IN A NEW JOB
THAT afternoon was the longest that Steve Rush ever remembered having put in. Spooner saw at once that the lad had been in a fight, and that he was well nigh spent. The contractor took the keenest possible delight in driving Steve, just because the lad was in no condition to work.
The Iron Boy, however, possessed too much grit to show the white feather. In spite of his swollen face and aching body, he summoned all his courage and worked as he never had worked before.
With Bob Jarvis it was different. Bob worked half of the afternoon, when the shift boss under whom he was laboring, observing that the lad could scarcely stand up, sent him home, and Jarvis promptly went to bed. The shift boss reported the circumstance to the mine captain and the latter made a written report to the general superintendent, Mr. Penton. Another report showed that Steve Rush had also been in a fight.
When the superintendent had read these two reports, he at once understood that Jarvis andRush had had a battle. The rules against fighting were very strict; therefore he sent for the mining captain, the one directly in charge of all the operations underground. The two men had a long interview and when the captain finally left the superintendent was smiling broadly.
On the following Monday morning Steve was requested to call at the office of the general superintendent before reporting for work in the mine.
"Bob, he's heard about our difficulty and he is going to fine or fire me," said Steve.
Bob's face took on a serious expression.
"Then I'm going to see the superintendent," he said in an emphatic tone.
"What for, Bob?"
"I am going to tell him that you are not to blame—that I forced you into the fight. I'll take whatever punishment is coming to me, but I won't stand by and see you get the worst of it—not for a skip full of red ore."
The boys were in their room at the boarding house, they having asked the boarding boss to bunk them in the same room after their fight in the mine. This had been done willingly enough and to their mutual satisfaction.
"I guess not," replied Steve firmly. "What do you take me for?"
"You know what I take you for. I have already told you."
"If I remember correctly, you called me Little Miss Rush up to a couple of days ago," answered Steve, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Forget it. I've changed your name. You're Mr. Big Rush now. Such a walloping as you gave me I never had before in my life. You're a regular little cyclone. And to think that I had picked you for an easy mark."
Bob smiled as broadly as his swollen face would permit.
"We have agreed to forget that. It was worth while, though, because it was the beginning of our friendship," replied Rush thoughtfully. "We shall never have another misunderstanding."
"I hope not."
"But we must be going. You will be late for work. I will see the superintendent; then I'll let you know, to-day noon, what he wanted of me."
The lads hurried out.
"I wish you would let me go with you and tell him," urged Bob.
"No. Time enough when he sends for you."
As the lads moved along the workmen laughed and some of them jeered, for it was plain that the lads were on terms of intimate friendship.The story of their great battle had been circulated until most of the men in the mine had heard of it.
Bob's face flushed angrily.
"Never mind, old man," said Steve in a soothing tone. "A lot of those fellows who are laughing at us to-day will be shoveling dirt for you and me before many years have passed."
"I doubt it."
"I do not. There are great opportunities in this big corporation, and I am going after them. I am after them now, and I propose to take you along with me. You'll find the company will be glad to help us on if they find we are worth helping. Here we are at the superintendent's office. I shall have to leave you now."
The boys shook hands warmly, Bob turning reluctantly and going on his way, while Steve ran up the steps and entered the executive building. He asked for the superintendent and was told to go in at once. The clerks all smiled at Steve's disfigured face, but he pretended not to have seen their scrutiny of him.
"Good morning, Rush," greeted Mr. Penton, with a quizzical look at his caller.
"Good morning, sir. You sent for me."
"Yes; sit down."
The superintendent was a large man, six feet tall, big, broad and powerful, but good natureshone from his round, full face, and his eyes always appeared to be sparkling with laughter. For all of that, Mr. Penton was a strict disciplinarian, as a number of those who had worked under him had reason to know.
"Who was the young man with whom I saw you shaking hands in front?" was the superintendent's first question.
"Bob Jarvis, sir. He is my roommate."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes, sir."
"How long have you been rooming together?"
"Since Saturday."
"Indeed. This is somewhat surprising. But, Rush, what has happened to you? You look as if you had been through an ore grinder."
Steve flushed, then straightened up, eyeing the superintendent steadily.
"I have been in a fight, sir. I had a little disagreement, but it is all right now."
"My lad, did you not know that it was against the rules of the company to fight?"
"I did not at the time."
"With whom did you fight?"
"Must I answer that question, sir?"
"Yes."
"I fought with Bob Jarvis," replied the lad, after slight hesitation.
"Who started the fight?"
