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

  CHAPTER IX

  STEVE MEETS WITH DISAPPOINTMENT

  Early on the following morning Steve Rush started out with a list of theother mills in that vicinity, first having called at the Brodskys to getthe names of the other foremen that Ignatz had promised to procure forhim.

  Ignatz was not at home. He had not been home all night and Mrs. Brodskywas greatly worried. So was Steve. He knew that the boy had intended togo directly home and help his mother.

  "I'll tell you what I will do. I will see if I can find him. I was goingon some matters of my own, but they can wait."

  Mrs. Brodsky was profuse in her thanks as Steve started away to look forthe missing boy. Outside, the Iron Boy halted, wondering where he shouldlook. It was quite possible that Ignatz had gone to the mills to work,and in that case Rush would not be able to see him, for the Iron Boywould not be allowed to enter the yards unless he did so secretly, forthe guard would stop him now that his name was not on the list ofemployes.

  Steve thought of the hospital. He hurried there at once. The lad knewall the surgeons and nurses, having become well acquainted with themwhile he was in the accident department.

  "Have you seen anything of a boy named Ignatz Brodsky?" was his firstquestion on meeting one of the ambulance surgeons.

  "Brodsky? Brodsky? Seems to me that was the name of the young fellow Ipicked up in the street last night."

  "Yes; that was the name," remarked one of the young doctors present.

  "Oh, that's too bad. Was he hurt?"

  "Yes, he was unconscious when we brought him here in the ambulance,but----"

  "What was the matter--had he been hurt?" questioned Rush excitedly.

  "Yes, he had been----"

  "How?"

  "When he woke up he said he had been kicked by a horse."

  "May I see him?"

  "He isn't here. He insisted on going to the mills to work this morning.We thought, at first, that he had been injured internally, but I guesshe didn't get a very bad kick, or he surely would not be going to workto-day."

  "Thank you very much. His mother was anxious about him. I will go andtell her that he is all right now," announced Steve, hurrying from thecompany's hospital.

  Rush trotted along and soon reached the Brodsky home, where he conveyedthe news to Mrs. Brodsky. At first she thought the boy was deceiving herand that Ignatz had been really seriously hurt even if he were notalready dead. The woman set up a wail of grief. Steve did not know whatelse to do, so he grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her.

  The shaking evidently had the desired effect, for Mrs. Brodsky ceasedher wailings and began to berate and threaten Ignatz, making promises ofwhat she would do to him when he got home that night.

  Steve argued with her, trying to explain that Ignatz surely could not beto blame. He had been kicked by a horse while on his way home to helphis mother. After a time the Iron Boy left the widow in a muchpleasanter frame of mind. She even smiled at him as he shook hands withher and told her what a good boy Ignatz was and how good he had been tothe Iron Boys.

  Steve went away smiling, but he became thoughtful as he walked brisklyon. He could not understand how it was that Ignatz had been picked up atthe place where the doctor said he had found the boy. Surely he was noton his way home, or he could not have been at that point. Steve was ashrewd boy and he began to reason the thing out. He found himself unableto get beyond the finding of the Polish boy, so he gave up wondering,though he suspected there was something more to the affair than he knewabout.

  Rush boarded a car and started for the Lincoln Iron Works, the nearestshops to where he then was.

  "It is a good, patriotic name," he mused. "Surely I ought to be able toget a job there, if there is anything in a name."

  Reaching the mills he learned the name of the superintendent from thegate-keeper, and thus armed went directly to the office and asked to seethe superintendent. He was requested to state his business, which he didfrankly. The word was soon brought back to him that no men were needed.

  "May I not speak to the superintendent myself?" he asked.

  "No; he has no time to give you," was the answer from thesuperintendent's secretary.

  Rush left the office with a keen sense of disappointment. He decided totry the Republic mills next. To reach them he took a short cut over thehill, finally arriving at the Republic mills four miles away, hot andtired. There he was fortunate enough to catch the superintendent, whowas pointed out to him as he entered the corridor of the offices.

  Rush said he was looking for a place for himself and his companion. Thesuperintendent looked the boy over critically, discovering at once thatRush was no ordinary laborer.

  "Have you ever worked in the mills?" asked the executive.

  "Yes, sir; a short time."

  "Where?"

  "In the corporation's mills."

  "What did you do there?"

  "I was first in the accident department, investigating accidents, and sowas my friend. From that we went into the mills to work. We made thechange from choice, so that we could learn the business."

  "In what department?"

  "We started in the cinder pits, sir."

  "Hm-m! How long did you work in the pits?"

  "Not quite a day," answered the Iron Boy, flushing.

  "Oh! What happened to you then?"

  "We were discharged."

  "For what reason?"

  "Because an untruthful pit boss accused us of blowing up a cinder pit,either through carelessness or with design," answered Rush truthfully."There was not a word of truth in it. If you will give us a place wewill show you that we are all right, and can be trusted to do our workquickly and well."

