Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan,
Ernest Schaal, and the Online Distributed Proofreading
Team at https://www.pgdp.net
[Illustration: Rush Pointed to a Seam in the Rocks Overhead.
_Frontispiece._]
The Iron Boys as
Foremen
OR
Heading the Diamond Drill Shift
By
JAMES R. MEARS
Author of The Iron Boys in the Mines, The Iron Boys
on the Ore Boats, etc.
Illustrated
PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY
HOWARD E. ALTEMUS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE TRAGEDY IN THE SHAFT 7
II. AN UNEXPECTED PROMOTION 21
III. STEVE SHOWS THE IRON HAND 31
IV. MYSTERY IN THE AIR 40
V. "THE MINE IS ON FIRE" 46
VI. THROUGH TUNNELS OF FLAME 57
VII. THE IRON BOYS WIN 67
VIII. BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND 78
IX. THE LABOR LEADER'S LURE 91
X. THE GENTLEMAN IN THE WOODPILE 99
XI. RUSH SCORES HEAVILY 109
XII. MINERS MEET IN SECRET 119
XIII. STEVE'S SUSPICIONS AROUSED 127
XIV. MINERS MAKE DEMANDS 138
XV. A WARNING NOT HEEDED 145
XVI. THE VENGEANCE OF THE MOB 155
XVII. FACING THEIR ASSAILANTS 170
XVIII. PROMOTED BY THE PRESIDENT 177
XIX. A COWARDLY BLOW 186
XX. LAMB CHOPS FOR THE BABY 194
XXI. THE ICELANDER ON THE TRAIL 209
XXII. THE BATTLE OF THE GIANTS 217
XXIII. THE HERO OF THE BRIDGE 228
XXIV. CONCLUSION 246
The Iron Boys as Foremen
CHAPTER I
THE TRAGEDY IN THE SHAFT
"WHERE'S the cage?" asked Steve Rush.
"I guess it's waiting for a load at the surface," answered Bob Jarvis,
listening at the shaft opening. "I don't hear it coming."
"Ring it down, Bob."
Young Jarvis gave the bell lever a pull. A second later the gong on that
level rang sharply. A rush of air told them the steel cage was on its
way down to the fifteenth level, where the young men were awaiting it.
With a noisy clatter the cage came to a stop at the opening on that
level; the iron guard bars fell back with a bang.
"All aboard," said Steve, standing aside that the five other men, all
miners, waiting to be conveyed to the surface might step into the damp
cage.
"You first," bowed Jarvis with mock politeness, waving Steve in ahead of
him.
"Give them the signal, Bob," ordered Rush.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang! Five strokes rang out on the gong at
the top of the shaft leading down into the mine, indicating to the
cage-tender of the Red Rock Mine that his cage was coming up with a load
of human freight. In other words, there were men on the cage, hence the
steel elevator was to be raised with care.
Slowly, but steadily, gaining in speed as it ascended, lighted only by
the faint glimmer of the tallow candles on the oilskin hats of the
occupants, the cage rose toward the surface.
Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis had been inspecting the tracks in the Red Rock
Mine and were now on their way to the surface for the purpose of going
down in the Cousin Jack Mine, there to continue their work of
inspection. A few seconds had passed when the cage began to sway from
side to side.
Steve instinctively reached up and took hold of the safety rod that
extended across the top of the cage.
"Hang on, Bob! We're going altogether too fast for comfort," warned
Rush. "What ails that engineer up there? It looks as though he were
trying to give us a shaking up."
"I'll shake him up when I get to the top," answered Bob with a growl, as
he grasped the rod over his head for support.
The others on the car, all foreigners, were standing stolidly, not
appearing to care one way or the other what happened. They were too used
to riding up and down in the cage to and from their daily work to be
greatly disturbed by the rough ride they were now taking.
Steve, however, knew full well that they were riding altogether too fast
for safety. He was not afraid; his nerves were too steady for that. Nor
was his companion, Bob Jarvis, the least bit worried, but he was
growling at the cage-tender far above them for his roughness.
Suddenly there came a sound that startled all hands. It was a quick,
crunching, grinding sound, followed by crash after crash of metal
meeting metal.
"Hold fast," shouted Steve.
"What's happened, Steve?"
"The car's off the track! Look out everybody! We're in for trouble now."
No sooner had he spoken than the steel floor beneath their feet seemed
to slip suddenly from under them.
"She's turning turtle!" cried Steve. "Hold fast!"
His warning had come too late. The miners had been thrown from their
feet to the floor of the cage. With quick instinct Steve; gripping the
iron bar over his head, stretched his legs down full length. Bob's grip
had been wrenched from the safety bar.
"Grab my feet, Bob!" Steve shouted at the top of his voice.
Bob Jarvis was a quick-witted boy as well. He fastened a firm grip on
the ankles of his companion just as the floor of the cage began slipping
from under him.
By this time the stolid foreigners were fully awake to the peril that
confronted them. With cries that neither lad ever forgot, the men
slipped from the cage that had turned turtle, plunging into the dark
abyss, that quickly swallowed them up. There was one of the five miners,
however, more quick of wit than his companions, who had also fastened to
Steve's ankles. He and Bob Jarvis found themselves dangling in space
while Steve, clinging to the iron cross bar above, was holding them up.
