The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills; or, Beginning Anew in the Cinder Pits

  CHAPTER XXI

  RAKED BY THE "PIG"

  "Look!" shouted Mr. Phillips.

  Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as thecloud of steam drifted slowly away.

  "What is it?"

  "There's somebody in the river."

  "It's Rush. Where is he?"

  Mr. Keating was greatly excited. He ran here and there, hoping to get aclearer view of the water.

  "There, there!"

  "Rush! Rush! Is that you?" he called with hands to mouth.

  An arm was raised from the water and waved at them.

  "It's he! He's safe, he's safe, Phillips!" cried the superintendent,dancing about excitedly.

  "Look out, Keating! What's the matter with you? You'll have us both inthe river, the first thing you know."

  The two gray-haired men shook hands, patted each other on the shoulderand laughed like schoolboys in the excess of their joy.

  "Can you swim?" called the superintendent.

  "Yes, I'll meet you on the other side," was the reply faintly borne totheir ears.

  "Come on, Phillips." Mr. Keating started on a run for the other side ofthe river, for which Rush was swimming steadily. The banks were high andsteep on the far side, but there was an excellent beach, so that theIron Boy had no difficulty in making a landing. He was obliged, however,to go around for some distance before finding a place to climb to thetop.

  Arriving finally, Steve found the superintendent and chief engineerpacing up and down the bank waiting for him. They grasped the lad'shands, each seeking to outdo the other in expressing their appreciationof what he had done.

  "But what is troubling us is to understand how you were carried down bythat pig and yet not killed?" questioned Mr. Keating.

  "The pig did not carry me down."

  "It didn't?"

  "Certainly not. This is the only place the pig touched me."

  Steve exhibited a rent in his lower trousers' leg on the right side, andparting this showed them a burn right down the leg. The burn looked aninch deep.

  "Man alive, you must get to the hospital as quickly as you can!"commanded the superintendent.

  Illustration: "Look!" Shouted Mr. Phillips.

  "Yes, I should think I were about finished if I had such a burn as that.The pig raked you there, didn't it?" asked Mr. Phillips.

  "Yes, sir. But it doesn't matter much. It smarts a little, that is all.It isn't the first time I have been burned. Shall we go on to thefurnaces?"

  "We certainly shall not," emphasized Mr. Keating. "You are going to thehospital and have that wound dressed before you get it ground full ofdirt and contract blood-poisoning. We will stop in here at Mr.McNaughton's office."

  Steve did not want them to give so much attention to him. He was anxiousto get to the furnaces and talk over his plan with the chief engineerand the superintendent. Instead, the superintendent was at that momenttelephoning to the company's hospital, ordering a surgeon to come to thedivision superintendent's office to dress a burn.

  The three sat down to talk while awaiting the surgeon. Of course Stevesteered the conversation around to the plan he had proposed. Mr. Keatingwatched the boy's face narrowly. He could not understand how Rush couldsit there so calmly and indifferently with a wound such as he had, butthe only indication that the Iron Boy felt the slightest discomfort wasa twitching of his face, now and then, as sharp pains shot through thewound.

  "You haven't told us yet, how you got out from under the pig, Rush,"questioned Mr. Phillips. "To me that was a most remarkable escape."

  "Not so very. I did the only thing I could do under the circumstances. Idived through the ties under the car. I did not dare jump in either ofthe other three directions for fear the mold would fall on me. The trainwas still moving, so it was a question of taking a chance of being runover by the train or hit by the pig. I decided to take a chance underthe train. Did you see me drop?" asked Steve with a laugh.

  "No; we did not."

  "I must have made an exhibition of myself. I turned so many somersaultsgoing down that I lost myself completely. It was a clumsy tumble."

  The two officials looked at each other wonderingly. At that juncture,Mr. McNaughton broke in.

  "Here's a suit of jeans you can put on if you wish, Rush," he said. "Youlook like a half drowned hen. The jeans are clean."

  "Thank you; I will put them on," answered Steve gratefully. "These wetclothes feel rather uncomfortable against the skin. I shall have to dowithout underclothes until I get home, I guess. Where shall I change?"

  "Go in the wash room there."

  Mr. Phillips mopped his brow after Steve had left the room, then movedover near the electric fan. Mr. Keating was regarding him with an amusedsmile.

  "Rather surprised you, eh?"

