CHAPTER XXIII

AN UNLOOKED-FOR PROMOTION

Several days later, Steve and Bob were invited to the home of the chief engineer to spend the evening and to take dinner with him. They were greatly surprised at the invitation. At the same time they were informed that permission had been obtained from the superintendent for them to remain away from their work.

The Iron Boys were pleased, yet they did not exactly like the idea of losing a night's work. They were not there for social reasons; they were at the mills for a well-defined purpose--a purpose with which nothing must interfere.

The boys talked over the invitation for some time before finally deciding to accept. Steve thought that perhaps it were best. Mr. Phillips had taken such a kindly interest in them. The boys valued the friendship of the chief engineer and the superintendent, and they were beginning to look to the latter for advice and suggestions relating to their personal affairs.

"All right; we will go," decided Rush. "Behave yourself, Bob," he warned.

"Don't I always?" demanded Jarvis.

"You're open to suspicion, at times."

That night found them at Mr. Phillips' home, dressed in their best. Their host was justly proud of his young guests. He introduced them to his family, consisting of his wife and two daughters; and the Iron Boys appeared as much at their ease as though quite used to going out in society. They surprised even Mr. Phillips. Bob Jarvis never had appeared to better advantage, though he had not yet grown a fresh crop of eyebrows since his entanglement with the hang-over at the top of number four.

After dinner the boys were invited to the engineer's library, where the blue prints of the new plan lay spread out on a flat-top desk. Steve recognized them at once, and he drew the swift conclusion that their invitation there that evening had to do with the proposed improvements.

Cigars were brought out and offered to the boys, which they politely declined, whereat Mr. Phillips nodded approvingly.

"There are a few questions I should like to ask you about certain phases of this work," he said sitting down and drawing the blue prints toward him.

Steve and Bob stepped up to the desk. Mr. Phillips asked them how they would guard against this or that contingency; how many men could work to advantage, and questions that Steve Rush knew very well the chief engineer could answer better than they possibly could.

"He's putting us out on the firing line for some reason," thought the boy. "He is getting at something. I wonder what it is?"

Jarvis was beginning to arrive at the same conclusion, for Bob was a shrewd boy, too, and could read between the lines, if the lines were not too close together.

Other questions of a similar nature were asked, all of which the boys answered, discussing the work intelligently and to the point.

From that the engineer went on to a discussion of the mines where the Iron Boys had been employed before coming to Steelburgh. Little by little he drew out the story of their work and experiences on the iron range in the north country. He became deeply interested, and before the lads realized that they had done so, the story of their career, up to the present, had been told.

"Then you both have had experience in managing men?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," answered Steve.

"I am glad of it, for it makes easier what I wish to do. My invitation to-night was not wholly without purpose."

"I am aware of that, sir," smiled Rush.

"Oh, you are, eh?"

"Yes, sir."

"What is my purpose?"

"I am sure I don't know. I knew you were drawing us out for some reason. I did wonder what it was."

"You are shrewd. Yes, I have been drawing you out, partly because I knew your story was an interesting one, and also because it might have a bearing on what I had in mind."

"Yes, sir."

"Would you lads consider dropping your mill work for a time?"

"What to do, sir?"

"To help put through this new plan of yours, to come directly to the point. When the work is finished you may return to your mill jobs if you wish, though I should like to make a proposition to you to join my department. There is a prosperous future in it."

Steve reflected over what the engineer had said. There were reasons why he wanted to accept, and others why he did not believe it would be wise. Jarvis left the whole matter in the hands of his companion, and he said so when Steve asked him for his ideas on the subject.

"Very well, Mr. Phillips; if you think we shall be of any service to you we shall be glad to aid you to the best of our ability. I am afraid you are overrating our abilities. This will be new work for us and the probabilities are that we shall not make a very brilliant success of it."

"I am willing to take the risk. You don't ask what I want you to do?" smiled the chief engineer.

"It doesn't matter. Whatever you think we can do best we will gladly do."

"That's the sort of talk that I like to hear. I'll tell you what I wish you to do. I am going to make you two young men foremen in full charge of the work, under myself and my assistant engineers, of course. How does the proposition strike you."

"Why--why, Mr. Phillips," stammered Steve.

"This is so sudden," murmured Jarvis under his breath; but the chief engineer heard him and laughed, much to Bob's confusion.

"I am afraid you have given us a rather large contract, sir," continued Rush. "Don't you think you could find some one much better fitted for the work than we are?"

