Trembling with excitement, Nat entered the cabin, and from the window looked back to the dock they had just left. It was not long before he beheld Abner Balberry and several others, on the dock, gazing up and down in perplexity. They did not know whether the boy was on the boat, or in hiding close by.
"What a narrow escape!" thought Nat, when the dock had faded from view.
"In another minute Uncle Abner would have collared me, sure."
"Had to run pretty hard to catch the boat, didn"t you?" remarked a man sitting beside him.
"Yes," answered Nat.
"Bound for Buffalo, I suppose."
"Yes."
"First visit to that city?"
"Yes."
"Well, it"s a fine city to visit, I can tell you. Of course you"ll run up to look at Niagara Falls?"
"I hadn"t thought of that."
"It"s not very far away, you know. The trolley cars run from Buffalo to the Falls and back."
"Then I"ll certainly have to go up and look at the Falls," answered the boy.
He was too excited to make up his mind just what to do next, and so walked away from the man. Finding a secluded corner of the deck, he sat down on a camp stool to think the situation over.
The fact that his uncle believed he had tried to burn down the barn filled him with alarm. Certainly, the building must have been set on fire, but who had done the base deed?
"Perhaps that man I took to be Uncle Abner!" he cried to himself. Up to the present time he had forgotten about seeing that individual in the semi-darkness while on the way to get the cow.
The weather was warm and pleasant, and had Nat been less disturbed in mind he would have enjoyed the trip on Lake Erie thoroughly. Even as it was, he gazed at the great lake in wonder.
"If this is only a lake, what must the ocean be!" he mused. "When I get to New York, I"ll have to take a trip to Coney Island, or some other ocean beach."
The boat Nat was on carried more freight than pa.s.sengers, and made half a dozen landings before Buffalo was reached. But the boy thought the craft one of the best on the lake, and wandered over her from end to end with great interest. At noon he purchased a light lunch, and at supper time a sandwich and a gla.s.s of milk.
"They charge pretty stiff prices on a boat," he thought, after paying over his money. "I"ve got to live cheaper after this, or I"ll be a beggar before I settle down and find something to do."
It was dark when Buffalo was reached, and here Nat was more bewildered than he had been on arriving at Cleveland. He followed the crowd up from the dock to one of the main streets, and then stood on a corner, not knowing which way to turn, or what to do next.
"What a terrible lot of people and cars!" was his mental comment. "It"s enough to make a fellow"s head swim."
He felt that it would be useless to try to do anything that night, and so looked around for a cheap lodging house. Soon he found a place where beds could be had for twenty-five cents a night, and he entered.
"I"ll take a bed," he said to the clerk at the desk.
"All right; twenty-five cents." And as the money was pa.s.sed over, the clerk continued: "Leave your valuables at the desk."
"Valuables?" repeated Nat. "You mean my watch?"
"You may leave it if you wish, and your money too."
"No; I"ll keep them on me," answered the boy.
He was conducted to an elevator, and soon found himself on the fifth story of the building. Here was a big room containing twenty cots, ten on each side.
"Here you are; No. 134," said the attendant, and left him.
On several of the cots some men were already sleeping. They were not pleasant-appearing individuals, and a few of them smelt strongly of liquor.
"This isn"t so nice," thought Nat. "But it"s cheap, and that"s something."
Before retiring, he placed his bundle and his clothing under his pillow, and stowed away his watch and money on his person.
Nat"s actions were closely watched by a man who occupied the next cot on the left. He was a seedy individual, with a face that was horribly pockmarked.
"Reckon he"s got a dollar or two," thought this man, who was known among his a.s.sociates by the name of Checkers.
Despite his surroundings, Nat slept soundly throughout the night, and continued to sleep long after the sun came up.
While it was still early, Bob Checkers arose, dressed himself, and slipped over to the sleeping boy"s side. Making certain that n.o.body was watching him, the fellow began a rapid search of Nat"s clothing, and afterwards of the lad"s person.
Soon he came in contact with a small roll of bills, which Nat, in the belief that they would be quite secure, had placed in a pocket of his shirt. A thrill of delight shot through the fellow as his hand touched them.
"Dis is de best yet!" he murmured to himself, and placing the bills in his own pocket, he left the lodging house almost on a run.
CHAPTER VII
AN ADVENTURE AT NIAGARA FALLS
When Nat awoke it was so late that he leaped up and dressed with all possible speed.
"I"ve got to get a hustle on me, if I mean to do anything," he told himself. "It won"t do to dream away one day after another."
He was anxious to get to New York, to try his luck, but being so close to Niagara Falls, he decided to run up to that great wonder, and look at it before striking out for the metropolis.
He had some loose change in his pocket, and did not immediately miss the roll of bills which the sneak thief had so cleverly abstracted from his person.
Leaving the lodging house, he looked up a cheap restaurant, where he obtained a cup of coffee and some rolls for ten cents. Then, seeing a car marked Niagara Falls, he jumped on board.
"Do you go to the Falls?" he asked of the conductor.
"Certainly."
Trolley riding was new to him, and he thoroughly enjoyed the trip, which lasted the best part of two hours. The car landed him on the main street of Niagara Falls, and he was told that the Falls themselves were just beyond the public park. Listening, he could readily hear the thunder of the waters--a thunder that goes on day and night, and has for ages.