"I guess I was the one most to blame."
The superintendent already knew all about the matter. He well knew who had started the fight and why, and he knew also of the warm friendship that had sprung up between the two boys since the battle; but Mr. Penton was a shrewd man—one who judged men with almost unerring instinct. He was drawing Steve out to verify his own impressions.
"And you two are rooming together now?"
"Yes, sir. We are friends now. There will be no more trouble between us. As a matter of fact, our little battle was an entirely friendly one."
The superintendent leaned back, laughing heartily. His plump sides shook with merriment, while Steve sat calm and respectful, his eyes fixed on the face of his employer.
"You are quite sure that you two will not fight again, are you?" questioned Mr. Penton, after regaining his equanimity.
"Oh, yes, sir."
"Who won the fight?"
"Neither of us, sir, though Bob gave me about all I wanted."
"And I understand that you gave him a little more than he wanted. Now, Rush, let me give you a piece of advice. Never indulge in fights, unless in self-defence, in defence of the company'sproperty or to save another person. We have a rough element in the mines. Naturally that cannot be wholly avoided, especially among the foreigners, though many of them are self-respecting citizens. It requires a strong man to cope with them and every executive must be equal to the task, but we cannot tolerate any rows except for the reasons mentioned."
"I understand, sir. I think you can trust me."
"I am sure of that. I want to see you get ahead. You are both fine boys. You have the making of men worth while—in other words, you are 'live ones,' and this company is always in the market for just that kind of material."
"Thank you, sir."
Steve's face glowed happily.
"I am going to take you off the Spooner contract and give you another place to work. I have taken a keen interest in you, and I want you to learn all about the workings of the mine."
"That is what I am going to do, sir," answered Rush in a quiet but firm tone.
"I have decided to place you at the main chute on the same level where you have been working. Your duty will be to dump the cars as they come in. You will be right by the tally-boards and you will learn how we count up there, besides many other things. It is an importantpoint, the central point of each level. After you have become familiar with the operations at that point, perhaps I may be able to transfer you to some other."
"I thank you very much, sir. May I ask where Bob Jarvis is going to work? He said he was to be transferred to-day."
"Yes; I have put him on the Spooner contract to fill the place you had."
Steve smiled. He could well imagine what would happen if Spooner treated Bob as he had treated Steve. Bob was too hot tempered to endure the contractor's insults without resenting them.
Mr. Penton seemed to understand what was in Steve's mind.
"It will be good for the boy," he nodded. "Every boy needs a certain amount of hard knocks. They make a man of him."
"Bob is quite a man already," replied Rush, with a faint smile.
Mr. Penton laughed good-naturedly.
"Yes, I understand. You will report at the chute at once. Tell the mine captain to inform the time keepers of your change of place. That will be all."
Expressing his thanks to the superintendent, Steve left the office and made his way to the mine, to take up his new work—work that wasto be much less trying than that of the previous week.
After the lad's departure Mr. Penton spent a long time in studying a bundle of reports of the work in the Cousin Jack Mine. His eyes soon lost their twinkle, and his forehead wrinkled with perplexity.
"This passes all understanding. This shortage in the output is something that I cannot understand. If I do not find the leakage soon I shall be in trouble with the company," he muttered.
Then, putting on his coat and hat, he left the office and started for the mines.
RUSH MAKES A DISCOVERY
STEVE'S new station was located on the main line of the electric tram road. Long rows of dump cars were drawn there by an electric motor, on which sat a motor-man controlling the speed of the car with one hand, and with the other continually ringing a gong warning everyone to get out of the way.
In the narrow levels, there was barely space enough for one to stand between the trams and the wall, but the trams never stopped. Miners were supposed to look out for themselves, according to the code of the tram motor-man.
At the chutes, however, there was a large open space at one side, with a plank floor laid down, and above this hung the tally-boards, a series of boards with quarter-inch holes bored in them. Every time cars were run over the chutes the men on the cars would call the name of the contractor or the drift whence the cars had come, and the tally-boy or man, as the case might be, would then move the peg in the board forward as many holes as there were cars. Each contractor had a tally-board, as had each drift operated by the mining company's own labor.
The tally-man at the chutes on level seventeen was a man named Marvin. Steve took a violent dislike to the man the moment he set eyes on him, and the questions that the lad would have asked about the working of the tally-boards remained unasked.
Rush's duty was to strike the catch on the side of the car with an iron bar, permitting the side board to swing out, whereupon the load of ore would drop through the iron chutes to a lower level. From there it was shot to the surface in the fast-moving skips, or ore elevators, that ran up an inclined plane.
