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

  CHAPTER IV

  LAYING HANDS ON THE BOSS

  It was Foley's place to order the pit boss to let the boys alone andattend to his own business. Instead, Foley turned and walked away. Hedid not go far, however. He made his way to one of the open-hearthfurnaces, where, unobserved, he peered around the corner of the red-hotpile of brick.

  Rush saw that an encounter was unavoidable. He was sorry, but he decidedquickly to avoid coming to blows if possible.

  Kalinski had stooped over to pick up a shovel. In his rage he was goingto attack the boys with it. Steve was out of the pit in a flash.

  "Keep out of this, Bob, unless the others mix in. I'll take care of thatfellow."

  When Watski straightened up he found the Iron Boy standing over him witha pleasant smile on his face.

  "I wouldn't do that, were I in your place, Kalinski. I tell you it wasan accident, and I am sorry I threw the cinders over you. I give you myword that it was an accident."

  Watski dropped his shovel, and uttering a yell of rage, struck at Steve.The blow, had it reached its mark, would have knocked Rush backwardinto the hot cinder pit. He dodged the blow, however; then suddenlyWatski Kalinski found his wrists in a grip that made him writhe. TheIron Boy's thumbs were pressing on sensitive nerves.

  "Ouch! Ouch!" howled the Pole.

  Foley, in his wonder, forgot to hide himself. He stepped from theprotection of the furnace.

  "Leggo my wrists! Leggo, I tell you!"

  "Will you behave yourself if I----"

  "I'll knock your head--ouch!"

  The tears were actually running from the eyes of the pit boss. He wassuffering great pain. But he got no sympathy from the mill hands who hadgathered about. They were laughing and jeering at him, not especiallybecause they sided with Rush, whom they did not know, but becauseKalinski was not popular among them.

  At this juncture Bill Foley came running forward. He saw that his pitboss was getting the worst of it, and that Rush would soon gain thesympathy of the crowd. He did not wish this to happen. Had it been theother way Foley would have been perfectly satisfied.

  The furnace foreman dashed around the pit, headed for the humiliatedboss. Jarvis saw him coming. Bob stepped in front of Foley.

  "What are you going to do?" demanded the lad.

  "Get out of my way before I hurt you!"

  "And you keep out of this, or I'm likely to forget myself and hurt you.You know it wouldn't look well to have the foreman licked by one of hismen," grinned Jarvis.

  Foley gazed at the Iron Boy in astonishment. All at once he raised hisfoot, delivering a vicious kick. The foreman never quite understood howit happened, but the next second he found himself falling backwards intothe pit, while the mill hands set up a roar.

  Jarvis had been on his guard. When the kick was delivered, he caught theankle of the foreman, giving it a quick jerk that threw the fellow offhis balance. There could be but one result. Bill toppled over backwards,landing on his head in the pit.

  "Get him out of there! He'll burn to death, Bob," warned Rush.

  Bob helped the foreman out, but with reluctance.

  "It would serve you right if you did burn. But don't you try any of yourfunny business on me again. You won't get off so easily if you try it onanother time."

  "Kalinski, do you think you can let us alone if I release you now?"questioned Steve.

  The Pole did not answer, but if there ever was murder in a man's eyes itwas in Kalinski's. Steve put on a little harder pressure.

  "Yes, yes; leggo! I don't want anything to do with you. I----"

  Rush released the man instantly. At first the Pole acted as though hewas about to spring upon his remarkable young antagonist. He seemed tothink better of it, however, after a glance into the unsympathetic facesabout him, then into the smiling face of Steve Rush.

  "Will you go to work, or must I throw you out of the mill!" snarledKalinski.

  "We shall be glad to go to work if you will let us alone. I wonder whatthe superintendent would say if he happened along about this time?"

  "I shall fine both of you two days' pay," announced Foley, making amemorandum in a soot-soiled memorandum book.

  "Very well, sir. That is your privilege. It is ours to protest, if wethink best, which is not saying that we shall. We have been used mostdisgracefully, and----"

  "You didn't think of that when you got me into trouble, did you?"sneered the foreman.

  "So that is where the shoe pinches, is it? I begin to understand. Youpropose to get even with us? Well, all I have to say is that I shouldadvise you not to try it. We have come here to work, and at our ownrequest. If you become unbearable I warn you we are perfectly able totake care of ourselves, and we shall do so. We don't propose to submitto any insults from you or any one else, Bill Foley."

  "Just put that in your pipe and smoke it!" chuckled Bob.

  Steve was at work again. Jarvis slowly followed his companion to thepit, where both lads stood on the plank and shoveled out cinders. Theygave no further heed to the foreman or the pit boss. The latter two haddrawn back some little distance, where Kalinski was gesticulating andtalking to Foley with considerable emphasis.

  In a little while the shovelers had gotten down to where the pit wasaglow with coals. The plank beneath their feet began to blaze up, thesmoke getting into their mouths and noses, setting the lads to sneezing.

  "I am going to get out of here," announced Bob. "This is worse than thestoke-hole."

  "Oh, pshaw, it isn't nearly so hot, though it is about as dirty. I know,though, that the men do not work in a pit as hot as this one is. Theremust be some other way out of the woods. Yes; we will climb up now. Weshall be burned to cinders soon if we don't."

  "Is that a joke?" demanded Jarvis.

  "Is what a joke?"

  "Burned to _cinders_."

  "Certainly not," answered Steve, placing the plank against the side ofthe pit. "Go on, Bob."

  The latter lost no time in crawling from the hot hole. They were met byKalinski at the top.

