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.

"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.