"This work is so easy that I am ashamed to draw pay for it," muttered Steve, after an hour or so had passed.
Still he was obliged to keep a sharp lookout for approaching trams, as every second in this operation counted. The tram trains must unload and get back for other cars promptly, else miners working in the drifts would be held back and the work of that level delayed.
As soon as a car was dumped, the dumper would call out "clear," whereupon the motor-man would shove his train forward. Though the work was easy, it had to be done quickly.
During the forenoon Superintendent Penton and the mine captain came swinging along the tracks. The superintendent spoke pleasantly toSteve, after which the two men took a seat on a bench in the planked alcove close to the place where the boy was dumping cars of ore.
"This shortage is troubling me greatly Jim," said Mr. Penton.
Steve could not help but hear their conversation, his station being on that side.
"It has me beaten, too, sir," answered the mine captain. "I have been through this mine from top to bottom, and from end to end, and for the life of me I can't see where any such shortage as you say the reports show could have occurred."
"You are sure the tally-boards are being properly kept?"
"Yes; I have looked into that. Have you any idea that someone is tricking us?"
"No; I hardly think so. I believe, rather, that it is the result of carelessness somewhere. The report sheets show more ore mined than weighs up after it is put on the cars. In other words, the output shown on our reports doesn't check up with the company's tally-sheets at Duluth. We are a good many tons short. It is up to you, Jim, to put your finger on the shortage. There is going to be trouble over this, unless I am greatly mistaken."
"Yes; there'll be trouble enough when we find out where it is—trouble for the fellow orfellows who are to blame for it," answered the mine captain.
"Well, keep your eyes open. If you need any help, let me know."
"I've had the inspectors on the job for a week now, and they are no nearer solving the mystery than they were before they began."
Mr. Penton was watching Steve at work with a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
"That's a promising boy, Jim," he said.
"You mean young Rush?"
"Yes. This is the kind of job I should like to turn him loose on, if he had more experience. He's as sharp as a steel trap."
"That is true."
"He has that dogged persistence that would make him hang on like a bull terrier. I'm going to push him along as fast as seems advisable."
"He's a likely youngster," admitted the mine captain, studying Steve's back as the lad swung his iron bar with unerring precision. "Yes, he's a very likely lad."
"I want to make an inspection of number twelve," said the superintendent, rising. "Will you come along?"
The captain followed his superior officer, the two men soon disappearing down the level. Steve watched their bobbing candles until he could see them no longer.
"Something is going on here," muttered the boy. "Reports show more ore taken out than has really been mined. I didn't want to listen, but I couldn't help hearing what they said."
For the rest of the forenoon Steve occupied his leisure moments in trying to study out how such a mistake could occur. He was not thoroughly familiar with the working of the system as yet, but he possessed a good general idea of the methods employed to protect the company against mistakes and dishonesty.
The time-keepers made their rounds four times a day, and any man not at his post lost his time until the next round. The ore was tallied at the chutes and weighed again after it had been placed on railroad cars for transportation to the Great Lakes. All this Steve went over, his mind working actively on the subject while his hands were busy dumping cars of ore.
"The mistake, if it is a mistake, must occur somewhere between this chute and the freight yards," was the lad's mental conclusion.
In this he was right. So full of his subject was he that, when the whistle blew, he sat down on the bench that the superintendent had occupied a few hours before and studied the tally-boards as he ate his lunch. The manner of the tally operation was clear to him. There was nothing complicated about it.
Having finished his lunch, the lad strolled over to the tally-boards, and, with hands behind his back, began studying the names of the drifts or contractors represented there. Spooner's was the first to attract his attention.
"I'll bet I have shoveled that board full half a dozen times," muttered the lad, with a grin.
"What do you want here?" demanded a surly voice at the lad's elbow.
Rush turned and found himself facing the tally-man, Marvin.
"I was just looking over the boards as a matter of curiosity."
"Oh, you were, eh?"
"Yes."
"Well, folks' curiosity sometimes gits them into trouble," sneered the tally-man.
"There is no harm in my looking at the boards, is there?" demanded Steve, raising his voice ever so little.
"Git out of here! Git out, I say! If ever I catch you fooling around these boards I'll trim you so you won't forget it," growled Marvin.
Steve stepped back. Perhaps he had no business there, but he resented the manner in which the information was delivered to him.
"I do not think it will be well for you to lay hands on me," he retorted.
