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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Iron Boys as Foremen, by James R. Mears
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Iron Boys as Foremen
+       or, Heading the Diamond Drill Shift
+
+Author: James R. Mears
+
+Release Date: February 27, 2012 [EBook #38994]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan,
+Ernest Schaal, and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+      [Illustration: Rush Pointed to a Seam in the Rocks Overhead.
+      _Frontispiece._]
+
+
+
+
+                            The Iron Boys as
+                                Foremen
+
+                                   OR
+
+                      Heading the Diamond Drill Shift
+
+                                   By
+
+                             JAMES R. MEARS
+
+          Author of The Iron Boys in the Mines, The Iron Boys
+                         on the Ore Boats, etc.
+
+
+                              Illustrated
+
+
+                              PHILADELPHIA
+                         HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+                          COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY
+                           HOWARD E. ALTEMUS
+
+
+
+
+                                CONTENTS
+
+
+            CHAPTER                                   PAGE
+                I. THE TRAGEDY IN THE SHAFT              7
+               II. AN UNEXPECTED PROMOTION              21
+              III. STEVE SHOWS THE IRON HAND            31
+               IV. MYSTERY IN THE AIR                   40
+                V. "THE MINE IS ON FIRE"                46
+               VI. THROUGH TUNNELS OF FLAME             57
+              VII. THE IRON BOYS WIN                    67
+             VIII. BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND              78
+               IX. THE LABOR LEADER'S LURE              91
+                X. THE GENTLEMAN IN THE WOODPILE        99
+               XI. RUSH SCORES HEAVILY                 109
+              XII. MINERS MEET IN SECRET               119
+             XIII. STEVE'S SUSPICIONS AROUSED          127
+              XIV. MINERS MAKE DEMANDS                 138
+               XV. A WARNING NOT HEEDED                145
+              XVI. THE VENGEANCE OF THE MOB            155
+             XVII. FACING THEIR ASSAILANTS             170
+            XVIII. PROMOTED BY THE PRESIDENT           177
+              XIX. A COWARDLY BLOW                     186
+               XX. LAMB CHOPS FOR THE BABY             194
+              XXI. THE ICELANDER ON THE TRAIL          209
+             XXII. THE BATTLE OF THE GIANTS            217
+            XXIII. THE HERO OF THE BRIDGE              228
+             XXIV. CONCLUSION                          246
+
+
+
+
+                        The Iron Boys as Foremen
+
+                                CHAPTER I
+
+                        THE TRAGEDY IN THE SHAFT
+
+
+"WHERE'S the cage?" asked Steve Rush.
+
+"I guess it's waiting for a load at the surface," answered Bob Jarvis,
+listening at the shaft opening. "I don't hear it coming."
+
+"Ring it down, Bob."
+
+Young Jarvis gave the bell lever a pull. A second later the gong on that
+level rang sharply. A rush of air told them the steel cage was on its
+way down to the fifteenth level, where the young men were awaiting it.
+With a noisy clatter the cage came to a stop at the opening on that
+level; the iron guard bars fell back with a bang.
+
+"All aboard," said Steve, standing aside that the five other men, all
+miners, waiting to be conveyed to the surface might step into the damp
+cage.
+
+"You first," bowed Jarvis with mock politeness, waving Steve in ahead of
+him.
+
+"Give them the signal, Bob," ordered Rush.
+
+Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang! Five strokes rang out on the gong at
+the top of the shaft leading down into the mine, indicating to the
+cage-tender of the Red Rock Mine that his cage was coming up with a load
+of human freight. In other words, there were men on the cage, hence the
+steel elevator was to be raised with care.
+
+Slowly, but steadily, gaining in speed as it ascended, lighted only by
+the faint glimmer of the tallow candles on the oilskin hats of the
+occupants, the cage rose toward the surface.
+
+Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis had been inspecting the tracks in the Red Rock
+Mine and were now on their way to the surface for the purpose of going
+down in the Cousin Jack Mine, there to continue their work of
+inspection. A few seconds had passed when the cage began to sway from
+side to side.
+
+Steve instinctively reached up and took hold of the safety rod that
+extended across the top of the cage.
+
+"Hang on, Bob! We're going altogether too fast for comfort," warned
+Rush. "What ails that engineer up there? It looks as though he were
+trying to give us a shaking up."
+
+"I'll shake him up when I get to the top," answered Bob with a growl, as
+he grasped the rod over his head for support.
+
+The others on the car, all foreigners, were standing stolidly, not
+appearing to care one way or the other what happened. They were too used
+to riding up and down in the cage to and from their daily work to be
+greatly disturbed by the rough ride they were now taking.
+
+Steve, however, knew full well that they were riding altogether too fast
+for safety. He was not afraid; his nerves were too steady for that. Nor
+was his companion, Bob Jarvis, the least bit worried, but he was
+growling at the cage-tender far above them for his roughness.
+
+Suddenly there came a sound that startled all hands. It was a quick,
+crunching, grinding sound, followed by crash after crash of metal
+meeting metal.
+
+"Hold fast," shouted Steve.
+
+"What's happened, Steve?"
+
+"The car's off the track! Look out everybody! We're in for trouble now."
+
+No sooner had he spoken than the steel floor beneath their feet seemed
+to slip suddenly from under them.
+
+"She's turning turtle!" cried Steve. "Hold fast!"
+
+His warning had come too late. The miners had been thrown from their
+feet to the floor of the cage. With quick instinct Steve; gripping the
+iron bar over his head, stretched his legs down full length. Bob's grip
+had been wrenched from the safety bar.
+
+"Grab my feet, Bob!" Steve shouted at the top of his voice.
+
+Bob Jarvis was a quick-witted boy as well. He fastened a firm grip on
+the ankles of his companion just as the floor of the cage began slipping
+from under him.
+
+By this time the stolid foreigners were fully awake to the peril that
+confronted them. With cries that neither lad ever forgot, the men
+slipped from the cage that had turned turtle, plunging into the dark
+abyss, that quickly swallowed them up. There was one of the five miners,
+however, more quick of wit than his companions, who had also fastened to
+Steve's ankles. He and Bob Jarvis found themselves dangling in space
+while Steve, clinging to the iron cross bar above, was holding them up.
+
+The two men were very much in each other's way, and the miner was
+fighting desperately to push Jarvis away down into the shaft.
+
+"Quit that, you cowardly cur!" commanded the lad. "You'll have the three
+of us down if you don't look sharp. Steve, are you all right?"
+
+"Yes, but be careful down there. Whom have you with you?"
+
+"I don't know. He's a heathen--that's all I know about it."
+
+"Me--me Dominick. Me----"
+
+"So you're the loafer who tried to knife Steve that time when he saved
+you from being blown to the moon by dynamite? I ought to drop you, and
+I'll do it as sure as my name's Bob Jarvis if you don't stop your
+fighting. Steve, can you hold us?"
+
+"I am afraid not for long," answered the plucky lad, who was supporting
+the two men by the sheer strength of his arms. "My arms are aching like
+a sore tooth, but I'll hold on till they come off. Don't make any more
+disturbance down there than you can help."
+
+Bob groaned.
+
+"We'll never make it. You can't hold on and bear our weight."
+
+Steve's arms were growing numb. Fortunately he was possessed of great
+strength, and his present position was something like that of a bar
+performer's when about to attempt a giant swing. Had it not been for the
+great weight that he was supporting Steve could have held on
+indefinitely. As it was, he could not hope to cling to the bar much
+longer. The lad's mind was working rapidly. He was trying to plan some
+way out of the predicament, some way that would save the lives of all
+three.
+
+"Steve!"
+
+"Yes?"
+
+"We can't all be saved. It's out of the question."
+
+"Hang on, old boy! They will send us help soon," answered Rush in an
+encouraging tone.
+
+"They can't send help in time to save us. I've a proposition to make."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Dominick and I must let go, that's all."
+
+"You will do nothing of the sort!"
+
+"We must. It is the only way to save you. If we don't, the three of us
+are lost. You can't hold both of us."
+
+Steve laughed harshly.
+
+"I think you will have difficulty in convincing Dominick that he must
+let go. He'll never let go as long as he has my feet to hang to."
+
+"I'll show you whether he will or not. I'll----"
+
+"Bob!"
+
+Steve's tone was sharp and commanding.
+
+"Hang on, both of you! I, too, have a plan to suggest. I don't know
+whether we can get away with it or not, but we will try. You must move
+very carefully, for I am getting tired."
+
+"What's your plan?"
+
+"One of you climb up my body. I can't help you. You will have to
+accomplish it the best way you can. If you can get up beside me on the
+bar here, you ought to be able to hold on. It is our only hope.
+Otherwise we shall be dashed to death at the bottom of the shaft."
+
+"I'll try it. Dominick, do you understand?"
+
+"Me understand."
+
+"Then see that you do as you are told. You go first. Tell him what to
+do, Steve."
+
+"Climb very carefully. Don't hurry or make any sudden moves. If you do,
+you will jerk me loose from the bar here. Be as quick as you can without
+fumbling. Dominick, you swing to my left leg, Bob holding to the other.
+Be careful that you don't drop off when you make the change. There,
+that's a relief," added Steve when they had made the change as directed.
+
+"We are ready," announced Bob.
+
+"Come along, Dominick. That's right; you are doing well. When you get up
+a little further hook one hand into my belt and rest a minute. You will
+be all right in a few minutes. Gracious, my arms are getting tired!"
+
+The Italian had begun to climb up the Iron Boy's leg, creeping inch by
+inch, breathing hard, the man's eyes fairly starting from his head in
+his terrible fear of the death that he knew awaited him a thousand feet
+below. All the time Steve's calm, steady voice was encouraging the man,
+directing him and urging him on to renewed efforts.
+
+"Hurry up," called Jarvis. "I'll be letting go myself, first thing you
+fellows know."
+
+"There you are. Grab the bar," commanded Steve sharply.
+
+With an exclamation that was almost a shout of joy, the Italian fastened
+both hands over the iron bar.
+
+"Can you hang on there for a few minutes?" questioned Steve.
+
+"Me hang--me hold fast."
+
+"That's right. I will relieve you in a minute. Now, Bob, it is your
+turn. Can you climb up here?"
+
+"Watch me. Can you hold on, Steve?"
+
+"All the rest of the day. You are a featherweight compared with the
+weight I have been holding up. But hurry."
+
+Jarvis began to climb, moving cautiously, throwing as little strain on
+the arms of Steve Rush as was possible under the circumstances.
+
+"You're doing well. Come along," urged Steve. "This is like building a
+human pyramid the way we used to do it at high school. Have you got the
+bar?"
+
+"Right you are. Hooray!"
+
+Steve Rush breathed a deep sigh of relief. He knew that he could have
+held on but a few minutes longer. His arms were at the point of giving
+out when the Italian had begun to climb. But now he felt that they were
+all safe for the moment, though there was only a slender iron bar
+between them and destruction at the bottom of the shaft.
+
+"Now, what are we going to do--hang here all the rest of the day?"
+demanded Bob Jarvis.
+
+"No; we shall not be able to do that. I'm going to save Dominick if you
+will help me. Both of you move over as close to the ends of the bar as
+possible; then I will tell you what I want to do."
+
+Dominick and Bob did as directed, edging along the iron bar inch by
+inch. Steve's candle was burning dimly, the others having gone out; but
+the single candle lighted up the scene so that they could see what they
+were about.
+
+"Now listen to what I have to say," directed Rush with as much calmness
+as if he were managing a piece of work above ground.
+
+In Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis the reader has no doubt ere this recognized
+the Iron Boys, the lads who, as told in "THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES,"
+began their career in the industrial world by joining the army of
+workers underground, deep down in the Cousin Jack Iron Mine. It will be
+recalled how the friendship of the two sturdy boys began with their
+battle in the lonely drift, where Steve, though of somewhat slighter
+build than the other, not only held his own, but gave Bob Jarvis the
+roughest handling he had ever received. Almost from the beginning the
+lads had attracted the attention of their superiors by their attention
+to duty, their intelligent work and their honesty. It will be remembered
+how Steve and Bob invented a new gravity system for the mine, by which
+many thousands of dollars were saved for the mining company; how the
+lads saved the officials of the company from being blown up by dynamite
+and how in the end they were rewarded by the officers for their bravery.
+
+Rush and Jarvis were still inspectors of the trackage in the mine. The
+second mine of the group had been added, so that now they were in charge
+of the tracks in both the Cousin Jack and the Red Rock Mines. Beyond
+this there had been a rumor that the Iron Boys were to receive further
+promotions. A clerk in the office had whispered this to the
+boarding-house boss where the boys lived. As yet the boys knew nothing
+of the proposed promotion, and they never would know unless they were
+quickly rescued from the desperate situation into which they had been so
+suddenly plunged.
+
+"What is your plan now?" questioned Jarvis. "I am listening."
+
+"I want you to stay where you are, both of you, for I shall shake the
+cage up a bit."
+
+Steve began swaying his body back and forth as if he were in reality
+about to essay the giant swing. All at once he curled his legs up and
+over the bar. There he hung for a moment, then by sheer strength swung
+himself up astride the bar.
+
+"Well, that's a stunt for certain," cried Bob, for the moment lost in
+admiration of the feat he had just witnessed. "I'd like to see a circus
+performer beat that, especially if he were hanging over a thousand feet
+of nothingness, with a couple of clumsy louts trying to pull him down."
+
+"This is better," announced Rush, with a mirthless grin.
+
+"Yes, it must be fine, but what now? My arms will be giving out pretty
+soon, and I shouldn't be surprised if Dominick were getting uneasy. How
+about it, Dominick?"
+
+"Me all right," answered the Italian stolidly.
+
+"Move over here, Bob. Dominick, you stay where you are. I will take care
+of you in a moment. Now curl up your feet as you saw me do, Bob."
+
+"Why, I couldn't do that to save my life."
+
+"You will have to, if you expect to save it. I know of no other way.
+Wait, I'll help you."
+
+Steve leaned over, and, holding to the bar with one hand, reached down,
+grabbing Bob under one knee.
+
+"Hold fast! There you come."
+
+Jarvis threw all his strength into the effort, and after some clumsy
+moves landed unsteadily beside Steve Rush on the iron bar.
+
+"Whew! I'd never have made it if it hadn't been for you."
+
+"Come, Dominick; we will have you up here now," said Rush, with a laugh
+that was intended to encourage his companions. "This is just exercise.
+No need to feel disturbed about it in the least. Bob, you grab one leg
+and I will take hold of the other. We will have him right side up in no
+time at all."
+
+Dominick let out a yell as he felt himself being torn loose from the
+bar. The Italian floundered. Bob's grip slipped and Dominick dropped
+head downward.
+
+"He's gone! Oh, what a fool I am!" groaned Jarvis.
+
+But the Italian had not gone. Steve Rush had twisted his own legs about
+the bar, allowing himself to turn over until he was hanging head
+downward, both hands gripping one foot of the man Dominick. The latter
+was howling lustily.
+
+"Get hold of us, Bob," cried Steve.
+
+Jarvis, suddenly recalled to his duty, began edging along the rod until
+he had reached a point where he was able to hold the Italian until Steve
+righted himself.
+
+It was a hard struggle, but after a few minutes the two boys succeeded
+in rescuing their companion and placing him beside them on the iron bar.
+Dominick was trembling from head to foot. He was so unnerved from his
+narrow escape that for some moments he could not speak.
+
+"Brace up!" commanded Steve, slapping the man sharply on the cheek.
+
+This brought the Italian around almost instantly. He began chattering
+angrily in his own language, and in his anger at the blow would have
+struck Steve had he dared to take his hands from the slender support
+long enough to do so.
+
+Rush laughed at him.
+
+"Don't lose your temper, Dominick. I was only trying to brace you up.
+You are all right now. Hang on until I get some of these guard bars
+free. I'll have a support for all of us in a moment. Sit perfectly still
+or you may jar me off, even though you do not fall off yourself."
+
+For the next few minutes the Iron Boy busied himself wrenching loose the
+bars that fitted into the opening of the cage to prevent the passengers
+from falling out. These he laid across the bottom, securing them to the
+flanges of the cage. They fitted snugly.
+
+"There," announced Steve, after completing his task. "This will be just
+as good as a solid floor so long as neither of you moves about too much
+and displaces them. Get over there, Dominick. Now we are all right! They
+can haul us up just as soon as they want to. I, for one, shouldn't mind
+feeling something solid underneath me for a change."
+
+"No such luck!" growled Jarvis.
+
+A slight jolt cut short their talk. The lads listened, but heard
+nothing.
+
+"Something has gone wrong with the machinery," said Steve in a low tone.
+"I shouldn't be surprised if we had to stay here for a long time."
+
+"No, the cage is moving!" cried Bob excitedly. "Hooray, we're saved!"
+
+"Not yet," answered Steve, as the cage came to a jarring stop after
+having moved upward a few inches.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER II
+
+                        AN UNEXPECTED PROMOTION
+
+
+THE hours dragged wearily along, the cage resting motionless, save for
+an occasional jolt, in the dark shaft. Long ago Steve Rush's candle had
+burned out, the hot grease dripping down over his hat brim.
+
+All at once, without the usual jarring warning, the cage began to move
+slowly upward. Being off the track, it bumped along not unlike a handcar
+running on the ties of a railroad, banging from side to side of the
+shaft, threatening every instant to precipitate the three men to the
+bottom.
+
+"Hang on, fellows!" cried Steve. "Watch out that those guard rails do
+not jar loose. Keep your hands on the ends, and at the first sign of
+trouble get over on the iron rod."
+
+The others did as he directed.
+
+"You've got the only real head in the mines," grumbled Jarvis.
+
+Rush did not answer. He was too busy looking out for their safety to
+indulge in further conversation. It was the longest and roughest ride
+that any one of those three men ever had experienced, and the way up
+through the shaft seemed many miles. At last a faint light filtered down
+about the cage.
+
+"We are getting near the top," announced Bob.
+
+Steve nodded, but did not reply. The light grew stronger.
+
+"Sit steady," warned Rush. "Do not attempt to leave the cage until I
+tell you, unless you want to get a dandy tumble."
+
+Just then the cage was drawn out into the full daylight, where it
+stopped. They heard excited voices about them, then a face peered up
+under the edge of the cage.
+
+"Hello, out there!" called Steve.
+
+"There are men in the cage. They're alive!" cried a voice.
+
+"Yes; help us out," ordered Rush in a matter-of-fact tone. "Our quarters
+are somewhat cramped."
+
+"Shove some planking over the shaft," commanded a voice that the boys
+recognized as belonging to Superintendent Penton. "Be quick about it.
+Hello, in there!"
+
+"Hello, sir," replied Steve.
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"I am Steve Rush."
+
+"Are you alone?"
+
+"No; Bob Jarvis and Dominick are with me."
+
+"I might have known it. Heaven be praised that you are safe. How many
+men were on the car?"
+
+"Four besides ourselves."
+
+"Did they fall?"
+
+"Yes; you will find them at the bottom of the shaft," answered the boy
+sadly.
+
+The shouting without quickly died away. Planks were cast over the shaft
+opening, forming a platform on which the men might drop.
+
+"Lower the cage a little," ordered the superintendent.
+
+This was done. Steve was the first to leap down to the platform,
+followed quickly by Bob Jarvis, then by the Italian. The moment Dominick
+felt the solid planking underneath his feet, he uttered a yell and
+started on a run for home. Mr. Penton shouted to him to halt, but
+Dominick seemed deaf to all outward sounds. He was hurrying home to tell
+his wife of his hairbreadth escape from death.
+
+In the meantime Mr. Penton had sprung forward, grasping the hands of the
+Iron Boys, which he wrung heartily, the tears almost blinding his sight,
+for he had grown to be very fond of these two manly young fellows.
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir," said Steve, "but have you had those poor
+fellows who fell in looked up?"
+
+"I have just sent a rescue party to the lower level to look for them. I
+had not been here ten minutes when you came up. Nothing was being done.
+Everyone seemed to have lost his head----"
+
+"One man didn't," interrupted Bob Jarvis grimly. "Steve Rush didn't, or
+three of us would have been down there now, smashed flat."
+
+Mr. Penton nodded.
+
+"You two may go home, if you wish."
+
+"For what, sir?" asked Rush.
+
+"Your nerves no doubt are a little shaken, and----"
+
+"Our nerves are all right, sir. Besides, we may be needed here. I think
+we had better go down on one of the skips and see if we can be of any
+service to the men who fell----"
+
+Just then the superintendent was called to the telephone by the side of
+the shaft. He returned after giving some brief directions.
+
+"It's all over, boys," he said.
+
+"Have they found them?"
+
+"Yes. The men are dead. It could not have been otherwise after that
+terrible fall. They are sending the bodies up on a skip. I shall be busy
+here for the next hour. If you will meet me at my office, at the end of
+the hour, I shall be there. I want to say something to you both. I had
+intended seeing you some time to-day."
+
+"Very well, sir," replied Steve. "I don't know that I want to stay here,
+unless there is something that I can do to help you."
+
+"There is nothing," replied Mr. Penton.
+
+The boys walked away, thoughtful and silent. They had taken part in a
+grim tragedy, such as was likely to happen at any time in the busy
+mines. To-morrow it would be forgotten and the work of burrowing under
+the earth would go on just as though nothing out of the ordinary had
+occurred.
+
+"It was a close call," said Bob, glancing into the thoughtful face of
+his companion.
+
+Steve nodded.
+
+"Poor fellows," he murmured. "Did they leave families?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"We will find out. Perhaps we may be able to do something for them."
+
+Not long after the youths had reached the office of the superintendent,
+Mr. Penton came in. He shook hands with the boys again, after which he
+called in the claim adjuster.
+
+"This affair will cost us something in damages," Mr. Penton said. "But
+the company will pay willingly. Will you two boys make a statement,
+giving the adjuster all the facts?"
+
+"Certainly, sir," answered Steve.
+
+"Dominick will not get over his fright before to-morrow, and even at
+that, his testimony would not be of much value to us."
+
+After a stenographer had been summoned, Steve related in a concise
+manner the story of the accident to the cage, not neglecting to mention
+the speed at which the car was traveling when the cage turned turtle.
+
+"Have you anything to add to that, Jarvis?" asked Mr. Penton after Steve
+had concluded.
+
+"Not a word. I couldn't have told it better."
+
+Mr. Penton did not smile. He regarded Rush thoughtfully.
+
+"That is the clearest and most comprehensive statement of an accident
+that I have ever listened to, Steve. After it has been transcribed I
+shall ask both of you to sign it."
+
+This the boys did, swearing to the truth of the statement they had made.
+The claim adjuster then thanked them and left the room. It was a clear
+case against the company, for there had been neglect on the part of some
+employe. The accident would cost the company thousands of dollars, but
+to the credit of the company there was to be no effort to evade
+responsibility.
+
+The Iron Boys rose to leave.
+
+"Sit down," said Mr. Penton, motioning them back to their chairs. "As I
+told you over at the shaft, I desire to talk with you. How long have you
+been in the mines?"
+
+"I have been here a year. Jarvis has been here a little longer than
+that," answered Steve.
+
+"Just so. In that time you two have proved yourselves out. You have done
+well all that has been given to you to do, and you have gone somewhat
+beyond that, I may add," said Mr. Penton, with a smile. "I want to ask
+you a personal question."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Is it your intention to remain in the mines permanently?"
+
+Steve thought a moment before replying.
+
+"I have thought that I should like to familiarize myself with the entire
+iron and steel business. After I have learned all I can in the mines, I
+think I should like to go on--to go further----"
+
+"The mills, for instance----"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Bob Jarvis nodded his approval of what Steve had said.
+
+"I rather thought so. While I shall not want to lose you, you may rest
+assured that I shall leave nothing undone to push you along. You have a
+career before you, each of you. The keynote of success in the industrial
+world is patriotism. There is patriotism for flag and country and there
+is another kind as well--patriotism of achievement. It is this
+patriotism which accomplishes great works in the industrial world.
+Without it our great industries could not exist."
+
+"Yes, sir; I feel it, sir," said Steve brightly.
+
+"I know that. I have known it for a long time. It is such patriotism as
+yours that accomplishes results in the world. The president of the
+company is aware that you possess it. I had a letter from him yesterday
+regarding you boys."
+
+Mr. Penton turned over the papers on his desk. Selecting the letter he
+was in search of, he read it, then laid the paper back on his desk.
+
+"Mr. Carrhart, the president, is deeply interested in you. This letter
+is in reference to you, making certain suggestions. Have you any idea
+what they are?" laughed the superintendent.
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"I hope he isn't going to discharge us," interjected Bob Jarvis
+whimsically.
+
+"Not quite so bad as that," answered Mr. Penton, laughing softly. "He
+does, however, request me to relieve you of your present duties."
+
+Bob's face fell.
+
+"But this is in order to give you something better. I am ordered to
+promote you to the grade of foremen. How does that strike you?"
+
+"Knocks me clear over," answered Jarvis promptly.
+
+"Promoted to the grade of foremen?" repeated Steve, scarcely able to
+believe that what he had heard was not a mistake.
+
+"Yes. Something more than that. You are to be general foremen--shift
+bosses. The ordinary foreman, as you know, has charge of the shift in
+one drift only. You boys will have several drifts under your charge. You
+have had sufficient experience so that I think you will have no
+difficulty in handling the work. The more ore you get out the better the
+company will be satisfied. What the company wants is results. The man
+who can give them results is the man that the company wants to promote
+to higher positions. You have done well in this direction already. I
+shall expect you to continue to advance."
+
+"You are very kind. We shall do the best we can, but it is a responsible
+position for a boy," replied Steve thoughtfully.
+
+"For a mere boy, yes. I look upon you two lads as men. You have proved
+up to the mark, and you have done the work, assuming the
+responsibilities of full-grown men."
+
+"What pay do we get?" questioned Bob Jarvis, with an eye to business.
+
+Mr. Penton laughed.
+
+"That is a business-like question. I was wondering if you were going to
+ask that."
+
+"Of course I am, sir. I wish to know."
+
+"I will tell you. You will receive, beginning with the first of the
+coming week, one hundred and twenty-five dollars each per month. You
+should be able to lay up some money out of that."
+
+"Indeed we shall," answered Steve. "It is a fine salary, but I shall do
+my best to earn it, as I know Bob will."
+
+Jarvis nodded more emphatically than ever.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III
+
+                       STEVE SHOWS THE IRON HAND
+
+
+"TELL the mine captain that I wish to see him," said Steve Rush to one
+of the men working in his shift.
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"That is what I am sending you to find out," answered the young foreman,
+somewhat sharply.
+
+The messenger hurried away, grumbling to himself. While the Iron Boys
+were popular in the mines, there had been no little grumbling when it
+was learned that they had been promoted over men who had spent many
+years in the mines. Steve knew and understood this, but he knew that he
+had done no one an injustice. He had worked hard, and if his employers
+considered that he was entitled to promotion that was his own good
+fortune.
+
+"One seldom gets anything in this world unless he works for it and earns
+it," was the lad's wise conclusion on this particular morning, as his
+keen eyes caught a disgruntled look on the face of more than one man
+working under him.
+
+Steve, true to his name, was pushing the work of his employers with his
+characteristic rushing tactics. Upon taking up the new work he had made
+a brief speech to each shift in his department.
+
+"Men," he said, "I am younger than most of you, but you may depend upon
+one thing. I shall always treat you with absolute fairness and do you
+justice. If at any time you think such is not the case, tell me so, or
+go to the superintendent. If I fail in my duty toward you, at any time,
+it will be because I do not know better, and under such circumstances I
+shall be glad to be enlightened. However, the business of the mining
+company comes first. Everything must give way before that. Our sole
+business in life, down here, is to get out iron ore. I am satisfied that
+this drift has not been getting out nearly as much as it should. I shall
+hereafter expect at least two more tons a day than you have been mining.
+If you find that you cannot do it, you will have to give me a good
+excuse. The ore is running soft. You'll never have easier work than what
+is before you now. Take some pride in your work. See if you can't beat
+them all. If you break records I shall see to it that those higher up
+are informed of it. That is all I have to say."
+
+A similar speech was made by Rush to each of the dozen drift crews under
+his command. Either his words, or the manner in which he spoke them took
+hold of the men, for the output of the twelve drifts was increased by
+twelve tons the first day.
+
+Superintendent Penton rubbed his eyes when the report came in to him
+that night. He wondered if a mistake had not been made. On the report of
+the ore mined in Bob Jarvis' department he found a substantial increase
+also, though not within half a dozen tons of that shown by Steve Rush.
+
+Mr. Penton said nothing, but decided to wait until the week was over,
+when, if the increase held up to the mark set, he would call the
+attention of the Duluth officials to the gain. He knew this would please
+Mr. Carrhart, for the president had great confidence in Rush, and in his
+rough and ready companion, Jarvis.
+
+Both boys were stationed on the twentieth level, far down in the earth
+in the Red Rock Mine, to which they had been transferred with their
+promotion. That morning Steve had been making an inspection of the
+various drifts. It was the first opportunity he had had to make a
+thorough examination of them. In section twenty-four L he had made a
+discovery that led him to send for the mine captain at once.
+
+"Anything gone wrong?" demanded the mine captain, strolling in half an
+hour later.
+
+"No, but there is likely to be. Come in here. I want to show you
+something."
+
+Steve led the way into the drift, where the diamond drills were banging
+away in a deafening chorus. He motioned for the men to shut off the
+drills; then, climbing up on the crumbling ore that was being shoveled
+into the tram cars, he held his candle up to the peak of the dome-like
+drift.
+
+"Do you see that?" demanded Steve.
+
+"I don't see anything very alarming."
+
+"You don't?"
+
+"I do not."
+
+Rush pointed to a seam in the rocks overhead. The seam extended along
+through some three feet of rock and ore. There was a narrow opening or
+crack there into which the lad jabbed his sharp-pointed candlestick.
+
+"Now do you see what I am trying to show you?"
+
+"Pshaw! That's nothing. We always get those cracks in back-stoping."
+
+"We are not back-stoping now; we're drifting," protested Steve. "That
+drift is dangerous."
+
+"No more so than any of them. This isn't a kid's job; it's a man's job
+down in these mines."
+
+"I am simply pointing it out to you, sir. At the same time I want to ask
+your permission either to abandon the drift until it can be shored up,
+or to back-stope until we can get through to solid rock."
+
+"Go on with your drifting. We can't stop for a little thing like that, I
+tell you," answered the mine captain, turning and starting away.
+
+"Pull out your drills," commanded Rush.
+
+The drill-men began to obey his command.
+
+"Shovelers and trammers knock off. Hand in your time until I can see the
+superintendent and get you in a new place."
+
+The mine captain came striding back. He had overheard the orders of the
+young foreman, and the captain's face reflected his anger.
+
+"See here, what are you doing?" he demanded sternly.
+
+"I am closing this drift for the present."
+
+"I order your men back to work. What do you mean by interfering with the
+work of this shift?"
+
+"I already have told you what I mean, sir. I decline to risk the lives
+of the men in section twenty-four L until it has been made safe."
+
+"Get back to work, every man of you, unless you want to be fired out of
+this mine!" commanded the captain.
+
+Steve raised a warning hand.
+
+"Men, I am your foreman. You will obey me. Mr. Mine Captain, you have no
+right to give these men orders over my head. I have asked you for
+protection for them. You refuse to give it. I am responsible for their
+safety, so all work will stop in this drift, so far as I am concerned,
+until you have made the drift safe."
