certainly," was the answer, and the red-haired youth did not try to +conceal the satisfaction he felt. + +"Then you may consider yourself discharged," said the commander to +Nat. "I will put you ashore at the next port." + +"What's that?" exclaimed a voice, and those in the cabin looked up to +see Mr. Weatherby standing in the doorway. "Nat discharged! What's it +all about? I tried to get here sooner, but I had to make up some +records, and they took longer than I calculated. Is the investigation +all over, captain?" + +"It is, and I am sorry to say I had to decide against Nat. I believe +he had the cigarettes and gave Sam some to smoke in that part of the +ship where they are forbidden. I don't know that he smoked himself, +but he might as well have done so as to induce another." + +"I don't believe Nat did anything of the kind," said the pilot. + +"I'm sorry I can't agree with you," responded the commander. "I have +relieved him from his duties and put Sam temporarily in his place. He +leaves the ship at the next port." + +"He does, eh?" said Mr. Weatherby. "Then all I've got to say is that +if he goes, I go too!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MAKING A CHANGE + + +Such a startling announcement as the pilot made could not fail to +surprise those in the cabin. Nat wondered whether his friend meant it, +and as for Captain Marshall, he believed the pilot was not aware of +what had taken place at the investigation. + +"Do you mean that you will leave the ship without a pilot?" asked the +commander. + +"No; at least, not until we get to the next port, where you can hire +one. In fact, after we get over this part of the trip you'll not need +one, for the lake is well charted, and you can steer as well as I can. +But I repeat, if Nat goes, I go too." + +"But he broke one of the most stringent rules of the ship," retorted +the captain, who did not at all like the idea of losing his pilot. + +"I can't agree with you. I know something of this case, and I believe +Nat is innocent of the charge." + +"Do you mean to say that my nephew is guilty?" asked the mate. + +"I don't know that I care to express an opinion," was Mr. Weatherby's +answer. "From what I know of him I should say I think your nephew +might be guilty. I know he smokes cigarettes." + +"I used to," interrupted Sam, "but I've stopped." + +"Your hands don't bear out that assertion," said the pilot quietly, as +he pointed to the tell-tale yellow stains on Sam's fingers. "I am +inclined to think you smoke pretty steadily yet." + +The red-haired youth had no answer to make to this. + +"Do you dare to accuse my nephew?" demanded Mr. Bumstead. + +"I said I didn't care to accuse any one," replied Mr. Weatherby. "I +only said I believe Nat innocent, and if he is discharged I leave +also." + +"I think you are taking an unfair advantage of me," said Captain +Marshall. "You know I need your services for some time yet." + +"Well, you know how to retain them." + +"How?" + +"By not unjustly discharging Nat." + +"I don't think I was acting unjustly." + +"I do." + +The captain was plainly disturbed. He knew he could not well get along +without the pilot, yet he did not like to have to give in to Nat's +claim of innocence. To do Captain Marshall justice, though he was +quick-tempered, he really believed Nat at fault, chiefly on account of +Mr. Dunn's failure to give the proper testimony at the investigation. +So with no very good humor he had to change his orders. + +"Very well," he said rather sourly. "I'll not discharge Nat, though I +believe him guilty." + +"That will not do," insisted Mr. Weatherby. "If you believe him guilty +you must discharge him." + +"But if I do, you'll go, and I will be without a pilot." + +"That is true, but there is another alternative." + +"What is it?" + +"You can say that at least there is a chance Nat is not guilty. He +should, I think, be given the benefit of the doubt." + +"Very well. I'll admit that," replied the captain stiffly, for he did +not like to be dictated to. + +"I believe that is all, then," went on Mr. Weatherby. "I suppose Nat +may go back to the purser's office?" + +The captain nodded. He was in an exceedingly bad humor. He felt that +his position as captain of the ship was at stake. He had incurred the +enmity of the mate, who was a part owner, and he felt that Mr. +Weatherby, who was a member of the company owning the vessel, had no +very friendly feelings toward him. Still, there was nothing else the +commander could do. + +"I'll get square with you yet," muttered Sam as Nat passed him on his +way out of the captain's cabin. "I'll have your place, too, before a +great while." + +"Maybe you will--when I'm through with it," replied Nat, quite pleased +with the way things had turned out, yet wishing he could completely +vindicate himself. "But I tell you one thing, Sam Shaw, if you try any +more of your tricks on me I'll give you the worst licking you ever +had." + +The boys were outside of the cabin now, and on the deck. + +"You will, eh?" + +"Yes, I will, and don't you forget it! You put those cigarettes in my +pocket, and you know it." + +"Oh, I did, eh? Then why didn't you prove it?" sneered Sam. + +"I will, some day, and when I do--well, look out--that's all," and Nat +turned away and went back to his work. + +Though the incident seemed closed, there was not the best of feeling +between Captain Marshall and the pilot. As for the mate, he was so +angry at Mr. Weatherby that he would not speak to him. + +The _Jessie Drew_ continued on her voyage. Stops were made at several +ports in Saginaw Bay, where cargo was either discharged or taken on. +Sam kept himself out of Nat's way, but this was not difficult, for +Nat found plenty to do, as, since he grasped matters rapidly, the +purser turned more and more work over to him. + +Nat was glad of this, since he wanted to learn all he could, and he +was rapidly advancing. Mr. Dunn complimented him on his aptitude for +the work, and said it would not be long before he could qualify for +the position of assistant purser. + +"Then I suppose you'll be after my place," he said. + +"No, indeed," answered Nat with a smile. "You've been too kind to me." + +"I wish I could have done more for you at that investigation. It's too +bad my memory is so faulty. I have to make a note of everything the +minute it happens, or I'd forget it. I get so used to relying on books +and memoranda in this position that I'm lost without them." + +"Don't worry about it," said Nat. "It's all right. Some time I'll +prove what a mean trick Sam played on me, and then I'll be satisfied." + +Mr. Weatherby did not forget his promise to teach Nat all he could +about piloting, and many a day the lad spent in learning the different +points and studying the lake, its various headlands, lighthouses, +buoys and other marks on which navigators have to depend. + +"You're coming on well, Nat," said the old pilot one day. "It won't +be long before you can qualify for an assistant pilot, and then it +will be only a matter of a few years when you will be a full-fledged +one." + +"I'll be glad when that time comes. I want to earn some money to pay +back Mr. and Mrs. Miller for what they did for me." + +"Yes, they were very kind to you, and they felt it more than a family +would that had more money. Never forget your friends, Nat. By the way, +have you seen or heard anything more about that pocketbook which the +mate had?" + +"No; I've watched him closely, but I haven't had a sight of it. +Probably I was mistaken." + +"I think not, yet he may have come by it honestly, even if it was your +father's. Sailors often make each other gifts, or your father may have +sold it to Mr. Bumstead." + +"I don't believe he'd do that. He thought too much of it. But if the +mate came by it honestly, I don't see why he acted so queerly. I can't +help thinking there is some mystery about it. In fact, father's death +was so sudden that little was known concerning it." + +"I have a plan in mind, which I am going to put into operation as soon +as possible," said the pilot. "It may result in some information." + +"What is it?" + +"I know a man who was on the lumber barge on which your father was. I +am going to write to him, and have him tell me all the circumstances +connected with your parent's death." + +"I wish you would. It would relieve my mind to know all the facts." + +"That is what I thought. I will write in a few days, but now I have +another matter I want to speak to you about." + +The pilot's manner was serious, and Nat wondered what his friend was +about to say. Mr. Weatherby went to the door of the pilot-house and +looked out. + +"I just wanted to see that Sam Shaw, or his uncle, were not about," he +said in explanation. "They've been hanging around here of late, and +I'm suspicious of them." + +He closed the door, and coming over to where Nat stood at the wheel +said: + +"How would you like to come with me on a big passenger steamer?" + +"Are you going?" asked Nat in surprise. + +"Well, I have the chance. I got a letter the other day from a big +firm, that wants another pilot. They made me a very good offer, and +I'm inclined to take it. I thought I would ask you if you'd like to +go." + +"Would I have a chance to learn to be a pilot?" + +"Yes, a better chance than you have here." + +"Then I'd like to go first-rate. I'm ever so much obliged to you. Do +you think you will accept the offer?" + +"I believe I will. I'll tell Captain Marshall that we are going to +leave him at Detroit. He can easily get another pilot there, and we'll +change to a ship where conditions are more pleasant. I'm glad you want +to come with me." + +"I don't know what I'd do if it wasn't for you." + +"Well, I still feel that I'm in your debt," replied Mr. Weatherby. "I +think----" + +He stopped suddenly and went to the door. He listened a moment, then +quickly opened it. Sam Shaw was hurrying away down the deck. + +"I believe he was listening, the young rascal!" exclaimed the pilot. + +"Do you think he heard anything?" + +"He must have. The windows were open." + +"What will you do?" + +"Well, it doesn't matter much. I'll inform Captain Marshall at once of +my intentions, and so spoil any trick which the mate's nephew thinks +he can play on us." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A BLOW AND A RESCUE + + +That Captain Marshall was surprised is putting it mildly when a little +later Mr. Weatherby informed the commander that he was going to leave +to be a pilot on a big passenger steamer. + +"If it is a question of more money, I think you can get it on this +steamer," said Mr. Marshall. + +"No, it isn't altogether that. The freight runs are too long to suit +me. I am getting along in years, and I like to spend a little time on +shore. By taking this position on a passenger vessel I will have +considerable time between trips. Then, again, conditions are not as +pleasant here of late as I'd like to have them. Nat and I will leave +you as soon as you reach Detroit." + +"Nat! Is he going with you?" + +"Yes. After what has occurred I should think you would be glad of it." + +"I don't know that I am," replied the captain. "At first I believed +him guilty of having those cigarettes, but since then I have been +informed by one of the crew that Sam Shaw smokes in secret, though +not in forbidden places. No, I can't say that I am altogether pleased +that Nat is going. He is a good boy, and though he is a trifle slow in +some things I think I will prefer him to Sam." + +"Then Sam is going to have his place?" + +"If Nat leaves. I have promised Mr. Bumstead that I will give his +nephew the position." + +"I hope you don't repent of it. I am sorry this little trouble has +occurred, but I'll stick to Nat every time." + +"I wish I was sure that Sam and not Nat was at fault," went on the +captain. "I confess I do not altogether like Sam, but I am under +obligations to his uncle." + +"Well, Nat and I will soon be leaving you," continued the pilot. "Of +course, until I go, I will do all I can to help you, and so will Nat." + +Though Captain Marshall was a little sorry to lose Nat, yet, on the +whole, he was not ill-pleased that the boy to whom, in a measure, he +had had to admit himself in the wrong was going to leave. He would +have been better pleased to get some one else besides Sam in his +place, but he could do nothing, as he had given the mate a promise. + +As for Nat, he was delighted at the prospect of a change. He had +always wanted a place on a passenger steamer, for though he might be +kept busier, the work was of a pleasanter character. The wages, too, +were higher, and there was a better chance for advancement. + +Several days went by, and the freighter made a number of stops of +small importance. + +"Well, Nat," said Mr. Weatherby in the evening, after the boy had +spent nearly all day in the pilot-house perfecting himself along the +lines of his chosen calling, "we'll be at Detroit to-morrow morning, +and then we'll bid farewell to the _Jessie Drew_. I suppose you'll be +glad of it?" + +"Partly, yes, though it was very nice before Sam showed up." + +"I, too, will be a little sorry to go," added the pilot. "I have been +on her a number of years now, and it seems like home to me. But I +think a change will be best." + +"Is the passenger steamer at Detroit?" + +"No, but it is expected there in a few days. We'll lay off on shore +until she arrives. I have been in communication with the owners, and +the boat is to pick you and me up at that port. You'll have a chance +to make a few excursions on shore." + +"Oh, I'm not tired of work so soon." + +"No, I should hope not. But I have a little business to attend to in +Detroit. I may say it affects you." + +"Affects me? How is that?" + +"You remember I told you I was going to write to a man who was on the +lumber barge with your father?