"What's that?"
"If you don't hear well, I'll shout. I don't think it will be well for you to lay hands on me."
The tally-man strode across the planking and stood threateningly over the lad, who had reseated himself on the bench.
"Git off this platform!"
"Oh, no, you don't. I have as much right here as you have. You can't drive me away from here, my friend. I'll stand on my rights here. This is the place where I'm going to stick until the whistle blows to go to work. If you think I am not going to do so, just try to put me off."
Rush's jaw assumed a stubborn set. The man and the boy eyed each other for a moment; then Marvin turned on his heel and walked away.
Steve grinned appreciatively.
"I guess I had better look out for him. He surely has it in for me now."
The whistle blew soon after, and work was resumed. Steve, during the afternoon, was too busy to pay much attention to the tally-boards, for the cars were coming fast, additional motors having been sent out to take care of the rush. But every time the lad glanced toward the boards he found Marvin watching him narrowly.
Once the lad observed something that set him to thinking harder than ever. After that hepaid no further attention to Marvin, nor to Marvin's work. When the whistle blew at six o'clock Rush picked up his dinner pail and made his way to the shaft, and a few minutes later had been hoisted to the surface by the cage. He waited at the mouth of the shaft until Jarvis came up, when the two boys started for home together.
"How did you get along on the Spooner contract?" questioned Rush, with a quizzical smile.
"Never did such a day's work in my life! That fellow is a slave driver."
"He is all of that," agreed Steve. "Have any words with him?"
"Nothing of consequence. I threatened to break his head with a shovel once—that's all."
"I should think once would be enough," replied Steve, laughing softly. "Don't let him run over you, but keep your hands off him. It's a pretty serious thing to have an argument with one's superior, even if heisa brutal contract boss."
"I'm surprised that they have a fellow like that in the mines."
"He gets out the ore, that's why," answered Rush. "And, by the way, I want to talk over something with you after supper to-night."
"You have something on your mind, eh?"
"Yes; I have something that I want you tohelp me with. Perhaps we may be able to do a great service for our employers. I am not quite sure yet. I can't be until we have tried something."
"I'm with you in anything, Steve," answered Bob with emphasis.
After supper, that night, the boys went directly to their room, where they were soon lost in earnest conversation. Their conversation was carried on in whispers and the hour was well along toward midnight when they had finished with their plans.
"Now what do you think of it?" questioned Steve, as they started to make ready for bed.
"If you've struck it right we have stumbled on to the biggest game of crookedness in the mines. I meanyouhave discovered it; you didn't exactly stumble on the game."
"Be very careful. Don't make any mistake. I, on my part, will keep my eyes open if I find I can do so without attracting attention. To-morrow night we will compare notes."
"Don't worry about me. I'll have it down pat. All ready to turn in?"
"Yes."
Bob blew out the light and the boys tumbled into bed, where they were soon fast asleep.
THE BOYS EXPOSE A PLOT
ON the following morning, when the lads reported for work, they were full of their new purpose. Each was silent as to what that purpose was, but a close observer would have noticed that the boys were keenly watchful of everything that was going on about them. To all intents Steve was devoting his energies to unloading the dump cars in the shortest possible time, and Bob to filling them again in record time.
Up to the noon hour nothing had occurred of interest. The two boys did not meet at the lunch hour, deeming it best not to arouse suspicion by their actions, and thus possibly defeat their purpose. Steve ate his lunch in silence, not once looking toward the scowling Marvin. In fact, Marvin had not caught the boy looking at him during the forenoon.
"I think the fun will begin before long," mused Steve, wiping his mouth and moving over to a trickling spring on the other side of the level. "I have prepared the way and now we shall see."
A long train of ore cars came in a few momentsafter the whistle blew, and the tally-man was kept busy plugging the holes in the boards as the cars were called out.
So busy was Marvin that he did not get a chance to turn about to look at Steve. Perhaps he would not have done so, at any rate. Steve, however, was looking at the tally-man, watching the latter out of the corners of his eyes.
The pegs moved skilfully and quickly from hole to hole on the boards, then the man Marvin sat down while the unloading progressed.
Rush had seen that which sent the color to his cheeks, and caused his heart to beat a little faster. His sharp eyes had made a discovery. He was as positive as it was possible to be but there was more to be done before his case was fully made out.
The lad could hardly wait until night to see his companion. During the afternoon Steve obtained further evidence to strengthen his case. By quitting time his face had taken on a look of stern determination that had not been there when he went to work that morning.
