CHAPTER XIII

FACING THEIR ACCUSERS

"What--what for?" demanded Rush.

"Yes, what does he want with us?" questioned Jarvis, gazing with suspicion upon the boy.

"Him want to see Iron Boys. Come quick."

"Are you sure, Ignatz?" asked Rush.

"Yes, superintendent him wait by the office."

"But why does he wish to see us?"

"I not tell. Him say I mustn't."

The Iron Boys laughed at this.

"I guess it is all right, Bob. Our friend has given himself away. I shouldn't be surprised, however, if Mr. Keating were sending for us to express his disappointment at our failure to make good. When did he return from his trip, Ignatz?"

"Last night."

"You seem pretty well posted," laughed Rush, bending a keen glance on the excited face of the boy. "Very well; we will go with you, although I rather dislike to do it. It seems as though we were begging to be taken back, whereas we know that such is not the case."

On the way to the office of the mining company Steve sought to draw out Brodsky as to the causes that had led up to Mr. Keating's sending for them, but Ignatz was as uncommunicative as a Chinaman. He appeared almost idiotic in his ignorance. This brought a smile to the face of Steve. He knew the Pole had had some hand in the affair, and Steve shrewdly suspected that the boy was directly responsible for the summons they had just received. However, he pressed his inquiry no further. They would soon know, for they were ascending the steps to the office building.

Rush entered the reception office, sent in his name and was bidden to enter. This he did, followed by Jarvis, and, bringing up the rear, was Ignatz Brodsky.

"How do you do, lads?" greeted the superintendent cordially. "Will you be seated?"

Mr. McNaughton, at the first glance, was somewhat taken aback. Here were two well-dressed, gentlemanly young men. The boys whom he had discharged had been clad in their rough working clothes, hair unkempt and faces streaked with the soot of the mills. There was honesty and manliness in both faces now, though the face of Bob Jarvis was considerably the worse for wear, between his late accident and his battle with Kalinski. The lads seated themselves as requested by the superintendent.

"Brodsky tells me that you wish to see us, sir," said Rush, after greeting the division superintendent.

"Yes, I do. What is this I hear about you boys having been discharged?"

"I think Mr. McNaughton can answer that question, sir," replied the Iron Boy, with the suspicion of a twinkle in his eyes, as he glanced at the division superintendent. The twinkle was not lost on Mr. Keating, and he nodded, while McNaughton flushed half angrily.

"Mr. McNaughton dismissed you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why?"

"I presume he thought we ought to be discharged."

"You are evading the question."

"I have no such intention, sir. What is it you wish me to say?"

"Tell me the story as it is. It is quite evident that there has been a misunderstanding here. Mr. McNaughton has been misled by some one."

"I will tell all I know about it, and exactly as it occurred. We began our work, evidently having incurred the dislike of the foreman and the pit boss before we even started in the pits."

"Why should you have gained their displeasure?" interrupted Mr. Keating.

"I can only surmise. The foreman was enraged when, as an inspector in the accident department, I made a report which brought criticism down upon him and led to his being reduced."

McNaughton nodded. Already he began to see a light.

"Now we are getting down to cause and effect," announced Mr. Keating, shooting a swift glance at his division superintendent. "Go on."

"The two men began making it uncomfortable for us at once. But I dislike to say these things. It sounds as though we are whining. We don't intend to do anything of the sort. We are willing to take our medicine and smile, no matter how bitter the dose."

"Go on!"

Steve proceeded to relate the differences they had had with Foley and Kalinski, but through it all he did not mention the names of the foreman and the pit boss. From this he went on to tell what he knew about the warning, the hurrying away of the two bosses and the eventual explosion of pit number eight.

Bob Jarvis was asked to give his version of the affair relating to the explosion only, which he did, pointedly and concisely. To a fair judge of human nature there was no doubt at all as to the truth of the story the boys were telling.

"Now, Jarvis, you say that you did not know you were doing a dangerous thing when you put the whole stream of water on the pit, do you?"

"Do I?" repeated the boy.

"Yes?"

"Do you think I would be foolish enough to blow myself up, just for the sake of feeling myself going up?" demanded the Iron Boy, with a belligerent tilt to his chin.

Mr. Keating leaned back, laughing heartily.

"Well, candidly, I don't, though I do not think even that consideration would stop you if there were any good reason for your blowing yourself up."

"I suppose you are not so far wrong at that," muttered Bob, coloring.

"There is another point that I should like to ask you about," said Mr. Keating, turning to Steve.

"Yes, sir."

"How much truth is there in the statement that you two assaulted Kalinski in the street last night, beating him so badly that he was unable to report for duty this morning? He is in the hands of a doctor, I understand."

Steve colored again, and Bob laughed bitterly.

"All lies!" exclaimed Brodsky.

The two superintendents turned sharply. They had not noticed his presence before.

"Brodsky, what are you doing in here?" demanded Mr. Keating.

Ignatz did not answer.

"If you speak again, until you are spoken to, I will call the officer and have him put you out."

Ignatz subsided, settling far down in his chair.

"It is both true and untrue."

"Explain."

"I will do so, though I was not present at the beginning of the trouble. Jarvis can better tell you more about that than I, and I do hope that what we say will not get our friend, Ignatz Brodsky, into trouble. He is a faithful friend and an honest, well-meaning boy."

"I will decide that when I hear the story. Jarvis, you may tell it."