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I did so, and I have an answer from him." + +"Who is he? What does he say?" + +"His name is George Clayton." + +"Why, I have often heard my father speak of him." + +"Yes; well, I had a letter from him the other day. It was forwarded to +me from Chicago." + +"What does he say? Does he recall anything out of the ordinary +concerning my father?" + +"That's what I can't tell. He doesn't say anything, except that he +will meet me in Detroit. So he may know something, and, again, he may +not. I suppose you haven't learned anything more from Mr. Bumstead?" + +"No. He hasn't said much to me since the trouble over the cigarettes." + +"Did you ask him any more about the pocketbook?" + +"I started to speak to him about it, intending to inquire if he +couldn't possibly be mistaken, but he refused to talk about it and +turned away, saying the wallet was his, and had been for a long time." + +"A good deal depends on what he calls a long time," murmured Mr. +Weatherby as he went to his cabin. + +"I wonder what Mr. Clayton can tell me?" thought Nat. "I don't believe +there was anything suspicious about father's death, or it would have +been brought out at the time. The captain of the barge said he had +fallen overboard while at work during a storm, and that they had a +hard time recovering his body. Poor father! If he was only alive now +he and I could be on some vessel and both earning a good living." + +Nat was a little sad at the thoughts of his dead parent, but he did +not dwell long on this gloomy side. He had his work to do, and work is +one of the best things in the world to make us forget our griefs. + +The _Jessie Drew_ tied up at the wharf in Detroit early the next +morning. Mr. Weatherby had his baggage all packed, and Nat at his +suggestion had done the same. Nat had been paid off by Captain +Marshall the night before, but the pilot received his money in the +form of a check every month. + +"I hope you do well in your new place," said Captain Marshall as he +bade Nat good-by. + +"Thank you. I hope to be able to prove some day that those cigarettes +were not mine," replied Nat. + +"If you do I will always be ready to beg your pardon," was the +commander's reply, somewhat stiffly made. + +"Well, Nat, are you all ready?" called the pilot as he stood at the +head of the companionway. + +"All ready," replied the boy, coming up on deck. Near the gangplank, +over which he had to pass to leave the vessel, stood Sam Shaw. Though +Sam had said little to his uncle about it, he was quite envious over +Nat's rise in life. To be a helper to a pilot on a passenger steamer +was much better than to be an assistant to the purser of a freighter. +Sam had hinted to his uncle the advisability of Mr. Bumstead seeking a +berth on a passenger boat, but the latter had replied he did not care +for that sort of a place. The truth was the mate was not competent to +take such a position, as he was not a first-class officer. + +"Good-by, Nat," called Mr. Dunn to the lad who had been such a help to +him. "I'll miss you." + +"Oh, I guess I can do as well as he did," spoke Sam quickly. "I'll not +make any mistake checking up the cargo lists, and I'll not go to sleep +in the hold and say a bale fell on me." For his uncle had told Sam of +these two circumstances, giving his own version of them. + +"That'll do you!" exclaimed Nat. "Don't you get too fresh!" + +"And I'm not going to have any cigarettes, either," went on Sam, +determined to do all he could to blacken Nat's character. + +This last taunt was too much for Nat. Dropping his valise he sprang +for Sam. + +"You take that back!" he demanded. + +"I'll do nothing of the kind!" was Sam's retort. + +"Then I'll punch your head!" + +"You don't dare! I'm not afraid of you. Get away from me, or I'll land +you one on the nose!" + +The two boys stood glaring at each other. Nat was thoroughly angry, +something that was rare with him, and Sam felt a desire to strike the +lad who had managed to get ahead of him. + +"Are you going to get away from me?" demanded Sam. + +"Not until I get ready." + +"Come, Nat, don't have anything to do with him," advised Mr. +Weatherby, for he did not want to see a fight. + +At the sound of his friend's voice Nat involuntarily turned his head. +Sam meanly took advantage of this, and drew back his arm for a blow. +His fist shot out, but Nat turned aside in time so that he only +received a light blow on the shoulder. He had been hit, however, and +he was not the lad to stand that without taking some action. + +"There! If you want to fight!" he cried, and his left shot out, +straight for Sam's face. Sam tried to dodge, but he was too late. The +blow caught him full on the chin, and so powerful was it that he +reeled backward, vainly clutching the air for support. + +He had been standing with his back to the little space between the +ship's rail and the rail of the gangplank. Nat's blow sent him reeling +backward, and a moment later Sam fell into the water between the +vessel and the dock. + +"Man overboard!" sang out a sailor who had witnessed the fight and its +outcome. "Man overboard!" + +He ran to the rail, and threw a life-preserver down into the narrow +space. But with the realization of what he had done Nat was in action. + +He threw off his coat and vest with a quick motion, and with his knife +cut the laces of his shoes, kicking them off in a trice. Then, running +to the rail, he peered down to where a swirl in the water indicated +Sam's position. Over the rail leaped Nat, to rescue the boy whom he +had knocked into the water. + +At the sailor's cry Captain Marshall and the mate came running out on +deck. They were told by the pilot what had happened. + +"I'll have him arrested for this!" cried the mate. "He tried to murder +my nephew." + +"Your nephew hit him first," replied Mr. Weatherby. + +"Yes, and now he's trying to drown him!" + +"Not a bit of it. Sam had no business to be standing where he was. +Let Nat alone and he'll get him out. He rescued me from a worse place +than that." + +The three men rushed to the rail, and peered down. Neither boy was in +sight. + +"Sam's drowned! Oh, Sam's drowned!" cried the mate, helplessly. + +"Nonsense!" replied the pilot. "He hasn't been in half a minute. +There! Nat's got him!" + +Nat had reappeared on the surface, with one arm about his enemy. + +"Throw me a rope!" he cried. "He's unconscious! Must have hit his +head!" + +"Can you hold him?" asked the pilot. + +"Yes. I've got hold of the dock." + +The rope was hastily lowered, and Nat placed the loop of it about the +shoulders of the unconscious Sam. Then those on deck hauled him up. + +A few seconds later, with the aid of the same rope, Nat was pulled on +deck. + +"Is he--is he all right?" he asked anxiously. + +"Yes," answered the pilot. "That was a plucky rescue." + +"Well, I couldn't do any less, seeing I knocked him overboard. I was +afraid I couldn't get him. He's quite heavy." + +"This is a dramatic farewell," commented Mr. Weatherby. "I suppose you +can't go now, until you have changed your clothes." + +"I don't want to go until I know whether he is all right. I'm sorry I +struck him so hard." + +"He deserved it, for he took an unfair advantage of you." + +"Yes, that's so; but I didn't think it would end this way." + +"Better go to the engine-room, and change your clothes," suggested Mr. +Weatherby. "I'll wait for you." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +NAT HEARS SOME NEWS + + +Nat took off his wet garments, and donned some others, while the damp +ones were put to dry over one of the boilers. In the meanwhile Sam had +been revived. He was not much hurt, but he had swallowed a quantity of +water, which made him quite ill. + +"I'll have that Nat Morton arrested for assault and battery," declared +the mate. + +"No--no--don't!" begged his nephew. + +"Why not? Didn't he hit you?" + +"Yes--but--but I hit him first, and--and Mr. Weatherby saw me." + +"Oh," said Mr. Bumstead. "Well, we'll get even with him some way." + +"That's what I will," declared Sam, with as much energy as possible +under the circumstances. "I'm glad he's going. Are you sure I'm to +have his job?" + +"Yes, and you'll get more money. I made Captain Marshall agree to +that, though he didn't want to. But you'll have to be very careful. +Don't you dare smoke any cigarettes." + +"How do you know I do smoke 'em?" + +"Oh, I've got a good nose for tobacco," replied his uncle. "I'm +warning you; that's all. I don't like this Nat Morton any more than +you do, and I'm glad he is going." + +The mate did not say why, but it was because he had hidden away a +certain wallet, with a name erased from it, and this wallet he did not +want Nat to see. + +Owing to the fight between Nat and Sam, it was not until noon that Mr. +Weatherby and our hero were able to leave the _Jessie Drew_. By that +time Nat's clothes were dry, and then, without Sam looking on, for he +was below in his bunk, the pilot and the lad whom he had befriended +went ashore. + +"We'll go to the Imperial Hotel," spoke Mr. Weatherby. "That's where I +usually put up, when I'm here, and we'll wait there until the +_Mermaid_ docks." + +"Is that the name of the ship we are going on?" asked Nat. + +"That's her. She's a fine steamer, and Captain Turton is a fine man. I +shall like to work for him, and I believe you will too." + +"Maybe he doesn't want me," suggested Nat, for he had been thinking of +that contingency. + +"Oh, I've arranged all that. But I wonder if George Clayton will be +here?" + +"Where did you expect to meet him?" + +"At the hotel. There's the place, just ahead," and the pilot pointed +down the street. "Yes, and there's George, like a lookout in the bow +on a foggy night. There, he's signaling us!" + +Nat saw a stout, jolly looking man, standing on the hotel steps, +waving his hand to Mr. Weatherby. + +"Ahoy there!" called Mr. Clayton, when they were within hailing +distance, "how goes it?" + +"Very fair. How about you?" + +"Oh, I've had pretty good weather, and I managed to keep off the rocks +and shoals. But is this Nat Morton, whom you were telling me about?" + +"That's Nat," replied the pilot. + +"Hum. Looks like his father," commented Mr. Clayton. "Shake hands, +young man," and he extended a big one, roughened by many years of toil +aboard lake steamers. + +"Did you know my father?" asked Nat, with deep interest. + +"Indeed, I did. He and I were messmates on many a trip. I was on the +same barge when a big wave washed him overboard. My! but that was a +rough night!" + +"I thought maybe, George," said Mr. Weatherby, "that you could tell +Nat something about his father's affairs. There seems to be something +wrong somewhere, but I can't get a clear passage to what it is. The +signals don't seem to be right, and we're navigating around in a fog. +Maybe you can put us on the right course, and we'll get into some sort +of a harbor." + +"I'll do my best, though I don't know much about his affairs," said +the stout sailor. "But come on in. I'd like to talk to you." + +Nat felt a little strange at meeting one who had known his father so +intimately. + +But George Clayton was not one to let one feel sad for very long. When +they were in his room at the hotel, drinking lemonade, for the day was +hot, he told Nat all he knew about his father's last voyage. + +"And so you're learning to be a pilot," he said to Nat at the close. +"I thought your father was going to set you up in some business. He +was afraid you would meet with some accident if you followed the same +calling he did." + +"Set him up in business? What do you mean?" asked Mr. Weatherby. + +"Well, I don't know exactly what business, but I know Jim--I always +called your father Jim," he explained to Nat--"I know Jim was talking +what he was going to do with the profits of the load of lumber--I mean +his share." + +"Did Mr. Morton have a share in the load of lumber on the barge from +which he was drowned?" asked the pilot. + +"Of course. Didn't you know that? Didn't you get his share when he +died?" he asked of the boy. + +"I got nothing. Father left nothing, as far as I know." + +"Why, he certainly left something," insisted Mr. Clayton. "We all got +our share out of it, and I always supposed his went to his heirs. +You're the only one, I understand." + +"This is getting to be quite a puzzle," declared Mr. Weatherby. +"Suppose you explain." + +"Well, you certainly surprise me," went on Mr. Clayton. "And Nat +didn't get anything after his father died?" + +"Not a cent. How could he? Mr. Morton left no papers of any kind." + +"Well, he certainly did, for I saw 'em. There was a whole walletful, +and among them was a certificate of his share in the lumber deal." + +"What lumber deal? What wallet?" asked Nat excitedly. + +"I'd better begin at the beginning," said Mr. Clayton, "and tell it +all regularly--that is, as much as I know. But first I must have some +more lemonade." + +He filled his glass from the pitcher, drank a goodly draught of the +beverage, and began: + +"Jim and I and several others formed a syndicate on that lumber. That +is, we all put our money together and purchased the load. It was good +timber, and the price was high, and we stood to make considerable. Jim +had five shares, and each share was worth in the neighborhood of three +hundred dollars. I had two shares." + +"Then my father had fifteen hundred dollars in that lumber deal," said +Nat. + +"That's what he had, my boy, and where it went to is a mystery." + +"Did you get your money out of it?" asked the pilot. + +"I certainly did, and so did the others. After that storm, when your +father was lost overboard, we had a hard job getting the lumber to +port, but we managed to do it, and sold it for a good price." + +"What was done with the money?" asked Mr. Weatherby. + +"It was divided among the members of the syndicate." + +"What about Mr. Morton's share?" + +"His was laid aside, and the second mate of the barge said he would +take it to his address in Chicago. He got it off Mr. Morton's dead +body." + +"I never received the money," said Nat. + +"That's queer," spoke Mr. Clayton. + +"Who was the second mate, who agreed to take Mr. Morton's share to +his heirs?" inquired the pilot. + +"He was Joseph Bumstead," was the startling answer, "but I don't know +where he is now. He cleared out after we sold the lumber, taking his +share, and Mr. Morton's, and I haven't seen him since." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +JUST TOO LATE + + +Such was their surprise over this announcement on the part of Mr. +Clayton, that neither Mr. Weatherby nor Nat knew, for a moment, what +to say. + +"Are you sure Bumstead had Mr. Morton's share?" asked the pilot. + +"Of course. He took charge of everything that was found in poor Jim's +pockets. There was a little money, and some other papers. One, I +recall, was a promissory note for about four hundred dollars, for +money Jim had loaned to Bumstead. I remember there was some question +about letting him take that, but he said he would pay the money due on +it to Jim's heirs, and we let him have the whole business." + +"What sort of a looking man was this Bumstead?" asked Mr. Weatherby, +while he and Nat waited anxiously for the answer. + +Mr. Clayton accurately described the mate of the _Jessie Drew_. + +"It's the same man," murmured the pilot. "There can be no mistake +about that." + +"Why, do you know him?" asked Mr. Clayton. + +"I have every reason to believe that he is mate of the freight steamer +Nat and I have just left," was the reply. + +"Then let's get right after him, and make him give up that money!" +exclaimed Mr. Clayton. "He's got it. Probably he turned the lumber +shares into money as soon as he got ashore, for he could easily do +that." + +"Then with the money due on the note he has about two thousand dollars +belonging to----" + +"Belonging to Nat!" interrupted Mr. Clayton, "and I'll see that the +boy gets it. Come on, don't lose any time. Bumstead may skip out. I +didn't like the man when I was in the same crew with him, but I never +supposed he was a thief." + +"This explains why he did not want Nat to come aboard to work," said +the pilot. "He was afraid Mr. Morton's son would discover something." + +"And I _did_, too," put in Nat. "I saw him have my father's wallet." + +"That's so; I forgot about that for the moment," cried Mr. Weatherby. +"Do you recall that pocketbook, with Mr. Morton's name on it in gold +letters?" he asked, turning to Mr. Clayton. + +"Indeed, I do. Jim thought a lot of that. Has Bumstead got it?" + +"We have every reason to think he has." + +"He's a thorough villain," commented Mr. Clayton. "Now don't let's +delay any longer, or he may skip out. Let's get a policeman, or a +detective, and have him locked up. I'll be a witness against him." + +"I guess that's our best plan," assented the pilot. "Well, Nat, you're +better off than you thought you were. Two thousand dollars is a neat +sum for a lad like you." + +"I haven't got it yet." + +"No, but we'll see that you do get it," replied Mr. Weatherby's +friend. "We'll have the law on that rascally mate. No wonder he wanted +his nephew to have your place." + +"Shall we go down where the _Jessie Drew_ is tied up, and see if the +mate is aboard before we get an officer, or stop at the police station +first?" asked Mr. Weatherby, as he, Nat and Mr. Clayton left the +hotel. + +"Let's get a policeman, or a detective, first," was Mr. Clayton's +answer. "We can't take any chances with a man like Bumstead. To think +of him having that money more than two years, since poor Jim was +drowned, and Nat suffering for what was really his own!" + +"Oh, I didn't suffer so much," was our hero's answer. "I managed to +get along, and Mr. and Mrs. Miller were very good to me. Then I had a +good friend in Mr. Weatherby." + +"No better than I had in you," replied the pilot, who had told his +friend of the plucky rescue. + +A stop at the police station, and a recital of part of the story to +the sergeant in charge, readily procured the services of a detective. +In order to excite no suspicions, it was arranged that the officer and +Mr. Clayton should go on ahead to the dock where the freight steamer +was tied up. They could go aboard, and if Mr. Bumstead saw them he +would not become alarmed and escape, whereas, if he saw the pilot and +Nat returning he might take the alarm. + +Accordingly, when they were part way to the dock, Nat and Mr. +Weatherby walked down a side street, while the others went on. + +"I wonder if he'll put up a fight?" mused Nat, as they paced slowly up +and down, waiting. + +"Very likely. He is a desperate man, and I haven't the slightest doubt +but what he pushed that bale on you in the hold." + +"I think so myself," agreed Nat. + +It seemed quite a long time that Mr. Clayton and the detective were +gone, and Nat grew impatient. + +"Something must have happened," he said. + +"I hope so," answered the pilot. "I hope they got him, and that he had +your money with him." + +They resumed their pacing up and down. About ten minutes later they +saw Mr. Clayton and the officer coming toward them, unaccompanied. + +"They didn't get him!" exclaimed Nat. + +"Maybe he gave up the money." + +"I hope he did. I shouldn't like to go to court over it." + +"Well?" asked the pilot, as the two came nearer. + +"We were just too late," answered Mr. Clayton dejectedly. + +"Too late?" + +"Yes, the vessel has sailed for Buffalo. We have been trying to find +another ship bound for the same port, that might get in ahead of the +freighter, but we couldn't. I guess Bumstead has escaped us for a +time, but you can follow him. His ship will tie up in Buffalo for a +week." + +"But Nat and I have to go aboard the passenger steamer in a few days," +said Mr. Weatherby. "We'll have to stay on Lake Huron for a month or +more, cruising about. I can't go to Buffalo, and I don't believe it +would be safe for Nat to go alone." + +"I wish I could," said Mr. Clayton, "but I've got to ship for a trip +to Duluth and other ports to-morrow. Even if I didn't have to go, I +would have no right to make a complaint against the mate. It would +have to be done by Nat, as it's his money." + +"That's right," said the detective. "The person whose property is +stolen has to make the complaint. But we might wire the Buffalo police +to hold the man until one of you can get there. The only trouble is +you'd have to swear out a warrant here, and as I understand it, there +is only a suspicion against Bumstead." + +"We are practically sure he has Nat's money," replied the pilot, +"still, there may be some difficulty in causing his arrest, when he is +so far away. If we could only send some one to Buffalo, who understood +the case, and would know what to do, we could manage. It is out of the +question for me to go, and I don't believe Nat could manage matters. +The mate would probably get some criminal lawyer, and effect a +release, even if he was arrested. It's quite a puzzle." + +"I don't see what we can do," added the detective. "If we had been +half an hour sooner we could have nabbed him." + +Nat, who had hopes of recovering the money that was rightfully his, +began to feel discouraged. It looked as if the rascally mate had the +best of them. + +As the four stood in the street, undecided what to do, a voice hailed +Nat, calling out: + +"Well, well! If there isn't the lad who saved my boat for me! I'm +glad to see you again. How are you?" + +Nat looked up, to see advancing toward him two men. The younger was +John Scanlon, whose craft the boy had saved from being stove in at the +dock in Chicago, some weeks before. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +PLANNING A CAPTURE + + +"Glad to meet you again," said Nat cordially, as he shook hands with +young Mr. Scanlon. "What are you doing here?" + +"Oh, we're on a little trip, my father and I. By the way, I don't +believe you have met my father. Dad, this is Nat Morton, whom I was +telling you about. He saved our rowboat." + +"Humph, I haven't quite forgiven you for that careless piece of work, +John. But I'm glad to meet Nat," and Mr. Peter Scanlon shook hands +with the lad. + +"What are you doing here, Nat?" asked John. + +"I'm learning to be a pilot." + +"This is a queer place to learn that calling--ashore." + +Then Nat explained that he was about to make a change of craft, and he +introduced his companions to John and the latter's parent. He also +told of the money due him and their fruitless efforts to capture the +mate. + +"Why, that's quite a romantic story," commented John Scanlon. "To +think of your having money all this time, and not knowing it!" + +"And I'm still without it," said Nat, "and likely to be for some time, +unless something happens." + +"What a story that would make for the newspapers," went on John. "I +once thought of becoming a newspaper reporter. This would be a dandy +yarn." + +"Hold on there, young fellow!" exclaimed the detective. + +"What's the matter?" asked John. + +"Don't go to tipping off the papers about this. We're going to have a +hard enough time as it is to capture this chap, and we don't want him +to know we're after him. If he sees something about it in the papers, +he'll take the alarm and leave Buffalo before we can land him." + +"Buffalo? Is he headed for Buffalo?" asked John Scanlon excitedly. + +"Yes. Why?" asked Nat. + +"Why, that's where we're going! My father's steam yacht leaves for +Buffalo to-morrow. We're going to make the trip all the way to New +York, by way of the St. Lawrence River, and we're going to stop off at +Buffalo. Maybe we'll see this Bumstead." + +"Say, if you only could catch him!" cried Nat eagerly. + +"There are several legal difficulties to that plan," objected the +detective. + +"Perhaps I can suggest a way out," put in Mr. Scanlon, who had been +listening with interest to the story of Nat's newly discovered +possessions. "I am a lawyer, and if I can help the lad who saved my +son's boat from destruction, I'd be only too glad to do so." + +"That might be the very thing," went on the officer. He explained the +mix-up that would ensue if some unauthorized person attempted to cause +the arrest of the mate in Buffalo. + +"I think we can get around that difficulty," said the lawyer. +"According to your story the mate is guilty of embezzling money +belonging to another, with which he was entrusted. Then there is the +promissory note, which would come under a different head. Nat can make +a complaint in this city, charging the mate with embezzlement. A +warrant can be sworn out, and I can be duly authorized to prosecute +the case for Nat." + +"That would answer first-rate," commented the detective. + +"Only I'm afraid it will put you to a good deal of trouble, Mr. +Scanlon," said Mr. Weatherby. + +"I don't mind that in the least. I am in no hurry. In fact I am on a +pleasure trip, and it does not matter when I get to New York. I had +planned to stop at Buffalo, and spending a few days longer there than +I calculated on will make no difference." + +"But will your boat get to Buffalo ahead of the freight steamer?" +asked Mr. Clayton. + +"I think so," replied John Scanlon, with a smile. "It is one of the +fastest small yachts afloat. I fancy we will be at the dock waiting +for this Bumstead when his ship gets in." + +"Yes," agreed his father. "I will be waiting for him there with a +warrant. But we must lose no time. Supposing we go to the police +station and draw up the complaint?" + +This was soon done, and with the proper papers in his pocket, Mr. +Scanlon and his son prepared to set out on their voyage to capture the +rascally mate. The lawyer promised to telegraph Nat the result of his +efforts, as soon as possible, and the pilot gave Mr. Scanlon a list of +the ports at which the _Mermaid_, his new vessel, would call. + +"In case anything happens, you can notify us," said the pilot. + +The lawyer and his son bade the others good-by, as, now that they had +an object in view, the Scanlons wanted to begin their trip at once. + +"Good luck!" called Nat to his new friends. "I hope you get him." + +"Oh, we'll get him," replied John confidently. + +"Well, Nat, there's been quite a change in your prospects since you +jumped overboard, a few hours ago, and rescued Sam Shaw," remarked Mr. +Weatherby as, with our hero and Mr. Clayton, they went back to their +hotel. + +"Yes, I seem to have more friends than I thought I did." + +"And one or two enemies. Don't forget that. You've been through some +perils already, and I hope they're at an end." + +But there were yet more dangers ahead of Nat Morton--dangers of which +he did not dream, for indeed, as the pilot had said, he had at least +one relentless enemy who would have been well satisfied to see Nat out +of his way. + +Two days later the _Mermaid_ arrived at Detroit, and the pilot and Nat +went aboard. Mr. Clayton had previously sailed on his trip to Lake +Superior, to be gone some time, but he promised to come, whenever +wanted, to testify against Bumstead, in case the mate was brought to +trial. + +The _Mermaid_ was a fine passenger steamer, which called at all the +principal ports on Lakes Huron, Michigan and Erie. She carried +passengers chiefly, but also took some freight. Nat, however, found he +had nothing to do with that department. He was assigned to the +captain's cabin, where he would have certain light duties to perform, +but it had been arranged, by Mr. Weatherby, that his young _protege_ +was to receive more instruction in piloting than had been possible +aboard the freighter. + +So the most of the day, and part of the night, found Nat with his +friend in the pilot-house. The _Mermaid_ steered by steam, and instead +of an immense wheel, there was only a small one. A simple turn of it, +with one hand, would send the great steamer on any desired course. + +"This is another reason I wanted to change," remarked Mr. Weatherby, +as he explained to Nat how the steam steering gear was operated. "That +big wheel was getting too much for me to handle, especially in a +storm. We'll have it easier now, and it will be more pleasant." + +There was no doubt about this. The _Mermaid_ was a new steamer, and +was handsomely furnished. And it was much nicer to be among +passengers, than delving away in a dark, dirty hold, checking up long +cargo lists. Nat began to feel that his life had changed very much for +the better. He had a new suit of clothes, and made a good appearance. + +For about a week the _Mermaid_ cruised on Lake Huron and Lake +Michigan, taking on passengers, and some freight at one port, and +leaving them at another. Nat was rapidly progressing in his chosen +calling, and several times he had steered the vessel all alone, with +no one in the pilot-house but himself, for Mr. Weatherby wanted the +lad to acquire confidence. + +Captain Turton was an agreeable man, and readily consented that Nat +should have all the privileges possible, in order to learn more +rapidly. + +"I was young once myself," he said with a smile. "I had to pick up my +knowledge of ships as best I could, and if I had had half a chance I +would be a better navigator than I am now. In fact, I could have +learned piloting among these many islands in Lake Huron, and that +would have saved me hiring you, Weatherby." + +"Well, if Nat keeps on, he'll soon be able to take my place," said the +pilot with a smile. "He did nearly all the work to-day. I'm getting +lazy, I guess. For the last few days I haven't felt like myself." + +"Maybe you're getting malaria," suggested the captain. + +"I'm getting something. Guess I'll take a big dose of quinine +to-night." + +"Better not to-night," spoke the captain. + +"Why not?" + +"Well, I don't like the looks of the weather. There seems to be a +storm coming up, and you'll want all your wits about you if it comes +on to blow much." + +"Oh, I guess I can steer, even if my ears do ring with the quinine, +and my head buzzes," answered Mr. Weatherby. "I must break up this +languid feeling." + +The _Mermaid_ stopped at a good-sized city that evening, preparatory +to making an all-night trip. As the boat touched the dock Nat saw on +the end of the pier a telegraph messenger. + +"Anybody named Nat Morton aboard?" the boy called, as soon as the ship +was made fast. + +"That's me," replied Nat. + +"Well, I've got a telegram for you. I've been waiting three hours, and +you've got to pay for my time." + +"That'll be all right," said Mr. Weatherby, who was standing at the +rail, beside Nat. "It's probably from Mr. Scanlon," he went on. "I was +wondering why we didn't hear from him." + +He paid the messenger boy, and Nat tore open the yellow envelope. The +message was from Mr. Scanlon, and it was short. It said: + + "Freighter arrived. Bumstead and nephew not aboard. + They shipped on another vessel before arriving at + Buffalo. Wire me what to do." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +NAT'S PLUCKY PILOTING + + +"Well, if that isn't tough luck!" exclaimed Nat. + +"I suppose Bumstead thinks just the opposite," remarked the pilot. + +"I wonder if he heard of our plan, and made the change of boats to +escape us?" + +"I think not. He could not know that we were after him. I fancy the +mate and Captain Marshall had some disagreement. I know the mate did +not like Mr. Marshall, who, in fact, was rather afraid of Bumstead. +Very likely they had a quarrel, and the mate got aboard the first +vessel he met." + +"Then we can't have him arrested." + +"Oh, I guess we can. It will take a little longer, that's all. He's +sure to stick around the lakes, as he doesn't know enough of +navigation to get a job anywhere else. News travels pretty well among +those engaged in business up here, and we'll get on his track sooner +or later." + +"I hope so, for I want that money. When I didn't know I was to get any +I was pretty well satisfied, but now that I have heard of this legacy, +it seems as though I ought to get it." + +"And so you shall. But I must telegraph to Mr. Scanlon. I don't +believe we can ask him to do any more for us. He probably wants to +continue on to New York. Besides, we can't inform him where to look +for Bumstead. I'll just wire, thanking him, and tell him we'll look +after the rascal now." + +"I guess that's the only plan." + +A message was sent to Mr. Scanlon, and by that time the _Mermaid_ was +ready to proceed. The indications of the storm became more pronounced, +but it did not break that night. + +Day after day slipped by and Nat kept steadily at work, learning all +about piloting that was possible. It was wonderful how quickly he +acquired the art of navigation. + +"The boy was born to it," declared the old pilot to the captain. "He +knows as much about it already as many assistants who have been at the +wheel for ten times as long." + +Mr. Weatherby was far from well, and Nat noticed that he could not +keep at the wheel as steadily as before. One evening when a heavy +storm was brewing the old pilot said every bone in his body ached. + +"Guess I'm in for a spell of sickness, sure," he remarked. + +"Can't you take some medicine?" asked Nat, sympathetically. + +"Yes." + +Mr. Weatherby took a large dose of quinine, so large that he was +unable to remain in the pilot-house after midnight, but as the route +was over a course he had previously traveled, Nat had no difficulty in +steering the big vessel, with occasional help from Captain Turton. + +"Well, Nat, how did you make out?" Mr. Weatherby asked him the next +morning. + +"Pretty well. I was a bit frightened at first, and I was afraid I +would forget some of the signals, or read the lights wrong, and pile +the boat up on an island or a bar, but I didn't." + +"Glad to hear it. I was a little anxious about you. Now whatever you +do, when you're in the pilot-house, don't lose your nerve. Just say to +yourself that you're going to succeed, and bring the ship through, and +you'll do it." + +"There's more responsibility here than on a freighter." + +"Indeed, there is! Think of all the human lives entrusted to your +care. That will make you keep your nerve in case you get in a critical +place. But you did very well, and I'm proud of you." + +"How are you feeling this morning?" + +"Pretty well. I can take my trick now. You'd better turn in and get +some sleep. You may have to take part of the watch again to-night." + +Nat did go to his bunk, after breakfast, but he did not stay there +long. One of the cabin stewards was injured by a fall down a +companionway, and Nat had to turn in and do this man's work. The +result was the boy was kept busy nearly all day, occasionally taking a +turn at the wheel. + +Once, when he relieved Mr. Weatherby for a few minutes, while the +pilot went below to take some medicine, he remarked to his benefactor: + +"You don't look very well." + +"And I don't feel very well, Nat. But I'm trying to stick it out. +We've got a hard part of the lake ahead of us, a part where there are +more islands than you can shake a stick at, and I don't like to go +through there. But we've got to do it." + +"But how can you, if you're sick?" + +"Pilots, as well as other persons, can't always do as they would like +to. I guess I'll be all right. But I don't like the weather. The +longer this storm holds off, the worse it's likely to be. However, +there's no use worrying. I'll be back in a few minutes. Keep her about +as she is." + +Left alone in the pilot-house Nat glanced at the compass, noted the +course marked on the charts, and by moving the small steam +steering-wheel slightly, found that the ship answered readily to the +helm. + +Off to the west there was a big bank of slate-colored clouds, from +which, now and then, came low rumblings of thunder. + +"I guess it won't be long before the storm reaches here," thought the +young pilot. + +Almost before the boy realized it, an hour had passed. He was so +interested in steering the boat, and recalling the different points +that had been impressed on him by the pilot, that he did not notice +that Mr. Weatherby was gone much longer than he had said he would be +away. + +"It's taking him a good while to get his medicine," murmured Nat. "I +hope he isn't going to be sick again to-night. I don't want to have to +steer the vessel among a lot of islands." + +He was now anxiously awaiting the return of Mr. Weatherby, for the +storm seemed to be approaching more rapidly, and the darkness of the +coming night was added to by the black clouds, that now covered the +entire sky. + +Nat shifted the wheel, to keep the vessel on the prescribed course, +and was looking ahead through the fast-gathering gloom, when some one +came into the pilot-house. He looked up to see Captain Turton, whose +face wore a worried look. + +"I'm afraid we're going to have trouble," he said. + +"How so, captain?" + +"Mr. Weatherby is very sick. I was just in his cabin, and I found him +in a semi-conscious state. He had tried to take some medicine, but +before he could get it he was seized with a sudden fit of sickness. I +called in the doctor, and he said the pilot would not be able to take +charge of the vessel to-night. I don't know what we're going to do, +unless you can steer. Do you think you can?" + +Nat hesitated. He had taken the freighter over this same course, when +Mr. Weatherby was in the pilot-house with him, but that was in calm +weather and daylight. + +Could he steer the big passenger steamer over the same course after +dark, and with a storm coming up? It was a question grave enough to +make even an older person than Nat hesitate. + +"It's a pretty big contract for a lad," said the captain. "I'll help +you all I can, but the rules require me to have a pilot in charge. I +can't do it, unless you feel that you can steer the ship, with such +help as I can give you. Otherwise, I shall have to put into the +nearest port, and I dislike to do that, as it will disarrange the +passenger schedule, and the owners object to that." + +"I--I think I can do it--at least I'll try," said Nat, determined to +"keep his nerve" as the pilot had advised him. "I'll do my best." + +"That's the way to talk, Nat! I guess you'll make out all right. Now +I'll have to go to help look after Mr. Weatherby. He is in a bad way." + +"Do you think he will--die?" + +"Oh, no, it's not as serious as that, but he's quite sick." + +As the captain turned away the rumbling of thunder grew louder, and +there came fitful gleams of lightning from the black clouds. + +Nat drew a long breath, and prepared himself for what he felt sure was +coming. Then, almost as calmly as if it had been Mr. Weatherby +himself, he gave his orders. The lookout was stationed in the bow, and +the great searchlight, on a mast back of the pilot-house, and some +distance above it, was set aglow. This was to disclose, during the +storm, any vessels or other obstructions in the path of the _Mermaid_. +This done, Nat prepared for his difficult task. + +It grew darker, but with the blackness came the flashing of the beacon +lights on dangerous reefs and islands. Nat was able to pick out his +position fairly well, and he began to feel less nervous. + +Suddenly, with a furious burst of wind, and a dash of rain, the storm +enveloped the vessel. Great waves arose on the lake, and the ship +began to pitch and toss. In fact, a storm on one of the great lakes is +almost as bad as one at sea, if not worse, for it does not take long +for the comparatively shallow water to become very much agitated. + +[Illustration: "The storm enveloped the vessel"] + +Nat signaled for full speed ahead, as he knew he would need all the +steerageway possible to take the vessel through the waves that, every +moment, were becoming larger. + +He had his supper in the pilot-house, for he would not leave to go to +the cabin for it. Captain Turton came in during the evening to report +that while Mr. Weatherby was resting easily, he was still quite ill. + +"Do you think you can stick out through the night?" the commander +asked. + +"I'm going to," was Nat's plucky answer, though the boy was very tired +from his long vigil the night previous, and his lack of sleep during +the day. But Nat was not going to give in. + +After the first outburst the storm settled into a steady blow, with +torrents of rain, and an occasional brilliant flash of lightning, and +loud peals of thunder. Through it rode the ship, urged on by her +powerful engines. + +The night wore on. Wearily, Nat clung to the small wheel in front of +him, shifting the course of the vessel now and then, as he picked out +the route on the chart, or made a quick shift to avoid some bar or +island. His arms and legs were weary. His eyes were hot and smarting +from lack of slumber and rest. But he stuck it out. Captain Turton +offered to relieve him, but the boy did not want to give up. Even had +he done so, the relief would have been short, as, while the commander +was proposing it, word came that the ship had sprung a small leak, and +the captain's presence was needed to see that the pumps were set +going. + +"We're depending on you, Nat," he said as he left the pilot-house. + +"I'll stick it out," again came the plucky reply. + +About three o'clock in the morning the wind shifted. The lake became +choppy, from the cross seas, and a second section of the storm seemed +to make its appearance. Nat, who in spite of his efforts to stay awake +had caught himself nodding--in fact almost asleep once--started up +suddenly. He peered out of the windows. + +There, right in the path of the vessel, illuminated by the powerful +searchlight, was a mass of foam. At the same moment the lookout +yelled: + +"Breakers ahead! We're headed for a reef!" + +With a quick motion, while his heart almost stopped beating, Nat spun +the little wheel around. The ship quivered. It seemed to hesitate, as +if debating whether or not to rush to destruction on the sharp rocks, +just hidden under the treacherous water, or to glide to one side. + +Then, slowly, so slowly that Nat's heart almost ceased beating lest +she should not change her course quickly enough, the _Mermaid_ swung +around, and her prow was pointed away from the dangerous reef. + +Nat's plucky piloting had saved the vessel! + +Into the little pilot-house rushed the captain. He had heard the +lookout's cry, and had guessed what had happened. + +"We were almost on Dagget's Point reef!" he exclaimed. "How did we +escape it?" + +"I saw it in time," answered Nat modestly. + +"Thank God!" cried the captain, as he grasped the young pilot by the +hand. "There's deep water all around us, and if we'd struck it would +have meant a terrible loss of life." + +At that instant there was a hoarse scream from a siren whistle, and, +peering out of the windows of the pilot-house, Nat and the captain +saw, looming up in front of them, but some distance away, another +steamer. Nat blew a caution signal, and it was answered from the other +vessel, which quickly turned aside, and then disappeared in the mist +of rain. + +"I believe they were headed right for the reef, too," said the +captain. "You warned them in time. Well, we have a good course from +now out. I'll take the wheel, and you go lie down." + +But Nat would not. He insisted on remaining in the pilot-house until +morning, and when daylight came, he saw that the other vessed was not +far from them, both ships being headed for the same harbor. The other +ship was the _Spray_, of much smaller tonnage than the _Mermaid_. + +"She must have turned back after meeting us," thought Nat, "as she was +headed in the opposite direction when we met near the reef." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE ACCUSATION + + +Captain Turton decided to lay over for some hours, as, during the +storm, his vessel had suffered some minor damage, which he wanted +repaired. + +"How is Mr. Weatherby?" asked Nat, as soon as there was no longer any +need of him remaining in the pilot-house. + +"He is much better this morning," replied the commander, "but he is +still quite weak, and will probably stay in his bunk all day. He says +he would like to see you." + +"I'll go at once." + +"Hadn't you better get your breakfast?" + +"No, that can wait." + +"But you have been on duty a long while, and it was a great strain on +you." + +"I know it was, captain, but I'm so glad I brought the ship through +safely, that I'd be willing to go without breakfast and sleep for a +long time yet." + +"You are a plucky lad, and I wish more like you were learning to be +pilots." + +Nat found Mr. Weatherby quite ill, but, in spite of that, the pilot +warmly congratulated his _protege_ on the nerve he had displayed +during the storm. + +"You have proved your worth, Nat," said Mr. Weatherby, "and I am proud +of my pupil." + +Nat turned in for a sleep, soon after breakfast. There was little for +the crew of the _Mermaid_ to do while the repairs were being made, and +those passengers who were not yet at their destination strolled about +the town while waiting for the trip to be resumed. + +The vessel that Nat had brought so skilfully through the storm, which +had ceased with the first appearance of dawn, was tied at the same +dock as that at which was the steamer they had met near the reef. One +was on one side, and one on the other, and when the dock between the +ships was not occupied by wagons and trucks, laden with freight, Nat +could look across and see the crew of the other steamer, the _Spray_, +busily rearranging the cargo that had shifted during the storm. She +was a freighter, but smaller than the _Jessie Drew_. + +The appearance of one lad in the crew of the _Spray_ attracted Nat's +attention, when the young pilot arose early in the afternoon. The lad +had red hair, and his figure seemed familiar. + +"If I didn't think he was a good way off from here I'd say that fellow +was Sam Shaw," mused Nat. "He looks a good deal like him." + +He tried to watch, to determine if it was his former enemy, but, as +the lad kept moving to and fro, it was impossible to be certain. + +"If I saw Mr. Bumstead I'd know it was Sam who was with him," went on +Nat, as he stood at the rail nearest the dock. "It might be possible +they transferred to that ship. I wonder if I hadn't better speak to +Mr. Weatherby, and ask his advice? No, he's sick, and I don't want to +bother him about my affairs. I guess I'll just take a stroll over +there and see for myself. Captain Turton won't care, as we can't sail +until late this evening." + +Nat started down the gangplank, but, when he was half way down, he met +a man in uniform, who asked him: + +"Is this the _Mermaid_?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I am looking for a young man, named Nat Morton. Can you tell me where +I shall find him?" + +"That is my name," replied our hero. He thought perhaps it might be an +officer from police headquarters, with some message concerning Mr. +Bumstead. + +"Then you are just the person I want," the man went on. "You will have +to come with me." + +"Come with you? What for? Is it about Mr. Bumstead?" + +"Yes," replied the man. "How did you guess?" + +"Well, I've been expecting a message regarding him." + +"Then what you will hear will be no news to you." + +"Has he been arrested?" + +"Arrested? No. Why should he be arrested?" + +"Why, I thought you said----" + +"Perhaps I had better not say anything more until you get to +headquarters," the man went on. + +"Then it surely must be about that rascally mate," thought Nat. "Mr. +Weatherby will be glad they have him." + +He followed the man off the pier, and along a street on the water +front. + +"I understand you piloted that boat through the storm last night," +said the man. + +"Well, I did, but I guess it was more by good luck than anything else +that enabled me to do it. Who told you about it?" + +"Oh, it is pretty generally known. The crews of vessels talk more or +less when they are in dock." + +They walked along in silence a little longer, and then the man stopped +in front of a small building. + +"This doesn't look like police headquarters," thought Nat. "I wonder +if there's a mistake." + +"Go right that way," said the officer, keeping close behind the boy. +"The harbor master is in that room." + +"The harbor master?" repeated Nat. "What have I to do with the harbor +master? I don't want to see him." + +"No, but he wants to see you." + +A moment later Nat was ushered into a room, where at a large desk sat +a stern-looking man, and on either side of him were two men, each one +with several books and papers before him. + +"Ah, so this is the young pilot, eh?" remarked the man in the middle. +"How old are you--er--Nat Morton? I believe that is your name." + +"I will soon be sixteen." + +"And you piloted the _Mermaid_ past Dagget's Point reef last night--in +that storm?