"What luck?" demanded Bob, in a low voice, as he joined his companion near the mouth of the shaft.
"The best," answered Steve.
"Tell me about it."
"Not here. Wait until we get home. I do notdare to speak of it now. Someone might overhear us and then all our efforts would have been for nothing. I'll tell you all about it before we sit down to supper."
"Well, that beats all," muttered Jarvis. "I didn't think we should succeed so easily. What are you going to do about it?"
"I'll answer that question also when we get home, old man."
The boys did not wait until after supper that night. Closing and locking the door after reaching their room, Steve asked:
"How many tons did the Spooner contract turn out to-day?"
"Forty by the dump cars."
"Is it possible?"
"Yes. What does the tally show?"
Steve leaned over and whispered in his companion's ear, whereat Bob uttered a low, long-drawn whistle.
"You—don't—say?"
"That is exactly what I do say."
"This will raise a merry row."
"I think it will. And there's another thing: I will wager that this is not the only place the same game is being worked."
"Maybe you're right. What shall we do?"
"Go to the superintendent. We will go to him as soon as we finish our supper."
"But he isn't at his office."
"No. We will go direct to his house. I rather think he will be glad enough to see us when he hears what our mission is. Come, now, we'll go to supper, but not a word at the table," warned Steve.
"I should say not."
Supper finished, the Iron Boys went to their room, returning a few minutes later and strolling from the house as though they were going nowhere in particular. After they had put a block between themselves and the boarding house they quickened their pace. Bob was excited, but Steve was as calm and collected as if nothing unusual had occurred.
"Do you know where the superintendent lives, Steve?"
"Of course I do. I make it my business to know everything that I ought to know. 'Live and learn' is my motto. It's a good one for you to adopt, too."
"I am beginning to think you are right."
Reaching the house of the general superintendent, Rush halted. The blinds had not been drawn and, looking through the front room into the dining room beyond, the Iron Boys could see the superintendent seated at the table with his family.
"I think we had better walk up and down afew times until Mr. Penton finishes his supper," suggested Rush.
"He'll be better natured if we do, I guess," agreed Jarvis. "You have a long head on you, Steve, but the trouble with you is that you keep that fact so carefully concealed that a fellow doesn't get wise to it until it's too late."
Steve laughed softly. They had made their third trip around the block when, halting once more in front of the house, they saw that the superintendent had finished his supper. He was standing in the dining room, hat in hand, talking with a member of his family.
"Come on," called Steve, running up the walk, up the steps and ringing the bell.
"My, but you do bear out your name, the way you rush about," laughed Jarvis.
The door was opened by a servant. Steve gave his name and asked to see Mr. Penton. The latter came out into the hall a few seconds later.
"Good evening, boys. I was just on my way downtown to the post-office. You may walk along with me and tell me what I can do for you."
"We would rather speak with you here, sir, in private," answered Steve earnestly.
"Is it so important as that, my lad?"
"It is, sir."
"Come into the parlor," said Mr. Penton, leading the way and switching on the electric lights. "State your business as briefly as possible."
The superintendent seated himself, motioning the boys to be seated also.
"By chance, I overheard a conversation between you and the mine captain at chute seventeen the other day," said Steve. "I did not want to listen, sir, but I will confess that what you said impressed me so strongly that I took a deep interest in it."
"Conversation about what?" demanded Mr. Penton rather more sharply than was his wont.
"About a shortage in the ore. You said the mine count did not agree with the figures as reported from the head office, sir."
Mr. Penton gazed shrewdly at his callers. Then he rose, and, closing the door leading into the dining room, returned to his chair.
"Well, lads," he said. "Have you come to see me on this subject?"
"Yes, sir."
"I suppose you think you might be able to solve the mystery?" This was said smilingly.
"We have solved it, sir."
"What?"
"I said we have solved it; at least, enough of it to make the rest comparatively easy."
"You astound me beyond words. Will you be good enough to tell me then the cause of this shortage?"
"Yes, sir; the fault lies with your tally-boards."
"That was my idea originally, but the mine captain assures me that he has careful tally-men on every board."
"I think he has very careful men there, sir. At least, they seem to me to be looking out for their own interests pretty carefully."
"You are making a most serious charge, Rush. Are you able to substantiate this?"
"I am, sir."
"Do so."
"Sub-level seventeen, to-day, as you will find by referring to your report sheet, has sixty tons to its credit."
"Wait a moment, Rush. My report sheet is in my desk in the library."
