"I don't know about that," answered the man. "He sure didn't steer the boat right."

"I sometimes get those dizzy spells," said b.u.mstead. "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, b.u.mstead."

"Yes," said the other in a low voice.

"Nat, go ash.o.r.e 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, b.u.mstead. 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 pa.s.sed 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. b.u.mstead 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 circ.u.mstances. Then the young pilot resumed his work aboard a big pa.s.senger 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

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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. Ill.u.s.trated. 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 d.i.c.k 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_ =d.i.c.k 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. Ill.u.s.trated. Jacket in full colors_

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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_