+
+"I'll report you; I'll put another crew to work. I'll----"
+
+"And I'll report you if you do. I have no intention of being
+disrespectful, and I am willing to take the responsibility for my act."
+
+With this Steve urged his men out of the drift. The captain fumed, but
+he knew full well that Steve was right in saying that he had no right to
+order the men back to work.
+
+No sooner had the men of the regular shift withdrawn and gone up to the
+surface, than the mine captain gathered another crew and set them to
+work in section twenty-four L, Steve in the meantime having gone to
+another part of the works. The captain did not want the daily output to
+fall behind, for that would reflect on him. The captain set the new
+shift at work, then went away about his business, muttering his threats
+against the young foreman.
+
+When Steve passed that way again his attention was attracted by a light
+in the drift. Somewhat surprised, he turned into section twenty-four L
+to learn what was going on in there. He found a new crew at work.
+
+"Who sent you in here?" he demanded.
+
+"The captain did," was the answer.
+
+"Very well; so long as he has done so it is not for me to order you out.
+You do not belong to my crew. But let me warn you, men. This drift is
+not safe. Some or all of you are likely to get hurt. I should advise
+against your working here. I have sent my crew away and they will not
+come into the drift until something has been done to make it safe."
+
+The miners laughed and went on with their work. The drill-men were
+boring in, making openings for the dynamite sticks, while the trammers
+were loading, taking their time at the work.
+
+Steve turned away when he saw that the men did not take his warning
+seriously. He made his way to the telephone, where he called up
+Superintendent Penton, acquainting him with conditions in section
+twenty-four L.
+
+The superintendent said he would be down as soon as he could get into
+his mine clothes. He directed Steve to leave matters as they were until
+he could look into the affair. At the same time Mr. Penton warned Steve
+that these disagreements between mine captain and foremen were very bad
+for the discipline of the mine.
+
+"I am willing to assume the full responsibility for my act, sir," was
+the answer of the young foreman, as he hung up the receiver and started
+away, his lips shut tightly together, a look of stubborn determination
+on his face. Steve was ready to give or take.
+
+Shortly after that Mr. Penton arrived. He looked up the mine captain
+first, and heard what the latter had to say. Then the two men sought out
+Steve Rush, whom they found directing the work of one of his crews.
+
+"Rush, this is a bad piece of business. What have you to say for
+yourself?"
+
+"There is nothing more to say, sir, so far as I am concerned. It is for
+you to decide whether I am in the right or the wrong."
+
+"You say the drift is not safe for the men to work in?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"The mine captain disagrees with you, and you have had an argument with
+him before the men. Rush, I am surprised at you."
+
+Steve's face flushed a dull red, but he held his head erect, looking the
+superintendent squarely in the eyes.
+
+"I am willing to assume all the responsibility for my act. One of the
+first lessons I learned from you, sir, was to guard the lives of the men
+as I would my own. I do not think there was need for me to learn the
+lesson. I should have done it anyway. The drift is in a dangerous
+condition. No men under my charge shall work there in its present
+condition. If you say they are to do so I shall step down and out. I do
+not want to feel, after an accident has occurred, that I am responsible
+for the maiming of a lot of men, not to mention the possible loss of
+life."
+
+"That's what comes from giving a kid authority," nodded the mine
+captain.
+
+The superintendent raised a restraining hand.
+
+"I will have a look at the drift. You may come with us, Rush."
+
+The three started away, Steve walking on ahead, the superintendent and
+mine captain bringing up the rear. They had gone something more than
+half way through the cross-cut when they saw a miner approaching them on
+the run. Steve saw at once that something had gone wrong.
+
+"What's the matter?" he cried before the man got up to him.
+
+"Twenty-four L has caved in, burying the whole crew!" panted the
+messenger. "There's tons of red ore and rock on them. They're wiped
+clean off the slate!"
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IV
+
+                         MYSTERY IN THE AIR
+
+
+"RUSH, I owe you an apology. Had we listened to you, the company would
+have saved several thousands of dollars in damages that they will now
+have to pay," said the superintendent.
+
+This conversation took place on the day following the accident in
+section twenty-four L. It had been a serious affair. The entire dome of
+the drift had caved in, starting from a crack in the rocks which the
+Iron Boy had pronounced dangerous. At the time of the cave-in, the
+drill-man had been operating the diamond drill. The vibration had
+loosened the rocks and the whole roof had collapsed. The drill-man and
+his assistant had been killed, and nearly every other man in the drift
+at the time had been injured.
+
+The unfortunate miners were quickly dug out, Steve Rush working in the
+dangerous drift at the imminent risk of losing his own life, with rock
+and ore showering about him almost every second of the time. For a time
+it was feared that the whole length of the tunnel would cave in, but
+under the direction of the superintendent fresh pillars and lagging were
+quickly set in place, saving the mine from more serious disaster.
+
+"I am afraid," continued Mr. Penton, "that the mine captain in the Red
+Rock will be reduced to the ranks, or dropped altogether as the result
+of this. It is a matter that the president will have to decide."
+
+"I am sorry, sir, if I have been the cause of trouble for him."
+
+"Cause? Why, if he had followed your advice the disaster would not have
+occurred. I have made a report of the entire matter, giving you full
+credit. I also want to ask if you have inspected the other drifts in
+your shift."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Do you consider them safe?"
+
+"Yes, sir. Of course, a crack is likely to develop at any time."
+
+"I know that. But you must keep close watch on them. I have had every
+foreman make a careful inspection and report on the condition of the
+various works. Each foreman, hereafter, is to be held personally
+responsible for the safety of his works, so far as man can guard against
+accidents."
+
+"I am glad of that, sir."
+
+"At the same time I wish to congratulate you on the increased production
+of your section. It is an object lesson for the rest of the mine. I
+don't imagine the other foremen are pleased with the pace you have set
+for them."
+
+The end of the noon hour was at hand, so Rush hurried back and descended
+in the cage to the level where he was to work. Later in the afternoon he
+and Bob Jarvis met, their sections adjoining, thus enabling them to have
+frequent conversations during the day.
+
+For a time they discussed the accident of the previous day, Steve giving
+his companion advice about watching the condition of the drifts.
+
+"This is a dangerous mine at best, and I shouldn't be surprised if we
+had a really serious accident one of these days," said Steve.
+
+"It strikes me that we have had one already," replied Bob.
+
+"Yes, it was bad enough. I am not an engineer, but I have eyes. In the
+first place, look at the woodwork down here. Why, it's as dry as powder.
+It is different from the Cousin Jack Mine, where everything is damp or
+wet. Just look at these piles of chips and shavings. I am surprised that
+the officers of the company will stand for such a condition of affairs."
+
+"It's an old mine," suggested Bob.
+
+"Yes, that is it. The mine has been worked for twenty years and it will
+soon be abandoned. I presume for that reason they do not wish to spend
+any more money on it than is actually necessary. The roofs of the levels
+are pretty well shored up, but they are all settling. You can see that
+without half looking."
+
+"I hope we won't have any trouble while we are working here," said Bob
+thoughtfully.
+
+"So do I. It is a hazardous calling that you and I have chosen, old man.
+Between cave-ins, dynamite explosions, falling cages and other troubles
+we shall have to keep our eyes open."
+
+"Yes, and we have got a bad lot of men about us," added Jarvis.
+
+"The foreigners, you mean?"
+
+Bob nodded.
+
+"Yes, they are a choice lot of anarchists," continued Steve. "Many of
+them have leanings in that direction. Between the Finns, the Huns and
+the Italians the company has its hands full."
+
+"It is a pity they do not clean out that crowd. These fellows will cause
+trouble some time."
+
+"That is what I think. And, between you and me, Bob, something is going
+on in these mines."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Something is doing----"
+
+"I hadn't noticed it."
+
+"Haven't you seen the men talking in little groups, especially at the
+noon hour?"
+
+"Yes, I have seen that."
+
+"And have you noticed that, when a white man approaches, they quickly
+disperse?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, what does that mean?"
+
+"I will confess that I hadn't attached any special significance to it,
+but, now that you speak of it, it does seem strange."
+
+"That is the way the matter strikes me. It is none of our business, and
+yet it is. Some of our men are in the scheme, whatever it may be."
+
+"Are you going to tell Mr. Penton?"
+
+"No, not now," replied Rush after brief reflection. "He will tire of our
+running to him with every little thing. Besides, I give the
+superintendent credit for at least ordinary shrewdness. He undoubtedly
+knows what is going on just as well as we do, and perhaps a great deal
+better."
+
+"What do you think they are planning, if anything?"
+
+"It is a mystery to me, Bob, but I am going to find out. I have a right
+to do that so far as my own men are concerned, and so have you. It is
+our duty to know what is going on in our own sections."
+
+"Then why don't you ask the men outright?" demanded Jarvis.
+
+"That would be a foolish thing to do. By letting them think we have no
+suspicions we shall learn what they are planning sooner or later. You
+don't suppose they would tell me if I were to ask them, do you?"
+
+"No, I guess that's so."
+
+"Then keep your eyes open and I will do the same. When we get anything
+definite, perhaps we will go to Mr. Penton with it."
+
+"Is the plotting, or whatever it is, going on over in the Cousin Jack,
+too?"
+
+"I think so. I noticed it when I was over there two days ago. It is
+curious to me that the mining captains are not wise by this time."
+
+"This one never would discover anything. Are they going to keep him?"
+
+"I do not know," answered Steve. "Naturally I have not asked. I am in
+rather a delicate position, in view of the fact that I got the captain
+into this difficulty."
+
+Bob nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"Well, I must get back to my work. I think it is safe to say that
+nothing will occur yet a while, and perhaps not at all. But we shall be
+on the job when it does, old man."
+
+Waving their hands in parting salute, the young foremen turned and
+walked away to attend to their duties. But, though they did not
+apprehend any immediate trouble, they were destined, within the next few
+days, to meet with the most thrilling experiences of their
+lives--experiences that they would never forget.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER V
+
+                         "THE MINE IS ON FIRE"
+
+
+THREE days had passed uneventfully, the Iron Boys having kept up their
+record for mining more ore than any other section in either of the
+company's mines. How they succeeded in doing so was a mystery to Mr.
+Penton, for he failed to discover that the boys were applying any new
+methods to the operation of their drifts.
+
+At noon on the third day, when most of the miners were eating their
+dinners in the mines, the foremen and shift bosses having come to the
+surface, Steve also had come up for the purpose of going to his boarding
+place to get a pair of boots.
+
+The lad ate a quick dinner at the boarding house, then hurried back
+toward the shaft. Bob had remained in the mines, and Steve hoped to be
+down in time to have a chat with his friend before the whistles blew for
+the resumption of work at a quarter after one o'clock. The Iron Boy was
+walking rapidly, when all of a sudden just about an eighth of a mile
+from the Red Rock shaft, he saw a wisp of smoke shoot up from the main
+shaft.
+
+Steve halted, fixing a keen glance on the dark upper works of the
+towering shaft trestle.
+
+"That's curious," he muttered. "I am sure I saw smoke there. Perhaps it
+came from the engine house yonder. But, no; the wind is in the opposite
+direction."
+
+The lad saw no further signs of smoke, so he started on, half believing
+that he had been wrong. He had gone but a short distance when he halted
+suddenly, uttering an exclamation of startled amazement at what he
+beheld.
+
+A huge column of black smoke burst from the shaft, shooting high in the
+air. When far above the top of the shaft the column opened up like an
+umbrella, darkening the landscape, throwing the base of the upper works
+into deep shadow.
+
+"There's been an explosion!" cried Steve. "They'll all be lost down
+there!"
+
+The lad sprang forward, running with all speed toward the mouth of the
+shaft. Ere he had reached it, however, sparks were belching from the
+mouth of the shaft. The smoke was so dense, however, that the shaft was
+almost hidden from view.
+
+Men were running toward the scene from all directions, shouting and
+yelling. Steve was not saying a word. As he ran his mind was actively at
+work. He understood what was happening underground. He did not know what
+the cause had been, though he believed there had been an explosion.
+
+"The mine's on fire! The mine's on fire!" was the cry passed from mouth
+to mouth. Pandemonium seemed to have broken loose. The cage gong at the
+shaft entrance could be heard through the heavy smoke, crashing out its
+plea for help.
+
+The cage-tender was too excited to give the signal any heed. He had run
+from the mouth of the shaft, half suffocated by the smoke. Steve dashed
+up to the man, grabbed him by the collar and spun the fellow about.
+
+"Get to work! There are men down in the mine trying to get up. Start the
+cage!"
+
+"I--I can't. The smoke will strangle me."
+
+"Haul up that cage, you coward!" roared Rush, giving the man a shove
+that sent him staggering toward the shaft. The fellow was about to turn
+back when he saw Steve striding quickly after him. Then he dived into
+the dense smoke, answered the signal and began hauling up the cage. Rush
+followed him, dipping his own handkerchief into a pail of water as he
+passed.
+
+"Stuff the handkerchief into your mouth. Get somebody to keep you
+supplied with wet cloths."
+
+The cage came to a rattling stop and a dozen black-faced miners
+staggered out into the open.
+
+Steve dragged them out into the fresh air.
+
+"What's happened down there? Tell me quick!" he demanded.
+
+"It's a roaring furnace! The whole mine's afire," gasped the man.
+
+"Are there any alive to come up in the cage?"
+
+"N-n-n-no."
+
+"Send the cage down!" commanded Rush, dashing to the mouth of the shaft.
+"Watch sharp for signals. Stand by your post unless you want to be
+thrown in. Be a man! This is no place for cowards. Where's the
+superintendent?"
+
+"I--I don't know."
+
+Steve dashed out. A new idea had occurred to him. He rubbed the smoke
+from his smarting eyes as he emerged into the open. The lad was so dizzy
+on account of the smoke from the burning mine that he could scarcely
+keep his feet.
+
+As soon as he was able to collect his senses he glanced toward the shaft
+where the lumber skip went down into the mine to carry the timber for
+the bull gang, the timber used in shoring up the levels to keep them
+from caving in.
+
+There was smoke there, too, but Rush noted that it was not nearly so
+dense as in the main shaft.
+
+"I don't believe there is much fire near that shaft. I hope the men have
+been able to get to that part of the mine."
+
+The Iron Boy started on a run for the lumber skip.
+
+"Where's your skip?" he demanded sharply.
+
+"On the first level."
+
+"Jerk it up here! Why aren't you bringing up the men on it?"
+
+"I haven't had any orders to do so."
+
+Rush restrained himself with difficulty. The skip came up with a bound
+and the lad jumped into it, bracing his feet on the narrow flooring,
+grasping the shelving steel over his head.
+
+"Drop me to the twentieth. Let her go full speed."
+
+"You'll be killed," warned the skip-tender.
+
+"Do as I tell you, and be quick about it, unless you want to answer to
+me here and now. I'll----"
+
+Steve's words were cut short. The skip-tender threw his throttle wide
+open. The skip shot down at a frightful rate of speed. The rapidity of
+his descent took the boy's breath away. He gasped, opening his mouth
+wide to fill his lungs with air. But he did not succeed very well. He
+feared that he would fall from the skip in his dizziness, there being no
+guards to prevent his doing so. The front of the scoop-shaped skip was
+not protected in any way, and the slightest slip would send the solitary
+passenger to his death.
+
+The skip stopped with a jolt that hurled Steve Rush forward on his face.
+He thought that was to be the last of him. A moment later, however, the
+brave lad discovered that the skip had stopped at the twentieth level,
+and that he had been thrown out into the level itself.
+
+Scrambling to his feet, the lad uttered a shout to attract the attention
+of anyone who might be near.
+
+There was no reply. Steve nearly strangled from the smoke he had drawn
+into his lungs. The drift was silent and deserted, the electric lights
+gleaming dimly in the thick veil of smoke that hung over everything.
+
+"I wonder where they are?" breathed the lad, keeping his lips tightly
+shut. "They must be trying to work their way up by the ladders."
+
+Running to another part of the level, the Iron Boy sprang up a ladder
+and once more uttered a long-drawn shout.
+
+"Hello," came the answer. "Where are you?"
+
+"Chute thirty-one."
+
+A man came running through the half darkness. His face was so blackened
+from smoke that Rush did not recognize him.
+
+"Is that you, Steve?" cried a familiar voice.
+
+"Yes--Bob, is that you?"
+
+"What's left of me."
+
+Steve gave his companion a mighty hug.
+
+"Where are the men? Quick, tell me! We must help them!"
+
+"I've been herding them on the lower level; that is, all of them that I
+have been able to find, but they are the craziest lot I ever saw. The
+heathens won't listen to reason."
+
+"How bad is the fire--is the whole mine going?"
+
+"It strikes me that it is pretty well gone already."
+
+"Come on! We've got our work cut out for us," cried Steve, starting
+along the level at a brisk trot. "You've shown great judgment in getting
+the men below. Is there much water down there?"
+
+"No, not very much, but enough to keep them from burning to death, I
+guess."
+
+The chums had gone but a short distance when Rush caught the crackling
+sound of burning timber. The smoke was becoming suffocating and the boys
+were obliged to move with more caution.
+
+"We can't get through there, Bob."
+
+"No; this has started since I came through."
+
+"We shall have to go around through the cross-cut. That isn't on fire,
+is it?"
+
+"I don't know. It was not when I was over there last."
+
+"How many levels are on fire? Do you know?"
+
+"I guess most of them are. You see, the fire works down through the
+wooden rises, then scattering, sets the woodwork on each level ablaze."
+
+This gave Steve Rush a sudden idea.
+
+"They can't all be going. Get together a lot of the men. We'll station
+two or three at each rise with pails of water and the gangs ought to be
+able to head off the fire when it comes through."
+
+"That's a good idea. I'm with you."
+
+The Iron Boys hurried away. They found groups of excited men, so beside
+themselves with fear that they were powerless to think or to act.
+
+Steve was obliged in some instances to handle the men roughly--men much
+larger and stronger than himself--in order to shake some courage into
+their trembling bodies.
+
+Yet he did not blame them so much. It was a scene calculated to shake
+the nerves of the strongest men. The interior of the mine was a roaring
+furnace; the flames were crackling with a sinister sound, eating their
+way through the dry timber. Now and then a dull, heavy reverberation
+told where a drift or a level had caved in under the weight of the rocks
+above it.
+
+In the meantime Rush had explained to the men what he wanted done. The
+mine captain was not in the mine and the men all seemed to have lost
+their heads completely. After a time, however, Steve succeeded in
+getting a number of them to the point where he thought they would be
+able to obey orders.
+
+Rush headed the first shift and led the way to a rise on a level that
+had not been attacked by the flames. Stationing a squad there, he went
+on to other levels, and other rises, arranging his forces in the same
+manner.
+
+While he was doing this, Bob Jarvis was performing a similar service.
+The boys had no thought, apparently, for their own safety. They were
+working to save the company's property, and at the same time to make it
+possible for the men still in the mine to live. By this time the smoke
+had become so thick in the lumber shaft that it was impossible for
+anyone either to get up or down. The skips and the cage had stopped
+running altogether.
+
+One of the foremen in the mines had been stationed at the only telephone
+that was working, where Steve directed him to keep the superintendent
+informed of the progress of the fire and of the work that was being done
+to check it. At the same time the Iron Boy was calmly demanding orders
+from his superior.
+
+"Tell Rush I have no orders to give. What he cannot think of is beyond
+me," was the answer sent back to the mine from Mr. Penton.
+
+No one knew how many lives had been lost, though everyone believed that
+a great disaster had overtaken the miners in the Red Rock Mine. This was
+true. Many had been cut off by the caving in of the roofs of the levels
+and drifts, while others, having been overcome by smoke, had fallen
+unconscious, some never to rise again.
+
+Steve Rush, with his companion and a band of courageous men, was now
+fighting desperately to confine the fire to the eastern section of the
+mine, which was nearest to the shafts.
+
+Both boys had thrown off their coats, they had lost their hats, their
+faces were black and almost unrecognizable, and the hair of each was
+badly singed.
+
+"The telephone has gone out of business," announced the man whom Steve
+had assigned to this work.
+
+"Very well; we shall be in the same condition if we do not succeed in
+stopping the progress of the fire."
+
+Every little while the workers were obliged to flatten themselves upon
+the ground for a breath of fresher air. Now and then one would topple
+over unconscious, to be dragged out of harm's way by a companion. On all
+this Steve kept a watchful eye. Thus far he had not lost a man, thanks
+to his watchfulness and bravery.
+
+All at once a new idea occurred to Rush that startled him.
+
+"Bob!" he called.
+
+Jarvis was at his side instantly.
+
+"What about the powder room?"
+
+"The--the--the pow----" stammered Jarvis.
+
+"Yes; what about it?"
+
+"Why--why, the fire must be right on it at this very minute. I--I never
+thought of it before. I----"
+
+"Then the whole mine will be blown up!" cried Steve. "_There are more
+than five tons of dynamite in that room!_"
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER VI
+
+                        THROUGH TUNNELS OF FLAME
+
+
+STEVE waited not a moment.
+
+"Keep working, men!" he shouted, starting away at top speed.
+
+"Come back!" yelled Jarvis. "You'll be blown to death."
+
+"We'll all be blown to death if someone doesn't stop the fire before it
+gets to the powder room."
+
+"Then I'm going with you," answered Bob Jarvis, following after his
+companion at top speed. "It isn't any worse for me than it is for you."
+
+"Stay back there and handle the men!" flung back Steve over his
+shoulder.
+
+Bob paid no attention to the command. He was running at full speed in
+order to keep up with his companion, for Steve, with a handkerchief
+stuffed in his mouth, was running on the toes of his heavy shoes,
+darting in and out of drifts, making sharp detours to get around a
+burning spot that was too hot to be passed with safety.
+
+"Keep shouting, or I'll lose you," cried Bob.
+
+"I can't! I'll choke!" was the faint answer.
+
+On raced the two boys, Bob gaining on Steve very slowly, struggle as he
+might to decrease the other's lead.
+
+"We're too late!" groaned Jarvis, as the lads came to a sudden halt.
+Before them the flames were crackling viciously in the dry woodwork of
+the drift leading into the earth for some sixty yards, where the powder
+room was located. "Get out of here, or we'll be blown to smithereens!"
+
+"Bob, we've _got to_ find some way to save the magazine. Think what it
+will mean if we do not! Why, it will wreck the whole mine and the
+chances are that not a man of all the crew will get out alive."
+
+"Yes, but how are we going to do it?"
+
+Steve stood thoughtful for a moment, while second by second the flames
+were eating farther and farther into the drift, drawing nearer and
+nearer to the deadly stuff that was piled in cases behind the wooden
+partition that stood in the drift beyond the flames just around the
+bend.
+
+"I'm going through," announced Steve firmly.
+
+"You are not going to try to get through that burning drift, are you?"
+
+"That's exactly what I am going to do. It's our only hope, old man.
+We're surely doomed if I don't. If I fail then I shall have done my
+best. Take off your shirt."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"Because I want to use it."
+
+"Why don't you take off your own?"
+
+"That is exactly what I am going to do," answered the lad, proceeding to
+strip off the garment. "Be quick! We've no time to lose."
+
+Bob began reluctantly to remove his own shirt, which he tossed to Steve.
+
+"Now, what are you going to do?"
+
+Rush did not answer. He began wrapping the two shirts about his head,
+having first made slits in one of them through which he could see. Both
+garments were finally twisted about his head until the latter looked
+several times its natural size.
+
+"Now I want you to stick right here. If I am overcome you'll have to try
+your best to get me out."
+
+"Yes; I'll be in nice shape to go after you. I'll singe the skin all off
+my body if I try it. You get out the best way you can, but, mind you, if
+that fire creeps much closer to the magazine you'll see me making a
+lively sprint for a safe place."
+
+"There will be no safe place in the mine if that happens, Bob. I guess
+you won't run."
+
+"No, I guess I won't, at that," admitted the lad. "What are you going to
+do when you get in there?"
+
+"I am going to try to block the passage so the fire can't get to the
+magazine. I can't do any less than fail. I will shout if I get safely
+through the fire; then you will know that I am all right. Good-bye, Bob,
+if I do not see you again. In case anything happens to me, try to get
+the men as far away as possible before the blow-up occurs."
+
+Steve Rush bravely bolted into the tunnel of fire. There was fire above
+his head, sparks falling in a perfect cataract about him, while the
+drift was full of suffocating smoke.
+
+Bob stood with head bent forward in a listening attitude, apparently
+unmindful of the shower of burning cinders that fell over him. His whole
+attention was centred on listening for the call that would signal Steve
+Rush's safe arrival on the other side of the fire.
+
+It came at last.
+
+"Who-o-o-o-o-p!"
+
+"He's made it!" breathed Bob, with a deep sigh of relief. "I wonder what
+he is going to try to do? I ought to be in there with him, instead of
+standing out here doing nothing."
+
+In the meantime Steve, having penetrated beyond the fire zone, made his
+way quickly to the wooden partition behind which lay the boxes of high
+explosives. He gave the door a sharp push, but it did not yield.
+
+"It is locked!" groaned the boy. "I've got to get in there, I've got to
+do it or we are all lost!"
+
+The fire was by this time less than fifty feet behind him, creeping
+along toward the powder room at a rapid rate.
+
+Steve backed off and threw himself against the door with all his
+strength. But the door did not move.
+
+Once more did the lad try to break the door in, the rough wood tearing
+the skin from his shoulders, sending the blood trickling down his sides
+in tiny rivulets.
+
+Bang!
+
+He hurled himself against the door for the sixth time. The door gave way
+with surprising suddenness. Steve Rush plunged headlong into the
+magazine and went down, entangled in the wreck of the splintered door.
+
+Following his sudden entry into the powder room there came a succession
+of crashes. At first he thought the dynamite was exploding and the boy
+clenched his hands to meet the great shock that he felt sure would come
+shortly.
+
+It did not come. Steve suddenly realized that the dynamite was not going
+to explode just yet; what he had heard was the falling of some of the
+dynamite cases to the floor, following the shock of the bursting in of
+the door.
+
+"What a fool I am," cried the lad, starting to get to his feet.
+
+It was then that he made the discovery that he had taken part of the
+partition down with him and that he was so entangled in the wreck that
+he would have difficulty in extricating himself. Every second the fire
+was drawing nearer the magazine. Steve fought as he never had fought
+before. Seconds seemed hours to him, and the crackling of the flames
+seemed to be about his very ears. The more he struggled the tighter he
+seemed to be wedging himself under the timbers and planking that he had
+carried down with him.
+
+With a mighty effort and in sheer desperation the lad lifted the weight
+with his body. Then by a quick wriggle he managed to squirm from beneath
+the planking, clearing all but his feet. These were again caught. They
+would surely have been crushed had it not been for his heavy shoes.
+
+But now the boy's hands were free, thus enabling him to use them in
+liberating himself. After a struggle of a few moments he succeeded in
+getting from under the partition and sprang to his feet.
+
+The electric lights were glowing in the magazine, the circuit not yet
+having been broken.
+
+At a bound the Iron Boy leaped to the far side of the magazine. From a
+box on a shelf he selected half a dozen white, paper-covered objects,
+somewhat resembling wrapped candles, except that they were larger.
+
+This done, Steve whipped out his knife and cut the electric feed wire
+that led into the magazine. In doing so he got a shock that nearly
+knocked him down.
+
+"Gracious, but that wire is hot!" he exclaimed, shaking his hand to
+restore the circulation. "It never seemed so hot as that before.
+Everything is hot down here to-day, and I shall be in the same condition
+if I do not make lively tracks out of here."
+
+Running from the wrecked powder room, the lad sprang down the drift,
+running straight toward the fire again. As yet he had not replaced the
+shirts about his head, for he was not yet ready to plunge into the fiery
+tunnel. The main purpose of his going to the powder room had not yet
+been carried out.
+
+Reaching a point some twenty feet from the edge of the fire, the lad
+thrust one of the sticks into a crevice in the rocks. One after another
+he distributed the sticks in various places, some of them being wedged
+behind the lagging that supported the drift.
+
+After a few seconds he had distributed them all, forming a line that the
+fire would be sure to touch before it could get by to reach the
+magazine.
+
+Steve could hear Jarvis calling to him now. Perhaps Bob had been doing
+so right along, but if so, Rush had been so occupied with his task that
+he had not heard.
+
+"Wh-o-o-p-e-e!" answered the plucky lad. "I'm coming. Look out for me."
+
+Taking a final survey of his work, Steve turned toward the fire again.
+
+"Getting out of here is going to be more difficult than getting in," he
+decided. "I shall be well singed by the time I get through that wall of
+fire."
+
+Wrapping the shirts about his head, Steve dived into the fiery tunnel,
+holding his breath as he ran.
+
+The heat was terrific. He could feel it burning through his trousers,
+and he could smell the burning cloth about his head. He had thrust his
+hands into his trousers' pockets, which afforded some protection.
+
+Suddenly he stumbled over a timber that had fallen from its supports and
+measured his length on the ground. As he fell he uttered a shout.
+
+The fall stunned him, for the boy struck on his head. Bob, however, had
+heard the cry. Regardless of the fact that neither his head nor his body
+was protected, Jarvis dashed boldly into the burning drift. He knew the
+skin was peeling from his arms, but he did not experience any sensation
+of pain.
+
+All at once he, too, stumbled and fell in a heap with a deluge of
+burning embers and live sparks showering about him. But Bob was not
+stunned. He was very much alive at this particular moment, for he
+realized for the first time that unless he moved rapidly he would be
+burned alive.
+
+Just then he felt the object over which he had fallen move.
+
+"Steve! Steve! Is that you?" cried Jarvis.
+
+"Ye-yes."
+
+Bob fastened on him with a powerful grip, and began dragging Rush from
+the fire, first having stripped off one of the burning shirts.
+
+Steve regained control of himself almost instantly.
+
+"Let go! Run for it! Something is going to happen!" he shouted.
+
+But Jarvis did not let go. He ran faster than ever, holding firmly to
+his companion. Perhaps he was beginning to understand what Steve
+expected to happen. At least he was making all the speed possible under
+the circumstances.
+
+Both boys drew in a long breath as they flattened themselves on the
+ground, well free of the fire zone.
+
+Steve bounded to his feet.
+
+"Run for your life!" he shouted.
+
+"Is the magazine going up?" cried Bob.
+
+"Something is going up in a minute. It may be the magazine."
+
+This time Rush grabbed Bob, starting on a run with him. Both boys were
+choking from the smoke they were inhaling.
+
+"You're on fire!" yelled Jarvis. "Stop! I'll put it out."
+
+"No, no, no! Keep going. Don't stop. It won't hurt me to burn a little.
+I'm already pretty well cooked--"
+
+Boom!
+
+A reverberating report sounded through the level, and the Iron Boys were
+hurled violently to the ground.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII
+
+                           THE IRON BOYS WIN
+
+
+"NOW we will put out the fire," announced Steve Rush calmly, as he got
+to his feet and began whipping out the smouldering sparks on the scant
+covering that he had left on his body.
+
+"The powder house has blown up and the mine is caving in!" cried a
+miner, dashing in front of them through a cross-cut. A dozen others were
+following him, yelling wildly.
+
+"There go my firemen. Stop them, Bob!"
+
+Rush sprang out into the cross-cut waving his arms.
+
+"Stop! You are all right if you will keep your heads."
+
+"The magazine's gone up!"
+
+"The magazine has not gone up. Get back to your stations. How is the
+fire?"
