"Sure! Nat said the authorities and also several other people were after him. Nat himself was going to look for him to-morrow."
"Maybe we'll run across him," said Luke Watson.
"I hope we don't, Luke!" exclaimed Dave. "That man gave us trouble enough up at Oak Hall."
"Right you are there!" burst out Shadow. And then he added: "I wonder if he'll call himself the King of Sumatra, as he did before?"
"A man who is out of his mind is apt to call himself anything," said Dave. "I feel sorry for Nat. This must worry him and his family a good deal."
It was not long after this when all the boys went over to the Wadsworth mansion, there to complete their preparations for the trip to Mirror Lake. Ben had had the Basswood automobile thoroughly overhauled, and Dave had likewise had the Wadsworth touring-car put into the best possible running shape.
"My, but there is going to be quite a bunch of us!" was Dave's comment, as he looked at the boys and girls who were present.
"Mamma says we must finish all our packing to-night or else do it Monday morning," said Jessie. "She doesn't want any of it done on Sunday."
"My things are all ready, and so are Belle's," returned Laura. "But I don't know how it is with the boys."
"We'll be all right; don't you worry," answered Dave.
"We never got left yet," added Ben, with a grin.
Luke had brought along his banjo, and the others insisted that he play a tune or two. Then they sang a couple of songs; and after that the Wadsworth phonograph was started, and the young folks enjoyed an hour or so of dancing.
Sunday morning most of the young folks went to church, and in the afternoon some of them spent their time in writing letters. Dave and several of the boys took a walk around the town. At the railroad station they ran across Nat Poole.
"I am off to look for my Uncle Wilbur," said Nat. "We've an idea that he went to Plattsburg, New York. He used to have some friends there, and we think he started off to visit them."
"I certainly hope you find him, Nat, and that he's all right," answered Dave, kindly.
"By the way, I heard Link Merwell was in town," went on the money-lender's son.
"I should think he'd be afraid to show himself, fearing arrest."
"He's a strange fellow, Nat, and there is no telling what he will do. He has been knocked around so much the last few months that I suppose he doesn't care very much what happens next."