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I suppose you have a license." + +"A license? No, sir. I am studying under Mr. Weatherby. He was taken +suddenly ill last night, and I had to steer the boat. There was no one +else." + +"I am sorry, my lad," said the harbor master, "but I shall have to +place you under arrest." + +"Arrest? What for?" + +"For piloting a passenger steamer without a license. A complaint has +been lodged against you with this board--the board of control in +charge of harbors and pilots." + +"A complaint? Who made it?" + +"Bumstead is the name--er--Joseph Bumstead, mate of the freighter +_Spray_," replied the harbor master, reading from some documents +before him. "He says he met your boat off the reef last night, that +you were in charge, without a license, and that you nearly ran him +down. He made the complaint about an hour ago. His boat had to put +back here for some repairs. He says your boat damaged the one he is +mate of." + +"That's not so--I mean that part about nearly running him down!" +exclaimed Nat. "I saw him in plenty of time, and if it hadn't been for +my warning whistle the _Spray_ would have gone upon the reef herself!" + +"I am sorry, my lad, but the complaint is made in regular form, and I +shall have to hold you for a hearing. However, we will have it at +once. I have sent to summon this Bumstead. Do you wish to notify any +friends?" + +"Mr. Weatherby is ill, and cannot come, but I would like Captain +Turton to come." + +"Very well, we will send for him. Officer, bring Captain Turton here. +In the meantime you may sit down until we reach your case," the harbor +master motioned Nat to take a chair on one side of the big room. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +OFF AGAIN + + +"This is a queer turn to affairs," thought Nat, as he awaited the +arrival of Captain Turton. "I never thought a thing about not having a +license, when I steered the boat, and I don't believe Mr. Weatherby +did either. I suppose I did wrong, but it was unintentional, and I +don't see what else I could have done under the circumstances. + +"But I'll have a chance at Bumstead now. As soon as I get out of here +I'll cause his arrest. Hold on, though, maybe I'll not get out of +here. I wonder what the punishment is for piloting a boat without a +license?" + +This was another phase of the queer affair. He realized if he was held +on the charge, he would have no chance to make an accusation against +the rascally mate. + +"I know what I'll do," said Nat to himself, while he anxiously waited. +"If Bumstead comes here I'll tell Captain Turton to go out and get a +policeman. Then I can make a new complaint, charge Bumstead with +keeping money belonging to me, and he'll be arrested. That's what I'll +do." + +While Nat sat in the office of the harbor master, he listened to +several cases that were being disposed of. Captains of tugs and other +boats were arraigned on charges of violating rules of the harbor; such +as displaying wrong lights, crossing the course of other boats at the +improper time, failing to give warning signals, colliding with other +craft, or not filing the proper reports. + +Some of the men were fined, others were suspended for a certain length +of time, and one or two had their licenses revoked. + +"I wonder what he'll do to me?" thought Nat. "There doesn't seem to be +any case just like mine." + +He was interrupted in his musing by the entrance of Captain Turton. + +"What's this I hear?" asked the commander wonderingly, after he had +greeted his young pilot. "Are you in trouble, Nat?" + +"It seems so," and the boy told the circumstances. + +"Don't worry," advised Captain Turton cheerfully. "I'll stand by you, +and we'll have that mate arrested as soon as he leaves the place." + +"Is the Morton case ready?" asked the harbor master, looking about +him, after he had disposed of all the other matters before him. + +"The mate Bumstead isn't here yet," replied an officer who was in +charge of the court. "Young Morton is here, and Captain Turtle----" + +"I beg your pardon, my name is Turton," interrupted the commander of +the _Mermaid_. + +"Turton, I should say," corrected the court officer. + +"Where is the person who made the charge--Bumstead the mate?" asked +the harbor master. + +"I have sent Officer Jenkins for him, sir. He'll be here directly. Ah, +here is Jenkins now." + +"Well, Jenkins," said the harbor master, "did you bring the mate back +with you? This case has been delayed long enough." + +"No, sir, I didn't bring him." + +"Why not?" + +"Because, sir, his ship has just sailed, and he's gone with her." + +"I'll commit him for contempt of court!" exclaimed the harbor master. +"Make out the papers at once," he added, turning to his clerk. "I will +now take up this case, however, and proceed as far as possible. Give +me the written accusation." + +He looked over some papers, and, at a nod from him, Nat walked forward +and stood in front of the big table. Then the harbor master read the +complaint as made by Bumstead. It set out in a number of legal terms +and phrases, that Nat Morton had, in violation of the regulations, +piloted a vessel without having a license. The mate, it appeared, had +heard of Nat's feat early that morning while the two vessels were +docked, and had lost no time making his accusation, for mere spite. + +"How do you plead to that?" asked the harbor master. + +"I guess I did it," answered Nat. + +"Perhaps you had better explain," suggested one of the other men +present. "We will mark you 'not guilty' until we have heard the case." + +Thereupon, Nat told all the circumstances connected with the sudden +illness of Mr. Weatherby, the storm, the leak in the ship and the +necessity for keeping on. Captain Turton was called and verified all +that Nat said. + +"Hum," remarked the harbor master. "There seems to be some +justification here. I will consult with my colleagues on this. We will +let you know our decision shortly. You may wait here." + +He motioned to the men on either side of him, and they all retired to +a rear room. + +"What do you suppose they'll do to me?" asked Nat. + +"Nothing very serious, I think," replied the captain, for he had been +through such cases before, and he knew that harbor masters were +disposed to stretch a point wherever possible. + +"And Bumstead has got away again," went on Nat. "He stayed just long +enough to file his complaint, and then skipped out. I wonder if he +knows I am after him?" + +"I think not," remarked Captain Turton, who had been told the +circumstances of the lumber deal. "If he did he wouldn't venture to +stay in the same port with you long enough to make a charge against +you. Probably he wants to make all the trouble he can for you, in the +hope that you will give up this ship life, and go somewhere so that he +will not have to worry about you finding out about him." + +"Perhaps," agreed Nat. + +The harbor master and his colleagues filed back into the room. Nat +tried to gather from their looks what disposition they had made of his +case, but the men gave no indication, seeming to be as grave and +serious as when they had gone out. + +"Hum," mumbled the harbor master, in his deep voice. "We have +considered your case, Nat Morton, and we wish to ask you a few +questions." + +Thereupon, Nat was put through a brief examination in relation to +matters connected with piloting and the management of boats. The +harbor master and his colleagues asked him a lot of questions, some of +which Nat answered to his own satisfaction, at least. To others, more +technical, he replied as best he could. + +Fortunately his life about the docks, and his instructions at the +hands of Mr. Weatherby, stood him in good stead. He showed a good +practical knowledge of piloting, though some of the questions puzzled +him, and his answers seemed to afford mirth to the harbor master and +his associates. + +"Well," remarked the harbor master after a pause, "what you did, Nat, +may have been irregular--in fact it was irregular, and against the +rules--but, under the circumstances, we cannot blame you for it. You +are doing very well, and you know more, now, than many pilots who have +a license. Still, you are under the age. When you reach the proper +limit you will have to appear for an official examination. Until then +you can go on as you have been doing, only don't try to handle a boat +alone in a storm. Wait until you have had a little more experience. +Then you can come up for examination, and get a full license. This +case is laid over indefinitely." + +"Does that mean I can go?" asked Nat. + +"Yes, you can go," answered the harbor master with a smile. "And don't +worry. We'll pass you, as soon as you are of the proper age. I +congratulate you on your pluck," and then, to the surprise of his +colleagues (for the harbor master was a somewhat gruff sort of a man), +he leaned over and shook hands with Nat. + +A little later Nat and Captain Turton were aboard the _Mermaid_. They +found Mr. Weatherby much better, and when the repairs were completed, +and the freight and passengers aboard, the ship steamed out of the +harbor to resume her voyage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +NAT INTERVENES + + +One of the first things Nat did, when he had a chance to talk to Mr. +Weatherby, was to repeat some of the questions that had been asked by +the board of pilots, which queries the lad had not been able to answer +properly. + +"Those are the points I'm weak on," he said to his friend. "I must +study up on them, so I'll be ready for my examination." + +"That's right, Nat, and I'll help you all I can. There is a text book +I want to get for you, and I will, at the next stop we make. +Meanwhile, I think you can take charge in the pilot-house for a few +days, until I get my strength back. I'll look in on you, every once in +a while, to see that you are doing all right, and we're not likely to +have another storm soon." + +So Nat resumed his place at the wheel, being relieved now and then by +Captain Turton or Mr. Weatherby, who took short shifts. In a few days +the old pilot was entirely better, and then he and Nat divided up the +work, the lad learning more about the points on which he had been +puzzled during the examination. + +The _Mermaid_ had a large number of passengers this voyage, and Nat +was kept pretty busy, in addition to his duties in the pilot-house. +Some travelers, specially favored, occupied seats at the captain's +table at meal times, and this made additional work for the lad, as he +had to help the cabin steward. But Nat liked it all, and no task was +too exacting for him to perform to the best of his ability. During his +leisure moments he used to watch the passengers, and in this way he +learned much about the life of the comparatively wealthy travelers. + +One afternoon, when the ship was within a few hours of reaching port, +Nat, going along the upper deck, passed a German youth, standing by +the rail, looking down into the water, as it swept away from the bows +of the _Mermaid_. The youth, whom Nat had noticed on several other +occasions, because of his well-fitting clothes, appeared to be in +rather low spirits. + +"We're making pretty good time," said Nat pleasantly, for he often +addressed the passengers, many of whom had formed a liking for the +lad. + +"Oh, yes, ve go fast enough," replied the German, who spoke with quite +an accent. But he answered so gloomily, that the vessel might as well +have been going backward, for all the satisfaction he derived from her +speed. + +"We'll soon be in port," went on Nat. "I suppose you'll be glad to get +on shore. It's quite rough on account of the wind." + +"Oh, it makes not so much difference to me," was the answer, and the +youth did not smile. Indeed, he hardly lifted his face to glance at +Nat, yet he did not seem to resent being spoken to. + +"It's a nice day," went on the young pilot. + +"Yes, I suppose for dem vot likes der vedder," came the answer. "But, +_ach_----" and then the German murmured something to himself in his +own language. + +"I guess he doesn't feel well, or else he doesn't want to talk," +thought Nat, as he passed on. "Maybe he's a bit seasick, though +there's hardly any motion to-day." + +Nat passed on, to attend to some of his duties. When he came back, +about an hour later, the German youth was in the same place, moodily +staring down into the water. + +"I wonder what ails him?" thought Nat. "He acts queer. But that's the +way with some Germans, the least little thing makes them moody, and +then, again, they're as jolly as can be. But I suppose we are all +queer, in one way or another." + +He was half-tempted to speak to the youth again, as he passed him, but +he did not want to be thought too forward, so he said nothing, nor +did the German appear to notice our hero. + +The vessel would arrive at port in about an hour, and would tie up +there for the night. It was just getting dusk, and Nat was going from +place to place on the ship, getting certain records of which he had +charge, in shape for filing at the dock office. Several times he +passed by the German, who stood in the same spot, and in the same +position. + +"He certainly is ill," mused Nat. "I guess I'll tell him we have a +doctor aboard. Maybe he doesn't know it." + +Nat was about to put his idea into execution, when Mr. Weatherby +called him to perform some duty, and it was half an hour later when +the young pilot made his way back again to where stood the youth in +whom he had begun to feel considerable interest. + +"I'll just tell him where to find the doctor," thought the boy, as he +approached the place where the silent figure had been leaning over the +rail. But, to his surprise, the youth was not there. + +"He must have gone below," mused Nat. "Probably he feels better." + +An instant later he saw a strange sight. In a sheltered corner, formed +by an angle of a deck-house, stood the German youth, and in the dim +light from a lantern Nat saw that he was removing his collar, tie, +coat and vest. He was neatly folding his garments in a pile on the +deck. + +"He must be crazy!" thought Nat. "I'll call the captain." + +As he watched, the youth finished putting his clothes in order. Then, +with a deliberate step, the German approached the rail, placed his +hand on it, and prepared to leap over. + +"Suicide!" was the instant thought that came to Nat. "He's going to +commit suicide! I must stop him!" + +To think, with Nat, was to act. He sprang forward with a cry of +warning. + +"Here! Stop that! Come back!" + +The German paused, hesitated an instant, glanced at Nat rushing toward +him, and leaped. But he was a second too late. The young pilot grabbed +him around the legs, and held on like grim death. + +"What are you doing?" Nat cried. "Don't you know you'll be swept right +into the propeller and be cut to pieces!" + +"Let me go! Let me go!" insisted the youth in a low, intense whisper, +as though he was afraid of being heard. + +"Not unless you promise not to jump." + +"I vill not make promises! I haf no use for to live! I vant to end it +all! Let me go!" + +He tried to escape from Nat's hold, but the young pilot had no gentle +grip, and his arms were strong. + +"Let me go! Let me go!" + +The German was pleading now. + +"Not much!" panted Nat. "You can't commit suicide from this boat." + +The German continued to struggle. Nat felt the legs slipping away from +him. + +"If you don't give up I'll call for help, and the captain will put you +under arrest!" threatened the young pilot. That seemed to quiet the +German. He ceased to struggle, and became calmer. + +"Vell," he said, in a voice that was choked with tears, "I gif up. I +vill not jump overboard--now." + +"Nor at any other time," insisted Nat. + +"I cannot promise dot, but I promise you dot I vill not jump from dis +boat. I care not to live longer." + +Nat released his hold. The German was panting from his exertions, as +he donned his garments. The affair had taken place in a secluded spot, +and no one had seen Nat's intervention in the tragic episode. + +"What's the matter?" inquired the young pilot, when the German was +fully dressed again. "Are you sick? Why did you want to end your +life?" + +To his surprise the young fellow burst into tears, and sobbed +pitifully. + +"Come to my cabin," proposed Nat gently. "Perhaps I can help you." + +"I--I like not to go vere der peoples see me." + +"That's all right, I can take you to it by an outside companionway, +and we'll meet no one. Come, and maybe I can help you. You seem to be +in trouble." + +"I am--in bad troubles," was the choking reply, as the youth followed +Nat below. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AFTER BUMSTEAD + + +"Now then," said Nat cheerfully, when he and the youth he had saved +from suicide were safely in the young pilot's cabin, "what is the +matter? I don't want to pry into your affairs, but I would like to +help you. If I can't, perhaps I can get some one who can. I know Mr. +Weatherby or Captain Turton would be glad to aid you." + +"You are of much kindness to me," replied the other, while he tried to +regain control of his feelings. "My name is Hugo Kesterberg. I used to +live in New York, where I did work in a German importing house. I have +been in dis country not long, so I speak not der language so goot." + +"I can understand you very well," said Nat. + +"I haf a good place, und I am learning der business," went on young +Kesterberg, "ven an uncle of mine, in der Vaterland, he die, und leave +me vat you call legs--legs easy." + +"Legacy," put in Nat. + +"Yes, dot is him, legacy. Your American vords are so hard to speak +right. Vell, he leaves me some money, but I am a such foolish fellow. +Instead of putting my legs easy--I mean legacy--in der bank, I start +in to have a goot time--I am vat you call a sport. I treat all my +friends, und I get in vid a sporty crowd. I buy goot clothes, und I +have lots of fun. + +"Pretty soon, not long after I gets my legacy, der head of der firm +vere I work, he say dey no longer needs me, for you see I am foolish, +und I no longer look after my vork. But dot I lose my job make me not +for to care. I still haf plenty of monies left, und I haf more good +times." + +"Then what is the trouble, if you have plenty of money?" asked Nat. +"The trouble with most people is that they haven't got enough." + +"Dot's me--exactly!" exclaimed Hugo. "I got to gambling und playing +der races, und yesterday I found I haf not enough left, after I had +been traveling about for some time, to pay my board for vun veek, in a +decent place. I buys me a ticket on dis boat, for as far a distance as +I haf money, und I decide I vill end it all. Und so I vould, only you +stop me." + +He added the last bitterly. + +"Yes, I'm glad I stopped you, and you'll be glad too, before long," +declared Nat firmly. "Why, you're no worse off than you were before. +You had a lot of money, and you had a good time with it. Now you'll +have to go back to work again." + +"Ach! Dot's vat you Americans call der rubber," said the German. + +"The rubber?" repeated Nat, a bit puzzled. + +"I mean der rub--dot's vere der shoes nabs me--I mean pinch. I can't +go back to my old place, und I don't know how to get vork in any odder +place. Dere is no use for me to live. I makes an end to myself, ven ve +gets to der port." + +"No, you won't!" declared Nat. "If you don't promise not to try to +commit suicide, for at least a week, I'll inform the police about you, +as soon as we land, and they'll lock you up. It's against the law to +take your own life or attempt it. If you wait a week you'll be all +over the notion." + +"A man's life iss his own--he can do vat he likes mit it." + +"The law doesn't say so," replied Nat, who had gained his information +from the newspapers. + +"Vell, der law is wrong! I takes my own life!" + +"Then you'll be arrested as soon as the boat lands." + +"Arrest a Kesterberg!" exclaimed the German. "Dot vould be a +disgrace." + +"So would committing suicide." + +The youth started. Evidently he had not thought of it in that light +before. + +"Vell, I promise you--for vun week." + +"That's all right," said Nat briskly. "I'm satisfied. I know if you +wait that long you'll be in a better frame of mind. Besides, I think I +can help you. I'll speak to the captain and to Mr. Weatherby about +you." + +"But not about--not about--what I----" + +"Oh, no, I'll say nothing about that," promised Nat. "But I know they +can help you. Captain Turton is acquainted with lots of firms, and +maybe he can get you a place with one of them." + +"Den my troubles would be ofer," declared Hugo. "If I gets me a place +to vork, nefer again vill I be so foolish again. If my people in +Germany heard of vot I did, dey vould nefer forgive me." + +"They're not likely to hear of it," said Nat. "Now you stay here until +you feel better. We're going to land pretty soon, and I'll be busy. +This evening I'll speak to the captain about you." + +"But my ticket only takes me to dis port, und I haf no more money. I +can't stay aboard." + +"I'll fix that all right," declared the young pilot, who was beginning +to feel quite important over what he had done, which, indeed, was no +light matter, for he had given hope to a hopeless youth. + +Captain Turton readily agreed to do what he could for Hugo Kesterberg, +when, that evening, after all the freight and passengers had been +discharged, Nat told as much of the case as it was necessary for the +commander to know. + +"I think I know a firm in Detroit that would be glad of his services," +he said. "I'll give him a letter of recommendation to them, when we +reach there, which will be at the end of the week." + +"But--er--he hasn't any money left to pay his fare there," said Nat. + +"That will be all right," replied Captain Turton. "I guess it won't +break the company to give him a pass and his meals for a few days. +Besides, I'm not going to let you get ahead of me in doing him a good +turn." + +Three days later, when the _Mermaid_ reached Detroit, Hugo Kesterberg +bade Nat, and his other friends aboard the ship, good-by. With a note +of recommendation to a big firm, he could face the future in better +spirits. Some time later Nat had a letter from the German youth, +stating that he had a better position than the one in New York, and +was doing well. The missive was full of thanks to Nat and Captain +Turton. + +Detroit was as far as the _Mermaid_ was to go on the present voyage, +and after taking on a big cargo, and quite a number of passengers, she +turned about and began to traverse her way over Lake Huron again. + +Captain Turton went ashore at the first port they made, after leaving +Detroit, and when he came aboard again, he sought out Nat. The +captain's manner betrayed some excitement. + +"I have some news for you," he said to the young pilot. + +"Am I going to be arrested again?" + +"Not exactly. This concerns your enemy, Bumstead." + +"Have they got him? Did he give up the money?" + +"No, but I heard from a captain friend of mine ashore a little while +ago, that the _Spray_ is docked at Cove Point, about fifty miles above +here. She had to lay up for repairs. She's an old boat and her engines +are continually getting out of order." + +"Are we going to stop there?" asked Nat eagerly. + +"No, but I know what you are thinking of. There is a chance to cause +the arrest of the mate, and here is my plan. You can take a train from +here to Cove Point. The railroad runs quite near there. You have the +warrant, made out by the police. Take that with you, and the +authorities in Cove Point will make the arrest, I'm sure." + +"But how can I get back to this boat?" + +"I'll tell you. There is a train that leaves here at midnight, which +will get you to Cove Point about two o'clock in the morning. The +police are up at all hours. You can get them to serve the warrant at +once, for Bumstead will probably be aboard the _Spray_ at her dock. +Then, after he is safe in jail, you can hire a boat to take you out, +and I'll pick you up as I pass. I'll be on the watch for you to-morrow +morning." + +The plan was very feasible, and Nat thanked the captain for his +thoughtfulness. He made his arrangements hurriedly, and began to have +visions of recovering the money that was rightfully his. + +"Be out about two miles beyond the point at about nine o'clock +to-morrow morning," the captain called to him, as Nat left. "That's +the time I'll pass, and as close in as I can run." + +"I'll be there waiting for you," promised Nat. + +"Good luck!" called the pilot. "I hope you get him. That Bumstead is +getting to be as slippery as an eel." + +"I'll get him, if he's there," declared the lad. + +Then he hurried to the railroad station to get his ticket, for it was +after ten o'clock, and the depot was some distance from the water +front. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +BUMSTEAD ESCAPES + + +When Nat found himself in the train, speeding toward Cove Point, he +had a chance to think how he should proceed after he arrived. He +anticipated no difficulty in getting a policeman to go to the boat and +arrest the mate. + +"Maybe Sam Shaw will want to take a hand, and fight me," thought Nat. +"Well, if he does, I'll give him all that's coming to him." + +The train was a slow one, and made a number of stops. When about half +way on the journey there was a delay, caused by the wreck of a freight +train, and it was nearly three o'clock when Nat arrived at the +railroad station in Cove Point. This was a small town, depending for +its existence on what traffic passed up and down the lake, and what +little patronage came to it over the railroad. + +"Where's the police station?" asked Nat of a sleepy man at the depot. + +"They don't allow tramps to sleep in it any more," was the rather +queer answer. + +"Tramps? Who asked anything about tramps?" replied Nat. "I don't want +to sleep there." + +"Oh, excuse me," said the agent, opening his sleepy eyes a bit wider. +"I didn't take a good look at you. I thought you were a tramp. Lots of +'em come in on our trains, and want to spend the night at the police +station. They'd let themselves be arrested because the sheriff used to +get so much a prisoner. But the county authorities put a stop to it. +What's the matter? Some one rob you?" + +"No," replied Nat, determined to keep his affairs to himself. + +"Some crime been committed?" persisted the agent, for he thought it +was rather unusual for a boy to be asking his way to the police +station at three o'clock in the morning. + +"I want to see a policeman," replied Nat, "and I thought the best +place would be the station house." + +"There used to be a policeman stationed here nights," went on the +agent. "But he's gone now. If it was anything about the railroad I +could attend to it for you." + +"No, thank you. If you'll tell me where the station house is, I'll be +much obliged." + +The agent seemed disappointed, but he gave Nat the directions. + +"I don't see what harm it would have done him to have told me," +murmured the man, when Nat had gone off down the dark street. "It +would help to keep me awake, if I had something like a crime or an +arrest to think about. Well, I might as well doze off; it'll be two +hours before the down freight is in," and he composed himself as +comfortably as he could in his chair in the telegraph office. + +Meanwhile, our hero managed to find the police station. Inside there +was a sergeant on duty, who looked up inquiringly as Nat entered. + +"Well?" he asked. + +"I have a warrant for a man's arrest." + +"Are you a detective from some other city? Where's your badge?" asked +the sergeant suspiciously. + +"No, I'm not a detective. I'm the person who made the complaint on +which this warrant was issued," and Nat showed the one which had been +returned by Mr. Scanlon. + +The sergeant seemed impressed by the boy's business-like manner. + +"Come inside," he invited, opening a gate in a railing that shut off +the part of the room behind the desk. "Now tell me about it." + +Nat told his tale as briefly as possible. + +"And you want me to send an officer out to the ship with you, and +arrest the mate?" inquired the sergeant when the young pilot had +finished. + +"If you will." + +"Guess we'll have to, under the law. I'll be glad to help you out. +It's a mean trick to take money in that fashion. Hey, George! I say, +George! Get up, here's a case for you." + +"What's that?" inquired a sleepy voice from a room back of the +sergeant's desk. + +"You've got to go out and arrest a man." + +"Oh, can't somebody else go? I arrested a feller last night. I ain't +going to do all the work in this police station." + +"Look here, George Rosco!" called the sergeant, getting up, and going +to the door of the room, where, evidently, the only policeman on duty +was asleep, "you've got to get up, and go and arrest this man. There's +a warrant for him, and he's charged with embezzling fifteen hundred +dollars. He's mate aboard that freight steamer that's tied up here for +repairs." + +"Fifteen hundred dollars! Why didn't you say so at first?" exclaimed +the policeman, appearing in the doorway, half dressed. "That's worth +while arresting a man for. I thought it was another one of them +chicken-stealing cases. Fifteen hundred dollars! I'll be ready in a +jiffy! Whew! Fifteen hundred----" + +The rest of what he said was lost to Nat and the sergeant, as the +officer closed the door, while he dressed. When he came out he +greeted Nat cordially. + +"I don't mind being woke up for a case like that," he explained. "I +thought it was some measly tramp case. For the last three nights I've +been woke up by people whose henroosts have been robbed. I'm getting +tired of it, and when the sergeant called me a while ago, I thought it +was another one. You see, we've only got two policemen here, and I +don't mind telling you that I do most of the arrestin' that's done. +The other one--Tom Duncan--he's too lazy to arrest many. I do two to +his one. I'm on night duty and he takes the day trick." + +Nat could not help thinking that the night man had the easier time of +it, even if he did make the most arrests. + +"Now here's the warrant, George," said the sergeant. "Bring that +fellow in, and we'll lock him up." + +"Oh, I'll bring him in all right. He'll not get away from me. Let's +see, I've got my revolver and my club. Guess I'm all right." + +"You go right along with him," the sergeant directed Nat. "Point out +the man you want and he'll bring him in." + +"Yes, I'll get him," declared