+
+"We were getting the best of it on our level when the powder house
+went----"
+
+"Nonsense! I tell you it's all right, but unless you do keep the fire
+from spreading into the other side of the mine you'll go up in smoke,
+the whole crowd of you. Now get back to work."
+
+Some of the men turned to retrace their steps.
+
+"He's lying to you," shouted one of those who had not turned. "Come with
+me, and I'll show you the way out. The kid's gone crazy."
+
+               [Illustration: "Back, Every Man of You!"]
+
+"Back, I tell you! Every man of you!" shouted Steve, placing himself
+squarely in front of the man who had started to run.
+
+The fellow did not stop. He started to run right over Rush, when, quick
+as a flash, Steve's clenched fist landed on the miner's jaw, sending the
+man down in a heap. In the meantime Bob Jarvis, with a howl, had jumped
+into the fray. He knocked down two men who sought to force their way
+past him.
+
+"Come on, you cowards! You'll find my fist is harder to get away from
+than the fire in the lagging. I'll pound every one of you if you don't
+get back to your stations."
+
+Others had come running along the cross-cut after the explosion, until
+there were fully thirty men in the party.
+
+Facing them stood the two Iron Boys, naked to the waist, Steve's body
+streaked with soot and blood. The miners stood hesitating. Somehow the
+courage of the two lads shamed the men. They wavered between their shame
+and their fears.
+
+"Go back and do your duty like men," commanded Steve Rush in a firm
+tone. "Now that you are in condition to listen, I will tell you that the
+powder house has not blown up. There is now little chance that it will."
+
+"But we heard it go up," protested a voice.
+
+"No, you did not. The powder house, in all probability, is buried under
+tons of rock. I planted the drift with sticks of dynamite. When the fire
+reached them the explosion of the dynamite caved in the drift, thus
+shutting off the magazine and burying it. Your danger is from fire
+alone. Go back to work."
+
+For a moment the rough men gazed at the slender, resolute lad standing
+before them; then the miners, with one accord, uttered a yell. Before
+the lads could dodge out of the way the miners had grabbed the Iron
+Boys, and, uttering choking hurrahs, bore the lads back through the
+level on a run.
+
+These same men were ready to fight anything now. Their courage had come
+back to them, increased tenfold. They had realized in a moment what
+desperate bravery had been Steve's.
+
+From that moment on the men fought desperately against the flames.
+Little by little, now that systematic efforts were being put forth, the
+fire died out. The mine was still filled with suffocating smoke,
+however, and men were being overcome on every hand.
+
+From the surface a band of rescuers had begun to make their way down the
+ladders into the mine, headed by the superintendent himself. Each was
+provided with head-wrappings, damp cloths being placed over mouths and
+noses.
+
+The instant the rescuers reached the first level, Mr. Penton hurried
+them off to the west, in order to get them as far away from the
+magazines as possible. He expected to hear the muffled report of the
+exploding magazine at any moment, and to feel the ground tremble and
+settle beneath his feet.
+
+Reaching a point far enough to the west to place them out of immediate
+danger, should there be an explosion, the party took to the ladders
+again and began their descent into the heart of the conflagration.
+
+In the meantime Steve Rush had worked out another plan. He had visited
+the most dangerous places in the mine, learning where the main artery of
+fire was. This done, the lad sent out men to hunt up sticks of dynamite
+in some of the working drifts. A few sticks were thus secured. With
+these Steve blew down the roofs of the levels in several places, thus
+absolutely checking the fire at these points.
+
+This done, the men had little difficulty in handling the other levels.
+Mr. Penton, during his slow, dangerous descent, caught the faint boom of
+the dynamite sticks. He knew that it was not the magazine and concluded
+that the distant reports he had heard were caused by the explosion of
+stray sticks of dynamite that the fire had reached.
+
+At last the party reached the fifteenth level, where the fire-fighting
+operations were going steadily forward. No one gave the slightest heed
+to the superintendent and his party. The miners were too busy fighting
+fire, and they were working with an enthusiasm and force that amazed Mr.
+Penton.
+
+He hailed a drift foreman.
+
+"Bates, what is the condition down here? I wish to know the details. You
+can save me time by telling me."
+
+"I think we have the fire under control, sir."
+
+"Is the mine badly damaged?"
+
+"I fear it is."
+
+"How many levels have been burned?"
+
+"There has been fire on all of them below this, and, as you probably
+know, above here, too. I think Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis can give you
+more information than can I."
+
+"Where are they?"
+
+"I don't know. They're everywhere at once. I never saw anything like
+those two young fellows. You can give them the credit for saving your
+mine."
+
+"But the magazines--is there fire near them?" asked the superintendent
+hurriedly.
+
+"There was."
+
+"Who put it out?"
+
+"Rush and Jarvis did--that is, they got into the powder house, carried
+out dynamite and blew up the drift ahead of the fire, so it could not
+reach the explosives."
+
+The blood rushed to the face of the superintendent in a sudden wave of
+emotion.
+
+"Have any lives been lost?"
+
+"I fear so. We have been too busy to find out. We knew there was nothing
+that could be done; in fact, there was no possibility of our getting
+into the other side of the works. If we could get there the men could
+get here. I believe, however, that Rush and Jarvis have pulled out
+twenty or thirty men who had been overcome."
+
+"Wonderful!" breathed Mr. Penton. "Come, men; we must go through the
+mine and make a quick investigation. Bates, have you stationed men
+through the various levels to watch?"
+
+"I believe Rush has attended to that. In fact, he did that some time
+ago. He took matters into his own hands, and we were very willing to
+have him do so, for the men were crazed with fear."
+
+Just then a man rushed into the level where Mr. Penton and the foreman
+were standing. This man was bare to the waist, his skin so blackened
+with smoke as to render him almost unrecognizable.
+
+"Who is that?" demanded the superintendent sharply.
+
+"That's Rush."
+
+Steve had not observed Mr. Penton.
+
+"I want ten volunteers to go with me to the other side of the mine. It
+will be hot in there, but we've got to look after the men in that
+section. Some of them, no doubt, are imprisoned in drifts that have
+caved in, and----"
+
+"Steve!"
+
+Mr. Penton strode forward with outstretched hand.
+
+"Steve, my boy, come here."
+
+The Iron Boy sprang forward, grasped Mr. Penton's hand, then turned
+sharply to the men.
+
+"Who will go with me?"
+
+"I will," answered every man in the drift.
+
+"Rush, you have done enough. I will head the rescue party. It is my
+place to do so," exclaimed the superintendent. "Where is Jarvis?"
+
+"On the level below this. He is beating out the fire on the main and
+sub-levels. He has done splendid work, Mr. Penton."
+
+"So I understand. Send for him, and both of you make your way to the
+surface, if you are able to do so."
+
+"No, sir; we shall stay. We are foremen. It is our duty to remain in the
+mine as long as there is anything to do. Mr. Bates, with the
+superintendent's permission, will you relieve Mr. Jarvis and take charge
+of the work here and below as well?"
+
+Mr. Penton nodded his permission.
+
+"Yes," answered Bates.
+
+Half a dozen men were chosen from that shift, Steve deciding to pick up
+others on the way to the fire-swept part of the mine. Mr. Penton headed
+the rescue party, which made its way as rapidly as possible to the other
+side.
+
+It was a sad duty that the men found before them. The total loss was ten
+men. Fifty men in various parts of the mine had been buried in drifts
+and it was night before the last of them had been gotten out. While this
+was being done watchmen patroled the levels, Steve Rush having laid out
+the plans for this work. Now and then a fresh blaze would spring up here
+and there, but in each instance there were men on hand to fight it.
+
+As soon as the last blaze had been extinguished the bull gang began
+rushing timber down into the mine, and the timber-men got to work,
+shoring up the weakened levels. All night long the work continued.
+Neither Steve nor Bob Jarvis would leave the mine. The Iron Boys seemed
+to be everywhere at once, especially at points where their services were
+needed. Mr. Penton found himself deferring to the judgment of the brave
+lads. There was still need for cool heads. He knew full well that he
+could depend upon the two boys under all conditions.
+
+Morning came, though the lads did not know it until the day shift came
+down to work. The mine was still smoky, but it had cleared sufficiently
+to enable the men to work. No ore was to be taken out that day, all
+hands starting in to clean up the mine. The Iron Boys, after having been
+on duty for twenty-four hours, made their way to the surface, first
+having borrowed jackets to cover their backs. They went to their
+boarding house, and, after a bath, tumbled into bed, remaining there
+until late in the evening.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VIII
+
+                        BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND
+
+
+MR. CARRHART, the president of the mining company, arrived early on the
+following morning. He was an experienced engineer, and with a force that
+is characteristic of successful men in the industrial world, he quickly
+put the mine in working condition.
+
+In the meantime Mr. Carrhart had listened to the tale of the heroism of
+the Iron Boys. They had saved the company thousands of dollars by their
+efforts. On the second day he sent for the two boys and extended to them
+his hearty congratulations, assuring them at the same time that he would
+show the appreciation of the company in a more substantial way. He asked
+Steve if there were anything he could do for him at that moment.
+
+"No, sir; I thank you," was the prompt answer.
+
+Late that afternoon Steve was approached by an inspector in the
+mines named Cavard, a Russian. His first name, being practically
+unpronounceable, had remained in disuse so long that nearly every one in
+the mine had forgotten it. Cavard was called the Duke for short, because
+of his dignified carriage and aristocratic airs. He was greatly
+respected, however, especially by the foreign element in the mine, over
+whom he exercised considerable influence. It was Cavard to whom they
+turned to settle their differences; it was Cavard who advised them in
+their money matters, and it had been rumored that he had profited
+through this until he had amassed quite a sum of money. However, the man
+was an experienced miner. He had worked up from grade to grade until he
+had become an inspector, and though the officials of the company did not
+like the man personally, they were forced to admit that he was valuable
+to them.
+
+Steve knew Cavard, though he had never passed five minutes' conversation
+with him since the lads had been in the employ of the company. Steve did
+not like the fellow; he had distrusted the Duke from the first. Their
+dislike for each other appeared to have been mutual, Cavard treating
+both boys with indifference and scorn.
+
+Rush was, therefore, rather surprised when the Russian approached him
+with cordial, outstretched hand that afternoon on the level where the
+lad was attending to his duties.
+
+"I want to congratulate you, Rush," said the inspector.
+
+"What for?" asked Steve rather brusquely.
+
+"For your heroism at the time of the fire. The men are all proud of
+you."
+
+"Thank you. I simply did my duty. Anyone would have done the same."
+
+"But the fact remains, my boy, that no one did the same. The men were
+panic-stricken. They were crazed with fear."
+
+"So I observed. But I hear good reports of you also. You did your duty,
+too. Why aren't they congratulating you?"
+
+"Oh, that was nothing. By the way, Rush, you and I ought to be friends."
+
+"I wasn't aware that we were enemies," replied the boy, with a faint
+smile.
+
+"I did not mean it that way. I meant that we ought to get together and
+come to a better understanding."
+
+"Thank you; I am too busy to indulge in friendships. I am much obliged
+for your kindness, though."
+
+"Pshaw, don't talk that way. I want you to do something for me."
+
+"I shall be glad to do whatever I can for you, sir. What do you want?"
+
+"Come and see me. You and I have much to talk over. We can talk better
+in my own rooms. It may be to your advantage to talk matters over with
+me."
+
+"What is it you want to talk with me about?" asked Steve.
+
+Steve's suspicions were aroused, though what lay behind the invitation
+he did not know.
+
+"Will you come?"
+
+"I'll think about it," answered the lad. "Where do you live?"
+
+"Twenty-three, Iron Street."
+
+"Yes, I know the place."
+
+"You might bring your friend Jarvis with you. He will be interested in
+what I have to say. You are both boys of influence in the mines, and you
+are advancing rapidly. We ought to be able to work together to our
+mutual advantage."
+
+Rush bade the inspector good afternoon and went about his duties. The
+lad was puzzled. That Cavard was influenced by some ulterior motive he
+was certain. But, puzzle over the matter as he might, Steve Rush was
+unable to decide in his own mind what that motive might be. He was at
+first inclined to accept Cavard's invitation to call on him. Upon
+reflection, however, he decided that he wanted nothing to do with the
+man.
+
+That evening he talked the matter over with Bob, and Jarvis was of the
+opinion that the less they had to do with the Russian the better it
+would be for both of them. Later on, as the boys were taking their
+evening walk, they passed Cavard strolling along the street with a
+stranger. The latter was tall and well dressed. He was red of face, and
+when he raised his hat to wipe the perspiration from his forehead the
+boys saw that his head was crowned with a luxuriant growth of red hair.
+His small, keen eyes took in every detail of the two boys in one
+comprehensive glance. They saw him ask a quick question of Cavard. The
+latter glanced at the boys, nodding smilingly, then answered the
+red-headed man in a tone too low for them to catch the words.
+
+"Who's the red head?" demanded Bob Jarvis.
+
+"I don't know. I never saw him before," answered Steve, gazing
+searchingly at the two men. "He is a stranger in this vicinity, that
+is certain. I wonder what he and Cavard are talking about so
+confidentially. By the way, Bob, have you kept your eyes open of late?"
+
+"I usually do. What particular thing are you talking about?"
+
+"What I spoke about before. Since the fire in the mine there has been
+more talk than ever going on among the men."
+
+"Yes; I have observed that."
+
+"I have noticed also that our friend Cavard has had a most important
+part in these talks. I wish I knew what he had in mind when he urged me
+to come and see him. I believe that fellow will bear watching, Bob."
+
+"I agree with you there. We'll keep an eye on him. He has nerve,
+whatever other failings may be his. He certainly made himself useful at
+the fire the other day and the men would lay down their lives for him at
+any moment."
+
+"Provided they didn't get an attack of cold feet," added Jarvis, with a
+grin.
+
+"You couldn't blame them for that. You must remember that the rank
+and file of the men in the mines are ignorant and unreasoning. In
+consequence they become easily panic-stricken in time of danger."
+
+"Yes, that's so. A little knowledge does give a man more or less
+courage."
+
+"Because it gives him greater reasoning powers. It teaches him to reason
+things out instead of getting scared and running away. That is why the
+Duke is so far above the rank and file of the workers in the mines."
+
+"I guess you're right, at that," agreed Bob.
+
+"Of course I am. But I am convinced that we shall hear something from
+Cavard before a great while that will interest us. He has made the first
+move in asking us to come and see him. Of course we shall not do so, but
+if he wants to see us very badly he will look us up, depend upon that.
+If he approaches you, Bob, let him take the lead, but see to it that you
+draw him out if you can without committing yourself."
+
+"I'll do that; don't you worry. I'll show him I can play at a game of
+wits just as well as he can."
+
+"Don't underrate the fellow. Remember, he is a sharp, shrewd man. He is
+playing a game unless I am greatly in error, and he is playing it very
+shrewdly. We know that, because not a breath of what he is up to has
+gotten to our ears."
+
+"Have you asked anyone about him?"
+
+"Well, I had a talk with the mine captain of the Cousin Jack the other
+day. Jim thinks him a very capable man. He says that Cavard is one of
+the best men in the mines, and that the Duke has more influence with the
+miners than has any other man in the mines."
+
+"That statement doesn't enlighten us as to Cavard's game."
+
+"No, but we will eventually find it out. I shall try to throw myself in
+Cavard's way without appearing to do so. Then perhaps he will open up
+and give me a clue to what he is driving at."
+
+"That's a good idea. I'll keep hands off and leave you a clear field to
+work in."
+
+Their further conversation along this line was interrupted by Mr.
+Penton, who overtook them at that moment. He greeted the lads warmly and
+walked with them until he reached his own home, where he left the Iron
+Boys. They did not refer to the subject again that night. The following
+day was Sunday, a day when all work is suspended in the mines, no matter
+how great the demand for output.
+
+Late in the afternoon Steve saw Cavard and the stranger walking out of
+town, going in the direction of a little lake that lay a mile beyond the
+mining town. After a time Rush observed other groups moving in the same
+direction.
+
+"Now I wonder if the whole town is going fishing," mused Rush. "I've a
+good notion to follow them out and see what is going on. But I think I
+had better stay at home and attend to my own business."
+
+He did so, in a short time forgetting entirely what he had observed. The
+matter was again brought to his attention when the men came back just
+before the supper hour. Some of the men from his own boarding house had
+been out to the lake. All of them seemed more or less excited over
+something. The boys asked a few guarded questions, but gained no
+information whatever, their questions being parried in every instance.
+
+This made Steve Rush all the more determined to get to the bottom of the
+mystery.
+
+"I'd give a day's wages to know what that fellow, Cavard, has got in the
+back of his head. I'll bet it would be interesting reading, and I'm
+going to make it my business to find out. Something has been going on
+to-day, Bob."
+
+"Yes; it is easy to see that. Have you any idea what this secrecy
+means?"
+
+"Not the slightest in the world."
+
+It was noticed that the red-haired stranger still lingered in town.
+Steve learned that the man was in frequent communication with certain of
+the workers in the mine, spending all, or the greater part of his
+evenings at Cavard's lodgings on Iron Street.
+
+One evening late in the week Rush walked down to the village hotel,
+where he occasionally went to read the Chicago papers that were kept on
+file there. He had seated himself at the long, paper-littered table in
+the deserted reading room and settled himself for a quiet time. He had
+been reading for some time when he suddenly heard his name spoken.
+
+Glancing up quickly the Iron Boy found himself looking into the florid
+face of the red-haired man whom he had seen with the Duke.
+
+"Good evening, sir," said Steve innocently, resuming his reading.
+
+"I am glad to make your acquaintance, young man. I have heard all about
+your heroism at the time of the fire in the mine. It was a brave piece
+of work that you and your friend--let's see, what is his name?"
+
+"You mean Bob Jarvis?"
+
+"Yes, that's the name--that you two did."
+
+"Thank you. Let's talk about the weather."
+
+The stranger laughed heartily.
+
+"I see you are a humorist. I expect you will be at the head of a mine
+yourself one of these fine days."
+
+"I expect to be," answered the lad so quickly as fairly to take the
+other man's breath away. "That day is a long way off, however."
+
+"Perhaps not so far off as you think. There is a way that men of your
+ability and mind may improve their conditions."
+
+"May I ask what your business is, sir?"
+
+"I am interested in mines. I am up here on mining business. By the way,
+I have some of the finest samples of ore that you ever saw."
+
+"Indeed."
+
+Steve was interested in spite of himself.
+
+"Yes; I can show you samples that will interest you greatly. If you have
+a little time I wish you would come up to my room. We can talk to better
+advantage there than down here, and besides I can show you the samples
+without a crowd gathering about us."
+
+"I do not know you, sir," answered the lad, with a half smile.
+
+"My name is Driscold, Barney Driscold. I am from Chicago."
+
+"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Driscold," said Rush, extending his hand.
+"Under the circumstances I shall be glad to see the ore you speak of. I
+am always willing to look at anything that will add to my store of
+knowledge."
+
+"I know that. Come with me. I am interested in young men like you. Where
+is your friend to-night?"
+
+"He has gone to call on another friend."
+
+Steve rose and started after Driscold. The latter did not pass through
+the lobby of the hotel, but made his way back through the parlor on the
+ground floor, opening a door that revealed a stairway leading to the
+floor above. Steve had never been upstairs in the hotel. He did not even
+know the arrangement of the rooms up there. He was a shrewd boy, and
+perhaps he was not so much attracted by the promised exhibition of ore
+as he was by the idea of learning something about Mr. Driscold.
+
+The latter led him down a hall toward the front of the building, then
+entered a small, cosy parlor, which he had engaged for his use while in
+the mining town.
+
+"Have a seat," said Driscold cordially, as he turned on the lights, then
+drew up a chair close to where Steve Rush had seated himself.
+
+"I guess something is going to start in a short time," thought Steve.
+"Where are the ore samples, sir?" he asked.
+
+Driscold brought out a handful of specimens of copper ore that he had in
+his bag. These he laid on the little round table that stood at the side
+of his chair.
+
+Steve picked up the samples. He saw at once that they were inferior
+samples, not worthy even of passing consideration.
+
+"Where do these samples come from, sir?" he asked, apparently deeply
+interested.
+
+"From a new mine over in Michigan. I am interested in the mine and I
+thought you would be interested in the ore we take from it."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"We have some ideal conditions in the mine. Our men are better paid and
+have shorter hours than you men have up here. You work ten hours here,
+while our men work only eight."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I presume that you would like to have shorter hours and get more money
+at the same time, would you not?"
+
+"That depends," replied Rush evasively.
+
+"Upon what?"
+
+"Oh, it depends upon several things. In what way do you accomplish this
+in your new copper mine?"
+
+"By organization purely."
+
+"I don't think I quite understand."
+
+"By organization I mean organizing the working men."
+
+"Oh, you mean holding up one's employers; in other words, throttling
+them and compelling them to grant one's demands. Is that what you mean?"
+demanded the lad with sharp incisiveness.
+
+"Oh, no, no, no! You misunderstand me. We do nothing of the sort.
+We----"
+
+Driscold was interrupted by a rap on the door.
+
+"Come in," he called.
+
+A man stepped into the room. Steve could scarce repress an exclamation
+as he saw and recognized the newcomer.
+
+"I begin to understand what the game is now," thought the boy, as he
+leaned back in his chair with a smile of recognition on his face.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IX
+
+                        THE LABOR LEADER'S LURE
+
+
+"WHY, Rush, this is, indeed, a surprise," exclaimed the newcomer, who
+was none other than the Russian, Cavard. "How are you, Driscold? But I
+fear I am intruding."
+
+"Not at all. Take a seat. We were discussing matters in which you are
+interested, I know."
+
+"Well, I'm listening," laughed the Russian. "What is the nature of this
+interesting discussion?"
+
+"We were talking of improving the condition of the miners by
+organization. My young friend Rush rather misunderstood the purport of
+my remarks. I was about to show him wherein he was wrong when you
+entered."
+
+"Yes; I am in thorough sympathy with organization," nodded the Duke. "It
+is the one needful thing in the mines here, and it is bound to come at
+no distant day. I am glad we three are alone here, so we can talk the
+matter over. You know, most of our men lack the intelligence to
+appreciate fully the kind of argument we are making."
+
+"Do you mean that the miners in our mines are thinking of organizing?"
+asked Steve, without appearing to take any great interest in the
+announcement.
+
+"Well, I might say that such a thing is within the range of
+possibility."
+
+"Form a union?"
+
+"Oh, yes; that would be the natural result. 'In union there is
+strength,' you know."
+
+"So I have read," replied the lad, with a faint smile. "Then you are
+unionizing the mines? Is that it?"
+
+"I should hardly want to go so far as to say that, my dear, young
+friend," answered the Duke. "But I will say that the men have been
+considering the matter for some time. I am placing implicit confidence
+in you. This information is not mine to give at the present moment, so I
+shall have to ask you to consider all that I may say as being
+confidential."
+
+Steve did not reply to this directly. He sat thoughtful and silent for a
+few seconds.
+
+"Are you a union man, Mr. Driscold?" he asked suddenly.
+
+"Mr. Driscold is the president of the Central Iron Miners' Association,"
+said Cavard, speaking for the red-haired man.
+
+"Indeed."
+
+Steve regarded the president curiously.
+
+"Then you represent all of the unions in the country, sir?"
+
+"No; not quite that. I am the state president only. The national body is
+represented by another man. Then, in case a union is organized here,
+there will be a local president and other officers, all playing a
+prominent part in the organization. Believe me, my dear young friend,
+there is a great chance for bright young men. We want young men to hold
+our offices, young men of brains, like yourself. It is the history of
+our organization that such young men, almost from the moment that they
+assume office in the union, make rapid strides in their work. They are
+sure to earn rapid promotion. We see to that; we push them along. Why, I
+know of a young man about your age who, like yourself, was a foreman
+before joining the union. In less than a year after doing so he was
+promoted to be a superintendent. That happened right in this state, not
+more than a hundred miles from where we are sitting at this very moment.
+Stand by the union, and work for its interests, and you will be well
+taken care of at all times."
+
+"Who are the gainers by the organization of a union?"
+
+"The rank and file of the men, of course."
+
+"But how are the officers paid? Surely they do not work for nothing."
+
+"They are paid very moderate salaries," Mr. Driscold hastened to
+explain, after which he returned to his original subject. "Are there any
+other questions that you would like to ask?"
+
+"Yes; I should like to know how all that you promise is brought about.
+You say that the men will get better wages and shorter hours. How do you
+expect to accomplish that?"
+
+"I will explain. I see that you do not understand. That is not
+surprising, since you have had no experience."
+
+"No, sir; I have not."
+
+"I will be very frank with you. Corporations are grasping. They get all
+they can out of their men, and when those men are no longer useful to
+them, they cast the men aside as they would a piece of worn-out
+machinery. They care nothing for you; they would discharge you to-morrow
+were it not for the fact that you are useful to them."
+
+"I think you are wrong, sir," retorted Steve sharply. "I have never
+worked for a corporation before. The corporation I am now working for is
+interested in me to the same extent that I am interested in my work. I
+believe all of these great industrial organizations are looking for
+young men who are in earnest. I believe that they are willing to advance
+such young men just as fast as they are fitted for advancement. At least
+I have found that to be so in my own case. Of course we have to work
+long hours and work hard. But what do you expect? Surely you do not look
+for pay for doing nothing?"
+
+"No, no; you misunderstand me entirely."
+
+"I beg your pardon. You were starting to tell me how you brought about
+the conditions you mentioned a few moments ago."
+
+"Yes. In the first place, the corporations like to have their men
+organized. It makes for better service all around. Well, to proceed, I
+will explain that, having organized, we should appoint a committee to
+wait upon the official who is in charge of the mines. This committee
+would lay before the superintendent, if he were the man called upon,
+such grievances as we might think existed. There would be a friendly
+discussion, and he, seeing the wisdom of what our committee demanded,
+would no doubt grant the request made."
+
+"What if he refused?" interjected Steve.
+
+"I presume it would go before the president of the mining company. At
+least, we should see that the grievances were carried to him."
+
+"And if he refused to grant your demands, what then?" persisted Steve
+Rush, his keen eyes fixed upon the red-headed president of the
+Association.
+
+"Well, we should find a way to compel them to grant our demands,"
+answered Mr. Driscold significantly.
+
+"It seems to come back to the point of throttling a man," said Rush. "I
+never could become enthusiastic over the profession of highwayman, and
+it strikes me that this is about what the proposition amounts to."
+
+The Iron Boy was pitting his wits against those of two shrewd and
+experienced men, who were seeking to lure him on by offering him
+sugar-coated pills. But Steve Rush knew full well, young as he was in
+the world's ways, that the inside of the pill was bitter and
+unpalatable. The lad was holding his own to such an extent that the man
+Driscold had adopted a sharp, incisive tone at several points in the
+discussion.
+
+"You are wrong, Rush," interrupted Cavard. "You are altogether wrong."
+
+"Perhaps I am, but I am trying to get to the bottom of the question. You
+spoke, Mr. Driscold, a moment ago, of finding a way to compel the
+officials of the company to agree to your demands. How would you go
+about it?"
+
+The president hesitated a moment before replying.
+
+"Why, our only recourse then--our only remedy, in that event--would be
+to call a strike."
+
+"_Ah!_"
+
+The exclamation escaped young Rush almost before he realized it. He bit
+his lips, and his face flushed slightly.
+
+"And while the strike was on your men and their families would go
+hungry?"
+
+"Oh, no; we look out for that. We give them money."
+
+"How much?"
+
+"Enough."
+
+"How much?" persisted Steve.
+
+"A few dollars a week, perhaps, so long as the money holds out."
+
+"Who gets the money that the men who join pay in?"
+
+"The dues go to the union, of course. The initiation fee naturally goes
+to recompense the walking delegate who, you must understand, works
+without pay."
+
+"It strikes me that he is pretty well paid. I have not had much
+experience in the world, gentlemen, but I am satisfied that your whole
+scheme is wrong. It is a hold-up game from start to finish----"
+
+"You're a fool!" exploded Driscold. "You're a----"
+
+"Never mind the trimmings. I may be all you accuse me of, but I pride
+myself on possessing common sense. That, sometimes, is worth more than
+knowledge. Mr. Cavard, are you helping to unionize the mines here?"
+
+"Whatever I am doing is done wholly in the interest of the rank and file
+of the mines," snapped Cavard. "You are making a mistake in antagonizing
+us in this way. We had hoped that you would see the matter in its true
+light, and that you might prove a valuable aid to us."
+
+"In what way?" demanded Steve.
+
+"You are popular with the men; you have a great deal of influence with
+them, even though you are a boy. We had hoped that you might enter into
+the plan and accept an important office in the union."
+
+"So that's it, eh?"
+
+"That is what we had hoped. Think it over. Say nothing to anyone, but go
+over the matter carefully, and I am sure you will change your mind. Meet
+us here to-morrow night at eight o'clock and give us your answer. You
+have everything to gain and nothing to lose."
+
+"Gentlemen, there is no necessity of waiting until to-morrow night. I
+can give you my answer now. I want nothing to do with such crooked
+business as you have proposed to me to-night. I bid you good night,
+gentlemen."
+
+Steve Rush rose and left the room without another word.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X
+
+                      THE GENTLEMAN IN THE WOODPILE
+
+
+"BOB, I've torn down the woodpile," announced Steve, as he entered their
+room at the boarding house half an hour later.
+
+"What woodpile?" demanded Jarvis blankly.
+
+"The one we have been guessing about; and I've found the black gentleman
+who has been in hiding there."
+
+"You don't mean that you have solved the mystery?"
+
+"I have."
+
+"Well, you are a wonder. Tell me about it."
+
+"They are trying to unionize the mines."
+
+"You don't say! Who is trying to do it?"
+
+"Cavard is at the bottom of the whole business, I believe. He has with
+him the president of the Central Iron Miners' Association and they are
+putting up this job together, though I believe the Duke is the real
+man."
+
+"So that's the game, is it?"
+
+"It is."
+
+"How did you chance to learn all this?"
+
+Steve related what had occurred in the reading room of the hotel,
+telling his companion how he had been lured to Driscold's room on the
+pretext of looking over some samples of ore, and where they were soon
+joined by the Duke.
+
+"What did they want of you?" questioned Jarvis.
+
+"They wanted me to join the union, of course. They wanted me to use my
+influence with the men, promising me quick promotion if I did join in
+and help them to organize."
+
+"What did you tell them?"
+
+"I don't remember all I said, but I made it clear that I wanted none of
+it. I am satisfied that this union business is a delusion and a snare.
+Mr. Carrhart talked with me quite a little on that subject when he was
+up here some months ago. He gave me a lot of points about the methods
+followed by some of these union organizers, and he showed me what
+miserable things strikes are."
+
+"Yes; I guess they are pretty bad," agreed Jarvis. "I have never seen
+one."
+
+"And I hope you never will. I don't believe a strike could ever benefit
+either employe or employer. Don't you get mixed up with them, Bob."
+
+"Not I," answered Jarvis with emphasis. "I'm pretty well satisfied with
+the way I am being used. I've learned a lot of things in the past year,
+and most of them I have learned from you. I'm very much obliged for the
+licking you gave me. You hammered some sense into my head and I haven't
+lost all of it yet. When I do, you may give me another walloping."
+
+"I'm afraid I should not be able to do it now. You have grown since
+then, Bob."
+
+"So have you."
+
+"Then we are in good shape to thrash somebody else, if the occasion
+demands, eh?"