"It was this way," began Bob. "I--we--had been suspecting that Ignatz was watching Kalinski and Foley ever since we were discharged from the mill. He took our dismissal very much at heart. He got hurt on the street, the other night, and said he had been kicked by a horse. I suspected that it was a two-legged horse that had kicked him. Last night, as I was walking along, I saw Ignatz. I followed him. Then, soon after, I saw Kalinski coming from the post-office. Both men stopped and then I began to understand what was in the wind. Well, sir, they sailed into each other without a word----"

"Who started the fight?" interrupted Mr. Keating.

"Both," answered Bob promptly.

"Go on."

"I didn't think it was my business to take a hand, though I wanted to. The little fellow held his own pretty well for a time, but the boss was too big and strong for him. Then Kalinski knocked the boy down, and began to kick him."

"The ruffian!" exclaimed Mr. Keating.

"Yes, sir, that's what I thought; and not a man of the crowd that had gathered went to the boy's assistance. They seemed to think it was a barrel of fun. Well, sir, you know I couldn't stand for that."

"I should say not."

"I just sailed in, and we had it right and left all over the street. He had a sore nose and I played a tune on that for a little while. I had a sore head, where I got burned the other day in the mill, and Kalinski played rag-time on that. After awhile there wasn't any more music left in either of us, except in our ears. Mine were ringing like a church bell at Christmas time."

By this time both superintendents were laughing at the humorous recital of the Iron Boy. Even Steve Rush was smiling, despite his efforts to be serious.

"What next?" questioned Mr. Keating, brushing his hand across his face to hide his laughter.

"I wound up with a tattoo on his face, and Kalinski went to the ground, and I didn't kick him either. It came pretty close to being a fight."

"I should say it was a real fight," remarked the superintendent dryly. "Then Rush had no part in it at all?"

"He came in when we were having it hardest, and the crowd was getting ready to jump on me because they saw I was getting the best of the pit boss. Rush held the crowd back so I should have fair play; that's all."

"What was Brodsky doing all this time?"

"He was shouting 'liars!' most of the time. But when he saw that the crowd were going against me, he called 'police,' and the crowd ran away. (Much obliged, Ignatz. I hadn't thought to thank you for helping me out before.) I had to do it. You would have done the same as I did, Mr. Keating, because you're a man----"

"You're right, I should have, Jarvis!" exclaimed the superintendent, bringing the flat of his hand down on his desk with a resounding whack.

"At any rate, you can't fire me because I'm not working for you any longer."

"Oh, yes, you are. McNaughton, what do you think about these boys now?" demanded the general superintendent, turning to his division superintendent.

"I don't think; I know. I have done these boys a very great injustice and I am willing and ready to make amends in any way that I can. I don't know how I could have been so deceived."

"Naturally, not knowing them, you took the word of your foremen. I am not inclined to blame you under the circumstances. But, boys, I am sorry this has happened. I apologize to you, for you have been very badly used. Do I understand that you have taken another place?"

"Yes, sir; that is, we can have the place if we wish it. There is no obligation on our part to go if we do not wish to."

"Why did you not come straight to me with your story at once?"

"It did not seem right to go over Mr. McNaughton's head. It seemed an unmanly thing to do."

Mr. Keating nodded at the other man, as much as though to say, "I told you so." What Keating said aloud was:

"Not many would have followed that course, McNaughton."

"No, sir," agreed the assistant superintendent.

"We shall have to take some action in the cases of Foley and Kalinski. Each is equally to blame."

"Yes, sir."

"My inclination is to dismiss them summarily. Have they families?"

"Yes, sir; large families."

"Hm-m-m," reflected Mr. Keating. "That makes it rather difficult to do with them as I otherwise should. However, they must be punished. I'll tell you; they must both be reduced to the ranks. I do not want any such men in positions of responsibility in mills of which I am the head. It is not safe. Put them at whatever they can do."

"They will quit, sir."

"Let them! I hope they do. It relieves me of a disagreeable job that sooner or later it will be necessary to tackle. Brodsky, you are a good boy. I shall look into your case and see what can be done for you."

"Then do we go to work?" asked Jarvis.

"You are at work already. I will see to it that you are paid for the time you have been off. It was a rank injustice. But I am going to shift you to another department. How would you like to try the blast furnaces?"

"We are ready to go wherever you put us," answered Rush.

"You proved that by taking the job in the pits. That will take them out of your department, McNaughton."

"Yes; I am sorry, too, for I rather hoped to be able to make up for my shortcoming in this matter."

"You were not to blame, sir," said Steve. "We are very grateful to you for your kind words to-day. Shall we begin in the furnaces to-morrow, Mr. Keating?"

"No, Monday will do. In the meantime I will have your time corrected, so that you will have lost no time by the mistake that threw you out. McNaughton, you will attend to Foley and Kalinski at once?"

"Yes, sir."

The Iron Boys rose.

"Thank you, Mr. Keating. We are more grateful than we know how to express. We will show you that we are both appreciative, and I hope you won't have to be told that we are not doing our duty."

Bowing their thanks the boys left the office, Brodsky having already sneaked out ahead of them. They espied him lurking around the turn in the hall, watching for their coming.

"Ignatz, you rascal!" called Bob. "I ought to give you a good thumping. You don't deserve to be let off with a scolding. How would you like to have me tell your mother you have not been at work to-day?"

"She know when she git my wages."

"No she won't," interjected Steve, "for I am going to pay your wages for just this one day. You come with us. We are going on a picnic."

Three happy boys started off for a place they knew of up the river, where they were going to spend the afternoon. Steve bought some cakes and sandwiches at a baker shop, and a few bottles of mineral water, then off they went for their holiday.