"I'll tell my ma on you."
"If you do, I shall tell her how you annoyed me," answered Nat.
"Come down in the barnyard and I'll fight with you," said Fred, but, as he spoke, he retreated down the stairs.
"Don't be a fool, Fred. Behave yourself, and we'll get along all right," said Nat, and then Fred passed to the lower floor, banging the stairway door after him. There was a hook on the door, and this he fastened after him.
"Now, Nat can stay in the garret till I let him out," he muttered to himself.
When left to himself, Nat dragged the old trunk to one of the windows of the garret, and then began a systematic investigation of all the papers the box contained. He soon learned that the majority of the documents were of no importance, but there were half a dozen which looked of possible value, and these he placed in his pocket. Two of the sheets referred directly to the land in New York City.
"I hope these are what Mr. Garwell is looking for," he said to himself.
Having put the trunk back where it belonged, Nat started to go below, only to find the door hooked fast from the other side.
"Fred!" he called out loudly. "Fred, open the door!"
"Ha! ha! Nat Nason, how do you like being a prisoner?" came from Fred, who had been resting on a bed in a nearby room.