+
+"You bet! We'll do that, all right. Do you think there is going to be
+trouble?"
+
+"I should not be surprised. I do not know, of course, how far this thing
+has gone, but the organizers have been working for a long time, as you
+and I both know. I am inclined to believe that the Duke has gotten a
+strong hold on the men. You observed how our fellows acted after they
+returned from their outing on Sunday?"
+
+"Yes; I noticed it. They all acted as if they had lost their week's
+wages. So that's what was going on, eh?"
+
+"Yes; they must have had a meeting out at the lake. I wish I knew
+whether they have organized or not. I am inclined to believe that they
+have not, though. But, if not, they are getting perilously close to
+doing so."
+
+"Should we not tell Mr. Penton?"
+
+"I had thought of that, but we talked this matter over once before and
+decided not to do so. He probably knows more about what is going on than
+we do. However, if we see it is going on to a finish, perhaps it would
+be our duty to give him a hint of what we know. I dislike to carry tales
+of any kind. Again, I doubt if this is any of our business. We know what
+we shall do; we'll fight the proposed union at every opportunity if the
+men are going to strike. I believe it would be the worst thing that
+could happen to the men, short of a mine disaster, and the company, to
+which we owe full allegiance, would suffer greatly."
+
+"What are the men going to do when they become organized?" asked Bob.
+
+"Judging from what the two men said, I should judge they would demand
+higher wages and shorter hours."
+
+Bob uttered a grunt of disapproval.
+
+"Next thing we know they'll be wanting the bosses to lay them off and
+pay them double wages while they are off. I never saw anything like the
+cheek of some people."
+
+"The laboring man is entitled to some consideration," mused Steve. "But
+there is a limit. We will lie low and attend to our own business until
+something else develops."
+
+Something did develop later in the week. The word had been passed
+quietly about that there was to be a meeting of the miners of the day
+shift to take up the question of organizing. The meeting was to be held
+in a bowling alley over the only livery stable in the place. Only those
+were invited of whom the organizers were sure.
+
+Bob Jarvis got wind of the meeting through overhearing two of the men in
+his shift discussing it. He told Steve at the first opportunity. The
+latter thought over the matter all the rest of the day.
+
+"Bob," he said, that night, "I am going to attend that meeting. Will you
+come along?"
+
+"Where you go, I go," answered Jarvis, laughingly. "But won't they put
+us out?"
+
+"I guess not. If they do, it won't help their cause any. They will be
+glad to have us there if they think they can convert us. At least, we
+shall know what is going on, and we may be able to do something for the
+company."
+
+"Do what?"
+
+"I don't know. We shall see," Steve replied enigmatically. "Leave it to
+me. Don't do anything rash, but let me engineer this thing. I may bring
+trouble down upon my head, but I have an idea."
+
+Bob agreed to "be good." The meeting was scheduled to be held that
+night, and nine o'clock was the appointed hour.
+
+The boys delayed their walk that evening. They did not leave the house
+until long after eight o'clock, by which time nearly all the men from
+the boarding house had dressed themselves in their best and hurried
+away.
+
+"You see, they are all going to attend the meeting," nodded Rush. "That
+shows you how far this thing has advanced."
+
+"It certainly looks that way. I didn't think it was anything like this,
+did you, Steve?"
+
+"No; I did not. We had better be starting now."
+
+On the way the lads were hailed by Mr. Penton.
+
+"Where are you going in such a hurry, lads?" he called.
+
+"We are going out for the evening," answered Steve. "I have been
+thinking about labor unions to-day, Mr. Penton. Are you opposed to them?
+Are they a factor for good or otherwise?"
+
+The superintendent laughed.
+
+"Older heads than yours have disagreed on that subject. I hold rather
+pronounced views. There are unions that are ably managed by upright,
+intelligent men. Such unions are a good thing. The difficulty is that
+many others are managed by unscrupulous men, working to serve only their
+own ends, no matter what the cost to the employer. Such unions are a
+menace, both to the men and to their employers. That is my position."
+
+"Then, Mr. Penton, if you were to have a union, say in your mines here,
+honestly managed and directed by upright men, you would not object to
+it?"
+
+"Most assuredly not."
+
+This was a new point of view for Steve Rush. It gave him a broader
+insight into the question.
+
+"Are you thinking of organizing a union, my boy?" asked the
+superintendent, with a smile.
+
+"Well, not exactly, sir. If I were to join a union would it prejudice
+you against me?"
+
+"Not at all. I know you--know your honesty too well. It would be a good
+thing for any union to have such men as yourself and Jarvis with it."
+
+"Thank you, sir," answered Steve.
+
+The boys bade the superintendent good-bye and went on their way to the
+meeting place.
+
+"What in the world did all those questions of yours mean?" demanded Bob
+after they had gotten out of ear shot of the superintendent.
+
+Steve did not answer. He was thinking deeply.
+
+"You have something in mind, Steve Rush."
+
+"Yes, I have, Bob. In fact, I have partially changed my mind."
+
+"About what have you changed your mind?"
+
+"I will tell you later."
+
+Reaching the hall where the meeting was to be held, the chums found the
+place packed with miners. As the boys made their way to the rear of the
+room, where they saw an unoccupied window seat, the miners recognized
+them and set up a loud cheer.
+
+Driscold and Cavard occupied seats on the platform. The men exchanged
+significant glances when they saw the boys enter the hall. They were not
+quite sure whether they approved the presence of the Iron Boys. But, in
+view of the attitude taken by the miners, the two men could not well
+object to Steve and Bob remaining.
+
+Mr. Driscold soon after called the meeting to order. He stated very
+briefly the purpose of the organization, which was, in short, he said,
+to guard the men from oppression and to look out for their general
+welfare. He gave figures to show how many of the miners of the country
+already belonged to unions, and urged the men to form a union before
+leaving the hall.
+
+"How many of you are in favor of doing this?" he demanded. "All in favor
+will rise."
+
+Nearly every man in the hall rose to his feet, though the Iron Boys sat
+quietly in their places.
+
+Next Mr. Driscold proposed Mr. Cavard for president of the local union,
+which was to include all the mines on the range, and from all of which
+representatives were present. Cavard was elected unanimously. Steve
+caught the faint flicker of a smile as it swept over the face of the
+Duke. Rush nudged his companion.
+
+"The next thing," continued Mr. Driscold, "will be the election of a
+secretary. This should be done before any other business is transacted.
+After that you will all sign your names to the roll. I have a charter
+already made out for you. Who will you have for your secretary?"
+
+"Steve Rush!" shouted a voice.
+
+"Rush, Rush, Rush!" shouted voices from all parts of the hall, until the
+demand became one insistent roar.
+
+"I move we elect Steve Rush our secretary," cried a man, springing to a
+chair.
+
+"Second the motion!"
+
+Driscold, rather red of face, rapped for order.
+
+"It has been moved and seconded that Stephen Rush be elected as
+secretary of this organization. I will not attempt to advise you. It is
+for you to say whom you desire to fill your offices. But be sure that
+you make no mistake. Rush may be a most estimable young man, but you
+must remember that he is young."
+
+"Not so young that he didn't save the lives of a lot of the men," cried
+one.
+
+"Rush, Rush, Rush!" roared the miners.
+
+"All in favor will rise," announced Driscold.
+
+He plainly showed his irritation, as did Cavard. The meeting had taken a
+turn that they did not like. Still, the organizers had won. Affairs were
+practically in their own hands.
+
+Every man in the room sprang to his feet, shouting for the Iron Boy.
+
+"Young Rush is unanimously elected," announced Driscold. "The newly
+elected officers will take their places."
+
+Cavard took the chair. At that moment several men swooped down toward
+the place where the boys were sitting.
+
+Bob Jarvis was so amazed that for a moment he did not speak.
+
+"What are you going to do, Steve?" he stammered.
+
+"I am going to accept," announced the lad in a determined tone.
+
+"You--you are going to join the union?"
+
+"Yes; I am going to join the union. I would suggest that you do the
+same. I have changed my mind, old chap, and I'll tell you why later."
+
+The miners grabbed Steve, hoisted him to their shoulders and bore him to
+the platform, where they set him down in a chair at the table placed for
+the secretary.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XI
+
+                          RUSH SCORES HEAVILY
+
+
+"I AM glad you have thought better of it, young man," said Cavard,
+leaning over and shaking Rush by the hand.
+
+Steve did not reply. His face was flushed, his lips compressed. He had
+evidently decided upon some course of action that was not wholly
+pleasing to him. He glanced up sharply. Driscold was speaking.
+
+"It is not usual for one man to hold two offices, but you will agree
+with me that there is one man among us who is peculiarly fitted for the
+office of walking delegate. He will always work in our interest, if you
+choose him to fill the second office. I refer to Mr. Cavard, your new
+president."
+
+The Duke was elected walking delegate with great enthusiasm, Steve Rush
+and Bob Jarvis being the only men in the room to vote against the
+proposition. Cavard was smiling to cover his annoyance at the marked way
+in which the boys had opposed him. He flashed a malignant glance at
+them, which both lads pretended not to observe. But they knew that they
+had made an enemy of the new walking delegate.
+
+Other officers were elected; men in every instance who could be easily
+handled by the one at the head of the new organization. This having been
+done, the president asked if any member had anything to say, or a
+suggestion to make, before they proceeded to the signing of the roll.
+
+No one spoke. Each was waiting for the other. In fact, none of the men
+in the hall had a very definite idea as to what he did want. They were
+already in the hands of their leaders.
+
+Steve Rush rose slowly to his feet. Every eye was instantly fixed upon
+him.
+
+"Great Caesar, he's going to spout!" muttered Bob Jarvis. "Well, if this
+doesn't beat anything I ever heard of in my life! A few hours ago Steve
+was roasting the union, and now he's a red-hot member of one. I wonder
+what he's got up his sleeve? He's up to something, that's sure."
+
+"My friends," began the lad, with perfect confidence in himself, for he
+had been the prize orator of his class in the high school, "I am only a
+boy----"
+
+"No you ain't; you're a full-grown man!" shouted several voices at once.
+
+"As I said, I am only a boy, but you know I am your friend, and all of
+you are my friends. I had not intended to join this organization, but
+after thinking the matter over I decided that it was my duty to do so. I
+had a feeling that I might be able to help you, though perhaps not in
+the way that some of your leaders might suggest----"
+
+Cavard rapped loudly with his fist on the table.
+
+"You are out of order, Mr. Secretary. I am sorry, but we have too much
+business ahead of us to permit of our wasting time in idle talk. The
+hour is getting late, and as it is the first duty of your presiding
+officer to look out for your well being, I would suggest that we finish
+our business so that you may all get home to your needed rest."
+
+Steve was standing, half turned toward Cavard, holding the latter with a
+steady gaze.
+
+"No, no; let him talk. We want to hear what he has to say. Go on, Rush;
+we're going to hear you out, even if we don't get home till morning."
+
+"You may speak for two minutes," announced Cavard. There was no smile on
+his face now. Matters were taking an unexpected turn, and one that he
+did not like at all. This boy was having things too much his own way,
+and the Duke made a mental resolve to check Steve effectually before
+another meeting was called.
+
+"Go on, Rush; go on!"
+
+The lad turned facing his audience again, undisturbed by the
+interruption.
+
+"As I was saying, I am your friend and you are mine. I have had no
+experience with unions. Perhaps others of you have. But I want to warn
+you not to be carried away by promises. Use your own best judgment on
+all matters. Let your union mean your uplifting. Don't use the power of
+your union for any wrong purpose. If you have a grievance at any time,
+talk it over calmly; look on both sides of every question. Do not let
+your leaders influence you against your better judgment----"
+
+"I protest against this line of talk," cried Cavard angrily, rising and
+pounding on the table. "It is treason, men."
+
+"Men, it is _not_ treason! I am your friend," answered Steve, addressing
+the audience. "Hear me out, then I will sit down. I believe that our
+employers have our best interests at heart. That I believe to be true so
+far as our own mines are concerned. Of course I am not so familiar with
+conditions in the independent mines represented here. Those of you who
+represent other mines will have to be the judges of that. You will find
+your employers are willing, at all times, to meet you half way and
+discuss any grievance, fancied or real, that you may have. Consult them
+freely; take them into your confidence and be guided by their advice and
+your own good sense. As for myself, I shall stand shoulder to shoulder
+with you when I believe you are in the right, but against you if I
+believe you are not. I want to thank you for electing me to the office
+of secretary. If, at any time, you think I am not the man for the place,
+I shall take no offence if you select someone else. That is all I have
+to say at present."
+
+When he sat down there was silence in the room for a moment; then the
+miners broke out in a loud cheer.
+
+"You're all right, Steve. You bet we don't want anyone else. You've got
+a head on your shoulders. You----"
+
+Cavard rapped for order.
+
+"I am afraid you men are being carried away by schoolboy eloquence. You
+must listen to the reason, born of long experience, of your leaders.
+They will guide you in the right path."
+
+"I move that we proceed to the signing of the roll and adjourn," said
+Steve, rising quickly.
+
+Bob seconded the motion and it was carried without waiting for the
+formality of having it put by the chairman.
+
+Cavard was thoroughly angry. He tried hard to conceal his displeasure,
+but the threatening expression of his face betrayed his inward rage. He
+had been outdone by a boy. His well-laid plans had been turned until
+they were as a sharp knife against his own throat. He was perfectly
+willing that the meeting should be adjourned, for there was no telling
+what this keen, resourceful lad might propose next.
+
+The moment the meeting was ended the two lads slipped from the room, for
+the hour was late and they were anxious to get home and to bed. They had
+reached the street when a hand was laid roughly on Steve's shoulder,
+turning the boy half way about.
+
+"What do you mean, you young whelp?" demanded Cavard. "You came here
+to-night to make trouble. You wanted to break up the meeting, but your
+plan didn't work, did it?"
+
+"You are mistaken, sir; I wanted to do nothing of the sort."
+
+"You did; you _know_ you did. You had it all fixed to be put in as
+secretary and----"
+
+"If there was any fixing, Mr. Cavard, it was not on my side of the
+house," retorted Rush sharply.
+
+"Do you mean to insinuate that I----"
+
+"Oh, no; I am not insinuating. I was merely stating a fact."
+
+The Duke's face was distorted with rage. He was making a great effort to
+control himself, but was only partially successful. It was not advisable
+to have an open rupture with Steve, for the latter might do his cause
+serious harm, considering the boy's influence over the miners, which
+appeared to be almost equal to that of the walking delegate and
+president of the union.
+
+"You are a traitor to the union!"
+
+"Be careful, sir," warned the lad.
+
+"See here, Mister Man, don't you go to handing out any loose language
+around here," spoke up Bob Jarvis in a belligerent tone. "We don't stand
+for any of that kind of talk, you know."
+
+"Then be careful that you don't do something that you will be sorry
+for," retorted the Duke. "I know a thing or two about what you fellows
+are up to, and let me tell you that the union won't stand for it by a
+long shot! First thing you know you will be out in the cold; you'll lose
+your jobs and you will find that it will be rather difficult to get
+others in these parts."
+
+"Is that a threat?" demanded Rush.
+
+"You may construe it as you wish."
+
+"Very well----"
+
+"Tut, tut; what's this?" demanded the man Driscold, who had come up in
+time to overhear the last remarks. "This won't do at all. Harmony is
+what we want in the union, and harmony is what we must have. What is the
+difficulty here?"
+
+"There is no difficulty so far as we are concerned," replied Rush. "Mr.
+Cavard is a little excited, that's all. He will feel better to-morrow.
+Good night."
+
+The boys turned away abruptly and started for home.
+
+"Now, Steve Rush, will you please tell me what all this means?" demanded
+Jarvis after they had reached their room. "What on earth ever possessed
+you to join the union after you had been roasting it so hard?"
+
+"I had my reasons, Bob."
+
+"Yes; I suppose you had."
+
+"I joined the union because I believed I could be useful to it, and to
+our employers as well, and that is the purpose that _you_ must have in
+view."
+
+"You don't mean that you and I are going to be spies and report
+everything to Mr. Penton, do you? If that's the case, you may count me
+out."
+
+"Certainly not. You ought to know me better than that. What sort of
+speech did I make?"
+
+"Say, it was a dandy! I didn't think it was in you. You ought to have
+seen how those fellows hung on every word. They were sitting forward on
+the edges of their seats, every man of them."
+
+"Except Cavard and Driscold," laughed Steve. "I rather think _they_ were
+on the anxious seat. Well, we shall see. But be careful that Cavard does
+not draw you into an argument that will cause you to lose your temper. I
+have an idea he will try to do so, unless he thinks better of it and
+tries some other plan. I believe that man is a crook, Bob Jarvis. I may
+be doing him a wrong. If so, time will tell. In the meantime, we shall
+do what we can for the union. I hope Mr. Penton will not lose confidence
+in us. He may misunderstand our motive. If he does, we shall have to
+stand it; that's all."
+
+"It may be the means of losing our jobs," suggested Jarvis.
+
+Steve was thoughtful.
+
+"I may have done wrong, but I did what I believed to be best. Out of the
+union we should not have so much influence with the men. In it we shall
+be able to do many things for both sides, being loyal to each."
+
+"We're going to try to please everyone--is that it?" grinned Bob.
+
+"If we are able to do it," replied Steve earnestly.
+
+"How are we going to explain our action to Mr. Penton?"
+
+"I shall not try to do so."
+
+"But if he asks?" persisted Bob.
+
+"I can't answer that beforehand. My answers must depend upon
+circumstances."
+
+The boys turned in soon after that, but Steve Rush lay awake for a long
+time, thinking over the events of the evening. He was wondering whether
+he had done right; wondering whether the officials of the company, who
+had been so kind to him, would misconstrue his motives and no longer
+take their former keen interest in him.
+
+"I've done the best I know how, and I'm not done yet," muttered the boy,
+as he turned over, buried his head in the pillow and tried to go to
+sleep.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII
+
+                         MINERS MEET IN SECRET
+
+
+"WELL, Steve, I hear you joined the new union last night," said Mr.
+Penton, halting in the drift where Rush was directing some changes in
+the work of his shift.
+
+The Iron Boy flushed.
+
+"Yes, sir. I hope you have no objection to my having done so."
+
+"Not in the least. We have nothing to fear from such upright men as you
+in the union. I wish they were all of the same calibre. I want to thank
+you for the speech you made last night. Such words do much toward
+steering the men in the right direction. I may say that I am very glad
+you decided to join."
+
+"I had decided not to do so, until I met and talked with you before
+going to the meeting last evening."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"You gave me a new point of view. I decided that it was my duty to join
+and I did so. Do you think Mr. Carrhart will mind when he hears of it?"
+
+"He knows all about it now. He knew that the meeting was going to take
+place, perhaps even before you learned of it," answered the
+superintendent, with a twinkle in his eyes. "Of course that is
+confidential, you understand."
+
+"Certainly, sir."
+
+"You may be sure that when he understands the circumstances he will
+offer no objections. I know all about what took place last night, and I
+heartily approve of your part in it. We have means of knowing what is
+going on in our mines. We have to do these things for our own
+protection."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Steve felt much more light of heart after this conversation. That his
+superiors approved of his action in joining the union relieved him of a
+great weight.
+
+By this time the mine had been whipped into working condition once more,
+and the work was going on with renewed vigor. The men, too, with the
+promises of the labor leaders still fresh in their minds, went about
+their duties much more cheerfully than before.
+
+However, there were, if anything, more meetings than before. There were
+conferences outside of the mine that the Iron Boys knew nothing about.
+Neither did Mr. Penton have knowledge of these secret meetings, in spite
+of the detective organization that existed in the mines unknown to the
+miners themselves. Cavard himself did not appear to be active, but there
+were others who were active for him.
+
+Ten days had passed, then another meeting of the union was held. There
+were not more than twenty of the members present. The young secretary
+was among the absentees.
+
+Cavard called the meeting to order, commenting upon the small
+attendance. Then he made a speech in which he indulged in some plain
+talk regarding the purpose of the union. After he had done so he said:
+
+"There is another matter that I wish to bring before the members. That
+is the question of our secretary. He is a most estimable young man, but
+you--those of you who listened to his remarks the other night--will
+agree with me that he is too young, too inexperienced to be entrusted
+with so important an office. It should be quite plain to you that he is
+not in thorough sympathy with our great work. In other words, I believe
+that he is the tool of the bosses. I have good reason for saying this,
+though for obvious reasons I hope my words will not be repeated. One of
+our members saw the boy, Rush, in earnest conversation with the
+superintendent down in the Red Rock Mine to-day, and overheard something
+that aroused his suspicion. Rush was reporting some of our private
+business. What do you think of that?"
+
+A murmur arose from the audience. Cavard waited that the full force of
+his words might take effect.
+
+"He's a traitor!" shouted a voice.
+
+"I should not want to say that, men. I should call him an irresponsible
+boy, who is serving the purposes of the bosses without being fully aware
+that he is doing so. Of course the matter is in your hands to dispose of
+as you may see fit."
+
+"Put him out!" shouted one of the members.
+
+"Down with all traitors!" cried another.
+
+"Mr. President, this is a serious charge that you have made against our
+secretary," said an elderly miner. "You are quite sure that he is a
+traitor to the union?"
+
+"Quite sure."
+
+"Then what would you suggest?"
+
+"As I have already said, I do not believe the boy is so much to blame,
+but the effect is the same as if he were a traitor in reality."
+
+"What shall we do?"
+
+"You might, if you saw fit, choose another secretary," purred the
+Russian.
+
+"Yes; that is what should be done under the circumstances. But is such
+an act in order?"
+
+"Oh, yes. Charges can be preferred against him. We have as yet no
+by-laws. Some one might make a motion to depose him, if you think best,
+embodying the charges in that motion; then we can proceed to choose
+another secretary," urged the chairman. "The matter is in your hands,
+gentlemen," he added, rubbing his palms together. "It is not for me to
+suggest."
+
+"Who would you put in his place?"
+
+"It is not for me to say, but some such man as Mike Caldert might make
+an excellent secretary."
+
+The motion, as suggested by Cavard, who would not suggest, was made and
+quickly carried. Then Mike Caldert was duly elected as the permanent
+secretary of the organization.
+
+A gleam of satisfaction shone in the eyes of the Russian. He had
+triumphed over the Iron Boy, thus effectually disposing of him, as he
+believed. Cavard was a shrewd and unscrupulous man, and one who would
+stop at nothing to accomplish his ends, as Steve was presently to learn.
+
+This matter having been disposed of, the president and walking delegate
+cleared his throat and began on a new subject that claimed the attention
+of the men at once.
+
+"There is another matter, and one of great importance to every man in
+every mine on the range," he began. "That is the question of pay and of
+hours. We are working ten hours a day and we are getting less money than
+is paid by the other mines in the country."
+
+This statement was not true, but the members present were not aware of
+the fact. They took all that Cavard said as the truth.
+
+"It is time," he continued, "for us to take action in the matter. You
+should formulate your demands and present them to the owners for their
+consideration. The bosses are making money. There never has been a time
+in the history of the mines when they were making so much money. Your
+tonnage is increasing day by day, and day by day you are doing more
+work. But let me ask you, do your wages increase proportionately? Do you
+work fewer hours than before?"
+
+"No!" shouted a voice.
+
+"Do you share in the profits that you are piling up for the money
+kings?"
+
+"No! You're right, we don't."
+
+"Then if that is so, why is it so? It is because those who employ you
+are squeezing the lemon until it is dry, in order that their bank
+accounts may grow fat. Take the matter into your own hands----"
+
+"We will, we will! How shall we do it?"
+
+The men had become worked up to a high pitch of excitement over their
+leader's words, which had been skilfully chosen. He had touched the men
+in a spot where he knew they were the weakest. He had sown the seed that
+was destined to produce a bountiful crop of bitter weeds, and Cavard,
+president and walking delegate, smiled complacently behind the hand that
+he drew across his mouth after having delivered himself of the words.
+
+"How shall we go about it?" repeated one of the men.
+
+"I have here a few notes that I drew up hastily. They form a demand upon
+our employers for an eight-hour day and a fifty-cent rise for full
+miners, and twenty-five cents for miners' helpers and all grades below
+that. It is a most moderate demand. The owners will grant it, you will
+find, knowing as they do that the power of the union is behind you. I
+will appoint a committee to formulate the demands set down here. Then we
+will name a further committee to call upon the superintendent and
+present these demands."
+
+Cavard named a committee of three, to whom he passed over, not merely
+notes, as he had said, but a formal paper drawn up in detail, embodying
+the facts as stated by him.
+
+The committee went through the form of touching up the document, making
+a mark here and there with a pen and discussing the paper. Finally they
+announced their task finished.
+
+"When shall we present our demands to the superintendent?" asked the
+president.
+
+"Right away," answered the members.
+
+"Then I will appoint five of our number to call upon the superintendent
+to-morrow. Your chairman, of course, will head the committee as its
+leader. We will make an appointment to see Mr. Penton at his office
+to-morrow evening at eight o'clock, if he will see us, and I think he
+will," added Cavard. "I want all of those present to bear witness that
+this has been a regular meeting. You all received your notices to be
+present this evening, did you not?"
+
+"We did."
+
+"And you are prepared to give evidence, if necessary, that everything
+has been done in due form?"
+
+"We are."
+
+"Then, if there is nothing more to come before the members, a motion to
+adjourn will be in order."
+
+A motion to adjourn was made and carried, and the members left the
+meeting place, Cavard retaining the papers embodying the demands to be
+made on the company.
+
+Steve Rush, all unconscious of what had been done, was sound asleep in
+his bed. But a surprise was awaiting him on the following day that would
+set him thinking harder than ever.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIII
+
+                       STEVE'S SUSPICIONS AROUSED
+
+
+"ARE you going to the meeting to-night?" asked a foreman of a shift,
+pausing at Steve Rush's main drift.
+
+"Why, yes, of course; aren't you!"
+
+"I guess so. I hear there will be something doing to-night."
+
+This conversation took place on the day following the meeting at which
+Cavard had so successfully outwitted his young opponents and had carried
+the meeting through in accordance with his own ideas. As yet neither
+Steve nor Bob had heard of the meeting. They, with others of their
+fellows, had received cards that morning saying, "There will be a
+special meeting of the union this evening at the usual time and place."
+
+The cards were undated and they had not thought to look at the post
+mark, taking for granted that the meeting was to be held on the evening
+of that day.
+
+"There ain't going to be any meeting to-night," volunteered a miner who
+had overheard the conversation.
+
+"Yes, there is. Here is the card saying that there will be," answered
+Rush, exhibiting the card he had received that morning.
+
+"Naw; no such thing. The meeting was _last_ night," continued the miner.
+"Ain't you heard about it?"
+
+Steve looked at the fellow to see if he were joking. He saw that the man
+was in earnest.
+
+"There was a meeting of the union last night?"
+
+"Sure there was."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Friend of mine was there and told me about it. And you ain't heard
+about it?"
+
+"I certainly have not. What was done?"
+
+"A lot of things was done."
+
+"That's queer. My postal notifying me of the meeting did not reach me
+until this morning. When did you get yours?" asked the lad of the
+foreman with whom he had been talking.
+
+"I got mine this morning, too."
+
+"That explains it, then; but it is odd that no one said anything about
+it yesterday."
+
+"Probably didn't get their cards till after supper last night. Well, I
+guess we didn't miss much," added the foreman, with a grin.
+
+"You haven't told us what was done," said Steve.
+
+"Well, for one thing, they elected a new secretary. Didn't you know
+about that?"
+
+Rush peered at the man keenly.
+
+"See here, Abe, are you joking?"
+
+"Naw, I ain't joking. They bounced you and elected another man in your
+place."
+
+Steve could scarcely believe his own ears.
+
+"Why did they do that?"
+
+"I don't know. I didn't ask. But they bounced you, all right, all
+right."
+
+"May I ask who my successor is?" inquired the lad, with a touch of
+sarcasm in his voice.
+
+"I don't know. I didn't ask that, either."
+
+"What do you think of that?" demanded the boy, turning to the foreman.
+
+"I don't believe it. They wouldn't be such fools as to do a thing like
+that."
+
+"I am of the opinion that something was done there, and it seems mighty
+queer to me. Have you seen Cavard to-day?"
+
+"Yes; I passed him when I was coming over here. He must be somewhere
+hereabouts now. We'll walk out, and maybe we shall meet him," said the
+foreman.
+
+The two men made their way out of the drift together. Steve was silent
+and thoughtful. He did not like this thing that he had heard, nor did he
+know what to make of it.
+
+They did not find the Duke at once, but half an hour later Steve came
+across the walking delegate near the ore rise on the twentieth level.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Cavard," he called.
+
+"Yes, Rush; what is it?"
+
+"I hear you had a meeting last night."
+
+"We did. Why were you not there?"
+
+"Because I knew nothing about it."
+
+"But you received a notice, did you not?"
+
+"This morning, yes. I supposed from the card that the meeting was to be
+held to-night. I understand others did not receive theirs until to-day,
+either."
+
+"Then that accounts for the small attendance," answered Cavard smoothly.
+"The cards were mailed rather late, but it was quite important to hold a
+meeting last night. I wondered why so few were present. It was most
+unfortunate, for very important business was transacted."
+
+"So I heard. May I ask what was done?"
+
+"Several things were attended to," replied the man evasively.
+
+"Including the election of a new secretary?"
+
+"Well, yes; I believe so."
+
+Cavard showed some slight irritation under the sharp questioning of the
+Iron Boy.
+
+"Why?"
+
+The question came out with a snap.
+
+"You should have attended the meeting if you want to know what was done.
+We are not supposed to talk about it on the outside."
+
+"Yes; no doubt I should have attended, but I did not for the reason I
+have just given. Why was I deposed and another put in my place?"
+
+"Well, to be candid with you, since you insist, the members did not
+think you were old enough, nor that you had had experience enough to
+warrant keeping you in such an important position. You see, they chose
+you in a moment of intense enthusiasm. After they had thought the matter
+over more calmly they came to the conclusion that it would be better to
+have an older man for the place, so they elected another."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Mr. Caldert."
+
+"Mike Caldert?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Steve laughed uproariously.
+
+"Why, that man can barely write his name. I'll wager he cannot write
+correctly the name of the state in which he lives."
+
+"I think you are mistaken," replied the walking delegate, drawing
+himself up frigidly. "At least I have nothing to do with that. It was
+the will of the meeting, and there was nothing for me to do but to put
+to vote the motions that were offered."
+
+Steve surveyed the walking delegate with a sarcastic look on his face.
+
+"Has Caldert the minutes of the meeting, or have you?"
+
+"I believe he has them."
+
+"Then I shall demand to see them to-night. I want to know what was done
+at that meeting, and I think I have a right to know. I shall bring the
+matter before the next meeting and find out whether you have the right
+to railroad through a piece of business like this. It's not that I care
+a rap about holding the office, but I don't propose to be done out of it
+in any such way without finding out what it all means."
+
+Cavard saw possibilities of trouble.
+
+"Don't be a baby. Take your medicine like a man. You are proving that
+you are not fitted for an office in the union yet. When you get older
+and have had more experience, then perhaps you may do."
+
+There was an implied sneer in the man's tone, which his smiling face
+failed to mask.
+
+"Indeed! I shall bring the subject before the next full meeting of the
+union, just the same, and we shall see whether it will stand or not."
+
+"Look here, young man!"
+
+The walking delegate dropped his mask of assumed politeness. His chin
+was thrust forward and his eyes gleamed with anger.