  "Keating, that boy has the most remarkable courage of any person I eversaw. It is a courage born of his intelligence. I wish you would let mehave him in my department."

  The general superintendent shook his head.

  "I doubt very much if he would take the position. As I told you, hewishes to learn the mill business, and you and I know that there is onlyone way to do that--to work like a slave, toil from morning till night,doing the work with one's own hands. That is the way you and I learnedthe business."

  "Yes, but you must recollect the work wasn't the same in those days. Wedidn't endure the hardships that the men of to-day endure. Do you objectto my asking Rush if he would like to step into the engineeringdepartment?"

  "Certainly not. I should be glad to see him with you."

  Steve came out in his clean jeans, looking as fresh and cheerful as ifhe had not just passed through such a thrilling experience. The boy'seyes were bright and his face wore a pleasant smile.

  "How do you feel?" asked both men at once.

  "I never felt better, thank you," answered Rush. "Here comes thedoctor."

  The surgeon examined the wound, shaking his head as he finished.

  "You had better go to the hospital and lay up for a day. That is a badburn, Rush."

  "Oh, I couldn't think of it. Dress it right here, and be as quick aboutit as you can, won't you? I've got business on hand this afternoon."

  "The business will keep," retorted Mr. Keating. "You had better do asthe doctor suggests."

  "I hope you will not insist upon that, Mr. Keating. I do not want to lieup. I shall feel much better if I am busy, and if the wound is wellbandaged no dirt can get in it."

  "Is it safe, doctor?" questioned the superintendent.

  "Well, yes, if nothing comes of it," was the equivocal reply.

  "Very well; patch him up. Have your own way, Rush. I suppose you woulddo that anyway. You are a very headstrong young man."

  "I have been told that before, sir, though I do not intend to beheadstrong."

  "No, I understand. You just can't help it; that's all."

  While his wound was being dressed Steve joined in the conversation ofthe officials, though the dressing of the wound hurt him dreadfully.Once or twice he winced, his voice hesitated; then he went on apparentlyoblivious to what the surgeon was doing.

  None of this was lost on the general superintendent and his chiefengineer, and though Steve Rush did not know it, he was making capitalfor himself at a very rapid rate.

  At last, the dressing of the wound having been finished, Steve rose,announcing himself as ready to accompany them.

  "I am sorry to have delayed you so, gentlemen," he said politely.

  "Pshaw!" grunted the superintendent. "It wasn't you, but the pig thatwas responsible for the delay. You are responsible for our being aliveat the present moment. As to whether that is a matter forcongratulation, there might be a difference of opinion."

  The men and the boy left the division superintendent's office laughinghappily, and though Steve Rush was a humble apprentice in the mills,these men treated him as an equal, which they knew him to be. The trioproceeded directly to the furnaces. Though the hour was late they wentimmediately at
the business that had brought them there. Their firstwork was to examine the furnace stoves, to decide where changes wouldhave to be made if it were decided to adopt the new plan. To do this allthree climbed to the top of one of the stoves.

  "Where was it your idea to make your connections, Rush?" asked the chiefengineer. "This might not be a bad place at the top."

  "You know best, but I think I should begin up here with the pipeconnection, carrying the pipe down to the bottom of the stove, withfrequent intakes. There will be no danger of fire getting into the pipe,will there?"

  "No; that can be guarded against, unless there should be an explosion,against which we cannot protect ourselves."

  "It seems to me that an automatic valve might be invented that wouldshut off the feed pipe in case of an explosion."

  "That is an excellent idea. Suppose you try it?"

  "Oh, I am afraid I couldn't do that. I am not a mechanic."

  "Try it," replied the engineer.

  The officials talked rapidly for the next few minutes, as darkness wasfast settling down over the yards, and the flame from the furnacesbegan to cast shadows here and there. Much of the conversation was sotechnical that Steve could only surmise what the men were talking about.At last they concluded their discussion and started away. Steve was leftat the exit from the yards, from where he proceeded on to his boardingplace.

  "Well, Phillips, now that we have gone over this thing, what do youthink about it? Can it be made to work out as Rush believes it will?"

  "Keating, it is the most practicable plan for the utilization of thewaste gas that has ever been suggested to me. I see no reason, now, whywe should not adopt it, nor why the company should not be savedthousands of dollars a year through the change," was the emphaticreply.