The two men were very much in each other's way, and the miner was
fighting desperately to push Jarvis away down into the shaft.
"Quit that, you cowardly cur!" commanded the lad. "You'll have the three
of us down if you don't look sharp. Steve, are you all right?"
"Yes, but be careful down there. Whom have you with you?"
"I don't know. He's a heathen--that's all I know about it."
"Me--me Dominick. Me----"
"So you're the loafer who tried to knife Steve that time when he saved
you from being blown to the moon by dynamite? I ought to drop you, and
I'll do it as sure as my name's Bob Jarvis if you don't stop your
fighting. Steve, can you hold us?"
"I am afraid not for long," answered the plucky lad, who was supporting
the two men by the sheer strength of his arms. "My arms are aching like
a sore tooth, but I'll hold on till they come off. Don't make any more
disturbance down there than you can help."
Bob groaned.
"We'll never make it. You can't hold on and bear our weight."
Steve's arms were growing numb. Fortunately he was possessed of great
strength, and his present position was something like that of a bar
performer's when about to attempt a giant swing. Had it not been for the
great weight that he was supporting Steve could have held on
indefinitely. As it was, he could not hope to cling to the bar much
longer. The lad's mind was working rapidly. He was trying to plan some
way out of the predicament, some way that would save the lives of all
three.
"Steve!"
"Yes?"
"We can't all be saved. It's out of the question."
"Hang on, old boy! They will send us help soon," answered Rush in an
encouraging tone.
"They can't send help in time to save us. I've a proposition to make."
"What is it?"
"Dominick and I must let go, that's all."
"You will do nothing of the sort!"
"We must. It is the only way to save you. If we don't, the three of us
are lost. You can't hold both of us."
Steve laughed harshly.
"I think you will have difficulty in convincing Dominick that he must
let go. He'll never let go as long as he has my feet to hang to."
"I'll show you whether he will or not. I'll----"
"Bob!"
Steve's tone was sharp and commanding.
"Hang on, both of you! I, too, have a plan to suggest. I don't know
whether we can get away with it or not, but we will try. You must move
very carefully, for I am getting tired."
"What's your plan?"
"One of you climb up my body. I can't help you. You will have to
accomplish it the best way you can. If you can get up beside me on the
bar here, you ought to be able to hold on. It is our only hope.
Otherwise we shall be dashed to death at the bottom of the shaft."
"I'll try it. Dominick, do you understand?"
"Me understand."
"Then see that you do as you are told. You go first. Tell him what to
do, Steve."
"Climb very carefully. Don't hurry or make any sudden moves. If you do,
you will jerk me loose from the bar here. Be as quick as you can without
fumbling. Dominick, you swing to my left leg, Bob holding to the other.
Be careful that you don't drop off when you make the change. There,
that's a relief," added Steve when they had made the change as directed.
"We are ready," announced Bob.
"Come along, Dominick. That's right; you are doing well. When you get up
a little further hook one hand into my belt and rest a minute. You will
be all right in a few minutes. Gracious, my arms are getting tired!"
The Italian had begun to climb up the Iron Boy's leg, creeping inch by
inch, breathing hard, the man's eyes fairly starting from his head in
his terrible fear of the death that he knew awaited him a thousand feet
below. All the time Steve's calm, steady voice was encouraging the man,
directing him and urging him on to renewed efforts.
"Hurry up," called Jarvis. "I'll be letting go myself, first thing you
fellows know."
"There you are. Grab the bar," commanded Steve sharply.
With an exclamation that was almost a shout of joy, the Italian fastened
both hands over the iron bar.
"Can you hang on there for a few minutes?" questioned Steve.
"Me hang--me hold fast."
"That's right. I will relieve you in a minute. Now, Bob, it is your
turn. Can you climb up here?"
"Watch me. Can you hold on, Steve?"
"All the rest of the day. You are a featherweight compared with the
weight I have been holding up. But hurry."
Jarvis began to climb, moving cautiously, throwing as little strain on
the arms of Steve Rush as was possible under the circumstances.
"You're doing well. Come along," urged Steve. "This is like building a
human pyramid the way we used to do it at high school. Have you got the
bar?"
"Right you are. Hooray!"
Steve Rush breathed a deep sigh of relief. He knew that he could have
held on but a few minutes longer. His arms were at the point of giving
out when the Italian had begun to climb. But now he felt that they were
all safe for the moment, though there was only a slender iron bar
between them and destruction at the bottom of the shaft.
"Now, what are we going to do--hang here all the rest of the day?"
demanded Bob Jarvis.
"No; we shall not be able to do that. I'm going to save Dominick if you
will help me. Both of you move over as close to the ends of the bar as
possible; then I will tell you what I want to do."
Dominick and Bob did as directed, edging along the iron bar inch by
inch. Steve's candle was burning dimly, the others having gone out; but
the single candle lighted up the scene so that they could see what they
were about.
"Now listen to what I have to say," directed Rush with as much calmness
as if he were managing a piece of work above ground.
In Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis the reader has no doubt ere this recognized
the Iron Boys, the lads who, as told in "THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES,"
began their career in the industrial world by joining the army of
workers underground, deep down in the Cousin Jack Iron Mine. It will be
recalled how the friendship of the two sturdy boys began with their
battle in the lonely drift, where Steve, though of somewhat slighter
build than the other, not only held his own, but gave Bob Jarvis the
roughest handling he had ever received. Almost from the beginning the
lads had attracted the attention of their superiors by their attention
to duty, their intelligent work and their honesty. It will be remembered
how Steve and Bob invented a new gravity system for the mine, by which
many thousands of dollars were saved for the mining company; how the
lads saved the officials of the company from being blown up by dynamite
and how in the end they were rewarded by the officers for their bravery.
Rush and Jarvis were still inspectors of the trackage in the mine. The
second mine of the group had been added, so that now they were in charge
of the tracks in both the Cousin Jack and the Red Rock Mines. Beyond
this there had been a rumor that the Iron Boys were to receive further
promotions. A clerk in the office had whispered this to the
boarding-house boss where the boys lived. As yet the boys knew nothing
of the proposed promotion, and they never would know unless they were
quickly rescued from the desperate situation into which they had been so
suddenly plunged.
"What is your plan now?" questioned Jarvis. "I am listening."
"I want you to stay where you are, both of you, for I shall shake the
cage up a bit."
Steve began swaying his body back and forth as if he were in reality
about to essay the giant swing. All at once he curled his legs up and
over the bar. There he hung for a moment, then by sheer strength swung
himself up astride the bar.
"Well, that's a stunt for certain," cried Bob, for the moment lost in
admiration of the feat he had just witnessed. "I'd like to see a circus
performer beat that, especially if he were hanging over a thousand feet
of nothingness, with a couple of clumsy louts trying to pull him down."
"This is better," announced Rush, with a mirthless grin.
"Yes, it must be fine, but what now? My arms will be giving out pretty
soon, and I shouldn't be surprised if Dominick were getting uneasy. How
about it, Dominick?"
"Me all right," answered the Italian stolidly.
"Move over here, Bob. Dominick, you stay where you are. I will take care
of you in a moment. Now curl up your feet as you saw me do, Bob."
"Why, I couldn't do that to save my life."
"You will have to, if you expect to save it. I know of no other way.
Wait, I'll help you."
Steve leaned over, and, holding to the bar with one hand, reached down,
grabbing Bob under one knee.
"Hold fast! There you come."
Jarvis threw all his strength into the effort, and after some clumsy
moves landed unsteadily beside Steve Rush on the iron bar.
"Whew! I'd never have made it if it hadn't been for you."
"Come, Dominick; we will have you up here now," said Rush, with a laugh
that was intended to encourage his companions. "This is just exercise.
No need to feel disturbed about it in the least. Bob, you grab one leg
and I will take hold of the other. We will have him right side up in no
time at all."
Dominick let out a yell as he felt himself being torn loose from the
bar. The Italian floundered. Bob's grip slipped and Dominick dropped
head downward.
"He's gone! Oh, what a fool I am!" groaned Jarvis.
But the Italian had not gone. Steve Rush had twisted his own legs about
the bar, allowing himself to turn over until he was hanging head
downward, both hands gripping one foot of the man Dominick. The latter
was howling lustily.
"Get hold of us, Bob," cried Steve.
Jarvis, suddenly recalled to his duty, began edging along the rod until
he had reached a point where he was able to hold the Italian until Steve
righted himself.
It was a hard struggle, but after a few minutes the two boys succeeded
in rescuing their companion and placing him beside them on the iron bar.
Dominick was trembling from head to foot. He was so unnerved from his
narrow escape that for some moments he could not speak.
"Brace up!" commanded Steve, slapping the man sharply on the cheek.
This brought the Italian around almost instantly. He began chattering
angrily in his own language, and in his anger at the blow would have
struck Steve had he dared to take his hands from the slender support
long enough to do so.
Rush laughed at him.
"Don't lose your temper, Dominick. I was only trying to brace you up.
You are all right now. Hang on until I get some of these guard bars
free. I'll have a support for all of us in a moment. Sit perfectly still
or you may jar me off, even though you do not fall off yourself."
For the next few minutes the Iron Boy busied himself wrenching loose the
bars that fitted into the opening of the cage to prevent the passengers
from falling out. These he laid across the bottom, securing them to the
flanges of the cage. They fitted snugly.
"There," announced Steve, after completing his task. "This will be just
as good as a solid floor so long as neither of you moves about too much
and displaces them. Get over there, Dominick. Now we are all right! They
can haul us up just as soon as they want to. I, for one, shouldn't mind
feeling something solid underneath me for a change."
"No such luck!" growled Jarvis.
A slight jolt cut short their talk. The lads listened, but heard
nothing.
"Something has gone wrong with the machinery," said Steve in a low tone.
"I shouldn't be surprised if we had to stay here for a long time."
"No, the cage is moving!" cried Bob excitedly. "Hooray, we're saved!"
"Not yet," answered Steve, as the cage came to a jarring stop after
having moved upward a few inches.