+
+"I've been too easy with you--easy because you are a boy. Now I'm done
+with this foolishness. This is a man's game, and men are going to play
+it. You can get out of the union if you want to; we don't need you. But
+let me tell you one thing: you mind your own business after this, if you
+know what's good for you! I'm running this union just now, and I'm
+running it in the way that suits me best--that means the right way. If
+you don't like it, you get out and shut up--that's all."
+
+Steve laughed in the delegate's face.
+
+"Now you are beginning to show yourself in your true colors, Mister Man.
+I don't want your office. I did not care in the first place to have
+anything to do with an organization that you were interested in, but I
+thought possibly it might be run by honest men, so I joined the union."
+
+"What's that? You throw that at me--you accuse me of being dishonest,
+you young whelp?" shouted Cavard in a rage.
+
+"Take what I said for what it's worth, and I repeat your own words: 'If
+you don't like it, get out and shut up.' That's my answer."
+
+Steve snapped his fingers in the face of the walking delegate and turned
+on his heel. Cavard was at his side in a few quick, long strides. He
+gripped the collar of the Iron Boy and was about to spin him about when
+Steve turned on him.
+
+"Unless you are looking for trouble, I wouldn't put hands on the other
+man in this instance, if I were you. If you do that again, you will
+answer for it."
+
+"Indeed! And may I ask you if you are in authority here?" sneered
+Cavard.
+
+"Well, all I have to say is, if you want to know who's boss on this
+shift, just start something. You'll find out mighty quick, and the
+knowledge may not be particularly pleasant to you, either. That's all I
+have to say to you to-day. I may have something further to say later.
+Good afternoon."
+
+Rush left the walking delegate fuming in the drift as he walked away.
+The Iron Boy made it his business to ask every man he met whether or not
+he had received a notification of the meeting of the previous evening.
+Some of them had received their notices that morning, others had
+received no notice whatever. Not one of the miners had gotten his card
+on the previous day, so far as the lad could learn.
+
+Steve was determined to get to the bottom of the matter. He consulted
+with Bob Jarvis and the latter proposed looking up the walking delegate
+at once and giving him a sound thrashing.
+
+"No, Bob, we don't know that he is to blame in this matter at all,
+though I have my suspicions. Even if we were sure, we should gain
+nothing by following that course. There, I forgot to ask him what else
+was done at the meeting. After we get off duty to-night we must find out
+what has been going on. I'll see you and talk it over later."
+
+As soon as he had finished his work in the mine Rush went directly over
+to the post-office, where he waited until the postmaster was at leisure,
+when he called him aside.
+
+"I received a postal card to-day that I should have had last night,"
+said the lad, producing the notification of the meeting and handing it
+to the postmaster.
+
+"What did you say?" exclaimed the postmaster.
+
+"I said I should have received this post card last night," repeated
+Steve. "You see it is quite important. It is a notification of a meeting
+and the meeting was held last night."
+
+"I don't see how you could very well have received this postal last
+night, when it wasn't mailed until this morning."
+
+"Not mailed until this morning?" demanded the lad, in well-feigned
+surprise.
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Are you sure of that?"
+
+"I ought to be. These postals--there were a lot of them--were stuffed in
+through the slot in the door some time during the night. It must have
+been late, for we didn't close until nearly twelve o'clock. The postals
+were all on the floor when I opened up the place this morning."
+
+"Did you read any of the postals?" asked Steve innocently.
+
+"Oh, yes, I always read postals. Don't have much of anything else to do
+part of the day, you know," replied the postmaster in a matter-of-fact
+tone. "Why, what's in the wind? No trouble about it, is there?"
+
+"There may be," replied the lad mysteriously. "But if you will state the
+facts when called upon to do so, there will be no trouble so far as you
+are concerned. Will you do that?"
+
+"Yes; I'll do that, all right. It won't violate any regulation of the
+department that I know of."
+
+"Thank you. Say nothing to anyone of what I have asked you to-night,
+please."
+
+"I think I have got something on our friend, the walking delegate, now,"
+muttered the lad triumphantly, as he made his way toward home. He had
+gone but a short distance when he met five of the members of the union,
+all dressed in their best, hurrying along the street.
+
+Steve halted and peered at them suspiciously.
+
+"Hello, where are you fellows going?" he demanded.
+
+"To the superintendent's office."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"We are going to present our demands. You know the document we decided
+to present to him to-day?"
+
+Steve did not know, but he did not say so.
+
+"You are going there now?"
+
+"Yes; Mr. Cavard is going to meet us there at eight o'clock. We are the
+committee. You lost your secretary job last night. That's what comes of
+being too fresh," jeered the speaker.
+
+"So that's the game, is it?" muttered Steve. "I should like to be
+present at that committee meeting. And I'm going to be there, too," he
+added, after a moment's reflection. "They can do no more than put me
+out."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV
+
+                          MINERS MAKE DEMANDS
+
+
+"YOU go on about your business. You do not belong with this committee,"
+snapped Cavard as the Iron Boy joined them at the entrance to the
+superintendent's office, where the meeting was to take place.
+
+"If the superintendent doesn't wish to see me I will leave. You have no
+business to give me orders, so attend to your own affairs, if you will
+be so good."
+
+The lad slipped in behind the others and stood near the door of the
+private office, where, with the others, he was awaiting the arrival of
+Mr. Penton. The latter entered very shortly afterwards.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you this evening?" questioned the
+executive smilingly.
+
+Cavard cleared his throat, assuming his most suave air.
+
+"In the first place, Mr. Penton, we are a duly authorized committee with
+power to wait upon you. This boy Rush is not a member of the committee.
+We represent the newly formed union. Will you kindly ask the boy to
+withdraw?"
+
+The superintendent elevated his eyebrows in mild surprise.
+
+"Is he not a member of the union?"
+
+"Yes," admitted Cavard with evident reluctance.
+
+"And you are here in the interests of the union?"
+
+"Certainly, sir."
+
+"Then I see no objection to his remaining. If you are here in the
+interest, as you say, or in behalf of the men of our own mines, any one
+of the other men is free to be present and to hear all that takes place
+between us. Rush, sit down, if you wish."
+
+Steve, without showing either triumph or satisfaction in his face,
+quietly seated himself against the wall. Cavard's face was dark, but he
+made no reply to the superintendent's word in the matter.
+
+"As I already have said, we represent the new union," continued the
+Russian. "At a meeting last night certain grievances that have long
+existed in the mine--that is, you understand, it is the union speaking,
+not myself personally?"
+
+"Oh, certainly. Go on," smiled the superintendent.
+
+"Certain grievances were taken up and discussed. The result of that
+discussion was the drawing up of certain demands, which the miners
+believe you will not hesitate to grant. It had been understood that
+these concessions already had been under consideration by the mine
+officials."
+
+"I am not aware that any particular concessions to the miners have been
+contemplated. What are your demands?"
+
+"The demands of the union are for an eight-hour day and an increase in
+the scale of wages. Neither demand is at all unreasonable----"
+
+"Let me see your papers," interrupted Mr. Penton.
+
+The walking delegate and president handed the paper containing the
+miners' demands to the superintendent. Mr. Penton read the document
+through quickly, then went over it again.
+
+"These are very radical demands, Mr. Cavard," he said, glancing up at
+the walking delegate.
+
+"We think not, sir."
+
+"And in the event of these demands being refused, may I ask what it is
+the purpose of the members of the union to do?"
+
+"That is a matter for future consideration. I have no doubt, however,
+that a satisfactory arrangement can be made between us."
+
+"What mines are included in the union?"
+
+"All of the mines belonging to this company, both surface and
+underground, together with the independent mines on the range. The other
+and independent mines have been represented by delegates at the meetings
+thus far."
+
+"You say this was decided upon at the meeting last night?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And it was a wholly representative meeting?"
+
+"It was, sir. The delegates from the various shafts were on hand, though
+many were unable to attend."
+
+"May I say something, sir?" asked Steve.
+
+"Certainly. What is it, Rush?"
+
+"I merely wish to present for your consideration the fact that I
+believe the meeting at which these demands were drawn up was not a
+representative one. Many of us did not receive our notifications until
+this morning."
+
+"That was your own fault," interjected Cavard.
+
+"I beg to differ with you. The notifications advising us that the
+meeting was to be held last night were not mailed until midnight last
+night, after the meeting had taken place, Mr. Cavard, and you know that
+is the truth. It was a 'fixed' meeting and I am willing to go before a
+representative gathering of the union and prove that fact."
+
+"I object!" shouted the Duke. "I did not come here to be insulted by a
+young loafer like you."
+
+Mr. Penton hammered on the table with his fist.
+
+"Gentlemen, that will do. Mr. Rush is not a loafer. I consider him a
+young gentleman and an honest man. If his point is correct, I have but
+one thing to say."
+
+Cavard's face worked nervously. He was making a violent effort to
+control himself. Mr. Penton was eyeing the man keenly.
+
+"If you can show me that these demands have been approved by a full and
+representative gathering of the men in our employ, then I will not only
+take your grievances into consideration, but will transmit them to the
+officers of the company for their decision. You no doubt know that it is
+not within my power to grant such sweeping demands as these. Unless it
+is the expression of a majority of the men, I decline to give the matter
+any attention whatever."
+
+"Are you going to take the word of an irresponsible boy against that of
+a man of experience and recognized standing among the men in your
+employ?" almost shouted Cavard, who was rapidly losing his self-control.
+
+"I am of the opinion that Rush's standing is equally as high as your
+own. You thought enough of him to make him the secretary of your
+organization. As such, he surely should be entitled to attention
+and----"
+
+"He is not the secretary of the union. The men fired him out last night.
+He was----"
+
+Cavard checked himself suddenly. His face flushed. He had said something
+that he had not intended to say at all, but his temper had gotten the
+better of him, leading him into an unwitting admission.
+
+Steve Rush grinned sarcastically.
+
+"Is this true, Rush?" demanded the superintendent, turning toward Steve.
+
+"I am told that it is," replied the boy politely. "I have not yet
+learned why, but I have a fairly good idea."
+
+"And what do you propose to do about it, my lad?"
+
+"I am going to see to it that the men understand the trick that has been
+played on them. I am going to let the majority of them know how they
+were fooled as to the meeting. I think they will be rather surprised.
+But I beg your pardon; I have said too much."
+
+"I should say you had," muttered Cavard.
+
+"The interview is closed, gentlemen," announced Mr. Penton. "You have my
+ultimatum in the matter. When you can come to me properly authorized, I
+will give your demands consideration, and not until then. I have nothing
+to do with your differences in your organization. I do know, however,
+that Mr. Rush is a young man whose word I would take as far as that of
+any man I know. Good evening, gentlemen."
+
+The superintendent rose, indicating that the interview need not be
+prolonged.
+
+Very much crestfallen, the delegates turned toward the door, followed by
+Steve.
+
+"You will hear from us again, Mr. Penton," announced Cavard, speaking
+with emotion.
+
+"Very good, sir."
+
+"You young whelp, you'll suffer for this evening's work," raged the
+walking delegate when the callers had regained the street. "I'll see to
+it that your path isn't one of roses hereafter. I give you fair warning.
+I am the master here, and you will find that out to your sorrow."
+
+"It has been my experience," answered Steve, "that men who make the
+loudest threats are the least to be feared. Let me tell you, while I
+have the opportunity, that the best thing you can do is to carry on the
+affairs of the union honestly. Otherwise you will go down, and the union
+will go down with you."
+
+Steve turned away. Once more he had defeated the walking delegate and
+president of the union by a masterful move.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XV
+
+                          A WARNING NOT HEEDED
+
+
+THE word that was spread by Cavard and his associates during the next
+few days acted as a torch to the minds of the miners. That the
+superintendent had almost turned them out of his office was the
+information that reached the miners from various sources.
+
+In the meantime the organization was being perfected, not from any
+regular meetings that were being held, for Cavard did not propose to
+move again until he was fully prepared. At the same time Steve Rush
+began to realize that the men were looking upon him with disapproving
+eyes. He had been a traitor to their cause, according to the information
+that had been subtly instilled into the miners' minds. At first he did
+not understand what this new attitude meant, but gradually the truth
+began to dawn upon him.
+
+Rush held many conversations with the men who, in the past, had been
+friendly to him. He saw, however, that their minds had been poisoned
+against him, and he well knew the source from which the poison had come.
+
+Bob Jarvis had shared in the dislike that was growing for Steve Rush,
+but Bob did not care particularly. He was a self-reliant boy, well used
+to looking out for himself and battling his way through the world.
+Steve, on the other hand, felt that there was a greater principle
+involved--the welfare of the men themselves, who, he believed, were
+being misled. And still, beyond this, was the duty of the Iron Boys to
+their employers. Steve had not seen Mr. Penton since the meeting in the
+latter's office.
+
+Before the end of the week notices were sent out for a meeting of the
+union. This time every man in the organization received a notice, this
+reaching all the miners of the Red Rock, Cousin Jack and the independent
+mines.
+
+There was an activity on the part of all hands, never before observable
+on the iron range. Cavard, in the short time that the union had been
+organized, had formed such a combination that his power and influence
+were far-reaching. His lieutenants were working everywhere. The plot he
+had formed was now ready to be put into effect.
+
+A definite refusal to accede to the demands of the miners had been
+received from the main offices of the company, no matter whether the
+demands were endorsed by every man on the range or not. The company
+announced that it proposed to run its own business.
+
+While Mr. Penton did not wholly approve of the attitude of the company,
+believing in more pacific measures, he had no alternative in the matter.
+Cavard had been notified of the decision of the officials, and had been
+told that no farther conferences could be had, at least for the present.
+
+When Steve heard this he shook his head doubtfully.
+
+"That means trouble, Bob," he said.
+
+"It strikes me that there has been nothing but trouble for a long time,"
+answered Jarvis. "What do you think the men will do?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Are you going to the meeting to-night?"
+
+"Yes. We shall both go. I have an idea that it will be a lively meeting.
+We may not be welcome, but we shall be there, just the same."
+
+That night, as Steve was hurrying to his boarding place, he met Cavard's
+sister Marie, who kept house now for the walking delegate. She was a
+pretty young woman, and though Steve never had known her well, she had
+taken a great liking to the young miner, having urged him, on various
+occasions, to call and see them. Rush never had done so because he did
+not like her brother.
+
+Miss Cavard stopped squarely in front of Steve, barring his way.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Rush," she greeted, extending a friendly hand. "You
+were in such a great hurry that I thought you were going to run over
+me."
+
+"I beg your pardon, I didn't see you," answered the lad apologetically.
+"I am in something of a hurry to get home and dress for the meeting
+to-night, after I have had my supper."
+
+"Just like your name, sir; always in a rush. You haven't even time to
+come and see us. I am beginning to think you do not care to have us for
+your friends."
+
+Steve did not answer.
+
+"Tell me frankly why you have always refused my invitations to visit
+us."
+
+"Frankly, Miss Cavard, your brother and myself are not very friendly."
+
+"Is that the reason? He thinks that you have not been loyal to the
+union."
+
+The Iron Boy drew himself up proudly.
+
+"We will not discuss that subject, Miss Cavard."
+
+"Come, I will walk along with you, since you are in such a great hurry.
+Because you and my brother are not friendly is no reason why you and I
+should not be friends, is it?"
+
+"Perhaps not, but it is better that we should not be friends under the
+circumstances."
+
+Miss Cavard laughed softly.
+
+"You are a very out-spoken boy, I must say. You tell me you are going to
+the meeting to-night?"
+
+"Yes; of course."
+
+They had been walking along side by side. Miss Cavard halted suddenly.
+
+"Why should you go?"
+
+"I am a member of the union and I must do my duty whether I accomplish
+anything or not."
+
+"_Don't_ go!" she said almost sharply.
+
+"Don't go?" repeated Steve slowly. "Why not, pray?"
+
+"My dear boy, I am some years older than you. I have had more experience
+with the world, and perhaps I am better able to understand some things
+than you are. You are young and impulsive, and----"
+
+"But why do you advise me not to go to the meeting?" persisted the lad.
+
+"I cannot answer that question. I was in hopes you would not ask. You
+must not press me for an explanation, for I cannot give it. But please
+stay away from that meeting to-night. You can do no good. Everything is
+settled. The temper of the men has been aroused, and I fear there will
+be trouble."
+
+"Trouble for whom?" demanded Steve, bending suspicious eyes upon her.
+
+"Ah, that I cannot say. Ask me no questions, for I shall not answer
+them. Don't you see what a risk I am running in saying as much as I have
+said?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, Miss Cavard; it was very thoughtless of me. I----"
+
+"And you will remain away?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"I cannot."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I already have answered that question. It is my duty to be there, and
+no one shall ever say that Steve Rush shirked his duty as he saw it. I
+am not afraid of anything the men may do there. No one will harm me.
+I----"
+
+"Do not be too sure of that," interjected the girl quickly.
+
+"I thank you, but I must go. I am not afraid."
+
+"I am sorry." She laid a hand on the Iron Boy's arm. "I am sorry you
+will not be warned by me, for trouble surely will follow. You will treat
+what I have told you as an absolute confidence?"
+
+"That goes without saying, Miss Cavard. I thank you very much. I cannot
+tell you how grateful I am for your kindness. I should not have expected
+it from Mr. Cavard's sister."
+
+"Mr. Cavard's sister is not----" The girl checked herself sharply. "Good
+night, Mr. Rush. If you will not accept my warning, be careful," was the
+young woman's parting injunction.
+
+Steve pondered over the interview while eating his supper. Then while he
+was dressing for the meeting, Bob demanded to know what was on his mind.
+
+"Have you heard anything about expected trouble at the meeting to-night,
+Bob?"
+
+"Nothing except what you said. You told me there was going to be
+trouble, didn't you?"
+
+"I guess I did, at that. Well, perhaps I wasn't so far wrong. I want you
+to stick pretty close to me to-night, for I have had a warning that
+something is in the wind."
+
+Bob gazed at his companion keenly.
+
+"What have you heard?"
+
+"Nothing more than I have just told you."
+
+"Who gave you the tip?"
+
+"I am not at liberty to say. Perhaps it is a false alarm, but it is just
+as well to be prepared. The miners are very much excited. Have you heard
+anything else of interest to-day?"
+
+"No; nothing but what you have heard. The men are all down on the
+bosses, and are making all sorts of threats."
+
+"Yes, I know that," nodded Rush. "It's too bad. If anything serious
+comes of this it will be due to one man."
+
+"The Duke?"
+
+"You have guessed it. Little does he care for the welfare of the men. He
+is working for Cavard, and for no one else. The man craves notoriety and
+power, and he is having more than his share of both just now. Did you
+ever meet his sister?"
+
+"Once. She seems to be a mighty fine woman."
+
+"So she impressed me."
+
+"Why did you ask about the sister?" demanded Jarvis, his eyes narrowing
+as he squinted suspiciously at his companion.
+
+"You ask too many questions. Hurry up, or we shall be late. It is nearly
+eight o'clock now, and the meeting is called for eight."
+
+"Which means nine. None of them ever gets there on time, except the
+fellows who don't spruce up as much as we do."
+
+A few minutes later the Iron Boys were on their way to the meeting
+place. Before they reached the hall--the meeting this time taking place
+in the town hall, which was much larger than the place where they had
+first met--the lads found themselves in a great crowd. Voices were
+pitched high, and loud conversations were being carried on in many
+languages.
+
+"This is something like what I imagine the Tower of Babel must have
+been," laughed Rush. "What a mob! Poor, misled fellows! They believe
+they have been greatly wronged. If they only knew how well they are
+treated there would be few to attend a meeting of this sort."
+
+No one appeared to pay any attention to the Iron Boys as they made their
+way through the crowd and up the stairs into the big room, where a
+couple of hundred men had already assembled.
+
+Everyone in the room was talking and gesticulating excitedly. The boys
+were thankful that they had been able to gain their seats without
+attracting any marked attention.
+
+Cavard had already taken his place on the platform, where, with his new
+secretary, he was going over some papers spread out on a table before
+them.
+
+Inside of twenty minutes after the arrival of the Iron Boys the hall was
+packed, every seat being taken, while rows of men four or five deep
+lined the sides of the room and the aisles.
+
+Cavard rose, swept the assemblage with a half-triumphant glance, then
+rapped for order.
+
+"The meeting will please come to order," he said quietly, standing
+motionless for a moment after perfect stillness had settled over the big
+room. The effect of his attitude was not lost on the miners. They were
+already deeply impressed with the importance of the occasion.
+
+"The secretary will please read the minutes of the last meeting,"
+directed the chairman, resuming his seat.
+
+Mike Caldert, the new secretary, rose awkwardly to his feet, and, in a
+halting voice, read the minutes that, it was evident to many, had not
+been penned by him. He stumbled over the unfamiliar words,
+mispronouncing, running sentences together, completely ignoring all
+punctuation marks.
+
+Rush and Jarvis were deeply interested in the reading of these minutes,
+especially the part that dealt with the deposing of Rush from office and
+putting another man in his place. This part the chairman read after
+having taken the book from the hands of the secretary in order to give
+the reading more emphasis.
+
+During the reading Steve's face was pale but calm, while Bob sat opening
+and closing his fingers nervously.
+
+"Now look out for happenings," whispered Steve, smiling grimly.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI
+
+                        THE VENGEANCE OF THE MOB
+
+
+"IT'S an outrage!" exclaimed Jarvis in a loud tone, causing those about
+him to look sharply in his direction.
+
+Steve gripped his companion's arm.
+
+"Be quiet," he whispered.
+
+Bob subsided, but it was with difficulty that he restrained himself from
+giving vent to his wrath. Both lads remained silent until the reading of
+the minutes had been completed.
+
+"If there are no objections to the minutes of the last meeting, as just
+read, they will stand approved," announced the chairman. "There being no
+objection, they are ap----"
+
+Steve Rush rose slowly to his feet in an impressive stillness. Every eye
+in the room was turned in his direction.
+
+"I object to the adoption of the minutes as read," said the Iron Boy in
+a steady voice which, while not loud, carried to every part of the room.
+
+Cavard's face darkened.
+
+"On what ground?" he demanded sharply.
+
+"On the ground that the last meeting was illegal--that it was no meeting
+at all. The last meeting was a secret meeting, attended only by those
+whom certain persons in this organization wished to have present----"
+
+"You are wrong!" said the chairman. "The meeting was perfectly regular,
+as you and every other man here well knows. You are insinuating that the
+members of this union have acted dishonestly. You are casting a slur on
+every man here."
+
+"Sit down!" yelled a chorus of voices.
+
+"Shut up, or get out!"
+
+"Men, I haven't finished yet. I----"
+
+"Yes, you have! _Sit down!_"
+
+Some one jerked the lad back into his seat, but whether it was a hostile
+or a friendly act Rush was unable to determine. He could not even tell
+who had done it.
+
+"The minutes stand approved," announced the presiding officer, smiting
+the table a resounding whack with his gavel. "What is the further
+pleasure of the meeting?"
+
+There was no reply at once. Finally a man in the rear of the hall spoke.
+
+"What about the company's treatment of our demands for more wages and
+less work?" he asked.
+
+"That is the matter that we have come here to discuss," said Cavard. "In
+view of the fact that I acted as the chairman of the committee that
+called upon Mr. Penton it will be proper for me to speak on the subject
+before this meeting. We presented our petition, which the superintendent
+agreed to consider after it had been endorsed by a full meeting of the
+union. Instead of giving it proper consideration, however, we have
+received notice that our committee will not be welcome; that the company
+will run its own business. In other words, the company has broken faith
+with us. The remedy lies with you. I am your servant. But let me ask
+you, are you going to submit to the tyranny of the bosses? Are you going
+to let them trample you under their feet?"
+
+"No, no!" roared the miners.
+
+"Then assert your manhood! Show them that you are men; that you are
+determined to fight for your liberty and your homes."
+
+In his subtle, unscrupulous manner, Cavard was working up his hearers to
+a high pitch of excitement.
+
+"This is anarchy!" cried Steve, but his voice was lost in the uproar.
+
+"Your brothers in the independent mines are in the same situation. They
+are ready to join with you in any action you see fit to take. Their
+delegates are here with us to-night to tell you so," continued Cavard
+glibly.
+
+"Yes!" cried a man in the centre of the hall whom Rush remembered to
+have seen in company with the walking delegate on various occasions. "We
+are among the downtrodden. We are ready to fight, shoulder to shoulder,
+with you, for our rights."
+
+"It's a put-up job," whispered Jarvis in his companion's ear.
+
+Steve nodded. "It is a crime," he added. "Those poor, ignorant fellows
+are being led as if they were dogs at the end of a leash."
+
+"Where are our friends?"
+
+"I am afraid there are not many of them left--not enough to do any good.
+I see few of them here to-night. Perhaps they understood what was going
+to happen even better than we did, and decided to remain away."
+
+"It is for you to act," urged the chairman insistently. "Now is your
+time to assert yourselves."
+
+"I move that we send an ultimatum to the bosses, saying that unless they
+meet our demands by the sixth of the month we will strike."
+
+"They won't agree to your demands, men," urged the chairman. "They have
+already told you that. Any delay is so much more money in the pockets of
+the bosses. I do not wish to influence you; I merely want to point out
+the facts to you."
+
+"Then we'll strike here and now!" yelled a miner, springing to his feet.
+
+Steve recognized in him another of the walking delegate's lieutenants.
+
+"Yes! Strike, strike, strike!" howled a hundred voices. Men leaped to
+their feet, yelling madly, beside themselves with excitement.
+
+The walking delegate, by skilful manipulation, had stirred the men to a
+dangerous pitch. They were ready to do and dare anything. The mob spirit
+had taken possession of them. A few moments more and they would be past
+all control. Cavard saw this. Such a situation he did not desire. His
+must be the master hand.
+
+The chairman pounded on the table with his gavel until it broke, the
+head shooting over among the excited miners.
+
+Little by little quiet was restored.
+
+"You are accomplishing nothing. Did I hear someone make a motion a short
+time ago?" asked the presiding officer suggestively.
+
+The miner who had called for a strike rose to his feet.
+
+"Mr. Chairman," he began, "I make a motion that this union declare
+itself opposed to the rule of the bosses, and that we call a strike,
+beginning at midnight to-night, in all the mines on the range, both
+those belonging to the company and the independent owners, as well."
+
+"Hear, hear!" yelled the audience.
+
+A gleam of satisfaction lighted up the face of the chairman for the
+moment, after which the expression in his eyes grew steely.
+
+"Second the motion," shouted a chorus of voices.
+
+"You have heard the motion, gentlemen. It has been moved and seconded
+that the Amalgamated Mine Workers call a strike in all of the mines,
+beginning at midnight to-night. Are you ready for the question?"
+
+"Question, question, question!"
+
+"Stop!"
+
+Steve Rush sprang to his feet. He waved his hat to attract the attention
+of the miners.
+
+"Stop, men! You are about to make a great mistake. Do you know what a
+strike means? It means that your families will suffer; it means
+starvation for your wives and children. You have been led into this by
+soft words and false promises. That man," pointing to the chairman, "is
+using you to serve his own selfish purposes. The Duke isn't your friend.
+He is your worst enemy, and I will prove it to you before I have done
+with him."
+
+"Throw the boy out!"
+
+"Order! You are out of order!" shouted Cavard. "I shall have you ejected
+from the hall unless you cease this tirade. Men, there is a motion
+before the house and the question has been put."
+
+"I insist upon being heard," shouted Steve Rush. "I accuse that man of
+base trickery. I demand that you give me a chance to say what I have to
+say. Then I will leave the hall if you wish, but I'm going to speak."
+
+"Put that man out! He is a traitor to the union!" thundered the
+presiding officer. "He is the mouthpiece of the bosses."
+
+A wave of hissing swept over the room, as if all the serpents of the
+jungle had suddenly been let loose.
+
+"He is the tool of the bosses! What shall we do with him?" yelled a man,
+leaping to the bench on which he had been sitting.
+
+"Throw him out!"
+
+"There's two of them," yelled another.
+
+"Throw them both out! They're traitors!"
+
+"Traitors, traitors!" thundered the mob.
+
+"All in favor of the motion to strike say 'aye,'" roared the chairman.
+
+"Aye!" was the response from hundreds of throats.
+
+"Carried. We strike at midnight," announced the chairman.
+
+The diversion of voting on the motion had, for the moment, drawn the
+attention of the men from the Iron Boys. Steve was still standing. His
+face was flushed and he was gazing at the excited faces about him
+intently.
+
+"Traitor, traitor!" screamed the mob once more, turning their attention
+to the slim young fellow who was facing them so calmly.
+
+          [Illustration: "There is the Traitor!" Cried Rush.]
+
+"There is the traitor!" cried Rush, pointing to the triumphant Cavard.
+"That is the man who has brought this about, and all for his own gain.
+He is as crooked as the tram road on the sixteenth level in the Red Rock
+Mine."
+
+With a yell, the mob surged toward the spot where Steve was standing.
+Bob Jarvis slowly rose to his feet.
+
+"We're in for it, Steve," he said.
+
+"It looks that way. Stand fast!"
+
+"You bet I will. I am just spoiling to crack a few of those wooden
+heads."
+
+"Back up toward the wall. There is an opening there now," directed Rush,
+stepping out into the aisle and moving a few paces away from the place
+where they had been sitting.
+
+"Men, you're making a mistake!" called Steve. "I am your friend, and one
+of these days you'll learn that I am. I have been your friend all the
+way through, but that man has poisoned your minds against me."
+
+"Throw him out!"
+
+"_Kill_ the traitor!"
+
+The words were repeated in several different language. Huns, Finns,
+Italians and others made a wild rush. There were those in the audience
+who were on the side of the Iron Boys; there were those who would have
+taken their part had they had the courage to do so. The rage of the mob
+frightened the timid friends and they quickly made their way from the
+hall that they, too, might not fall victims to the anger of the miners.
+
+Steve saw some of his supposed friends sneaking away and his lips curled
+scornfully.
+
+A Finn made a vicious pass at Rush's head.
+
+Steve planted a powerful blow between the fellow's eyes, the man
+toppling over backwards into the arms of his companions. Ere the victim
+had been pushed out of the way two other men had shared the same fate.
+
+"Look behind you, Bob," cried the Iron Boy, as he began striking right
+and left.
+
+Bob turned just in time to avoid a blow that had been aimed at his head.
+He ducked and saved himself. As he came up he planted a blow on his
+assailant's jaw, sending the man to the floor and rendering him
+unconscious.
+
+"Come on, you miserable cowards!" bellowed Jarvis. "We can't thrash all
+of the people all of the time, but we can thrash some of the people some
+of the time."
+
+At this moment Steve had grabbed a fallen miner by the heels. The man
+was slight. Steve picked the fellow up and hurled him right into the
+face of the mob that was pressing in on him. Several men went down, but
+they were up again in a twinkling and charging the slender lads with
+redoubled fury.
+
+During the tumult Cavard had made no effort to restore order. He stood
+calmly on the platform at the end of the hall, a grim smile of
+satisfaction on his face. He had known full well that this was coming,
+for he had skilfully brought it about. Little did he care if the Iron
+Boys were killed. There could be no responsibility on his part. He
+fervently hoped that they would at least be so thoroughly beaten that
+they would trouble him no further.
+
+Thus far the lads had held their own. They were cool and collected,
+while those opposing them had lost all control of themselves. This gave
+the boys a slight advantage, but the lads knew they could not expect to
+hold out very long against those hundreds of angry men, who were
+fighting each other in their mad efforts to get at the "traitors," as
+they called the Iron Boys.
