Coming to an alley way, Nat darted through it to a side street, and then around a corner to a thoroughfare leading down to the docks. This threw the crowd off the trail for a moment, and gave him a brief breathing spell. Reaching the docks fronting the lake, the boy came to a halt. Not far off was a steamboat, getting ready to cast off. "Where does that boat go to?" he asked of a man standing near. "That's the boat for Buffalo," was the answer. "And when does she leave?" "She is getting ready to leave now." "Then that's the boat I want," came from Nat, and he rushed to the end of the dock, and up the gangplank with all speed. A moment later the gangplank was withdrawn, and the steamboat started on her trip down Lake Erie. 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 passengers, 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 glass of milk.