  "So you tried to blow up the mill in order to learn the steel business,eh? And now you want us to give you a chance to learn at our expense?"

  "Not at your expense; no, sir."

  "Bring me a letter from your employer verifying what you say and I willsee what we can do for you."

  "I wouldn't care to ask it," replied the boy promptly.

  "Nor would I care to take you, under the circumstances," answered thesuperintendent, with equal promptness. "Good day. I have no time towaste."

  The executive hurried out of the office on his way to the mills, leavingSteve standing there with flushed face, uncertain just how he ought toproceed.

  Some of the men standing about were grinning at the boy's discomfiture.Rush turned on his heel and left the office, fearing to trust himself,for fear he might say something unpleasant. He walked proudly away, notstopping until he was well out of the mill settlement. Then he sat downon a rock and thought matters over. This getting a job, after one hadbeen discharged, was not the simple matter that he had thought it. Thesituation was getting serious.

  "But there are others. Surely, I shall be able to find something to doin one of the mills."

  Rush studied his list, and decided to visit the Grey works next. Thatmeant a tramp, unless he wanted to wait nearly two hours for a steamtrain to take him around the base of the mountains, so he set out onfoot again, for a straightaway five-mile tramp.

  It was late in the afternoon when Steve reached the place. He learnedthat the superintendent was out of town. The assistant superintendentwas in the mills, so the boy sat down to wait for him. Hours passed, butstill the Iron Boy sat reading a paper that he had found.

  Shortly after five o'clock in the afternoon the assistant entered theoffice. The mills were closing then; that is, the day shift was comingoff and the assistant was in a hurry to get home.

  Steve caught him before he got into his private office and stated hisbusiness.

  Very much the same conversation ensued as had been the case at theRepublic mills, save that the questions were shot at him at rapid-firerate. He answered them fully as promptly, so that but a few minutes wereconsumed in the conversation.

  "We have no place for you," answered the assistant. "You may be tellingthe truth, and you may not. I haven't the time to inquire whether youare
or not. Go back and tell your story to your own superintendent, andif you are any good he will put you to work again. That's all."

  Once more Rush walked from a mill office beaten, although he did notrealize his defeat. He was tired, though not out of the race yet. He didnot even consider the advisability of taking a train back to Steelburgh.Instead he started out bravely at a swinging gait. A few miles more orless was nothing to this strong-limbed, athletic lad.

  It was after dark when Rush, covered with dust, grimy and tired, swunginto the village and strode to their boarding place.

  Jarvis was waiting for him anxiously.

  "Well, thank goodness you are back!" said Bob, with evident relief. "Ithought something had happened to you."

  "What's new?" interrupted Rush.

  "Nothing. Oh, by the way, Ignatz has been here."

  "He has, eh?"

  "Yes."

  "What did he say?"

  "Nothing much, but he looked as I imagine the last rose of summer didwhen the cool nights came along in the fall," laughed Bob.

  "Is he all right?"

  "No; I told you he didn't look very scrumptious."

  "Did he say what happened to him last night?"

  "Yes, said he got kicked by a horse. But, Steve, I guess that horsestory will bear looking into," laughed Jarvis.

  "That is what I was thinking. Had he been in a fight?"

  "I shouldn't be surprised. His face didn't show it, but he looked prettyseedy. How many jobs did you get to-day?"

  "None," answered Rush rather dolefully.

  "Why not?"

  "They didn't want us, Bob; that is, not without a recommendation fromour last employer."

  "Meaning the Honorable Mr. Watski Kalinski?"

  "Exactly," answered Rush dryly.

  "I should enjoy reading the recommendation that Watski would give us. Itwouldn't be worth much, would it, now?"

  "I guess not," agreed Steve thoughtfully. "Is Ignatz coming in thisevening?"

  "He said he might, though he had to go down town on business, but hewouldn't say what."

  "That rascal is up to something, Bob," said Steve, with emphasis.

  "He surely is."

  "And I have an idea it has to do with us in some manner. I hope hedoesn't mix in this affair. He will only get himself into trouble andmake it harder for us. If you see him first, tell him so. If I see him Iwill give him a talking to. He is a faithful friend, old chap."

  "He is. Reminds me of a dog I had once. The more you kicked him, themore he loved you, and he had sharp teeth, too. So has Brodsky. Say, youdon't suppose he got into a mix-up on our account, do you?"

  "He may have."

  "But tell me about your experience to-day?"

  Rush did so, his friend listening attentively until the story came to anend. Jarvis nodded reflectively.

  "I guess it is the mines for us, as they say in Russia. What do youpropose to do?"

  "The same thing. I am going to keep at it until I get a job for us, if Ihave to tramp up and down the valley all the rest of the summer. It willtake more than one Kalinski to make us change our plans, Bob. Are youwith me?"

  "Up to my neck!" replied Bob earnestly.

  "That's the way I like to have you talk even if it is a little slangy."