+
+Steve was fighting with as much coolness as if he were in a friendly
+boxing match, except that his blows were delivered with considerably
+more force. Bob was proving himself a whirlwind, charging this way and
+that, using both feet and fists, all to equally good advantage. Many a
+shin felt the sting of his heavy boot and many a face bore the marks of
+his heavy fists for days afterward.
+
+"Come down here, you coward, and I'll give you a dose of the same
+medicine!" yelled Jarvis, chancing to catch the eye of the presiding
+officer in a brief lull in the fighting. "It's coming to you, and you're
+going to get it some time, even if you don't to-night."
+
+Suddenly Steve slipped and fell to the floor. Bob sprang to his
+assistance, jerking his companion to his feet. But the move was fatal.
+
+A kick from a heavy boot laid Bob Jarvis unconscious on the floor.
+
+With a yell Steve Rush hit the man who had delivered the kick, knocking
+him clear over two benches that had not yet been smashed in the
+scrimmage. In doing so Rush had turned his back on the most persistent
+of his enemies. They were not slow to take advantage of the opportunity
+thus offered, and leaped upon him.
+
+Steve went down under the weight that had been suddenly put upon him,
+fighting, struggling, wriggling desperately to free himself. But the
+odds were too great, and besides he was exhausted by his exertions. He
+realized that the fight was ended so far as he was concerned.
+
+"Kill the traitors!"
+
+"No--throw them out! Beat them up!"
+
+"Yes, throw them out! That will settle them. It isn't our fault if they
+fall out of the window," yelled Cavard.
+
+"Out with them both!"
+
+Someone jerked Rush to his feet, and as he did so, another planted a
+blow on the boy's jaw. Steve's head drooped to one side and his face
+turned suddenly pale. He would give them no further trouble, for he had
+been rendered unconscious by the cowardly blow.
+
+"The window!" yelled a voice.
+
+"Yes, out with him!"
+
+Cavard's suggestion of a moment before had taken root. Instantly the
+miners began dragging the unconscious Steve toward the nearest window.
+It was closed, but that made no difference.
+
+"Now, he-o-hee!"
+
+There followed the sound of crashing glass and breaking woodwork as the
+form the Iron Boy went hurtling through the window, taking the sash with
+him in his flight.
+
+"Now the other!"
+
+Two men grabbed Jarvis, one at his feet, the other at his head. Bob
+followed in the wake of his companion, turning a complete somersault as
+he shot through the window. Bob had the advantage of Steve in that he
+had no window to break through. His was a clean flight, but his fall was
+none the less a serious one.
+
+The drop that the boys had taken was all of twenty feet. What was below
+not one of the strikers cared.
+
+Cavard pounded on the table for order.
+
+"Gentlemen, gentlemen," he cried. "You are forgetting yourselves! Now
+that you have removed the disturbing elements, you will please come to
+order and we will proceed to finish the business of our meeting. You
+should not have handled them so roughly, though I am forced to admit
+that your anger was justified. What is the further pleasure of the
+meeting?"
+
+"I move we notify the mines and tell the night shifts to knock off,"
+suggested a man with a cooler head, who had taken no part in the
+uprising.
+
+Slowly the men resumed their places, and the meeting settled down to
+business again.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVII
+
+                        FACING THEIR ASSAILANTS
+
+
+JARVIS was the first to recover himself. He found himself lying half on
+the body of his companion.
+
+"Steve, Steve!" he cried. "Are you much hurt."
+
+Rush did not answer.
+
+Bob, as soon as he could pull himself together sufficiently to do so,
+began shaking his companion.
+
+"Wake up, wake up!"
+
+"Huh?" muttered Steve, twisting and trying to raise himself.
+
+"Thank goodness, they didn't kill you," exclaimed Jarvis, hugging his
+companion delightedly. "Where are you hurt?"
+
+"I--I thought the house fell on me. What was it?"
+
+"Nothing much. I just landed on you from a second story window--that's
+all. It's a wonder I didn't break every bone in your body."
+
+A pile of rubbish had been thrown out that afternoon, in cleaning up the
+hall for the evening meeting. There were papers, excelsior, burlap and
+other soft substances in the heap. It was on this heap that the Iron
+Boys had fallen in their plunge from the second story, and to that heap
+of rubbish they no doubt owed their lives. As it was, however, they were
+badly bruised and shaken.
+
+"They must have thrown us out," said Rush, sitting up and rubbing the
+bruised spots on his body. "The hounds! But no, I shouldn't blame them
+so much. Cavard is the man who incited them to violence. Bob, I believe
+he planned, before the meeting, to do that very thing. I was warned not
+to come here to-night, and the person who warned me was in a position to
+know what plans Cavard had in mind."
+
+"Who warned you?"
+
+"You asked that once before, and I told you I could not tell you. I
+wouldn't under any circumstances give the name of the person who warned
+me."
+
+"Let me help you up."
+
+Steve was painfully getting to his feet.
+
+"No; I am able to take care of myself."
+
+"Came pretty near having a fight, didn't we?" grinned Jarvis.
+
+"Almost," admitted Rush. "The ones I most wanted to hit weren't in that
+mix-up. That is my greatest regret. Another is that we had to damage
+some of the men who were once our friends."
+
+"Served them right! They don't deserve sympathy," growled Jarvis. "We
+didn't give it to them hard enough. I guess some of them won't forget
+the walloping they got for many days to come."
+
+"How about ourselves?" questioned Rush, laughing mirthlessly. "It occurs
+to me that you and I are pretty well banged up. I can't see how you
+look, but I think I must resemble the last rose of summer, with all the
+petals blown off. My, but my head aches!"
+
+"Never mind," soothed Bob. "You are not the only one. There are others,
+and there are other headaches just as bad as yours. What shall we do
+now?"
+
+"Is the meeting still going on?"
+
+"Yes; I hear them up there. They are finishing up the business that we
+interrupted, I reckon."
+
+"I'm going up there," announced Rush with decision.
+
+"I wouldn't, if I were in your place. You are in no sort of shape to get
+into any more trouble to-night," advised Jarvis.
+
+"I do not intend to get into trouble. Bob. But I am going back for a
+moment, just the same."
+
+"Then I'll go with you."
+
+"Very well; but don't stir up any more trouble. We have had enough, and
+I am not sure that we are entirely blameless, but I could not sit there
+and see that man leading the men into trouble, urging them on to their
+own destruction, as it were."
+
+"You might as well have kept still, for all the good it did."
+
+"Yes, I guess that's so. You and I seem fated to get into trouble.
+Somehow we can't keep out of it."
+
+"Unless we are thrown out," suggested Jarvis, at which both boys laughed
+as heartily as was possible with their aching bodies. The laugh did more
+to restore them to a better frame of mind than anything else could have
+done at that moment.
+
+"Come on, then; we will go up as far as the door."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"I just want to say something, that's all; then we will go home, where
+we might better have stayed in the beginning."
+
+The Iron Boys approached the front of the building and started to enter.
+They found their way barred by a guard at the foot of the stairs.
+
+"You can't go in here," warned the man.
+
+"Who says we can't?" demanded Bob.
+
+"_I_ say so."
+
+"Well, you don't count. We're going in, just the same, and if you get
+funny I'll throw you out into the street. If you follow us up and raise
+a disturbance I'll kick you down stairs. I feel just like kicking
+somebody real hard," growled Jarvis savagely, thrusting a belligerent
+chin close to the other man's face. "Go on, Steve; he won't bite."
+
+"No, I hardly think he will," smiled Rush, as he started up the stairs,
+followed by his companion, the latter turning every few moments to see
+if the guard were following them. The fellow had prudently remained at
+the foot of the stairs. Perhaps he had seen something of the hitting
+powers of the Iron Boys.
+
+Steve Rush stepped into the meeting room and came to a halt about even
+with the chairman's platform.
+
+Every eye in the room was instantly focused on the lad. He did not
+present a prepossessing appearance. His clothes were torn and covered
+with dirt, his face was streaked with blood where it had been cut when
+he crashed through the window in his flight from the hall, while his
+hands were in a similar condition.
+
+Cavard discovered him about this time.
+
+"Young man, haven't you caused enough trouble for one night, without
+coming back looking for more?" demanded the chairman.
+
+"I have not returned to look for trouble. I have come for one thing, to
+warn you."
+
+"Against what?"
+
+"Against trouble. I presume you have voted for a strike?"
+
+"The members of the union have done so."
+
+"Then let me tell you that that action, which you brought about by
+underhand scheming, marks the beginning of your downfall, Mr. Cavard. I
+believe you to be a scheming scoundrel, and I shall make it my business
+to expose you to the men who are following you so blindly now. Look out,
+Mr. Walking Delegate and President. It's a pretty long level that
+doesn't bring up against a hard rock heading sooner or later. I wish my
+name taken from the roll of the union. I do not wish to belong to any
+organization that you are connected with. That is all I have to say to
+you."
+
+"Out with you, before I order you thrown downstairs!" shouted the head
+of the union. "You can't resign, because you've been bounced. The men
+fired you out of the window; then they fired you from the union, you and
+your handy-fisted friend there."
+
+"Thank you. Good night. When you men and your families are suffering
+from hunger and cold, perhaps you may remember the warning I have given
+you."
+
+Steve turned on his heel and limped down the stairs, with Bob as a rear
+guard.
+
+"Hey, Steve!" called Jarvis, halting at the door.
+
+"What is it?" demanded Rush, halting outside the door.
+
+"Shall I hand this guard one for luck? Shall I punch him, just once,
+good and hard?"
+
+"Certainly not. He hasn't done anything to you. We have had enough
+fighting for one night. Besides, I am lame and sore, and I want to get
+home. Come along."
+
+Jarvis followed, but reluctantly. He could hardly restrain himself from
+thrashing the grinning guard at the foot of the stairs.
+
+When the Iron Boys removed their clothes and took their bath they
+realized, for the first time, how roughly they had been handled. Their
+bodies were covered with bruises, but their faces were unmarked, save
+where Steve had been cut by the glass when he was hurled through the
+window. There were many other men, however, whose faces had not fared so
+well, and they would bear the marks of the Iron Boys' fists for days to
+come.
+
+The boys were in bed soon after. On the morrow they were to awaken to
+new experiences. Ahead of them was a great strike, in which the Iron
+Boys were to play a tremendously important part, and during which they
+were to win new laurels.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII
+
+                       PROMOTED BY THE PRESIDENT
+
+
+AT midnight every mine on the range shut down.
+
+Ten thousand men were out for the time being. Not all of these were in
+sympathy with the strike, of course. Many were loyal to their employers,
+and would have continued at their work, but the superintendents of the
+various shafts gave orders to shut down the mines until the following
+day, when other plans would be made.
+
+At daylight on the following morning the private car of the president of
+the mining company entered the town. Mr. Carrhart and Mr. Penton were in
+consultation in the latter's office half an hour later. The president
+had been through strikes before. He knew what they meant, and his face
+wore a serious expression.
+
+"I don't care so much on our own account, Penton. We have a million tons
+of ore on the dumps at the mines now, enough to keep us going until
+navigation on the lakes shuts down. I feel sorry for the men, and for
+their innocent families. Who is this man Cavard?"
+
+"I always have considered him a bright, capable man. He is an inspector,
+as you know. I never saw anything wrong about him until this matter came
+up. But I believe he has been organizing the men for some time. Rush
+accused the fellow, in my presence, of carrying this thing through from
+dishonest motives."
+
+"Ah, Rush! What about these boys? Then they are not in sympathy with the
+strikers?" questioned the president.
+
+"No. They both joined the union, not, I believe, because of any sympathy
+that they felt for the movement, but in the light of after events, it is
+plain to me that Rush saw what was coming, and thought he might be able
+to stem the tide. It was too big a task for him. He did not fully
+appreciate the magnitude of the task that he had set for himself."
+
+"They are splendid boys," continued Mr. Carrhart, the lines of his face
+softening perceptibly. "Splendid boys. Tell me about their part in this
+affair."
+
+Mr. Penton did so. He related to the president the incidents connected
+with the Iron Boys joining the union. Of their having pitted themselves
+against the man Cavard, of Steve Rush's speeches and of the fight in the
+meeting on the previous night, when the boys had been handled so
+roughly.
+
+"The cowards!" exclaimed Mr. Carrhart, thumping the superintendent's
+desk with a powerful fist. "They deserve no sympathy, and----"
+
+"You mean the leaders deserve no sympathy?" corrected Mr. Penton.
+
+"Yes. Do you know how the boys are this morning--whether they were
+seriously hurt or not?"
+
+"They went home after the meeting--after they had reentered the meeting
+room and withdrawn from the organization. I have not heard from them
+this morning, of course."
+
+"Please send over to their boarding place and find out as soon as you
+think the people there are up. I should like to see the boys some time
+this morning if they are able to get out. If not, we will go to them,"
+announced the president with emphasis. "How many of our men will stand
+by us?"
+
+"I have no idea. Not very many."
+
+"While there is no necessity for our turning a wheel for the rest of the
+season, we must do so for the moral effect it will have on the strikers.
+We must not give way for a moment. We already are paying our men better
+wages than almost any other mine in the country. It is not the principle
+of this corporation to grind its men down, but to pay them all they can
+earn. Yet there is a limit beyond which we cannot go. Have you any
+suggestions to make, Penton?"
+
+"Yes. I should notify the men that if they wish to declare the strike
+off and go to work within twenty-four hours, all will be taken back
+without prejudice and given work all winter. Otherwise the mines will be
+manned by others when we get ready to work them. I should get into
+communication with our mine captains and find out if our engineers,
+pump-men, electricians and other practical men are to be depended upon."
+
+"It shall be done at once."
+
+"And we must not forget about our young friends, Rush and Jarvis,"
+continued Penton. "I fear we shall have violence before this strike is
+ended. The union has plenty of money for a long fight, but I do not
+believe a large amount of it will get to the men themselves, from what I
+know about their leaders."
+
+"I should imagine not. I will go back to my car for breakfast and you
+can make your reports to me there. That, perhaps, will be best. Better
+have your notices gotten out at once."
+
+"I will do so."
+
+When the miners went out on the street that morning they found the town
+placarded with the notices, as directed by President Carrhart. Groups
+quickly gathered about these notices, those who could read translating
+the notices to those of the foreigners whose knowledge of English was
+limited.
+
+Soon these groups were engaged in excited discussions. The word went out
+that a meeting of the union would be called for nine o'clock. This
+meeting was of the briefest nature, lasting not more than twenty
+minutes. A stirring address by Cavard was the final argument necessary
+to clinch the matter. The strike was on, and the men were going to stand
+fast until the bosses should yield, which the walking delegate assured
+the men the former would soon do. That owners could not afford to hold
+out for more than a month at the longest was the promise made to the
+striking miners.
+
+The meeting ended amid wild enthusiasm, after which the men strolled
+about the streets, well satisfied with themselves and thoroughly
+enjoying the liberty and freedom of their new situation.
+
+No overtures were made to the mine owners by the leaders of the strike
+that day. Cavard proceeded exactly as if the mine officials did not
+exist. Word of what had been done at the morning meeting had been
+quickly carried to Mr. Carrhart. The president smiled grimly.
+
+The latter had just finished his breakfast when Steve Rush and Bob
+Jarvis presented themselves at the private car and were quickly
+admitted. Mr. Carrhart greeted them warmly, bidding them be seated.
+
+"I will talk with you while I look over my mail and telegrams. Rush, you
+look as if you had been pretty roughly handled."
+
+Rush colored.
+
+"I guess I must have been."
+
+"But we gave them something to remember us by," retorted Jarvis. "There
+are some sore heads in that crowd to-day. I saw a few of them on our way
+here this morning."
+
+"Rush, I want to thank you for your efforts in our behalf. It was a
+brave thing to do, in the face of the excitement of the men. The company
+will not forget what both of you have done. It is unnecessary for me to
+ask whether you two are going to stand by the company."
+
+"No, sir; it should not be necessary for you to ask. There never was a
+moment when there was any doubt about it. Are you going to operate the
+mines just the same, if I may ask?"
+
+"Yes," answered Mr. Carrhart, after brief reflection. "Of course we
+shall not be able to get out much ore, but we shall do the best we can
+to show the men that we are independent."
+
+"When do you wish us to go to work?"
+
+"Probably at one this afternoon, though this depends upon whether the
+superintendent is able to operate the machinery. I hear you have doubts
+of the honesty of the man Cavard. What do you know about him?"
+
+"Not very much, sir. I know that he did a very crooked thing in mailing
+most of his notifications for a meeting after the meeting had taken
+place. Evidently he had privately notified those whom he wished to be
+present."
+
+"Hm-m-m! What was Cavard's motive?"
+
+"I do not know, but I do know that I consider him a dangerous man. He
+has a remarkable influence over the men. He can lead them into anything
+he wishes. Is there no way that he could be arrested and checked?"
+
+Mr. Carrhart laughed.
+
+"That would be making a martyr of the man. No; we cannot have him
+arrested until he has done something that makes him liable to arrest.
+Even then it would not do unless the men could be convinced that he was
+working solely for his own selfish interests and against theirs."
+
+"Then we'll prove it," announced Steve Rush with emphasis.
+
+"Yes, we will!" agreed Jarvis.
+
+Mr. Carrhart gazed at them quizzically.
+
+"You boys almost make me believe that you will do what you say. I am
+half inclined to believe you will prove it, if you say so. Rush, I am
+going to give you Cavard's position. I am going to make you a general
+inspector in the mines. It is a sort of roving commission, but it will
+give you authority to do pretty much what you like, of course acting
+under the instructions of the superintendent."
+
+"What do you wish me to do especially?"
+
+"Keep the mines going, or help to do so. See to it, so far as possible,
+that the company's property is protected. I do not apprehend any
+violence just yet, but it will come unless we are able to break the
+backbone of the strike before cold weather sets in. Do not be
+headstrong, but work with caution. You will be in danger before we have
+done this. I hope you will both be careful, for we can't afford to lose
+you boys just yet, and now we need the services of every loyal man in
+our employ. Report to Mr. Penton when you leave here, and he will give
+you your directions for the work of the day. You will act as inspector
+for both the Cousin Jack and the Red Rock Mines. And, Jarvis, I think I
+will have you act as assistant to the mining captain of the Red Rock.
+Curb your temper and keep your head level."
+
+"Yes, sir; I'll try," answered Bob, smiling happily. He was delighted at
+his promotion.
+
+The interview being ended, the boys bade the president good morning and
+hastened to the office of the superintendent. Angry looks were directed
+at them as they passed along the street, but the Iron Boys gave no heed.
+They went on about their business as usual.
+
+Mr. Penton was not in when they arrived. He came in soon after, and the
+lads told him what Mr. Carrhart had said.
+
+"That's good," said Mr. Penton, rubbing his palms together. "I have
+arranged to have the machinery working at one o'clock to-day. All the
+engineers are loyal and I have assurance that quite a number of the men
+are willing to stand by us. We shall have quite a respectable force at
+work this afternoon."
+
+"Then we will go over now and start in," said Steve.
+
+The boys found fully a hundred men about the shafts of the two mines.
+When the strikers saw that the boys were going down into the mine they
+set up an angry shout. Jeers filled the air.
+
+"Scab! Scab! Scab!" howled a hundred voices. But the Iron Boys held
+themselves steady, and, entering the cage, were shot down into the mine.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX
+
+                            A COWARDLY BLOW
+
+
+A TRAINLOAD of miners was brought into the town on the following
+morning. Not half a dozen of them got to the mines. Pickets halted the
+men at the station and "argued" to such good purpose that the newcomers
+joined the union then and there, save for a few who slipped through the
+ranks of the pickets and made their way to the mines.
+
+This kept up for several days. As fast as the company sent new men into
+the mining region the strikers would "gobble" them up. The strike was
+being strengthened every day.
+
+The face of Cavard, the walking delegate, wore a self-satisfied smile.
+All his well-laid schemes were working out according to programme. The
+only real opposition that he had had, that of the Iron Boys, had
+apparently wholly disappeared.
+
+Steve and Bob were not idle, however. Aside from their daily work in the
+mines, they had set for themselves the difficult task of gathering
+sufficient evidence against Cavard to prove to the striking miners that
+their leader was merely using the strike for his own selfish purposes.
+
+There was more or less work done in the mines, though no large quantity
+of ore was being mined. However, the company was making a very
+respectable showing, owing to the efforts of the Iron Boys, who
+accomplished the greater part of the executive work that was done. Mr.
+Penton's time was largely taken up on the surface, while the mine
+captains spent most of their hours at the mouths of the shafts, looking
+out for the safety of the shafts and the machinery.
+
+The striking miners had held themselves well in check so far as the
+company's property was concerned. They made no attempt to damage it, but
+the loyal men had suffered. Of late the strikers had taken to beating
+the men as they came from work, whenever the strikers could lure a man
+out of the sight of others.
+
+This caused some of the workers to quit. They had become frightened.
+Threats were being circulated that the workers would be even more
+roughly handled if they did not stop working and join the strikers.
+
+Steve had not seen Miss Cavard since the evening when she had halted him
+and warned him against attending the meeting. He had thought over that
+warning several times since. It told him that the attack on himself and
+companion at the hall had been part of a prearranged plan. Miss Cavard
+evidently had learned of it through her brother, and she had sought to
+dissuade Steve from attending the meeting.
+
+"There must be some good in the girl, or she wouldn't have done that,"
+Steve decided as he was passing the Cavard home one evening.
+
+The strike had been on for about six weeks, and thus far the Iron Boys
+had avoided coming into conflict with the strikers, though the lads had
+been goaded almost to the point of desperation every time they showed
+themselves at the shaft, or where the strikers were congregated in the
+village. The strikers often sought to draw the boys into a fight, so
+that they might have a good excuse to beat the lads.
+
+Rush and Jarvis were too shrewd to be caught in the trap. By this time
+they had become more and more a thorn in the side of Cavard. They were
+interfering with his plans. Their activity was too great to suit him,
+and the walking delegate planned to rid himself of his young foes in a
+way that would effectively dispose of them.
+
+As Steve was passing the Cavard home on the evening in question, he
+glanced up and saw Miss Cavard standing on the front door step.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Rush," she greeted him. "Won't you come in?"
+
+"No, thank you."
+
+"I wish you would. I want to talk to you."
+
+"You will excuse me, but I could not think of entering your brother's
+home, Miss Cavard."
+
+"He is not at home. He is away much of the time now. I feel that I may
+trust you, Mr. Rush. I do not approve of my brother's actions, but he is
+my brother, just the same."
+
+"I understand," murmured the boy.
+
+"You remember an occasion, some time ago, when I begged you not to
+attend a certain meeting, do you not?"
+
+"I do, indeed."
+
+"You saw that my warning was not idle chatter?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"I like you, Mr. Rush. You are a fine young man, and I am going to warn
+you again."
+
+"What, more trouble?" smiled Steve.
+
+"There may be."
+
+"What is it this time?"
+
+"I cannot tell you, for I do not know. I do know that you have enemies
+who are plotting to do you harm. They will get you yet."
+
+"I am not afraid of them," answered Steve, drawing himself up proudly.
+
+"I know that. That is what worries me. What can you, a boy, do against a
+great crowd of men who are getting desperate? Oh, what terrible things
+these strikes are! How my heart aches for some of the wives and children
+of the striking miners! They are actually suffering. I am doing what I
+can for the worst cases, and----"
+
+"Can I help you, Miss Cavard? I should like to help someone who is
+suffering," said Rush quickly, evincing a sudden interest in what the
+girl was saying.
+
+"Perhaps you might, but that is not what I wanted to speak with you
+about. I want to warn you again."
+
+"Well, I am listening. What is the great danger that threatens me this
+time?"
+
+"I told you I did not know. But you must leave town. You can take a
+vacation. I am sure your employers will be glad to give you one. Why not
+go home and visit your mother until this strike is ended?"
+
+Rush gazed at the girl suspiciously. For the moment he harbored a
+suspicion that the girl herself was a part of the plot she said was
+being hatched against him. But he put the thought aside as unworthy.
+
+"I couldn't do that, Miss Cavard. I should be a coward if I did, and no
+one shall accuse me of cowardice. I am going to stay here as long as the
+company has use for my services. If I am assaulted I shall do the best I
+can to defend myself. You may tell your brother that I do not fear him,
+if you choose."
+
+"I shall do nothing of the sort," answered the girl sharply, flushing.
+"I wish I might say something that would change you, that would make you
+heed me."
+
+"I appreciate your kindness; believe me, I do, Miss Cavard, but my duty
+is to my employers, and here I shall remain. If I get the worst of it, I
+shall know that I have done my duty----"
+
+"There comes my brother. You must go."
+
+Steve swung down the street at once. Half way down the block he met
+Cavard face to face.
+
+The walking delegate stopped directly in front of the young man.
+
+"Well, my friend, what do you think of the strike now?" demanded Cavard
+in a mocking tone.
+
+"What do I think? I think it is the greatest outrage that was ever
+perpetrated on a body of men who have not the power to think for
+themselves. You will have much to answer for at the day of reckoning,
+Mr. Cavard."
+
+"I'll pass all that, Rush. I have been talking with the men lately. They
+express themselves as being sorry for the way they used you. They want
+to make amends----"
+
+"So I should judge from the way they act toward me when they meet me
+outside," interrupted Steve.
+
+"That has all been a mistake. The men who have annoyed you are not the
+representative miners. They are the men who have been brought in here by
+the company. A pretty tough crowd----"
+
+"I know who they are. You need not try to tell me."
+
+"Our members have commissioned me to ask you to attend our meetings."
+
+"What for? So they can give me another drubbing?" demanded the lad.
+
+"No, no; you do not understand. They want to apologize. They want you to
+come back into the union. Believe me, it is the best thing you can do.
+Should you refuse I cannot answer for the consequences. The men are
+getting worked up to a high pitch. I do not know how long I shall be
+able to control them."
+
+"You must think me a fool!" replied the Iron Boy. "Of course I shall not
+join the union. I have had enough unionism to last me for the rest of my
+life, if all unions are like this one. I do not believe they are,
+however."
+
+"Take my advice and join."
+
+"I took your advice once, and as a result I have some of the marks on my
+body still. I understand your purpose. You think I am a little too
+active, and you take this as the best way to rid yourself of the
+annoyance," added the boy shrewdly. "No, thank you. My activity will
+continue until I have shown you to your blind followers in your true
+colors."
+
+Steve started to pass Cavard, whereupon the latter quickly stepped in
+front of him, barring the Iron Boy's progress.
+
+Steve's eyes snapped dangerously.
+
+"Are you going to let me pass?"
+
+"Not until I have finished what I have to say to you."
+
+"Are you going to let me pass, or have I got to knock you down first? It
+must be one or the other."
+
+For a moment the man and the boy stood looking into each other's eyes.
+Cavard towered half a head above the Iron Boy, and he was strong in
+proportion. There were few men in the mines possessing greater strength
+than the president of the union.
+
+A sudden flush suffused the face of Cavard. Without an instant's warning
+he let go a powerful blow straight at the head of Steve Rush.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XX
+
+                        LAMB CHOPS FOR THE BABY
+
+
+QUICK as the blow had been, the Iron Boy had not been caught unawares.
+He had been watching the eyes of the walking delegate, and he had read
+the man's purpose some seconds before the blow was struck.
+
+Steve swerved his head an inch to one side, permitting the blow to shoot
+over his shoulder.
+
+The lad leaped lightly back in order to have more room in which to swing
+his body, then drove his fist straight out from the shoulder. The fist
+landed squarely on the point of the walking delegate's jaw.
+
+Cavard had been caught off his guard. He had not looked for such a
+sudden return, and the failure of his own blow to land had thrown him
+off his poise.
+
+The walking delegate turned half way about under the force of the blow,
+wavered for a brief instant, then measured his length on the wooden
+sidewalk, flat on his face.
+
+"I'm sorry I did that," muttered Steve, with a revulsion of feeling.
+"But I had to, or I should have been roughly handled."
+
+He turned Cavard over, looking into the man's pale face. Cavard was
+dazed, but Steve saw that he was not seriously hurt and would recover in
+a minute.
+
+The boy's inclination was to hurry away. He conquered it. He was too
+much of a man to do a thing like that, so he stepped back a few paces,
+where he stood with folded arms waiting for his victim to recover.
+
+This Cavard quickly did. He staggered to his feet unsteadily, still
+dazed and uncertain. All at once he fixed his eyes on the face of the
+Iron Boy.
+
+"You--you whelp! You--you'll suffer for that cowardly blow. I'll--I'll
+hound you out of the camp, or else I'll----"
+
+"Get run out yourself," finished Steve. "Good night."
+
+With that the lad turned and walked briskly down the street. Cavard
+stood gazing after him for a moment, then started unsteadily for his own
+home. Could Steve Rush have seen the expression on the face of the
+walking delegate at that moment, he might possibly have thought better
+of his determination to remain in the mining town and fight his unequal
+battle.
+
+The lad also had started for home, but he was destined to be still
+further delayed. His experiences for that night were not yet at an end.
+A heavy hand was all at once laid on his shoulder with a grip so
+powerful that the boy winced.
+
+He whirled about, expecting to find himself face to face with Cavard,
+and ready to do battle.
+
+Instead, Rush found a giant form towering over him, peering down into
+his face.
+
+"Hello, Olsen; is that you?"
+
+The man nodded.
+
+Segunder Olsen was an Icelander, a veritable giant in stature, and known
+to be a man possessing great strength. He had been forced out with his
+fellows when the strike was called. Steve had never passed half a dozen
+words with the Icelander. The latter was a taciturn man, but one who
+could do a day's work that was the wonder of the men who worked with
+him.
+
+"What do you want, Olsen?" demanded Steve, trying to release himself
+from the other's grip.
+
+"You make this strike, huh?"
+
+"What--why certainly not. What made you think I did?"
+
+"Men say you tell bosses not to pay us money. Then we must strike and
+get more. Huh?"
+
+"They have told you lies, Olsen. I tried to prevent the strike. I knew
+how much you would all suffer if there were a strike, but the men would
+not listen to me. You may go to work if you wish to. There is nothing to
+hinder your doing so."
+
+"Not have me."
+
+"Oh, yes, they will."
+
+"You come with me, huh?"
+
+"Where to?"
+
+"Come; I show you what strike does. You come home with me, you see what
+strike does."
+
+Without waiting for the boy to assent, Olsen, with his grip still on
+Steve's shoulder, started, fairly dragging the Iron Boy along with him.
+
+Rush no longer offered any resistance. Something about the Icelander
+impressed the boy strongly. There was a note of hopelessness in the
+man's tone, though his face was impassive, which told Steve that the
+fellow was suffering great mental anguish.
+
+"You need not hang to my shoulder, Olsen. I will go with you if you want
+me to," said the boy in a kindly tone.
+
+But Segunder gave no heed. He held tightly to Steve's shoulder. The two
+hurried on, the Icelander taking long strides. He led the way to the
+outskirts of the village, coming to a halt before a dilapidated,
+one-storied cottage, the door of which Olsen pushed open, thrusting
+Steve Rush in. Olsen followed, closing the door.
+
+A solitary candle furnished all the light there was in the room. There
+was no fire in the stove, though the weather was cold, the snow falling
+early in that far northern region.
