FACING THEIR ASSAILANTS
JARVIS was the first to recover himself. He found himself lying half on
the body of his companion.
"Steve, Steve!" he cried. "Are you much hurt."
Rush did not answer.
Bob, as soon as he could pull himself together sufficiently to do so,
began shaking his companion.
"Wake up, wake up!"
"Huh?" muttered Steve, twisting and trying to raise himself.
"Thank goodness, they didn't kill you," exclaimed Jarvis, hugging his
companion delightedly. "Where are you hurt?"
"I--I thought the house fell on me. What was it?"
"Nothing much. I just landed on you from a second story window--that's
all. It's a wonder I didn't break every bone in your body."
A pile of rubbish had been thrown out that afternoon, in cleaning up the
hall for the evening meeting. There were papers, excelsior, burlap and
other soft substances in the heap. It was on this heap that the Iron
Boys had fallen in their plunge from the second story, and to that heap
of rubbish they no doubt owed their lives. As it was, however, they were
badly bruised and shaken.
"They must have thrown us out," said Rush, sitting up and rubbing the
bruised spots on his body. "The hounds! But no, I shouldn't blame them
so much. Cavard is the man who incited them to violence. Bob, I believe
he planned, before the meeting, to do that very thing. I was warned not
to come here to-night, and the person who warned me was in a position to
know what plans Cavard had in mind."
"Who warned you?"
"You asked that once before, and I told you I could not tell you. I
wouldn't under any circumstances give the name of the person who warned
me."
"Let me help you up."
Steve was painfully getting to his feet.
"No; I am able to take care of myself."
"Came pretty near having a fight, didn't we?" grinned Jarvis.
"Almost," admitted Rush. "The ones I most wanted to hit weren't in that
mix-up. That is my greatest regret. Another is that we had to damage
some of the men who were once our friends."
"Served them right! They don't deserve sympathy," growled Jarvis. "We
didn't give it to them hard enough. I guess some of them won't forget
the walloping they got for many days to come."
"How about ourselves?" questioned Rush, laughing mirthlessly. "It occurs
to me that you and I are pretty well banged up. I can't see how you
look, but I think I must resemble the last rose of summer, with all the
petals blown off. My, but my head aches!"
"Never mind," soothed Bob. "You are not the only one. There are others,
and there are other headaches just as bad as yours. What shall we do
now?"
"Is the meeting still going on?"
"Yes; I hear them up there. They are finishing up the business that we
interrupted, I reckon."
"I'm going up there," announced Rush with decision.
"I wouldn't, if I were in your place. You are in no sort of shape to get
into any more trouble to-night," advised Jarvis.
"I do not intend to get into trouble. Bob. But I am going back for a
moment, just the same."
"Then I'll go with you."
"Very well; but don't stir up any more trouble. We have had enough, and
I am not sure that we are entirely blameless, but I could not sit there
and see that man leading the men into trouble, urging them on to their
own destruction, as it were."
"You might as well have kept still, for all the good it did."
"Yes, I guess that's so. You and I seem fated to get into trouble.
Somehow we can't keep out of it."
"Unless we are thrown out," suggested Jarvis, at which both boys laughed
as heartily as was possible with their aching bodies. The laugh did more
to restore them to a better frame of mind than anything else could have
done at that moment.
"Come on, then; we will go up as far as the door."
"What are you going to do?"
"I just want to say something, that's all; then we will go home, where
we might better have stayed in the beginning."
The Iron Boys approached the front of the building and started to enter.
They found their way barred by a guard at the foot of the stairs.
"You can't go in here," warned the man.
"Who says we can't?" demanded Bob.
"_I_ say so."
"Well, you don't count. We're going in, just the same, and if you get
funny I'll throw you out into the street. If you follow us up and raise
a disturbance I'll kick you down stairs. I feel just like kicking
somebody real hard," growled Jarvis savagely, thrusting a belligerent
chin close to the other man's face. "Go on, Steve; he won't bite."
"No, I hardly think he will," smiled Rush, as he started up the stairs,
followed by his companion, the latter turning every few moments to see
if the guard were following them. The fellow had prudently remained at
the foot of the stairs. Perhaps he had seen something of the hitting
powers of the Iron Boys.
Steve Rush stepped into the meeting room and came to a halt about even
with the chairman's platform.
Every eye in the room was instantly focused on the lad. He did not
present a prepossessing appearance. His clothes were torn and covered
with dirt, his face was streaked with blood where it had been cut when
he crashed through the window in his flight from the hall, while his
hands were in a similar condition.
Cavard discovered him about this time.
"Young man, haven't you caused enough trouble for one night, without
coming back looking for more?" demanded the chairman.
"I have not returned to look for trouble. I have come for one thing, to
warn you."
"Against what?"
"Against trouble. I presume you have voted for a strike?"
"The members of the union have done so."
"Then let me tell you that that action, which you brought about by
underhand scheming, marks the beginning of your downfall, Mr. Cavard. I
believe you to be a scheming scoundrel, and I shall make it my business
to expose you to the men who are following you so blindly now. Look out,
Mr. Walking Delegate and President. It's a pretty long level that
doesn't bring up against a hard rock heading sooner or later. I wish my
name taken from the roll of the union. I do not wish to belong to any
organization that you are connected with. That is all I have to say to
you."
"Out with you, before I order you thrown downstairs!" shouted the head
of the union. "You can't resign, because you've been bounced. The men
fired you out of the window; then they fired you from the union, you and
your handy-fisted friend there."
"Thank you. Good night. When you men and your families are suffering
from hunger and cold, perhaps you may remember the warning I have given
you."
Steve turned on his heel and limped down the stairs, with Bob as a rear
guard.
"Hey, Steve!" called Jarvis, halting at the door.
"What is it?" demanded Rush, halting outside the door.
"Shall I hand this guard one for luck? Shall I punch him, just once,
good and hard?"
"Certainly not. He hasn't done anything to you. We have had enough
fighting for one night. Besides, I am lame and sore, and I want to get
home. Come along."
Jarvis followed, but reluctantly. He could hardly restrain himself from
thrashing the grinning guard at the foot of the stairs.
When the Iron Boys removed their clothes and took their bath they
realized, for the first time, how roughly they had been handled. Their
bodies were covered with bruises, but their faces were unmarked, save
where Steve had been cut by the glass when he was hurled through the
window. There were many other men, however, whose faces had not fared so
well, and they would bear the marks of the Iron Boys' fists for days to
come.
The boys were in bed soon after. On the morrow they were to awaken to
new experiences. Ahead of them was a great strike, in which the Iron
Boys were to play a tremendously important part, and during which they
were to win new laurels.