"Going to spoil the cream, eh?" came from Phil. "It was a mighty dirty
trick, Nat."

"On a level with what you did to Professor Potts," added Dave.

"I--er--I wasn't going to do nothing!" cried Nat, with little regard for
grammar. "I--er--I was looking at the ice-cream, that's all."

"A poor excuse is worse than none," answered Dave, grimly. "You were
going to put salt in the cream and spoil it, you needn't deny it."

"See here, Dave Porter, I want you to understand----"

"Don't talk, Nat, we know all about it," broke in Phil. "You planned to
come here yesterday, and we can prove it. We were on the lookout for
you."

At this assertion the face of the money-lender's son changed. He grew
quite pale.

"I haven't time to waste on you--I want to enjoy this party," said Dave.
"Come along with me."

"Where to?" demanded Nat.

"I'll show you," answered Dave, and caught the money-lender's son by the
arm. "Catch hold of him, Phil, and don't let him escape."

CHAPTER V

AT NIAGARA FALLS

"See here, I want you to let me alone!" stormed Nat Poole, and he tried
to jerk himself free.

"Listen, Nat," said Dave, sternly. "If you make a noise it will be the
worse for you, for it will bring the others here, and then we'll tell
about what you tried to do. Maybe Mrs. Wadsworth will call an officer,
and anyway all the girls and the boys will be down on you. Now, if you
want Phil and me to keep this a secret, you've got to come along with
us."

"Where to?" grumbled Nat, doggedly.

"You'll soon see," returned Dave, briefly, and with a wink at his chum.

Somewhat against his will, Nat walked toward the end of the garden. He
wished to escape from Mrs. Wadsworth and the others, but he was afraid
Dave and Phil contemplated doing something disagreeable to him. Maybe
they would give him a sound thrashing.

"Don't you touch me--don't you dare!" he cried, when the barn was
readied. "Remember, my father can have you locked up, Dave Porter!"

"Well, don't forget what Professor Potts can do to you, Nat," answered
Dave.

"What are you going to do?" asked Phil, in an aside to his chum.

Dave was trying to think. He had been half of a mind to lock Nat in the
harness closet until the party was over--thus preventing him from making
more trouble. Now, however, as he heard a locomotive whistle, a new
thought struck him.

"Come on down to the railroad tracks, Nat," he said.

"What for?"

"Maybe you can take a journey for yo