+
+A woman sat holding a baby close to her to give the child some of the
+warmth from her own body. She was pale and thin, but Steve noted that
+her eyes lighted up as they fixed themselves upon the face of Olsen.
+
+On a bed lay a girl of some ten years. The child was thin and emaciated,
+and the Iron Boy saw at once that she was in a high fever.
+
+"Him make strike," announced Olsen, pointing to Steve Rush.
+
+"Madame, are you Mrs. Olsen?" asked the lad.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the woman in good English. "Who are you?"
+
+"My name is Rush. Your husband has brought me here, for what purpose I
+do not know."
+
+"He says you are responsible for this terrible strike. Are you?"
+
+"I am not. I have had no more to do with bringing it on than you. I did
+all I could to prevent it. Your husband is in error. The men have told
+him untruths about me. If your husband wishes to leave the union and go
+to work, I will see that he begins work to-morrow. Has he tried?"
+
+"Yes, sir. He has been to the mine nearly every day, but they would not
+take him."
+
+"Whom did you ask for work?" demanded Steve, turning to Olsen.
+
+"Little captain, Red Rock."
+
+"You mean Mr. Barton, mining captain of the Red Rock Mine?"
+
+Olsen nodded.
+
+"And he would not take you back?"
+
+"Him no take me."
+
+"He will to-morrow," said Steve.
+
+"Oh, if you will do that for my husband, I shall bless you!" exclaimed
+the woman. "Segunder, this young man is a good man. Surely he could not
+have brought this terrible thing upon us."
+
+Segunder's face relaxed a little.
+
+"Are you in need of assistance, Mrs. Olsen?"
+
+The woman hesitated. Her pride was battling with her love for her little
+family.
+
+"Oh, yes, sir; we are. We do not care for ourselves, my husband and
+myself, but our children! Just look at them!"
+
+"Have you been to the union, Olsen, and asked them to give you money?"
+
+Olsen shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"No help."
+
+"What is the matter with the little girl on the bed there?"
+
+"She has pneumonia."
+
+"Have you had a doctor?"
+
+"Yes; but he would not come again because we had no money to pay him."
+
+"The cur!" muttered Steve under his breath.
+
+"We have not had a thing in the house to eat since yesterday morning,
+and then there was scarcely a mouthful apiece."
+
+Segunder smote the table a terrible blow with his fist. The baby asleep
+in its mother's arms awakened and began crying loudly.
+
+"I kill bosses. I kill them!" shouted Olsen in a terrible voice. "I
+bring you here to kill you. Maybe you lie to me. Then I kill you,
+anyhow!"
+
+"Segunder, Segunder!" cried the woman aghast. "This young man is going
+to help you. He is going to give you work. Don't you understand?"
+
+Olsen grabbed Steve by both shoulders, and, pushing him over to the
+light, peered long and earnestly into the eyes of the Iron Boy. Then the
+huge Icelander drew a deep breath that seemed to come from his boots.
+
+"You no lie? You speak true? You give me work?"
+
+"To-morrow morning. And I will do more than that. Cheer up, Mrs. Olsen.
+I am going away now, but I shall be back within an hour. You shall have
+a doctor, and you shall have something else. Olsen, you stay here until
+I return," commanded Rush sternly. "Mrs. Olsen, see to it that he
+remains in the house."
+
+Steve was out of the place with a bound. He did not walk this time, but
+started away on a run. He knew where there was a doctor, not far away,
+and he made straight for the doctor's house.
+
+"There is a sick child in one of the strikers' homes," said the lad, as
+the doctor opened the door. "I wish you would go and look after the
+child."
+
+"One of the strikers?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"Olsen--Segunder Olsen."
+
+"Oh! Who will pay me for attending the case?"
+
+Steve gazed at the doctor in amazement.
+
+"You see, these fellows think we doctors can work for nothing. They make
+all sorts of promises, but when they are out of work they really expect
+us to not only keep them, but to furnish them medicines and treat them
+in the bargain. I know the kind. However, I'll go if you say it is all
+right. I don't want to appear inhuman," added the doctor, half
+apologetically.
+
+"Never mind, doctor; I couldn't think of allowing you to work for
+nothing," answered Rush sarcastically. "I know someone who will be glad
+to do so--a man who has some human sympathy left. Good night."
+
+Steve dashed down the steps and ran to the office of the company doctor.
+
+"Why, certainly I will go. Why did they not send for me?" demanded the
+physician, after Steve had explained the case.
+
+"I guess they were too much upset to think of it, after another doctor
+had refused to attend the case. Can you go at once?"
+
+"This very minute, my lad. Are you going that way?"
+
+"Not now. I have something else to attend to, but I shall be there soon.
+Perhaps I shall see you. Thank you very much."
+
+"No thanks necessary. I am glad you came to me."
+
+"I will see that your fee is paid, sir."
+
+"You will do nothing of the sort. The idea!"
+
+"I knew I'd find a real man," muttered Steve, as he left the house.
+
+He hurried to his boarding house, where he routed out Bob Jarvis.
+
+"You come with me; I want you."
+
+"What, more trouble?" jeered Jarvis.
+
+"Yes, but not for us. There is a family in distress. The family of
+Olsen, the big Icelander. They are starving, and one of their children
+is dying of pneumonia, I believe."
+
+Rush was hurrying down the street, with Bob doing his best to keep up
+with his companion.
+
+Half an hour later the Iron Boys staggered into the squalid Olsen home
+under the weight of heavy burdens. Bob Jarvis carried a bag of coal on
+one shoulder; Steve Rush a huge bundle of kindling wood, with a heavy
+basket in his right hand.
+
+"Here we are again," he cried cheerily, as the lads dumped their burden
+to the floor. The doctor was already there, working over the sick girl.
+
+"I must have some hot water, and at once," he said.
+
+"We have no fire, sir," wailed the woman.
+
+"Never mind; we're going to have a fire in two jerks of a lamb's tail,"
+exclaimed Jarvis. "Give me that kindling wood."
+
+Bob was full of importance. He dumped the contents of the bag of coal on
+the floor while Steve was placing the kindling in the stove. In a moment
+the kindling was crackling cheerfully in the stove.
+
+Olsen sat blinking in his chair. Events were moving rather too rapidly
+for his slow-moving brain to follow them, while Mrs. Olsen appeared to
+be dazed by the sudden turn of events.
+
+Steve had dived into the kitchen, returning with a battered teapot, a
+frying pan and some other articles.
+
+"Don't put much coal on, Bob, or you'll smother the fire. This is going
+to be a quick-lunch affair. Where's the forks? Here, Bob; you set the
+table. Why are you standing there doing nothing?"
+
+Mrs. Olsen suddenly realized that she must do something.
+
+"Let me do it, sir. Such work is not for a man."
+
+"You never mind, Mrs. Olsen; you just 'tend the baby. I never had any
+experience minding a baby, but I have had in cooking. I've got some of
+the finest lamb chops here you ever saw, and some other things."
+
+Rush drew from the basket a package of chops. In another package was a
+liberal quantity of steak, which he intended should carry the family
+over for another day. The Olsens looked on in dazed surprise as one
+thing after another was taken from the basket. There were bread, butter,
+vegetables, coffee, tea, canned meats, canned peaches and lastly a can
+of condensed milk. Such a display of good things probably never before
+had gladdened the hearts of the Olsens at one time.
+
+Steve set Bob at work paring and slicing the potatoes they had brought,
+while he proceeded to cook the chops and set the water boiling for the
+coffee. Rush went at the work as if it had been his daily task for
+years. As a matter of fact, he had gotten the meals at home many times
+when his mother had been too ill to do the work, or was engaged at other
+tasks.
+
+"We didn't bring you much coal to-night," said Steve apologetically,
+"because we could not carry any more. You will receive half a ton in the
+morning, and that will keep you going until your husband can earn money
+to buy more."
+
+Mrs. Olsen did not answer, for her emotion was too great for words.
+
+"This child must go to the hospital, if we expect to pull her through,"
+announced the doctor at this juncture.
+
+"All right, doctor; when do you want to take her?" questioned Rush.
+
+"She must go to-night."
+
+"Segunder," said Steve, "we are going to take your little girl to the
+hospital and make her well. You will let the doctor have her for a few
+days, won't you?"
+
+Olsen nodded, and his wife, with a half-startled look, rose and, going
+over to the bed, kissed the feverish face of the sick child.
+
+"You will let her go?" urged Steve.
+
+"I will do whatever you advise."
+
+"That's right," nodded the doctor. "We will have her out safe and sound
+in a few days."
+
+Steve did not know whether they would or not, but he aided in bringing
+cheer to all the household that night.
+
+"Now I think we are ready for supper. These chops are done to a turn,
+and----"
+
+"Here, the kiddie's going to have first shot at the chops!" exclaimed
+Bob.
+
+Picking up a fork, Jarvis speared a steaming hot chop from the pan, and,
+running across the room, held it out for the baby in Mrs. Olsen's arms.
+
+The child extended a chubby fist for the hot morsel, whereat its mother
+uttered a cry of protest and quickly drew the child out of harm's way.
+
+"Mercy! Don't do that! It would kill the little one."
+
+"What, a lamb chop kill anybody? Why, I've eaten hundreds of them, and
+they have never killed me yet."
+
+"What on earth are you trying to do, Bob?" demanded Steve Rush, turning
+on his companion.
+
+"Oh, he wants the baby to eat a chop," answered Mrs. Olsen, half
+laughing, half crying.
+
+"Well, of all the mutton heads!" exclaimed Steve. "Does the baby drink
+milk, Mrs. Olsen?"
+
+"Yes, when we have it."
+
+"Oh, that's too bad. But never mind; I'm going out in a few minutes, and
+I will send in some fresh milk for the little one. Come, now; sit up and
+have something to eat."
+
+The family gathered at the table. The doctor, in the meantime, had
+wrapped the child in blankets, and, telling Mrs. Olsen she might call at
+the company's hospital in the morning to see it, the kind-hearted
+physician strode out of the house with his little burden. It was but a
+short distance to the company's hospital, and he believed he would be
+able to get the child there much more comfortably in his own arms than
+in the hospital ambulance.
+
+With a gladness in her eyes that had not been seen there for many days
+Mrs. Olsen seated herself at the table. Segunder had to be fairly pushed
+there by Steve. Even when the big Icelander had taken his place at the
+table he did not eat. He sat with his big eyes fixed wonderingly on the
+face of Steve Rush.
+
+"Now, you are all fixed and we will leave you. I'll send the milk in for
+the baby as soon as I can find it. I'll get it, even if I have to milk
+somebody's cow on the sly. Segunder, you come to me at the mine in the
+morning, and I will see that you get to work. Good night, all. Come on,
+Bob."
+
+All at once Segunder Olsen's face was buried on his arms on the table
+and his huge frame was shaking with sobs of joy. He understood at last.
+All that had been so unreal to him for the last hour had now become
+sudden, sweet realities.
+
+The Iron Boys hastily left the house, and though neither would have
+admitted it, there was a suspicious moisture in the eyes of each.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXI
+
+                       THE ICELANDER ON THE TRAIL
+
+
+ON the following morning Olsen reported to the mine, as directed by
+Steve. The latter had made some inquiries and the results had aroused
+his suspicion. Barton, the mine captain of the Red Rock, denied that
+Olsen had applied to him for work. He grew suddenly red under Steve's
+questioning. But Steve had Mr. Penton's authority for putting the
+Icelander to work, and the big man, after gripping Rush's hand until the
+boy felt like crying out, went to work with a will.
+
+When Steve went home for lunch he found a note from Miss Cavard in which
+she wrote:
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+"You offered to help me relieve some of our poor, suffering people. I am
+taking you at your word. There is a family in dire distress on Cave
+Street. Their name is Allison. If you will meet me there to-night at
+eight o'clock, we will see what can be done for them. I wish to consult
+with you about some other charitable work, and that is one of the
+reasons I am asking you to meet me as stated above.
+
+                                              "Sincerely, MARIE CAVARD."
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+Steve decided that he would go. There was no good reason why he should
+not, and his heart really ached for the suffering families of the
+striking miners. If there were anything he could do to relieve their
+sufferings he would willingly do it. Already no small part of his wages
+had been devoted to this very work. Bob Jarvis also had contributed
+liberally to the cause.
+
+Nothing of moment occurred during the day. When evening arrived Rush,
+dressed in his best, slipped out, not telling his companion where he was
+going. He found the house of the Allisons without difficulty. Steve
+knocked and was admitted. The hall in which he found himself was dark,
+and the house was as silent as if deserted. The lad did not even see any
+one who might have opened the door.
+
+"Hello, is anybody at home?" he called.
+
+For answer he was struck a sudden and powerful blow. It sent the boy to
+the floor in a heap, where he lay as one dead.
+
+Unseen hands lifted the unconscious lad from the floor, carried him down
+a flight of stairs and threw him upon a pile of straw.
+
+Steve was young and strong, and nature reasserted herself in a few
+moments. He got to his feet unsteadily and began groping about him.
+
+"I--I wonder where I am?" he muttered.
+
+After groping for some time, Rush decided that he must be in a cellar,
+but he seemed unable to find any way out of the place. There were no
+stairs, so far as he could determine, and he had no matches to light
+that he might look about him.
+
+Rush sat down on the pile of straw to think matters over. He understood
+at once that someone had struck him down in the dark hall, but as to the
+identity of his assailant he could not make up his mind. He had a pretty
+clear idea why the attack on him had been made. Yet the more he thought
+over the matter the more perplexed did he become as to certain features
+of it.
+
+All at once the thought of the letter he had received from Miss Cavard
+entered his mind.
+
+"It was a trick!" almost shouted Steve Rush. "She tricked me here for
+that scoundrel brother of hers. They wanted to get me here, so they
+could do me up, and they've won. What a fool I was! But I'll outwit them
+yet. I'll----"
+
+Steve paused as he heard the sound of footsteps over his head.
+
+"Hello, up there!" he shouted.
+
+There was no answer. The boy shouted again and again, but no attention
+was paid to his shouts. Apparently they had not been heard, although
+Steve doubted this to be the case.
+
+Once more Rush tried to find some way out of his prison, but, as before,
+he failed to do so. After what seemed hours of waiting he decided that
+there was nothing to be gained by exciting himself, so he threw himself
+down on the heap of straw, and after a time went to sleep. Being young
+and vigorous, he was not kept awake by his worries.
+
+Steve was awakened in the morning by the sounds of someone shaking a
+stove on the floor above. He listened, and understood that the people
+above were preparing breakfast.
+
+Then the lad realized that he was hungry.
+
+"Hello, up there! Pass down some breakfast, even if you won't let me
+out." Then, in a lower tone: "If anyone comes down here with my
+breakfast, I'll walk over him and out pretty quick. I smell breakfast,
+and it seems to be right here. Whew, but it makes me ravenously hungry!"
+
+Steve's foot at that moment kicked against something that he was sure
+had not been there on the previous night. He stooped over, when all at
+once his hands came in contact with a tin pan.
+
+Rush investigated with more than ordinary curiosity.
+
+"Meat, as I live! And hot, too! Why, the stuff must have been placed
+here within a very short time. And potatoes? Well, I _am_ in luck, after
+all. Evidently my jailers do not intend to starve me to death."
+
+Steve ate with relish, though the meat was tough and the potatoes were
+not overdone. After he had finished the meal he felt better, though he
+would have appreciated a wash. He walked back and forth for an hour or
+so, feeling that he needed the exercise, after which he lay down for
+another nap.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+In the meantime an alarm had been sent out for the Iron Boy. Bob Jarvis
+was sure that something had happened to his companion, as Steve never
+had remained away from home over night before. Jarvis reported the
+absence to the superintendent and a search was made. Late in the
+afternoon Bob, worried and irritable, met Olsen. To the latter he
+explained that Steve was missing.
+
+Segunder listened attentively, but without change of expression.
+
+"Where you think he go?" demanded the Icelander, after Bob had finished.
+
+"I'll tell you, Segunder, I believe that man Cavard has had something to
+do with this affair."
+
+"Huh!" was the only comment made by the giant.
+
+After his day's work had been finished, however, Segunder started off
+downtown. He walked along with lowered head, gazing suspiciously into
+every face he met, as though in search of someone. Olsen continued his
+slow tramping about the village until the supper hour had passed. He had
+no thought for this. His mind was possessed of a singleness of purpose
+that would permit of the entrance of no other thought there.
+
+"You know where boss he stay?" demanded Segunder of the secretary of the
+union, whom he finally met.
+
+"Who do you mean--the superintendent?"
+
+Olsen shook his head.
+
+"Cavard."
+
+"Oh, Cavard, you mean? I left him at Liberty Hall just now. He is
+attending to some of the union's affairs there. You will find him if you
+go there. He isn't going home to supper. What do you want? You're a
+scab! They'll serve you as they did those two scabs Rush and Jarvis, if
+you go there."
+
+"No throw Segunder out of window," grunted the Icelander.
+
+The information that he had obtained did not seem to elate him. He
+turned toward the hall, plodding along with lowered head and set,
+inexpressive countenance.
+
+There was no one to bar his progress up the stairs, and it was well for
+such that there was none. Segunder was going up to the meeting room
+regardless of any obstacles that might obstruct his path.
+
+The Icelander strode into the hall where, with head still lowered, he
+gazed at Cavard with dull, listless eyes. The walking delegate and head
+of the union was absorbed in a litter of documents on his desk. At first
+he did not see Olsen, and there was no one else in the room to inform
+him of the other man's presence.
+
+Finally the big Icelander coughed to attract the other man's attention.
+
+Cavard glanced up; then a scowl overspread his face.
+
+"What do you want here?" demanded the leader, half irritably.
+
+Segunder did not answer.
+
+"I say, what do you want?"
+
+"I want you. I come speak with you."
+
+"Get out of here! I want nothing to do with a scab!"
+
+"I go when get ready."
+
+"You will go now. If you do not move fast enough I will throw you
+out--yes, I'll throw you downstairs head first, or whichever way you
+chance to start. Now go!"
+
+Cavard arose to give emphasis to his words.
+
+"Where you put boy?"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Where you put boy?"
+
+"What boy are you talking about?"
+
+"Where you put Segunder's friend Rush?" demanded the big miner, still
+preserving his stolid expression.
+
+Cavard laughed.
+
+"You must be a fool!" he sneered.
+
+"No. Segunder not fool. You big fool. Where you keep boy?"
+
+"See here, my man; I've heard all I wish to hear from you. I demand that
+you leave this hall at once. I don't know what you are talking about. I
+don't know where the boy Rush is. Furthermore, I don't care where he is.
+If I did know I wouldn't tell you, for it would be none of your
+business."
+
+Olsen nodded reflectively while digesting the words of the walking
+delegate.
+
+"Where you put Segunder's friend, Steve Rush?" persisted the big man.
+
+"I have told you once that I do not know where he is," answered Cavard,
+his face flushing with anger.
+
+"You lie!"
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXII
+
+                        THE BATTLE OF THE GIANTS
+
+
+CAVARD uttered a roar and started to spring from the platform on which
+he had been sitting. In his haste he overturned the table and went
+sprawling on his face with the table on top of him.
+
+At that moment a crowd of union men came trooping up the stairs with
+Mike Caldert at their head.
+
+"Hello, what's going on here?" shouted Caldert.
+
+"It's Olsen."
+
+"Scab! Scab!" yelled the miners.
+
+"He's killed the boss! Down him!"
+
+Segunder did not appear to have heard them. His eyes were fixed on the
+form of the walking delegate, wriggling beneath the table. Cavard
+released himself, and, leaping to his feet, looked about for the man who
+had given him the lie.
+
+"Where is the hound? Let me at him. He called me a liar!" shouted the
+leader.
+
+With a growl the miners surged toward the Icelander, getting between him
+and Cavard as they did so.
+
+"You scab! Where'll I hit you first?" jeered Caldert, making a vicious
+swing at the head of Segunder Olsen.
+
+That was the last conscious moment of Mike for a full half hour. Olsen
+took a step forward, his long arm shot out and Caldert went to the floor
+in a heap.
+
+Olsen faced the crowd, his eyes flashing as they had not done in a long
+time before. With distended nostrils he quietly awaited the rush of the
+crowd of miners.
+
+"Come on, I vait for you!" growled Olsen.
+
+"Sail in, fellows; we'll down the seal-eater. It was a chance blow that
+laid Mike out. Go for him!"
+
+The speaker made a leap for Olsen, then went tottering backward with a
+sledge-hammer blow over his heart.
+
+Still another miner closed in and clinched. Segunder's fists played a
+terrible tattoo on the man's body, causing the assailant to totter away
+groaning.
+
+"Come on, you dogs!" bellowed the Icelander, the spirit of battle having
+by this time taken full possession of him. "I lig you all!"
+
+"Slug him! Slug him all at once!" shouted a voice.
+
+"We can't get near enough. His arms are too long."
+
+Bang!
+
+Segunder received a blow in the side that caused him to writhe with
+pain. He whirled on his assailant with surprising quickness considering
+the Icelander's bulk. His ponderous fist smote the other man between the
+eyes, sending the fellow hurtling clear across the room.
+
+Attracted by the uproar, Bob Jarvis, who had come in search of Olsen,
+had run up the stairs. His eyes quickly took in the situation. Bob could
+scarce restrain himself from rushing into the fray. But as yet there
+appeared no need for him to do so. Segunder was holding his own; in
+fact, thus far he had the better of the argument.
+
+The enemy backed away and consulted for a few brief seconds, then with
+one movement they charged the big man. Men went down like nine-pins. The
+long arms of the Icelander swung wildly but with telling effect. The
+sound of the blows was heard out in the street. It seldom required more
+than one blow from those ponderous fists to unfit the man on whom they
+had landed for further participation in the fight.
+
+"Get into him! Use a club or a knife!" howled a man.
+
+At this juncture Cavard, who had been watching the progress of the fight
+with pale face and blazing eyes, leaped from the platform and began
+forcing his way through the crowd.
+
+Cavard was a big and powerful man. He could hit hard and sure, as some
+of the men there were well aware from personal experience. Segunder saw
+him coming, and a gleam of savage joy lighted up the eyes of the
+Icelander.
+
+The Russian walked more slowly as he neared his adversary. The two men
+eyed each other steadily. All at once the labor leader's right fist shot
+out with lightning-like speed. It caught Segunder on the side of the
+head, spinning him about. Before he could catch his balance Cavard was
+upon him.
+
+Instantly the two men became a whirling, tumbling tangle, arms striking,
+feet kicking, breath coming in quick, short gasps. First Olsen would be
+under; then it would be Cavard's turn.
+
+The others in the room had instinctively drawn back when the battle
+between the two giants commenced.
+
+Cavard loosed his grip on Olsen, endeavoring to get in a telling blow,
+with which he hoped to put his adversary out. But before he could
+strike, Segunder's fist was jammed into his face with awful force. The
+labor leader staggered back with the blood flowing freely.
+
+With a growl of rage Olsen was upon him.
+
+The men clinched and both went to the floor. But, as they fell, Cavard
+had managed to slip a revolver from his pocket. It was now his one
+purpose to bring the weapon into position where he could use it.
+
+"Look out, Segunder--he's got a gun!" shouted Bob Jarvis.
+
+But the Icelander did not need the warning. He had seen the movement and
+he was now struggling to get possession of the weapon before it could be
+turned against him. Cavard was on his back, with his cheek pressed
+tightly against the cheek of his opponent, the Icelander's left hand
+pinioning Cavard's right hand and the weapon to the floor.
+
+With a sudden powerful upward movement of his body Cavard threw his
+adversary off and leaped to his feet. In getting up, however, the
+Russian's weapon was knocked from his hand.
+
+A lithe young figure sprang through the crowd at the instant when the
+miners, believing their leader was seriously hurt, were making a rush
+for Olsen.
+
+The figure was Bob Jarvis. Quick as a flash he snatched the revolver
+from the floor and sprang back again the wall.
+
+"Jarvis! Jarvis! Throw him out of the window. _Kill_ the scab!"
+
+Slowly the weapon in the hand of the Iron Boy was raised to a level with
+the men's heads.
+
+"Stand back, every mother's son of you, or I'll make you look like
+nutmeg graters!" warned the boy.
+
+The men hesitated, then slowly fell back. They saw that the boy meant
+exactly what he had said.
+
+"This is going to be a fair fight, and somebody is going to get good and
+properly pounded. There won't be any foul tactics as long as I've got a
+grip on this revolver," Jarvis warned the crowd.
+
+The combatants were at each other with a rush. Once more they clinched.
+The two desperate men swayed from side to side, neither seeming to be
+able to obtain advantage over the other.
+
+Suddenly the Icelander's arms seemed to relax. He pushed his adversary
+from him, then with all the force in his powerful body, he concentrated
+on a swift blow.
+
+The blow smote the labor leader on the side of the jaw.
+
+Cavard struck the floor with terrific force.
+
+With an animal-like roar the Icelander threw himself upon the prostrate
+body of his antagonist. Olsen, in his terrible rage, had lost all
+control of himself. He was slow to anger, but when once aroused he was a
+wild animal.
+
+Gripping the other man's shoulders, he banged him on the hard floor with
+crushing force. All at once the big, powerful fingers of the Icelander
+encircled the neck of the labor leader. A look of triumph shone in
+Olsen's eyes.
+
+"Segunder!"
+
+It was Bob Jarvis who spoke.
+
+"Segunder, stop! Stop, I tell you!"
+
+But the man was past heeding even if he heard.
+
+Still keeping the others covered with his weapon, Bob Jarvis sprang
+forward, gripping Olsen by the shoulder.
+
+"Segunder! Segunder!" he shouted in the ear of his friend. "Stop! Stop,
+I tell you. You will kill him! You've won. Let go of him, I tell you!"
+
+The Icelander gazed up blankly at the boy bending over him; then he
+turned once more to his punishment of the man beneath him.
+
+Bob tugged to pull him off, but he might as well have tried to move one
+of the mountains of iron on the range.
+
+Something must be done, and that quickly. Bob's mind worked with more
+rapidity than it ever had worked before.
+
+"I hate to do so, but I've got to do it," he muttered.
+
+With that he drew back and struck Olsen two swift blows on the side of
+the head. Jarvis' punch was no light thing. Olsen toppled from the body
+of his victim and rolled over on the floor.
+
+The miners started to pounce upon him.
+
+"Stand back!" shouted Bob. "I'll shoot the first man who makes a move!"
+
+Olsen was struggling to get up. Bob was beside him in an instant.
+
+"Pull Cavard away!" commanded the lad.
+
+No one made a move to do so. Jarvis dragged the unconscious leader to
+one side, then sprang back to Olsen, who was pulling himself together.
+
+"Olsen! Segunder! I hit you. I had to do it, or you would have killed
+him. Come with me. Come _now_! You've whipped him. He won't do any more
+fighting for a while, I'll wager. Come, now--that's a good fellow."
+
+Bob began tugging at the Icelander's arm. Olsen gave ground slowly, his
+eyes fixed on the figure stretched out on the floor. The boy continued
+to urge the big Icelander. A happy thought suddenly occurred to him.
+
+                [Illustration: "Come Help Me Get Rush."]
+
+"Come help me get Rush. I think I know where he is. They've got him
+locked up somewhere."
+
+The words acted like magic on Olsen.
+
+"Rush, Rush, Rush?" he questioned dully.
+
+"Yes, yes! I came for you. Come with me!" appealed Bob Jarvis.
+
+Segunder grabbed the Iron Boy, dragging him down the stairs two steps at
+a jump.
+
+"Where Rush, where Rush?" he demanded savagely as they reached the
+street.
+
+"I have just seen Cavard's sister. She said Steve was to have met her at
+the Allison's last night, but that she had not been able to keep the
+appointment. After thinking it over, the young woman began to think
+there was something strange about the affair, and she hunted me up at
+once, knowing that Steve had been missing all day."
+
+Segunder was off, swinging into his long stride, with Bob Jarvis running
+along by his side.
+
+They reached the Allison home a few minutes later. Bob knocked, but
+there was no response. He tried the door and found it locked.
+
+"Hello, in there!" shouted the lad. "I believe they are not at home.
+What shall we do?"
+
+Olsen knew what to do. He was not to be deterred by a little thing like
+a locked door. Backing off, he threw his whole great weight against the
+offending barrier.
+
+The door burst in with a loud crash.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXIII
+
+                         THE HERO OF THE BRIDGE
+
+
+OLSEN leaped in through the opening, kicking the pieces of the wrecked
+door that interfered with his passage from his path.
+
+Bob darted by him. They ran into the front room, which, in this
+instance, was the parlor, but found it vacant. Next Jarvis dived into
+the dining room.
+
+Allison, a heavy-jowled, powerful man, was standing at bay behind the
+dining-room table. His family were nowhere in sight. The place was
+squalid and poverty was in evidence everywhere.
+
+"We are looking for Steve Rush. Where is he?" announced Bob.
+
+"Get out of my house! I'll have you both sent to jail, you scoundrels!"
+raged Allison.
+
+"I tell you, Rush came to your house last night, and he has not been
+seen since. We want him; we want him quick! It will be the worse for you
+if you don't produce him or tell us where we shall find him."
+
+"I don't know anything about your fool friend. I----"
+
+Bob had the miner by the throat. Allison hurled him aside, grabbing up a
+chair as he did so.
+
+Olsen uttered a yell and charged the miner. The latter made a pass at
+the Icelander with the heavy dining-room chair. Segunder wrenched it
+from his hands. Then he brought the offending chair down on the floor
+with a terrific crash, smashing it into kindling wood.
+
+"I want boy Rush!" he demanded.
+
+"You get out of my house, or I'll bore you full of holes!" yelled the
+miner, at the same time whipping out a knife.
+
+With a well-directed kick Segunder sent the table between them crashing
+to one side. With a leap he landed upon Allison, smiting him a powerful
+blow on the side of the head. Allison went down as a matter of course.
+
+Olsen calmly stooped over, picked the fellow up and threw him out of the
+window, Allison carrying the frame and the glass with him.
+
+"He one bad man," grinned the Icelander. "I smash house down."
+
+Olsen began to destroy the furniture, what there was of it, until Jarvis
+restrained him.
+
+"Don't do that, Segunder. We want to find Steve. I believe he is here
+somewhere. Hark--what's that?"
+
+Olsen listened.
+
+"I heard someone calling, Segunder."
+
+"Hello!"
+
+The voice sounded faint and far away.
+
+"Is that you, Steve?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where are you?"
+
+"I am here."
+
+"Where is here?"
+
+"Down cellar. I can't get out. I think there must be a trap somewhere,
+if you can find it."
+
+"We'll find it. Olsen, he's down below us. If we don't find the cellar
+opening I'll let you try your hand at breaking a hole in the floor,"
+proposed Bob.
+
+Both began searching for the opening. Bob found it, but there was no
+ring in the trap and Olsen solved the problem of getting the place open
+by kicking a hole in the trap, then finally demolishing it altogether.
+
+"Where's the stairs?" cried Jarvis.
+
+"Pull stairs up," answered the Icelander.
+
+Sure enough, such was the case. A short flight of clumsily constructed
+stairs had been pulled up to the floor and secured by a rope that ran
+off to another part of the cellar. Upon investigation they found that
+this rope led up to another trap in the dining room, from where the food
+that Steve had found must in all probability have been lowered.
+
+Olsen did not wait for the stairs to be lowered but squeezed down into
+the hole, dropping to the cellar bottom. Steve ran to him and the big
+fellow hugged the boy delightedly.