"I am taking all the chances. That I am willing to do so should be evidence to you that I know what I am doing."

"Very good, sir; we shall do our best to merit your confidence. Is there any time limit on the work?"

"That is the point exactly. The work must be done within the next two weeks. The board has fixed that time limit. Now that they find they will be able to save money by the new arrangement, they are anxious to get the plan in working order at the earliest possible day. It is my plan to make each of you a foreman, and to let you arrange the work to the best advantage. How will you work it?"

"Work from opposite sides of the river," answered Steve. "Jarvis on one side and myself on the other. While the men are building the abutment in the middle of the river we can be running the line to the furnaces and to the gas engine house on the other side. In the meantime your experts can be making the connections at each end, so that there shall be no loss of time at any given point."

"Fine, fine!" nodded Mr. Phillips. "That is a most excellent plan. It's good generalship, and that is what counts in the battles of the industrial world, as well as the battles between the armed powers of the world."

"When do you wish the operations to begin?"

"To-morrow morning."

"Will Mr. Keating permit us to drop our work at the furnaces?"

"That has been arranged. You are free to start in to-morrow."

"Is there any increase in pay for the new work? Of course it is worth more than what we have been doing."

"Certainly. You are perfectly right in raising this question. I took it up with the superintendent this afternoon. We decided that twenty dollars a week would be a fair figure for the work while you are at it. Will that be satisfactory."

"Yes, sir," answered the Iron Boys together. "I presume you will have the men assigned from the different departments. You see, we do not know them and should not be able to gather a force suited to our requirements."

"That has been attended to also."

"One other thing Mr. Phillips; you will leave us free to get rid of any men who do not measure up to the work, will you not?"

"Yes, sir. Any man that you do not want on the job, get rid of him. I think I see two gangs working as perhaps they never worked before," added the engineer with a smile.

"They will have to earn their wages, just as we intend to do," announced Steve.

Mr. Phillips nodded approvingly. He considered himself especially fortunate in getting two such live young men to fill the particular places to which he had assigned them. For the rest of the evening the three discussed the plans for pushing the work to completion in the shortest possible time. When at last the boys rose to take their leave they had outlined thoroughly in their own minds what they intended to do.

The next morning the Iron Boys were out bright and early. Their first work was to see to it that the material was gotten out and put at the proper places so as to be ready when the work of running the line was actually begun. The material, of course, was picked out by the engineers, as this required technical knowledge that Steve and Bob could not be expected to possess.

At the same time a gang of men had started in on the abutment out in the middle of the river. All day long Steve, on one side of the river, and Bob on the other calmly directed the work of the men. Mr. Phillips made a trip over the ground on both sides of the river. He was well satisfied with his inspection. He was convinced that he had made no mistake in choosing his two young foremen.

Chainmen had run the distances and staked them off, so that by noon the route to be followed by the pipe line was all laid out and ready for the detailed placing of the material. Places where the piping had to be raised or lowered were also marked out. Late in the afternoon Steve and Jarvis went over their respective contracts with blue prints in hand, fixing every detail of the work in their minds.

"I think we are ready to do business to-morrow," said Steve as the chief engineer came up. "Will you order the full gang to report early in the morning?"

"Yes; that's what I wanted to know--if you would be ready for them."

"We are ready for the great battle," smiled Rush.

On the following morning nearly a hundred men, all told, were working on the two sides of the contract, including the experts who were changing over the furnaces to make possible the installation of the new system.

It was early in the forenoon when Bob Jarvis, on his side of the river, made an interesting discovery. There were two men working for him who attracted his attention at once when he got a chance to look his workmen over and measure his force.

"Foley and Kalinski," muttered the boy. "A fine pair! It does seem impossible to get away from these fellows. They bob up in the most unexpected places and at the most unexpected times." Jarvis grinned broadly. "But this is the time the tables are turned. I'd like to see them cut up any of their fancy tricks on this job. There'll be music--loud music--if they try!"

The two men were working side by side. Bob strode over to them.

"You," he said, poking Kalinski with a stiff thumb.

The Pole started up angrily, and was about to make reply, but quickly restrained himself.

"I want you to go over there and help put up those braces. You are having a pleasant visit and I hate to break it up, but the best of friends must part, you know. Let me give you a little advice, Kalinski. If you know what's best for you you will not spend much time visiting on this job. Don't forget for a minute, that I am the boss here, and that you are going to toe the chalk mark every minute of the time. As long as you are on the square you are going to get square treatment, but the minute you begin to travel in circles you'll fall off the earth!"

