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 th