+
+"I get. I smash big boss."
+
+"What does he mean, Bob?"
+
+"He means that he gave Cavard an awful beating. But it was a dandy
+fight, Steve. How I wish you could have seen it!"
+
+Steve Rush heard all about the events that had occurred since he had
+been taken prisoner the night before. In turn he related what had
+happened to himself. There was no direct evidence by which they could
+connect Cavard with Rush's capture, but the circumstantial evidence was
+strong. Later in the day Steve went to see the superintendent, and the
+two had a long talk.
+
+Nothing of moment occurred for several days after that. Cavard did not
+appear on the street for nearly a week after the battle, though his
+lieutenants were in conference with him at his home every day. The
+leader had had a beating that he was not likely to forget during the
+rest of his life. His rage was deep and murderous, and as he paced the
+floor of his room he swore vengeance on the Iron Boys as well as on
+Segunder Olsen.
+
+An extremely cold winter was setting in. It was developing into one of
+the most severe seasons ever known on the iron range, and the suffering
+of the families of the miners who were out of work had reached a serious
+stage.
+
+The miners themselves were growing bitter against the bosses and more
+turbulent. It had come to a point where it was not safe for a non-union
+man to appear upon the street. He was in danger of his life if he did
+so.
+
+Steve believed that the men's turbulence was as much due to the subtle
+influence of Cavard as because of their families' sufferings. The armed
+guard about the mine shafts had been trebled, as it was feared that the
+strikers might wreck some of the company's property. What seemed to
+enrage the men more than ever was the sight of the long trains of cars
+that were carrying the ore from the dump pile and transferring it to the
+furnaces in Ohio and in the east. The lakes being frozen over, the ore
+was conveyed all the way to the mills by rail, as is always the case in
+the winter.
+
+Matters were approaching a crisis, as the officials of the mining
+company well realized. Mr. Penton believed, however, that he had enough
+loyal men to hold the others in check and to protect the company's
+property. Steve took a different view of the matter, but he said
+nothing, as it was not fitting for him to suggest what should and what
+should not be done.
+
+Since the boy's capture he had set himself upon Cavard's trail with the
+firm purpose of running the man down and exposing his perfidity. He knew
+a weak spot would sooner or later develop in the leader's defence, and
+when it did develop Steve Rush proposed to be on hand to break through
+the defence at that particular point.
+
+As soon as Cavard was able to be out he began meeting the men at the
+hall, encouraging them and goading them on in his subtle way by pointing
+out that the sufferings of their families were due to the grasping
+avarice of the bosses. A day or so after he got out Cavard made a trip
+to the Blair, an independent mine some ten miles up the valley. There he
+spent the day and part of the night.
+
+Steve did not learn of this until late in the evening. The information
+caused him to wonder what was going on up the valley. He had no doubt
+that something would develop from that visit.
+
+"I ought to go up there and find out what is going on," he confided to
+Bob.
+
+"Why don't you?"
+
+"I cannot leave here. Every loyal man is needed right here every minute
+of the day and night. There is no telling at what moment trouble will
+break loose, and when it comes it is going to come thick and fast, if I
+am any judge of men. The miners are getting desperate. They are going to
+break out, and with our handful of helpers we shall be powerless to stem
+the tide."
+
+"I reckon you're right. When do you think it is coming?"
+
+"It is likely to occur at any minute now--to-night, to-morrow, any time.
+I believe it is a part of Cavard's game to have something like that
+occur."
+
+"I wish I'd let Segunder finish the fellow while he was about it. He
+would have killed the leader in a minute more."
+
+"Bob, how _can_ you say such a thing?" chided Rush.
+
+"Yes; I suppose it is rather a strong statement, but I don't love that
+man Cavard one little bit."
+
+"Neither do I, but that is no excuse for wanting to see him killed. We
+will beat him at his own game, and with his own weapons if we can. If
+not the company will have to get out of its present situation as best it
+can."
+
+"I guess that will be the answer."
+
+On the following day Steve set an inquiry going in another direction,
+having enlisted the services of a man whom he and Bob had sent for from
+the city at their own expense. This man belonged to a private detective
+agency, and Steve had known him before coming to the mines.
+
+There was a long conference, that night, at the house of one of the
+loyal miners, where the detective, Steve and Bob had gone that they
+might not be observed. To have met in the boarding house would have been
+to arouse suspicion, for the strikers had spies in every place of the
+sort. Cavard saw to it that he was kept well-posted as to all that was
+going on.
+
+The conference broke up at a late hour and the boys made their way home
+through back yards and across open lots in order to avoid meeting with
+strikers. It was not that they were afraid, but they were acting the
+part of prudence. They had set out to achieve by their own efforts what
+the company, with all its resources and money, had not been able to
+accomplish, and that was to break the backbone of the strike.
+
+It was a giant's task, it seemed, for two youngsters to attempt, but the
+Iron Boys were determined that it should be done.
+
+The next day dawned raw and blustering. The weather, however, did not
+keep the strikers within doors. Groups were gathered on every corner,
+where, while stamping about to keep from freezing, they discussed the
+situation. Shortly before noon there was a meeting at Liberty Hall. Of
+course the Iron Boys were not present.
+
+When the men came away from that meeting a change had stolen over them.
+They had ceased their noisy threats. Their faces were sullen and their
+words were few.
+
+"Look out for trouble!" nodded Steve, as he observed the men from the
+window of a house across the way.
+
+"Yes; they are loaded for bear," agreed Bob.
+
+"Something has stirred them up. Probably Cavard has been talking to
+them. That man is a fiend in human form. He handles them, makes them his
+playthings, all to serve his own selfish purposes."
+
+The boys came up with Mr. Penton, who was on his way to the mines from
+his office. Steve stepped up to him, touching his hat.
+
+"How are you, boys? I have just closed down the shafts for the rest of
+the day. I don't like the looks of things."
+
+"Neither do I, sir," answered Steve.
+
+"What is it that you have observed?" questioned the superintendent.
+
+"The men are loaded for trouble. Practically we are standing in a drift
+ready to be fired, and when the powder goes off the roof of the drift is
+likely to fall down on our heads and finish us."
+
+"You are right, Rush. I have found your advice good. What would you do
+to cope with the situation, were you the superintendent?"
+
+The superintendent's eyes twinkled.
+
+"What would I do? Why, I'd take the situation by the nape of the neck
+and shake all the fight out of it. In the first place, if I did not have
+enough men to give the strikers all the fight they wanted, I would ask
+the authorities for protection. I believe our property will be destroyed
+if you don't place guards about the mines."
+
+"I am glad to hear you say what you have said," nodded Mr. Penton. "I
+have urged the sheriff to wire the governor to rush a company of militia
+here, and the mining company has backed me up in the request. I dislike
+to do it, but I must protect our property. I presume it will excite the
+men to violence, and----"
+
+"The men cannot be much more excited than they already are, sir. Cavard
+has worked them up to the exploding point. With an honest man at its
+head, a miner's union might be made of real benefit to the men. It's too
+bad that they have fallen into the hands of Cavard."
+
+The boys went on up the street to their boarding house to dinner. There
+was little conversation at the meal, for every man felt that the calm
+before the storm was upon them.
+
+Shortly after one o'clock the men began strolling toward the "ore
+bridge." This was a structure of steel and concrete that the company had
+erected across a mountain gorge, and over which the ore was carried by
+train to the lakes. The ore bridge was the key to the situation. Without
+it no ore could be shipped from either the Cousin Jack or the Red Rock
+Mines.
+
+By two o'clock there were more than a thousand men gathered in the
+vicinity of the bridge. They seemed impervious to the biting cold of the
+winter's day. It was not apparent that the men had any particular
+purpose in gathering about the bridge, but there was little doubt that
+their leader had put the thought in their minds at the noonday meeting,
+whether or not they realized that fact.
+
+Suddenly the men set up a cheer. Cavard, muffled to the ears in an
+expensive fur coat, was seen approaching. He was shaking hands with the
+men right and left as he strolled on toward the bridge.
+
+The men began cheering. Somehow Cavard's appearance seemed to exert a
+strange influence over the miners. His sway over them was absolute.
+
+They began to shout for him to talk to them. Half a dozen men hoisted
+him to a stump. The leader waved his cap.
+
+"Men, you are making a noble fight!" he shouted. "You will yet down the
+bosses and make them come to your terms. We've got them on the run
+already. Their feet are on your necks and on the necks of your families,
+but you will throw the weight off, and when you do, there will be a
+terrible retribution. And what a little thing stands between you and
+that retribution. For instance, men, that bridge there is the key to the
+ore output. That represents the bosses. Of course we cannot interfere
+with their property, but that structure of steel and cement was made
+possible by the sweat of your brows. It was you who mined the ore for
+the steel from which the bridge was constructed. It was you who made its
+building a possibility. And now it rises up as if to mock you. Do not
+misunderstand me; I warn you against violence, but there are limits to
+man's endurance, especially if that man have dependent upon him a wife
+and children."
+
+A low murmur ran over the assemblage. The murmur increased in volume
+until it became a roar.
+
+"Men, men; I beg of you to be calm!" shouted Cavard.
+
+"The bridge! The bridge!" thundered the multitude.
+
+"Down with the bridge!"
+
+"Down with the bosses!"
+
+The mob surged toward the structure as one man.
+
+"Dynamite! Get dynamite. We'll blow it up! We'll teach the bosses a
+lesson that they won't forget!"
+
+Half a dozen men had started away on a run. After a time, amid the
+clamor and the shouting, these same six miners were seen crawling up the
+ravine toward the bridge itself.
+
+"Look! Look!"
+
+The men above had seen them.
+
+"They're going to dynamite the bridge!"
+
+It was true. The great structure that meant so much to the mining
+company seemed doomed to destruction. The ground fairly shook with the
+roar that arose when those above discovered the purpose of their
+fellows. Cavard had disappeared.
+
+At that moment a lad dashed through the mob and out on to the bridge,
+running along the ties a hundred feet in the air.
+
+"Stop! Back, every man of you!" he shouted. "It will be prison for years
+for every man who has a hand in this affair! Call them off! Stop them
+while there is still time!"
+
+"Get off the bridge, unless you want to be blown to kingdom come!"
+roared the crowd.
+
+"Let him blow up! It's what he deserves."
+
+"If you destroy the bridge I shall go with it. That will be murder.
+Those men down there will be hanged for my death. Now, will you call
+them off?"
+
+The mob hesitated.
+
+"_No!_"
+
+Every man of the hundreds took up the cry. Steve Rush stood calmly on
+the bridge, his attention divided between the men creeping up the ravine
+and the mob on the surface. He held a piece of railroad iron in his
+hands, but this was the only weapon he had for his own defence, in case
+the men should decide to rush upon him from the end of the structure.
+
+The dynamiters were nearing the danger spot. Just then a woman fairly
+flew down the short incline that led to the bridge. She did not stop,
+but dashed full speed out to the bridge. Reaching it, she ran with all
+speed to where Steve Rush was standing, exhorting the crowd and pleading
+and threatening.
+
+"Miss Cavard!" he gasped. "You must not stay here. Run for your life.
+Don't you see what the men are going to do?"
+
+"Yes, I'll run, but I would rather stay. Here!"
+
+She thrust something toward Steve--something that she had been carrying
+concealed under her long, black coat. Steve uttered an exclamation of
+joy. It was a rifle. Passing it quickly to him with a box of cartridges,
+the girl sped on across the bridge to the opposite side.
+
+None had seen the rifle change hands. Steve waited until she had reached
+a place of safety; then he stooped over and pretended to pick the weapon
+up from the track. This time he made no effort to conceal it.
+
+"He's got a gun!" roared the miners.
+
+"Yes, and I'm going to use it," shouted the boy. "Call off your
+dynamiters!"
+
+"Hurry! Fire the powder!" was the answer of the strikers.
+
+Rush stepped to the edge of the bridge and looked down. The men were
+attaching the fuses to the sticks of dynamite as they ran.
+
+Steve raised the rifle, took careful aim and fired. The foremost man
+dropped his dangerous burden and uttered a yell. A ball had passed
+through his arm.
+
+"Back, you hounds; or I'll riddle every man of you."
+
+Once more the rifle spoke, but the bullet missed its mark. It had the
+effect of stopping the man who was trying to reach the bridge to plant
+the explosive and touch off the fuse.
+
+The dynamiters backed off. They had not bargained for this. The men on
+the surface made a hostile movement toward Steve, whereupon he threw the
+muzzle of the rifle about, covering them
+
+"Come on; come on, if you want some of the same medicine!" he cried.
+
+Bang!
+
+A yell floated up from the mountain gorge. The Iron Boy had fired just
+in time to head off another man of that little party below. Now he kept
+menacing them with his weapon. Now and then he would send a shot close
+to them when he thought they were getting ready for another charge. This
+continued for fully half an hour, when the dynamiters drew back for a
+consultation. A man was sent to the surface to urge the miners to rush
+the bridge and throw the boy over. But the strikers up there had no mind
+to face his ready weapon at short range. Jeers, howls and cat-calls were
+hurled at the plucky boy who stood there in that wind-swept spot a
+hundred feet in the air with the temperature below zero, unmindful of
+taunts, but alert and watchful.
+
+Five o'clock came, and he was still there. It was getting dark. A few
+minutes more and it would be so dark that the men below would have
+plenty of opportunity to carry out their desperate plan. Steve had six
+cartridges left in his magazine chamber.
+
+He waited and watched. At last he could no longer see the bottom of the
+gorge. Aiming his weapon as nearly as he could judge at the spot where
+he had last seen the dynamiters, he began shooting at intervals, varying
+his aim somewhat with each shot. He hoped to hold them off.
+
+One more shell was left in the gun. Steve was making his last stand. It
+would be a matter of but a short time now before they would have
+accomplished their purpose.
+
+Suddenly a shout rent the air. There was a new note in it. It was not a
+shout of triumph, but of anger and alarm. The boy on the bridge did not
+understand it.
+
+"Run for it. It's the soldiers!" was the shout that was suddenly taken
+up and passed from lip to lip.
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted the lad.
+
+But he had not finished yet. He turned the rifle down into the dark
+gorge and pulled the trigger again. Whether he had hit anything or not
+he did not know.
+
+"Look out for the soldiers!" bellowed a man, leaning over the edge of
+the precipice. "Run for it!"
+
+Steve was bounding toward the end of the bridge.
+
+The soldiers and the sheriff's deputies were coming up at a dog trot.
+
+"Shell the gorge down there. They're trying to dynamite the bridge!"
+Rush yelled.
+
+A moment more and a volley of bullets from the rifles of the guardsmen
+raked the depths of the gorge with a hot fire.
+
+The bridge was saved.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXIV
+
+                               CONCLUSION
+
+
+A GREAT mob was packed in Liberty Hall later in the evening. There were
+no mutterings. The men were sullen and discouraged. Outside the hall was
+a platoon of guardsmen ready to fall in for whatever services might be
+demanded of them. The spirit of the striking men seemed to have been
+broken.
+
+Three of the six who had gone down to plant the dynamite under the
+bridge had been killed by the fire of the guardsmen. Every shaft was
+guarded by armed men, with orders to shoot any man who approached the
+shaft after dark. The company was prepared to keep the siege up all
+winter if necessary, though they promised that, were the miners to throw
+out their leader and elect an honest man, the company might treat with
+them, looking toward a settlement.
+
+The chairman rose. His face was solemn, but his eyes belied the
+solemnity of his face.
+
+"My friends," he began, "the bosses have triumphed over us to-day, but
+we shall down them yet. I have a piece of news for you showing the
+trickery to which they have resorted. The men of the Blair Mine have
+gone back to work. The bosses have done this to tantalize you."
+
+None thought how inconsistent this was. The men began to grow noisy and
+restless after this announcement.
+
+"How do they go back?" shouted a voice.
+
+"At the old terms," answered the chairman. "They gave it up."
+
+"We'll keep it up! We won't give up till we starve!"
+
+"No; down with the bosses! We should get guns and drive these troops,
+these hirelings, from the range. Arm yourselves, men, and assert your
+manhood!" cried another voice, that of one of the leader's lieutenants,
+though he made certain that only a few of those about him observed
+whence the words came.
+
+Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis rose from the corner of the room near the
+stairway unobserved. Steve jumped up on a window-sill, waving his hat to
+attract their attention.
+
+"Men, men! Listen to me!"
+
+There was a sullen roar when the miners discovered who it was, and the
+mob rose to its feet, surging toward Steve.
+
+"Stay where you are if you value your lives. There are fifty rifles
+trained on this hall at this moment. The guardsmen will riddle you with
+bullets if you make a hostile move toward me."
+
+The men hesitated.
+
+"I am your friend, though you do not believe it. I will prove to you
+that I am. Listen to me, boys. Listen! That man," pointing to Cavard,
+"is a scoundrel. It is he who has led you on to this terrible strike. It
+is he who is to blame for the suffering of your families. I tell you I
+know this. I could prove it to you, but there are other things that you
+must know first."
+
+"Speak out. We'll hear you," cried a voice.
+
+"I am going to do so. Your leader has just told you, almost shedding
+tears as he did so, that the Blair Mine had resumed operations. But
+there was something else that he did not tell you. He did not tell you
+that he had had a conference with the owners of the mine, and that they
+had made a deal with him. Money is what Cavard has been working
+for--money and power. He's got the money now, and he doesn't care what
+becomes of you----"
+
+"It's a lie!" shrieked the man Cavard.
+
+"It is the truth. Men, Cavard was paid fifteen thousand dollars by an
+official of the Blair mine last night to call off the strike. I could
+give you the official's name. That fifteen thousand dollars was
+deposited in the bank here to-day. It is here, all here. I have the
+proofs. He is a traitor! He has sold you out at the expense of your
+families. Now, what are you going to do about it?"
+
+With a howl of rage the men turned to the place where Cavard had been
+standing. But the man was gone. He had slunk out under cover of Steve
+Rush's thrilling speech never to be seen in the mining village again.
+Steve had seen him go, but had not tried to detain him.
+
+"What shall we do?" cried the men, when they discovered that their prey
+had escaped them.
+
+"Call the strike off, here and now, and go to work. After all has
+quieted down again, reorganize your union if you wish, and put honest
+men at the head of it. I shall be with you heart and soul, if you are
+willing to do as I have suggested."
+
+There was a moment of silence.
+
+"Rush! Rush! Three cheers for the gamest, squarest boy on the iron
+range!" shouted a miner excitedly, as he sprang to a seat, waving his
+arms.
+
+The audience rose as one man, and the building fairly trembled under
+their roars. They rushed toward the Iron Boys. Bob was caught in the
+crush and pushed half way down the stairs. But the men were not going to
+leave just yet. They were enthusiastically shouting the name of Rush.
+
+Steve was caught up. His hat was lost, his coat was nearly ripped from
+his shoulders, and he was borne in triumph to the rostrum, where they
+tossed him up into the president's chair.
+
+"You're the next president of the miners' union," they howled.
+
+Steve raised a protesting hand.
+
+"No, boys; you must choose an older man than I. You need level heads
+here. Besides, I may not be with you next year, but while I am here I
+shall work for your good. Good luck, boys! To-morrow you will go to
+work, and there will be happiness in your homes on Christmas Day."
+
+The men had seated themselves again. But as Steve finished speaking a
+giant figure rose up directly in front of the platform.
+
+It was Segunder Olsen.
+
+"Whoop! Y-e-o-w!" howled the giant.
+
+The strike was ended. As soon as Steve could get away he hurried to his
+room and went to bed. But his eyes were bright and his heart was full of
+happiness.
+
+On the following day he was summoned to the main office of the company,
+with his companion. Each lad was handed a bank book by the president,
+after the latter had expressed his appreciation of their splendid work.
+The bank books showed that Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis had a thousand
+dollars apiece placed to their credit in the bank.
+
+Their work had been well done. They had done their duty, they had risked
+their lives and they had won. Their patriotism for the great industrial
+cause had carried them on to a triumphant success. Next season they were
+to try themselves out in new fields, where they were destined to
+distinguish themselves in a marked manner.
+
+Their further experiences will be told in a following volume entitled,
+"THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; Or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes." In
+that new life the lads were destined to meet with even more thrilling
+experiences than they had had during their eventful career in the mines
+on the great iron range.
+
+
+                                THE END
+
+
+
+
+                        HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S
+
+                              CATALOGUE OF
+
+                      The Best and Least Expensive
+                          Books for Real Boys
+                               and Girls
+
+
+Really good and new stories for boys and girls are not plentiful. Many
+stories, too, are so highly improbable as to bring a grin of derision to
+the young reader's face before he has gone far. The name of ALTEMUS is a
+distinctive brand on the cover of a book, always ensuring the buyer of
+having a book that is up-to-date and fine throughout. No buyer of an
+ALTEMUS book is ever disappointed.
+
+Many are the claims made as to the inexpensiveness of books. Go into any
+bookstore and ask for an Altemus book. Compare the price charged you for
+Altemus books with the price demanded for other juvenile books. You will
+at once discover that a given outlay of money will buy more of the
+ALTEMUS books than of those published by other houses.
+
+Every dealer in books carries the ALTEMUS books.
+
+
+      Sold by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price
+                         Henry Altemus Company
+                  507-513 Cherry Street, Philadelphia
+
+
+
+
+                       The Motor Boat Club Series
+
+                          By H. Irving Hancock
+
+The keynote of these books is manliness. The stories are wonderfully
+entertaining, and they are at the same time sound and wholesome. No boy
+will willingly lay down an unfinished book in this series.
+
+    1 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; Or, The Secret of
+        Smugglers' Island.
+
+    2 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; Or, The Mystery of the
+        Dunstan Heir.
+
+    3 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; Or, A Daring Marine Game
+        at Racing Speed.
+
+    4 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; Or, The Dot, Dash and
+        Dare Cruise.
+
+    5 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; Or, Laying the Ghost of
+        Alligator Swamp.
+
+    6 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; Or, A Thrilling
+        Capture in the Great Fog.
+
+    7 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES; Or, The Flying
+        Dutchman of the Big Fresh Water.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+                     The Range and Grange Hustlers
+
+                          By Frank Gee Patchin
+
+Have you any idea of the excitements, the glories of life on great
+ranches in the West? Any bright boy will "devour" the books of this
+series, once he has made a start with the first volume.
+
+    1 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE RANCH; Or, The Boy
+        Shepherds of the Great Divide.
+
+    2 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS' GREATEST ROUND-UP; Or, Pitting
+        The Wits Against a Packer's Combine.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+
+
+
+                         Submarine Boys Series
+
+                          By Victor G. Durham
+
+These splendid books for boys and girls deal with life aboard submarine
+torpedo boats, and with the adventures of the young crew, and possess,
+in addition to the author's surpassing knack of story-telling, a great
+educational value for all young readers.
+
+    1 THE SUBMARINE BOYS ON DUTY; Or, Life on a Diving Torpedo Boat.
+
+    2 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' TRIAL TRIP; Or, "Making Good" as Young
+        Experts.
+
+    3 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES; Or, The Prize Detail at
+        Annapolis.
+
+    4 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SPIES; Or, Dodging the Sharks of
+        the Deep.
+
+    5 THE SUBMARINE BOYS' LIGHTNING CRUISE; Or, The Young Kings of
+        the Deep.
+
+    6 THE SUBMARINE BOYS FOR THE FLAG Or, Deeding Their Lives to
+        Uncle Sam.
+
+    7 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SMUGGLERS; Or, Breaking Up the New
+        Jersey Customs Frauds.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+                     The Square Dollar Boys Series
+
+                          By H. Irving Hancock
+
+The reading boy will be a voter within a few years; these books are
+bound to make him think, and when he casts his vote he will do it more
+intelligently for having read these volumes.
+
+    1 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS WAKE UP; Or, Fighting the Trolley
+        Franchise Steal.
+
+    2 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS SMASH THE RING; Or, In the Lists
+        Against the Crooked Land Deal.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+
+
+
+                         Pony Rider Boys Series
+
+                          By Frank Gee Patchin
+
+These tales may be aptly described as those of a new Cooper. In every
+sense they belong to the best class of books for boys and girls.
+
+    1 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; Or, The Secret of the Lost
+        Claim.
+
+    2 THE PONY RIDERS BOYS IN TEXAS; Or, The Veiled Riddle of the
+        Plains.
+
+    3 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; Or, The Mystery of the Old
+        Custer Trail.
+
+    4 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; Or, The Secret of Ruby
+        Mountain.
+
+    5 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; Or, Finding a Key to the
+        Desert Maze.
+
+    6 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; Or, The End of the Silver
+        Trail.
+
+    7 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; Or, The Mystery of
+        Bright Angel Gulch.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+                        The Boys of Steel Series
+
+                           By James R. Mears
+
+The author has made of these volumes a series of romances with scenes
+laid in the iron and steel world. Each book presents a vivid picture of
+some phase of this great industry. The information given is exact and
+truthful; above all, each story is full of adventure and fascination.
+
+    1 THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES; Or, Starting at the Bottom of the
+        Shaft.
+
+    2 THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN; Or, Heading the Diamond Drill Shift.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+
+
+
+                               West Point Series
+
+                              By H. IRVING HANCOCK
+
+The principal characters in these narratives are manly young Americans
+whose doings will inspire all boy readers.
+
+    1 DICK PRESCOTT'S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Two Chums in the
+        Cadet Gray.
+
+    2 DICK PRESCOTT'S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Finding the
+        Glory of the Soldier's Life.
+
+    3 DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Standing Firm
+        for Flag and Honor.
+
+    4 DICK PRESCOTT'S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Ready to Drop
+        the Gray for Shoulder Straps.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+                            Annapolis Series
+
+                          By H. IRVING HANCOCK
+
+The spirit of the new Navy is delightfully and truthfully depicted in
+these volumes.
+
+    1 DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Plebe
+        Midshipmen at the U. S. Naval Academy.
+
+    2 DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Midshipmen as
+        Naval Academy "Youngsters."
+
+    3 DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Leaders of the
+        Second Class Midshipmen.
+
+    4 DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for
+        Graduation and the Big Cruise.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+                       The Young Engineers Series
+
+                          By H. IRVING HANCOCK
+
+The heroes of these stories are known to readers of the High School Boys
+Series. In this new series Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton prove worthy of
+all the traditions of Dick & Co.
+
+    1 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN COLORADO; Or, at Railroad Building in
+        Earnest.
+
+    2 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN ARIZONA; Or, Laying Tracks on the
+        "Man-Killer" Quicksands.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+
+
+
+                        Boys of the Army Series
+
+                          By H. Irving Hancock
+
+These books breathe the life and spirit of the United States Army of
+to-day, and the life, just as it is, is described by a master pen.
+
+    1 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE RANKS; Or, Two Recruits in the United
+        States Army.
+
+    2 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS ON FIELD DUTY; Or, Winning Corporal's
+        Chevrons.
+
+    3 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS AS SERGEANTS; Or, Handling Their First Real
+        Commands.
+
+    4 UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES; Or, Following the Flag
+        Against the Moros.
+
+                   (_Other volumes to follow rapidly._)
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+                       Battleship Boys Series
+
+                        By Frank Gee Patchin
+
+These stories throb with the life of young Americans on to-day's huge
+drab Dreadnaughts.
+
+    1 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS AT SEA; Or, Two Apprentices in Uncle Sam's
+        Navy.
+
+    2 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS' FIRST STEP UPWARD; Or, Winning Their
+        Grades as Petty Officers.
+
+    3 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN FOREIGN SERVICE; Or, Earning New
+        Ratings in European Seas.
+
+    4 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE TROPICS; Or, Upholding the American
+        Flag in a Honduras Revolution.
+
+                  (_Other volumes to follow rapidly._)
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+
+
+
+                        High School Boys Series
+
+                          By H. Irving Hancock
+
+    In this series of bright, crisp books a new note has been
+    struck.
+
+    Boys of every age under sixty will be interested in these
+    fascinating volumes.
+
+[Illustration: The HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN]
+
+    1 THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN; Or, Dick & Co's First Year Pranks
+        and Sports.
+
+    2 THE HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER; Or, Dick & Co. on the Gridley
+        Diamond.
+
+    3 THE HIGH SCHOOL LEFT END; Or, Dick & Co. Grilling on the
+        Football Gridiron.
+
+    4 THE HIGH SCHOOL CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM; Or, Dick & Co. Leading
+        the Athletic Vanguard.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+                       Grammar School Boys Series
+
+                          By H. Irving Hancock
+
+    This series of stories, based on the actual doings of grammar
+    school boys comes near to the heart of the average American boy.
+
+[Illustration: The GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY]
+
+    1 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY; Or, Dick & Co. Start
+        Things Moving.
+
+    2 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SNOWBOUND; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter
+        Sports.
+
+    3 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; Or, Dick & Co. Trail Fun
+        and Knowledge.
+
+    4 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER ATHLETICS; Or, Dick & Co.
+        Make Their Fame Secure.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+
+
+
+                         The Circus Boys Series
+
+                       By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON
+
+Mr. Darlington's books breathe forth every phase of an intensely
+interesting and exciting life.
+
+    1 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; Or, Making the Start in
+        the Sawdust Life.
+
+    2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning New Laurels
+        on the Tanbark.
+
+    3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the
+        Sunny South.
+
+    4 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; Or, Afloat with the Big
+        Show on the Big River.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+
+                      The High School Girls Series
+
+                      By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M.
+
+These breezy stories of the American High School Girl take the reader
+fairly by storm.
+
+    1 GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Merry
+        Doings of the Oakdale Freshman Girls.
+
+    2 GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Record
+        of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics.
+
+    3 GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, Fast Friends
+        in the Sororities.
+
+    4 GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Parting of
+        the Ways.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+                               * * * * *
+
+                      The Automobile Girls Series
+
+                          By LAURA DENT CRANE
+
+No girl's library--no family book-case can be considered at all complete
+unless it contains these sparkling twentieth-century books.
+
+    1 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; Or, Watching the Summer
+        Parade.
+
+    2 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; Or, The Ghost of Lost
+        Man's Trail.
+
+    3 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; Or, Fighting Fire in
+        Sleepy Hollow.
+
+    4 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO; Or, Winning Out Against Heavy
+        Odds.
+
+Cloth, Illustrated                               Price, per Volume, 50c.
+
+
+
+
+                           Transcriber Notes:
+
+Passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_.
+
+Passages in bold were indicated by =equal signs=.
+
+Small caps were replaced with ALL CAPS.
+
+Throughout the document, the oe ligature was replaced with "oe".
+
+Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of the
+speakers. Those words were retained as-is.
+
+The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up
+paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate. Thus
+the page number of the illustration might not match the page number in
+the List of Illustrations, and the order of illustrations may not be the
+same in the List of Illustrations and in the book.
+
+Errors in punctuations and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected
+unless otherwise noted.
+
+On page 43, the period after "they quickly disperse" was replaced with a
+question mark.
+
+On page 65, "flattended" was replaced with "flattened".
+
+On page 72, the period after "the first level" was replaced with a
+comma.
+
+On page 132, a quotation mark was added after "whether it will stand or
+not."
+
+On page 160, "pur-purposes" was replaced with "purposes".
+
+On page 226, the comma after "pulling himself together" was replaced,
+with a period.
+
+On page 250, a quotation mark was added after "on Christmas Day."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Iron Boys as Foremen, by James R. Mears
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN ***
+
+***** This file should be named 38994.txt or 38994.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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