Bob wheeled and, walking over to Foley, delivered much the same advice to him. After that he saw to it that the men did not get together, though of course he could not prevent their doing so at the noon hour, nor was it any of his business what they did at that time. However, none of the crew on that side of the river found time for visiting during working hours. Jarvis saw to that. He kept his men on the jump constantly.

The same state of affairs existed on Steve's side. The Iron Boy was here, there and everywhere. Nothing about the work appeared to be too trivial for him to require his attention. The result was that when that first day's work was ended, the amount accomplished on both sides of the river made the officials exchange satisfied comments.

Late on the following day the abutment in the middle of the river had progressed so far that the iron framework that was to hold the pipes could be put in place. Steve Rush took charge of this. He knew nothing about iron work, but it did not take him long to get the knack of it.

As fast as a piece of tubing was braced he would be up near the top with eyes on everything. After an hour or so of this he returned to the shore. Work there had not progressed so rapidly since he had divided his oversight.

Rush called the men to a halt and lined them up before him.

"Men, you're loafing on the job," he said. "If I come ashore again and find that you haven't been doing your work the whole lot of you will be sent to the time-keeper with your time, and you will be done working in these mills for good and all. Do you understand? My word goes here, and so will you if you don't do an honest day's work. I am not going to ask impossibilities of you, but I shall expect you to do a full day's work. Now, fall to and get to work."

The Iron Boy did not even wait to see if they did so. He walked back to his river job. Three hours later he came strolling back with his hands in his pockets. Steve smiled softly. His lecture had not been without results. The men had done more than he had expected.

"Fine, boys!" he shouted. "That's the way to do it. Now go at it! Eat it up! Don't let the men on the other side of the river put it over you. They can't reach your present gait, and I know you are going to keep it up."

Mr. Keating was in the vicinity, though Rush did not know of his presence, and the superintendent dodged in behind a building after listening to the remarks of the young foreman, then went on his way grinning broadly.

"I guess we didn't make any mistake; no, we didn't make any mistake," he repeated to himself.

By the end of the third day the line was laid down to the river bank on both sides. Then began the placing of braces to hold up the piping until it should reach out to the abutment in the middle of the river.

A temporary staging had been erected to hold the work in place until it could be permanently located. Many of the men were working high above the river now. Some were too light headed to make that safe, so Steve and Bob sent these men back to run the rest of the line up to the furnaces.

Each contract was working in three sections now, the boys having disposed their forces to the best advantage possible, so that when they closed that day's work their job was in good shape.

Steve consulted the skies.

"I hope we are not going to have a storm," he decided. "I hope not, for I do not believe either the staging or our construction would stand much of a blow in its present condition."

After supper he went back to the yards to look over the work, and to satisfy himself that it was safe for the night. The moon was shining, so he decided to go out to the abutment. Removing his shoes the lad walked a narrow brace all the way out. The structure trembled under his weight, but he had no fear. He knew that it would hold him. If it did not he felt that it would serve him right to go down with it, for it was his business to see to it that it was made safe for the men.

Rush carefully made his way across the river. He trod more lightly, now, that he might not throw any more strain on the structure than was absolutely necessary.

He reached the other side, stood on the bank a few minutes, then began to retrace his steps. He had gone about half way from the shore to the abutment when a sound reached his ears that caused him to halt and listen--to bend over and peer down into the shadows below.

"That sounds to me like a metal saw," muttered Steve. "It may be an echo from the shore, but I could almost swear it was down there somewhere about the abutment."

The river was so dark that he could see nothing at all, while the structure itself was in the bright moonlight. The Iron Boy crept along a little further, then lay down on his stomach, and began wriggling his way along in that position.

Reaching a point right over the abutment he placed his ear to the iron and lay listening.

"Rasp, rasp, rasp!" The sounds were clearly borne to his ears.

"Somebody is down there, as sure as I am alive! What can he be doing? I believe there is something going on here that I ought to know about. If I try to get down from here I shall be discovered, and there will be no chance of learning what I want to find out."

After a moment's reflection Rush started back toward the shore, hugging the girder as closely as possible to avoid discovery.

He reached the bank, scrambled down to the water's edge and stood peering out into the shadows. Not a sign of a human being could he make out, for the river was too wide at that point.

Steve hesitated not a moment. He removed his coat, vest, shoes and shirt, binding his suspenders about his waist for a belt; then he let himself down into the water without making the slightest splash.