  "Well, what is it now?" he growled.

  "Isn't there some way of cooling that pit off a little? We can't workdown there, or dig any deeper, until it gets cooler. Why, it will burnthe clothes from our backs."

  "Hope it does! Hope it burns you up," snarled the pit boss.

  "I hope you haven't got your wishing cap on," answered Jarvis, with agrin that was intended to be humorous. "If you have, I'm through."

  "Can you not put some water on the cinders? I see a hose right here,"added Steve.

  The boss saw that the boys were determined. He knew that there would beno more work done in the pit that morning, unless the pit was madelivable for the men. He could not afford to have the work delayed, forthat would reflect on him.

  Watski took up the hose sullenly, turned a tiny stream, and with afinger over the nozzle gently sprayed the bed of hot coals. A cloud ofsteam shot up into the air, whereat he shut off the water instantly.Steve was watching the process interestedly.

  "I wonder why he doesn't turn the water in full force?" mused the boy.He would not ask questions of the surly Pole, preferring to pick up whathe could by observation. Bob had sat down on the floor, where heexamined his burned clothes ruefully, at the same time gently rubbingthe blistered spots on his skin.

  "I wish I dared throw that animal into the pit head first," mutteredJarvis, eyeing the pit boss resentfully. "I wonder why they have such abeast at the head of anything."

  The rumble of the charging machine, as it thundered along the tracks onthe other side of the open-hearth furnaces with its load of pig iron andscrap for the furnaces, attracted Bob's attention for the moment. He wascalled to attention by the voice of the boss.

  "Rush, get in there. It's cool enough now. Look here, you," he added,addressing Jarvis, surveying the lad from head to feet as if trying todecide upon the most vulnerable part of the young man's anatomy for anattack.

  "I'm looking. What's the answer?" retorted Jarvis, gazing into the eyesof
Kalinski.

  "There ain't room for two such lummoxes as you in that pit now. You takethe next one on number eight furnace."

  "Is it as hot as this?"

  "Hotter."

  "Then I guess I will wait until it cools off," answered Bob, sittingdown again.

  Watski's face showed a dull red under the cinder soot.

  "You get up and go to work, unless you want to lose your whole week'swages. What do you think this is--a baby hospital?"

  "I didn't know but it might be, seeing you live here," retorted Jarvis,taking his time at getting up, but keeping a weather eye on Kalinski,who had a habit of suddenly forgetting himself, as Jarvis already haddiscovered.

  "Shall I cool the pit off?"

  "How?"

  "With the hose."

  The pit boss grinned.

  "Think you can do it?"

  "Of course I can do it. It doesn't take any great amount of skill orintelligence to handle an inch hose, does it?"

  "Use it if you want to, but remember I warned you."

  "Against what?" demanded Bob, eyeing the boss half suspiciously.

  "Against using the water."

  "Pshaw!"

  Jarvis went over to the tap, turning on a full stream of water. When hestraightened up he saw that Kalinski was walking rapidly away, sorapidly, in fact, as to be almost on a run. Bob gazed after himinquiringly.

  "I wonder what ails that Indian?" muttered the lad. "He seems to be in agreat hurry about something."

  Bob's attention was attracted to the water, which was now spurting fromthe nozzle of the hose, the stream shooting right over where Steve wasat work, sending a shower of fine spray down on him.

  "Hey, what are you doing up there?" he shouted.

  "Watering the plants," scoffed Jarvis.

  "You just turn that hose the other way unless you are looking fortrouble. Why don't you get to work?"

  "Going to. I am at work already."

  "Where is Kalinski?"

  "He was sprinting down the shop the last I saw of him. He seemed to bein a mighty big hurry about something."

  Bob dragged the hose over to the pit behind open-hearth number eight.Then he began playing the stream on the cinders full force. He did notknow that this was a very dangerous proceeding. No one had told him, andthe pit boss had merely intimated it when he said, "Remember, I warnedyou."

  "This is fine," grinned the boy. "I could do this all day and not get astitch in my back. Guess I will wet my legs."

  He turned the hose on his blistered legs, the water feeling cool andrefreshing, for the lad's burns were becoming more and more painful asthe dust from the mill settled into them.

  Jarvis shifted the nozzle to the other side and bathed the other leg, atthe same time keeping a watch for the boss. The latter was nowhere insight. He had gotten well out of harm's way, evidently knowing what wasabout to happen.

  Having bathed himself to his satisfaction Jarvis began playing the hoseon the cinder pile. The first contact of the water threw up a greatcloud of steam, followed by a sharp, hissing sound. Steve knew by thesound that the other pit was being wet down, but it did not occur tohim, either, that there was any danger in the operation. In fact, he wastoo busy shoveling the cinders from his own pit to give much attentionto what was going on in the other.

  Bob was humming softly to himself as he played with the stream, firstsending it straight up into the air so that the spray covered a widearea by the time it reached the floor of the mill. No one chanced to getwet, however, save the two boys, Bob being the more so because he wasright under the shower. Next he turned the stream straight into the pit,driving it down in one place, trying to bore a hole in the cinders andslag.

  "Say, Steve!"

  "What?"

  "What do you think about----"

  Puff!

  A slender column of black smoke shot up from the centre of the pit thatJarvis was watering down. The lad stared at it in surprise.

  "Look at the geyser!" he shouted.

  Boom!

  The ground under Bob Jarvis's feet rocked liked a cradle. A great, blackcolumn rose from under his very feet, lifting him from the floor andhurling the boy straight up into the air.