From Farm to Fortune; or, Nat Nason's Strange Experience. Alger Horatio Jr.
isn't his cow. She belongs to me. I had her from the time she was a little calf, and I've a right to sell her."
"Oh, yes, I remember now. Well, I hope you get a good price for her."
"I'll get as much as I can."
"Want me to go along?"
"You can go along if you wish."
"All right, I haven't anything else to do for a while."
"But I want to tell you one thing, Sam. Can you keep a secret?"
"Can I? Try me and see."
"You won't tell a soul?"
"I'll give you my word. But what's up?"
"I'm not coming back."
"What!"
"It's a fact."
"Do you mean that you are going to run away?"
"That's the plain English of it, Sam. I'm tired of living with my uncle. He doesn't treat me fairly."
"I believe that. My father thinks he is the meanest man in the State of Ohio."
"Well, I don't know about that, but he is pretty mean, I can tell you that. I'm not going to stand it any longer."
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know yet. Most likely to one of the big cities. Somehow, I think I could do better in a city than on a farm."
"Do you? Now I think a country boy has no show in a big city. He don't know the ways, and he is sure to get cheated out of his eyes—so my father says."
"They won't cheat me," said Nat, decidedly.
"Father says every big city is full of sharpers, on the watch for greenies."
"Well, they shan't catch me for a greeny," answered Nat.
Alas for poor Nat! Little did he dream of what was in store for him, and of the little trap into which he was to fall as soon as he arrived in New York City.
CHAPTER IV
ABNER BALBERRY'S DISCOVERY
"Nat!"
Abner Balberry uttered the name in a loud, clear voice and waited fully a minute for an answer.
"Nat!" he repeated. "I want you to answer me, do you hear? Nat!"
Still there was no reply, and now, in some alarm, Abner Balberry turned back into his bedchamber and donned part of his clothing.
"If that boy is moving around this house I'm goin' to know it," he murmured to himself, as he felt his way toward Nat's room. Coming to the door, he threw it open and took a step toward the bed.
As we already know, it was empty. The discovery was something of a shock to the farmer and for the moment he stood stock-still, gazing at the bed and feeling under the covers to make certain that his nephew was not really there.
"Gone!" he muttered at last. "He must be downstairs. More'n likely he went down to git somethin' to eat. Wait till I catch him! I'll tan him well!"
Hoping to catch Nat unawares, he tiptoed his way down the stairs and entered the living room. Then he passed to the kitchen and the shed, and came back to peer into the parlor. Not a trace of the lad was to be found anywhere.
"I certainly heard him," he reasoned. "I certainly did."
"Mr. Balberry!" The call came from the housekeeper. "Are you up?"
"Yes, I am."
"Oh, all right."
"But it ain't all right! Nat's up too."
"Is he down there with you?"
"No, I don't know at all where he is. I'm a-lookin' fer him."
By this time Mrs. Felton's curiosity was aroused and she lost no time in slipping on her wrapper. When she came down she brought with her a lamp.
"Where do you suppose he went?" she asked.
"How do I know?" snarled Abner Balberry.
The housekeeper happened to glance into the pantry. She was about to utter an exclamation, but checked herself.
"What did you say, Mrs. Felton?"
"I—I didn't say anything."
"He ain't in there, is he?"
"No."
"Has he been at the victuals?"
"Not—not very much," stammered the housekeeper.
"Humph! I guess he ate as much as he wanted. Jest wait till I catch him—I'll tan him harder than he was ever tanned before!"
"Maybe he went to bed again."
"No, I jest looked into his room."
Abner Balberry unlocked the kitchen door and stepped out into the dooryard. As he did this he caught sight of somebody running swiftly down the road.
"Hi! Stop!" he yelled. "Stop, Nat, do you hear?"
To this there was no answer, and the fleeing individual merely ran the faster.
"Was it Nat?" asked the housekeeper.
"To be sure it was. Oh, wait till I lay my hands on him!" And the farmer shook his fist at the figure that was fast disappearing in the gloom.
"What's that light in the barn?" demanded Mrs. Felton, an instant later.
"Light? Where?"
"Up in the haymow."
Abner Balberry gave a glance toward the structure.
"The barn's afire!" he screamed. "Thet good-fer-nuthin' boy has set the place on fire!"
"Oh! oh!" screamed the housekeeper, and began to tremble from head to feet, for to her mind a fire was the most dreadful thing that could happen.
"I've got to git thet fire out," said the farmer, and ran toward the barn with all speed.
"Be careful, or you'll be burnt up!" screamed Mrs. Felton.
"Go on an' git the water pails!" said the farmer. "Fill everything with water. An' bring a rag carpet, an' I'll soak thet too!"
He already had an old patch of carpet used at the doorstep in his hand, and this he soused in the watering trough as he passed. Then he ran into the open barn and mounted to the loft.
The fire was in a patch of hay at one end of the loft, close to an open window. Regardless of his personal safety, Abner Balberry leaped in and threw part of the hay out of the window. Then he began to beat out the fire with the water-soaked carpet.
"Here's some water," came timidly from below, and Mrs. Felton appeared with two pails full to the brim. He took these upstairs and dashed them on the flames.
"You look out or you'll be burnt up!" cried the housekeeper. She was trembling to such a degree that she could scarcely stand.
"Git some more water," was Abner Balberry's only reply. The thought that his barn might be totally destroyed filled him with dread, for there was no insurance on the structure—he being too miserly to pay the premium demanded by the insurance company.
More water was procured by Mrs. Felton, and at last it was apparent that the farmer was getting the best of the fire. He worked hard and did not seem to mind the fact that his eyebrows were singed and his hands slightly blistered.
"There! now I've got it!" he sighed at last.
"Are you sure?" asked the housekeeper in a faint voice.
"Yes, but I'm a-goin' to hunt around fer sparks. Git some more water."
Additional water was soon at hand, and Abner Balberry began a minute search of the whole loft, on the lookout for stray sparks. A few were found and extinguished, and then the excitement came to an end.
"How thankful I am that the barn didn't burn down," said the housekeeper, as the farmer came below and began to bathe his face and hands.
"It was hot work."
"Are