George. He started from the police +station, followed by Nat. When he reached the door, the officer +suddenly turned back. "Come near forgetting my badge," he said, in +explanation. "It wouldn't do to arrest a man without my badge. He +might think it was only a bluff. Give me my badge, sergeant." + +"First you know, you'll forget your head," murmured the sergeant, as +he passed over a big tin star. + +"I take it off when I lay down for a nap of an evening," the policeman +said to Nat. "Some of the points might stick me, and I'd get blood +poisoning. You can't be too careful in this business. I knowed a +policeman once----" + +"Say, if you're going to arrest that man you'd better get a move on," +advised the sergeant. "That boat's due to leave at daylight, I heard, +and it ain't far from it now." + +"All right, I'm going now. I'll be back in a little while with the +prisoner. Get a cell ready for him." + +"Oh, the cell will be ready when you are." + +"Fifteen hundred dollars," murmured the policeman, as he and Nat went +out into the night. "This will be a fine arrest. Tom Duncan will wish +he made this one." + +"We'd better hurry," suggested Nat. "He may escape." + +"Don't worry about that. No prisoner ever got away from me," boasted +the officer. + +It was not far to the dock where the _Spray_ was tied up. Even in the +darkness Nat knew the boat. He wondered if the mate was aboard. Once +he reached the ship, the officer's manner changed. He proceeded +cautiously, and seemed to know what he was about. + +"Do you know which his cabin is?" he asked of Nat, in a whisper. + +"No, but I know where the mate usually sleeps aboard these boats." + +"You go ahead then." + +The young pilot led the way. Though he had never been aboard the +_Spray_ he thought he could find where Bumstead slept. Fortunately, +they did not meet the anchor watch, who was probably asleep. + +"This ought to be his cabin," said Nat, indicating one in the same +relative position as that occupied by the mate aboard the _Jessie +Drew_. + +"Then I'll go in and get him," said the officer. + +It was beginning to get light, a streak of dawn showing in the east. +The policeman pushed open the cabin door, which was not locked. + +"Is Joseph Bumstead here?" he asked in loud tones. + +"That's me. What's wanted?" was the answer, and Nat recognized the +mate's voice. + +"Come out here," said the officer. + +He backed out of the cabin, and in the growing light Nat saw that he +had his revolver drawn. Wondering what could be wanted of him, +Bumstead jumped out of his bunk, partly dressed. + +"You're my prisoner!" suddenly exclaimed the policeman, throwing back +his coat to display the big star. At the same time he grabbed the mate +with one hand, and in the other leveled his weapon at him. + +"What's the trouble? Is this a joke?" demanded the mate. + +"You'll find it quite different from a joke," replied the officer. "I +have a warrant for your arrest, sworn out by Nat Morton, charging you +with the embezzlement of fifteen hundred dollars. You'll have to come +with me." + +At that moment the mate caught sight of Nat, who stood to one side. + +"So! This is your work, eh?" he cried. "Well, I'll not go with you! +You haven't got me yet!" + +With a sudden motion he broke away from the officer. + +"Hold on or I'll shoot!" threatened the policeman. + +"Shoot then!" cried the mate. + +[Illustration: "Shoot, then!" cried the mate (Page 180)] + +He ran to the rail. An instant later he had mounted it, poised on the +top a moment, and with a shout of defiance he leaped over the side. A +splash in the water told that he had landed in the lake. + +"Stop! Hold on!" yelled the officer, as he rushed to the side. "Come +back or I'll shoot!" + +He peered down into the water. There was no sign of the mate. By this +time several members of the crew were aroused and were on the deck. + +"What's the matter?" cried a voice that Nat recognized as Sam Shaw's. + +"Prisoner escaped!" exclaimed the policeman. "Can you see him?" he +asked of Nat, who stood beside him, in the early dawn. + +The boy shook his head in disappointment. + +"He's got away, I guess," he said. + +"Get me a boat!" cried the officer. "I'll find him if it takes all +day. Come on!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +IN A COLLISION + + +With the increase of daylight, objects on and about the freighter +became clearer. But looking over the side Nat and the policeman could +see nothing of the mate. Members of the crew who had hastily leaped +from their bunks began asking what the matter was. Soon the captain +came from his cabin. + +"They've killed my uncle!" exclaimed Sam Shaw. "That's what they did! +I heard them throw him overboard. That mean Nat Morton did it! I'll +have him arrested for murder!" + +"Oh, dry up!" exclaimed Nat, quite put out with the unexpected turn of +events. + +"I'll lick you; that's what I'll do!" cried Sam, advancing on Nat with +outstretched fists. + +"Keep away from me!" retorted Nat. "I whipped you once, and I can do +it again!" + +"He didn't push your uncle overboard," said one of the crew. "He +jumped." + +"That's what he did," added the policeman. "He got away from me, too. +Somebody get me a boat." + +"What for?" asked the captain. + +"Because I'm an officer of the law, and a prisoner has escaped. I had +him a prisoner, all right, for I had my hand on him, but he went so +sudden he got away." + +"There's a boat moored alongside," said the captain, when matters had +been briefly explained. "But you want to hurry. I can't lay here all +day, though how I'm going to sail without a mate is more than I know." + +"I'll get him for you, but I'll have to take him right away again," +said the officer. "He's a criminal and a fugitive from justice." + +The mate might have been almost anything, as far as any denial on his +part was concerned, for not a trace of him had been seen since he +jumped overboard. Sam Shaw, mean as he was, had a genuine affection +for his uncle, and he was much distressed about his relative. + +"He's drowned! I know he's drowned!" he exclaimed, as he walked about +the deck, half crying. + +"Oh, dry up!" advised Nat savagely, for he knew the mate was a good +swimmer, and he had no doubt but that Bumstead had managed to reach +shore, under cover of the semi-darkness, and was far enough away by +this time. + +Meanwhile, the policeman got into a boat and rowed about, but all to +no purpose. The mate had disappeared as completely as if he was at the +bottom of the lake. + +"Well," said Nat, much disappointed, "that's done with. It's a +failure. I guess I'd have done better if I'd gone alone, and not taken +the policeman with me, though he meant well enough. Now I'd better get +some breakfast and then arrange to have some one row me out to meet +the _Mermaid_." + +He told the officer that he would have to leave. + +"Very well," replied the policeman. "You may go, but I'll never give +up hunting for my prisoner. It's the first time one ever got away from +me, and I'm not going to stand it. I'll keep hunting until I find him, +if it takes all day or a whole year. You had better leave me your +address, and as soon as I arrest him, I'll let you know." + +"I don't believe that would do any good. I travel about so, on the +boat, that I can't tell just what my address will be. You had better +give me the warrant; I may run across him at some other port." + +Rather reluctantly the policeman gave up the legal document. + +"I wish I had handcuffed him at first," he said. "Then he couldn't +have gotten away, and if he jumped in the water he would have been +drowned." + +"I wouldn't care about having that happen," said Nat. + +"Me either, though I hate to let a prisoner get away. But I'll catch +him yet, you see." + +And when Nat had gone ashore, eaten his breakfast in a little +restaurant, and was being rowed out to be picked up by the _Mermaid_, +the policeman was still searching about the dock and adjacent shore +for the missing mate. + +Captain Turton and the pilot sympathized with Nat over the failure of +his mission, but they said Bumstead was sure to be arrested sooner or +later. + +"He'll probably transfer to some other boat, now," said Nat. + +"Very likely," answered Mr. Weatherby. "He knows you are after him, +and it's going to be harder to arrest him." + +The _Mermaid_ proceeded on her way, and for some time Nat was so +occupied with his work, for there was a great increase in passenger +traffic, that he almost forgot about the rascally mate and the stolen +money. + +Meanwhile, as my young readers have probably surmised, Bumstead had +safely reached shore and had arranged to keep out of the way of +officers of the law. The sudden appearance of the policeman in his +cabin had been the first intimation that there was a warrant for his +arrest, and that Nat knew of his appropriation of the fifteen hundred +dollars belonging to Mr. Morton. + +It is true the mate had fancied Nat was suspicious, after the lad had +seen the wallet, and questioned him about it, but, when some time +passed, and nothing resulted, the scoundrel thought that Nat either +had his suspicions lulled, or did not know how to go about recovering +the money. That a previous plan to arrest him had failed, by his shift +of vessels, the mate never dreamed. + +Now he knew he must make another change. It would not be safe to +remain aboard the _Spray_. Accordingly, when he had reached shore, +after his sensational leap for liberty, he sought refuge with a man he +knew at Cove Point. He remained there until he heard that Nat had +left, and that the policeman, very reluctantly, had given up the +search. + +Then the mate sent for his nephew, and the pair took what money was +coming to them and left town. About two weeks after this the mate +secured a place on the freighter _Liberty Bell_, which plied up and +down Lake Huron. + +"Uncle Joe, what did that officer want?" asked Sam Shaw of his +relative, one day, when he happened to mention their former place +aboard the _Spray_. "Was it in connection with that charge you made +against Nat before the pilot board?" + +"Well--er--yes--that was it. They wanted my testimony." + +"Why don't you give it to them? I'd like to see that Morton chap +locked up. How did he escape being sent to jail on your charge?" + +"I don't exactly know," replied the mate. "I guess he is only out on +bail." + +"I hope they send him to prison for a long time. I can't bear him, +he's so stuck up, thinking he's a regular pilot." + +"Well, I'll fix him," murmured the mate. He did not want his nephew to +know about the accusation Nat had made, for he was afraid Sam might, +unconsciously, betray him. Nor was the mate altogether easy regarding +the charge he had made before the pilot board. He had read in the +papers about that case, and how he was wanted for contempt of court. +He thus had to face two charges, and he knew he must be very careful +when he went ashore, lest he be arrested. + +"We'll meet the vessel that Morton fellow is on, this trip, Uncle +Joe," went on Sam. + +"How's that?" + +"Well, we're going to Bay City, and the _Mermaid_ is coming to +Detroit, according to the papers." + +"Is that so?" asked the mate, suddenly interested. "I wonder where +we'll pass her?" + +"About Ludlow's Island," answered Sam, who was developing a good +knowledge of the lakes. + +"Ludlow's Island," repeated the mate. "The channel there is quite +narrow. We'll have to pass quite close." + +"Do you think he'll see you, Uncle Joe?" + +"No--of course not. What does it matter? I'm not keeping out of his +way. I had certain reasons for not wanting that officer to take me to +court; that's why I leaped overboard that time." + +"Oh," answered Sam, who had not heard the explanation given by Nat and +the policeman. + +"So we'll pass his vessel quite close," murmured the mate, when his +nephew had left him. "That's my chance. If I can be left in charge of +the wheel I think I can make Nat Morton wish he had never interfered +with me. Let's see, we ought to get to Ludlow's Island to-morrow +night. I hope it's dark or foggy." + +Meanwhile, all unconscious of the perils in store for him, Nat was, +that same day, guiding the vessel of which he was now officially the +assistant pilot toward Detroit. + +"It's going to be a thick night," said Mr. Weatherby, as Nat relieved +him in the pilot-house, the evening of the day after the conversation +set down above between Sam Shaw and his uncle. "I think there will be +quite a fog before morning. Don't take any chances. If you're in +doubt call me, but I'd like you to try your hand at taking the ship +past Ludlow's Island. It's one of the worst places in the lake, and +when you've been through that, in a fog, you're almost entitled to a +pilot's license." + +"I'll try it, Mr. Weatherby." + +"That's the way to talk." + +As the night came on the fog increased, until Nat decided he would +slow down to half speed. The bell and whistle were kept going at +regular intervals, and two men were stationed in the bow as lookouts. + +It was close to midnight when Nat, who had decided to ask to be +relieved, for he was a little doubtful of his ability under such bad +conditions, saw through the haze another vessel approaching. He was in +the narrowest part of the channel. + +"There isn't time to send word to Mr. Weatherby now," he thought. +"I'll wait until I pass that ship. Then I'll go below, for I'm getting +nervous here." + +The two vessels were approaching nearer and nearer to each other. If +Nat had been aware that the ship he was about to pass was the one on +which was his enemy, the mate, doubtless he would have been more +nervous than he was. + +"He seems to be crowding too close over this way," thought Nat. "Guess +I'll give him a caution signal." + +He pulled the whistle wire sharply. Short blasts came forth from the +_Mermaid's_ hoarse siren. To Nat's surprise the other vessel, instead +of keeping away from him, in the narrow channel, seemed to be coming +closer. + +"Doesn't he know enough to keep away, and on his own course?" said the +young pilot half aloud. + +He waited with an anxiously beating heart, and at the same time looked +around to see if anybody else was near. + +"Oh, if only Mr. Weatherby was here now!" he told himself. Never had +he missed the old pilot so much as at this moment. For one instant he +thought of yelling for assistance, but knew it would be useless, for +his voice would not carry far enough. He was in sole charge and must +do the best he could. + +"Perhaps that other pilot is drunk," he murmured, and then shut his +teeth hard. He was "up against it good and hard," and he realized it +only too well. He trembled in spite of himself, and an icy chill began +to creep up and down his backbone. + +He gave another signal. Then, as he watched, he saw the prow of the +other vessel turn toward him. + +"He's going to ram me!" exclaimed Nat. + +Quickly he gave another signal, and then he rang for full speed +astern. But it was too late. With a crash the other vessel was upon +him, though the result was different from what might have been +expected. + +The _Mermaid_ was a steel boat, while the _Liberty Bell_ was an old +wooden one. Instead of the bow of the latter crashing into the hull of +the passenger steamer, the bow of the freight boat crumpled up like +paper, being smashed into kindling wood up as far as the pilot-house, +part of which was demolished. + +There was a confused ringing of bells and blowing of whistles, and +then both vessels came to a stop. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BUMSTEAD'S ARREST--CONCLUSION + + +With the first sound of the crash Captain Turton and Mr. Weatherby +were out of their berths, and on deck. The searchlight of the +_Mermaid_ showed plainly what had occurred. Neither boat was +dangerously damaged, the passenger steamer hardly suffering at all. + +Captain Turton took this in at a glance, and then, with the assistance +of the mates, he quieted the frightened passengers. + +"How did it happen, Nat?" asked Mr. Weatherby gravely. + +"That fellow went wrong!" exclaimed Nat, in his nervous excitement. +"Whoever was steering that boat gave the wrong signals. I'm positive +of that. Twice I warned him to keep away, but he kept crowding me +closer, until he rammed me. It was his fault." + +"There will have to be an investigation," said the pilot. "I'm sorry +this happened." + +"Ahoy the _Mermaid_!" came a hail from the other boat. "What's the +matter with you fellows, anyhow? Can't you keep on your own side of +the channel? My bows are stove in, and you've injured one of my men!" + +"Who are you?" called back the pilot. + +"Captain Carter, of the _Liberty Bell_." + +"It was your steersman's fault," shouted Mr. Weatherby. "Are you in +any danger?" + +"No, but I'm going to lay-to until morning, and then I want to know +who's going to settle for my damage." + +"We'll see you in the morning, then," was the pilot's answer. + +Nat passed an uneasy night. Though he knew the fault of the collision +was not his, he worried lest he might not be able to prove it. There +might be an old pilot in the other vessel--a pilot up to all sorts of +tricks, who, even if he was wrong, could so make matters appear as to +throw the blame on Nat. + +"If he does, that ends my career as a pilot," thought our hero. + +Soon after breakfast Captain Turton, with the pilot and Nat, went +aboard the other vessel. Her bow was quite badly damaged, but the +break did not extend below the waterline. + +"Did you say some of your men were injured?" asked Captain Turton, +when he had greeted the commander of the _Liberty Bell_. + +"Yes, sir, my mate, Joseph Bumstead. His leg is broken." + +"What?" cried Nat and the pilot in the same breath. + +"Bumstead is his name. I don't see anything peculiar in that," replied +Captain Carter, looking at the two in surprise. + +"Well, as it happens, there is something peculiar about it," went on +Captain Turton. "We have a warrant for his arrest on a serious charge. +However, if his leg is broken, he isn't very likely to get away, and I +think we can proceed with the investigation. I want to find out who is +to blame for this." + +"Your steersman, of course," was Captain Carter's quick answer. + +"It's natural you should say that. But we'll see." + +Several members of the crew of both vessels were called as witnesses. +Nat told his story, of how he had tried to warn the other vessel away, +and how the steersman of it had persisted in crowding him. + +"By the way, who is your pilot?" asked Mr. Weatherby. "I haven't seen +him since I came aboard." + +"I have no regular pilot," answered Captain Carter. "My mate, Mr. +Bumstead, whom I recently engaged, was steering when the collision +occurred. He told me he could qualify as a pilot." + +"Hum," remarked Mr. Weatherby. "I think it will be a good plan to +question Bumstead." + +"He's in his bunk." + +"Then we'll go there. Come, Nat." + +The rascally mate started when he saw the boy, and his face, that was +flushed with a slight fever, grew pale. + +"Well, you've caught me, I see," he fairly snarled. "But luck is +against me." + +"Yes, we've caught you in more ways than one," said the pilot. + +"How do you mean?" + +"I mean that you gave the wrong signals last night, either +intentionally or through ignorance, and that you caused this +collision." + +"Who says so?" + +"Half a dozen witnesses. Members of your own crew, for that matter." + +"My own crew?" + +"Yes." + +"I don't believe it." + +"It is true, nevertheless." + +"Name the men," growled Bumstead. He was suffering considerably, yet +he still had some fight in him. + +For reply two of the deckhands were called in, and each, after much +urging, told his story in detail. + +"That ain't true," growled the mate, but his voice sounded weak and +uncertain. + +"It is true," cried one of the men. Bumstead had treated him roughly +the day previous, and he was glad of a chance to "square accounts." + +"So it is--every word," put in the second deckhand who had been +summoned. + +"You are all against me," muttered the mate. "It's a plot, I reckon." + +"No plot at all," cried Captain Turton. "We are simply bound to get at +the bottom of this affair." + +To this Joseph Bumstead made no reply. + +"I'd like to know why you told me that you could qualify as a pilot," +put in Captain Carter, and his voice had anything but a pleasant ring +to it. + +"I can qualify." + +"I don't believe it." + +"He is no pilot, and never was," said Nat. "He has done very little +steering." + +"You don't know what I've done," growled the mate. + +"Yes, I do know!" exclaimed the boy quickly. "I know a good bit more +than you think I do." + +"Ha! What do you mean by that?" + +"You'll find out later. We'll settle one question at a time." + +"See here, Bumstead, you might as well own up that you were +responsible," said Mr. Weatherby. "If you try to stick it out you'll +only make matters worse. To my way of thinking, you ran into us on +purpose." + +"No! no! I--I----" The mate hesitated, not knowing how to proceed. + +"Come, out with it." + +"Well--er--if you must know the truth, I--er--I got confused." + +"Confused!" roared Captain Carter. + +"Ye-es. I--er--I had a headache, and I got a sudden spell of +blindness. I--er--I wanted to put the wheel over, but before I could +get straightened out the damage was done." + +"I don't believe a word of that!" exclaimed Captain Turton. "He is a +rascal!" + +"No! no! I was confused--I swear it!" groaned the mate. All the +remaining courage was oozing out of him. "I did my best to clear your +vessel, but I simply couldn't do it." + +Captain Carter turned to one of his hands. + +"Did he act confused, so far as you know?" he questioned. + +"I don't know about that," answered the man. "He sure didn't steer the +boat right." + +"I sometimes get those dizzy spells," said Bumstead. "They come on me +without warning. When they do come I don't know what I am doing for +the minute." + +"You should have told me of this before," said Captain Carter. + +"I--er--I was afraid I'd lose my job if I did. But I was confused, I +swear I was. Otherwise, I should never have run into that other boat." + +They had to let it go at that, since there was no direct proof of any +intentional desire to smash into the _Mermaid_, and the charge was too +grave to take any chances on. But it was satisfactorily proved that +the mate did give the wrong signals, and that Nat was not to blame. + +"Now that is over, we have another matter against you," went on Mr. +Weatherby. "I presume you know what it is, Bumstead." + +"Yes," said the other in a low voice. + +"Nat, go ashore and call an officer," said the pilot. + +"Don't do that!" begged the mate. "I'll confess everything, and I'll +pay the money back with interest." + +"Then you admit that you kept the fifteen hundred dollars you were to +deliver to Mr. Morton's son?" + +"Yes. It was a great temptation, after I cashed the lumber +certificates. I needed the money badly, and I kept it. I meant to pay +it back, but I--I couldn't." + +"And will you pay back the money on the note?" + +"Every penny, with interest, if you don't have me arrested." + +"What do you say, Nat?" asked Mr. Weatherby. + +"I have no desire to see him arrested, though I think he tried to +injure me in other ways than by keeping this money from me. But I +forgive him," answered the boy. + +"I think that is the best way," went on the pilot. "You have been +punished almost enough, Bumstead. I hope it will be a lesson to you." + +"It will. Mr. Morton was kind to me, and I treated his son very wrong. +I'm--I'm sorry," and the mate turned his face away, so they would not +see him weeping. + +Nat was glad to get away from the sad scene. On his way out he passed +Sam Shaw, but that youth had nothing to say, and he turned aside. + +"I feel that I owe you an apology," said Captain Carter to Captain +Turton. "I'll discharge that rascal of a mate and his red-headed +nephew, too." + +About two weeks later, through the efforts of Mr. Scanlon, the lawyer +who took charge of the case for Nat, the entire sum appropriated by +the mate, together with interest for two years, was recovered, and +turned over to the young pilot, who also received his father's +wallet, which he prized very much. Bumstead and Sam lost their places +on the _Liberty Bell_, and at last accounts they were working as +laborers aboard a grain barge, for the mate had to sell his shares in +the _Jessie Drew_ to pay Nat what was coming to the boy. Sam confessed +his trick about the cigarettes, and Captain Marshall, when he heard +about it, begged Nat's pardon in a letter. + +"Well," said Mr. Weatherby to Nat one day, "since you have come into +your inheritance, I suppose you'll give up learning to be a pilot?" + +"Indeed, I shall not. I'm going to spend a couple of terms at school, +and then I'm coming back with you again. I want to see my old friends, +Mr. and Mrs. Miller, and do something for them, in return for their +kindness to me. I'm going to be a pilot yet, and, I hope, a good one." + +"There is no question but what you will, if you keep on as you have +been going," returned Mr. Weatherby. + +Nat used part of the money to better his education, and he gave a +goodly sum to his kind friends, so that they were able to live in +better circumstances. Then the young pilot resumed his work aboard a +big passenger steamer, Mr. Weatherby coaching him, until the aged man +said Nat knew as much as he did, if not more. + +To-day, one of the best pilots on the Great Lakes is Nat Morton, who +once was a wharf-rat about the Chicago water front. But he won his +place through pluck and after not a few perils. + + +THE END + + + + +THE WEBSTER SERIES + +By FRANK V. WEBSTER + +[Illustration: BOB THE CASTAWAY] + +Mr. WEBSTER'S style is very much like that of the boys' favorite +author, the late lamented Horatio Alger, Jr., but his tales are +thoroughly up-to-date. + +Cloth. 12mo. Over 200 pages each. Illustrated. Stamped in various +colors. + +Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid. + +=Only A Farm Boy= + _or Dan Hardy's Rise in Life_ +=The Boy From The Ranch= + _or Roy Bradner's City Experiences_ +=The Young Treasure Hunter= + _or Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska_ +=The Boy Pilot of the Lakes= + _or Nat Morton's Perils_ +=Tom The Telephone Boy= + _or The Mystery of a Message_ +=Bob The Castaway= + _or The Wreck of the Eagle_ +=The Newsboy Partners= + _or Who Was Dick Box?_ +=Two Boy Gold Miners= + _or Lost in the Mountains_ +=The Young Firemen of Lakeville= + _or Herbert Dare's Pluck_ +=The Boys of Bellwood School= + _or Frank Jordan's Triumph_ +=Jack the Runaway= + _or On the Road with a Circus_ +=Bob Chester's Grit= + _or From Ranch to Riches_ +=Airship Andy= + _or The Luck of a Brave Boy_ +=High School Rivals= + _or Fred Markham's Struggles_ +=Darry The Life Saver= + _or The Heroes of the Coast_ +=Dick The Bank Boy= + _or A Missing Fortune_ +=Ben Hardy's Flying Machine= + _or Making a Record for Himself_ +=Harry Watson's High School Days= + _or The Rivals of Rivertown_ +=Comrades of the Saddle= + _or The Young Rough Riders of the Plains_ +=Tom Taylor at West Point= + _or The Old Army Officer's Secret_ +=The Boy Scouts of Lennox= + _or Hiking Over Big Bear Mountain_ +=The Boys of the Wireless= + _or a Stirring Rescue from the Deep_ +=Cowboy Dave= + _or The Round-up at Rolling River_ +=Jack of the Pony Express= + _or The Young Rider of the Mountain Trail_ +=The Boys of the Battleship= + _or For the Honor of Uncle Sam_ + +CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers. NEW YORK + + + + +THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES + +By WILLARD F. BAKER + +_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_ + +[Illustration: THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP] + +_Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ + +_Stories of the great west, with cattle ranches as a setting, related +in such a style as to captivate the hearts of all boys._ + + +=1. THE BOY RANCHERS= + _or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X_ + +Two eastern boys visit their cousin. They become involved in an +exciting mystery. + +=2. THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP= + _or The Water Fight at Diamond X_ + +Returning for a visit, the two eastern lads learn, with delight, that +they are to become boy ranchers. + +=3. THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL= + _or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers_ + +Our boy heroes take the trail after Del Pinzo and his outlaws. + +=4. THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG THE INDIANS= + _or Trailing the Yaquis_ + +Rosemary and Floyd are captured by the Yaqui Indians but the boy +ranchers trailed them into the mountains and effected the rescue. + +=5. THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK= + _or Fighting the Sheep Herders_ + +Dangerous struggle against desperadoes for land rights brings out +heroic adventures. + +=6. THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT= + _or Diamond X and the Lost Mine_ + +One night a strange old miner almost dead from hunger and hardship +arrived at the bunk house. The boys cared for him and he told them of +the lost desert mine. + +=7. THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER= + _or Diamond X and the Chinese Smugglers_ + +The boy ranchers help capture Delton's gang who were engaged in +smuggling Chinese across the border. + + +_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's Note: A list of illustrations, which was not present in +the original edition, has been created for this electronic text. In +addition, the following typographical errors present in the original +print edition have been corrected. + +In Chapter V, "shaking his first" was changed to "shaking his fist". + +In Chapter VIII, "He knew it would take him several years engineer set +in operation the powerful pumps, to be a capable one, but he +determined to get a good ground work or the higher branches of it, and +so he listened carfully to all that Mr. Weatherby told him." was +changed to "He knew it would take him several years to be a capable +one, but he determined to get a good ground work or the higher +branches of it, and so he listened carefully to all that Mr. Weatherby +told him." + +In Chapter XI, a missing quotation mark was added after "I never put +it there". + +In Chapter XVI, "let him have the whole businesss" was changed to "let +him have the whole business". + +In Chapter XVII, "the Sanlons wanted to begin their trip" was changed +to "the Scanlons wanted to begin their trip". + +In Chapter XVIII, "the other vessed" was changed to "the other +vessel". + +In Chapter XX, an extraneous quotation mark was removed after "No, +sir". + +In Chapter XXIII, "throwing back his boat" was changed to "throwing +back his coat". + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Pilot of the Lakes, by Frank V. 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