The superintendent left the room, returning with the report sheet. He ran down the page, placing his finger on a line, which he followed out to the margin.
"Your information is correct," he said, glancing up. "How do you happen to have these figures?"
"I have been watching the boards for two days."
"Indeed?"
"Yes, sir. As a matter of fact, though the tally sheet shows sixty tons as having come from number seventeen sub-level, only forty tons were actually mined there to-day."
Mr. Penton gazed at Steve Rush, who had risen and was standing before the superintendent, erect, steady-eyed and calm.
"Again, my lad, I ask you how you come to be in possession of these figures?"
"My chum, Bob, here, got the figures from the drift to-day."
"Ah, I see. You had arranged the plan?"
"Yes, sir. Bob kept a very careful tally."
"Jarvis, were you absent from sub-level number seventeen at any time during the day?"
"No, sir, excepting at meal time."
"Are you positive enough of your own tally to be willing to swear to it?"
"I am, sir."
"Then you have rounded up the whole case. There is nothing more to be done—nothing more left for me to do except to act on the information you have furnished me, which I shall do at once."
"May I make a suggestion, sir?"
"Certainly."
"If you have any reason to believe this will not fully account for the shortage, would itnot be an excellent idea to have the other tally-men inspected?"
Mr. Penton reflected.
"An excellent idea; yes, it shall be done. Tell me how the tally-man, Marvin, worked his end of the game. Although you have not explained that part of it, it goes without saying that he was in collusion with Spooner."
"Yes, sir; so I suspected from the first. I did not like his actions. He appeared to be watching everyone about him. That aroused my suspicion after hearing what I did when you and the mine captain were there. So I watched him without pretending to do so. In the meantime he had driven me away from the tally-boards while I was standing there looking at them. While watching him I distinctly saw the fellow juggle the pegs and give the Spooner contract credit for more loads than were then on the chute. I counted and kept track of the Spooner cars, so that I could check up with Bob. You see, I wanted to make absolutely sure that I was right."
"And your figures tallied?"
"They did."
"Lads, you have done the company a great service. I have no doubt but that both of you will receive a substantial reward. Personally, I cannot find words to express my appreciation.You have relieved me from a very embarrassing situation. I shall show my appreciation in a more substantial manner in due time."
"We do not wish to be rewarded, Mr. Penton," returned Steve. "We are working in the interest of the company that pays us our wages, just the same as we should expect men to serve us if we were employers."
"And you would find that you would be sadly disappointed in the rank and file, boys. When I said 'reward,' I did not mean exactly a money reward, although indirectly it will amount to the same thing. This company is not slow to recognize merit. It gives every man a chance to show what sort of stuff he is made of. If his is a low grade of ore, as we would term it in the mines, then he stays where he is, but if of a higher grade from which the finest steel is made, then the man goes on up as fast as he is fitted to hold higher positions. There is practically no limit to the positions to which young men in this company may aspire. Take, for instance, the present president of this mining company, who is now drawing a salary equal to that received by the President of the United States. How do you suppose he began his career?"
"I—I do not know, sir. I never heard," answered Steve.
"He began with a shovel in his hands, just the same as you did something like a week ago, and so did I, and so did the most of us who have risen to the higher positions. But to return to our subject, I will have the other tally centres investigated secretly."
"It might be a good plan for you to have your captain watch the tally-board at level number seventeen to-morrow. He can do so by secreting himself in the skip shaft," suggested Steve.
"I think your suggestion is a good one. In the meantime, of course, you lads will be discreet—you will not mention what you have told me?"
"You may depend upon us, sir."
"Yes, I am aware of that. Come to see me to-morrow. I shall want to talk with you. Good night, lads."
STRAIGHTENING THE CROOKED ONES
A BRIEF investigation on the part of the mine captain on the day following verified all that the boys had told the superintendent. Watching the tally-board man from behind the partition that shut off the skip shaft, the captain saw the man falsify the tally of the ore cars, making it show a considerable excess of the actual amount of ore contained in each car.
At noon Marvin was summoned to the office of the superintendent and confronted with the facts. After a few minutes of stubborn denial, the rascal gave in and told the whole story. He was to share half of the amount thus gained with the man Spooner. Up to that time the two men had made a substantial rake-off six days in every week.
After the tally-man had made a clean breast of the steal the superintendent said:
"Go back to your post. You will receive further orders later in the day. But see to it that nothing is said to Spooner until I have seen him; then you two can talk and growl all you wish. You will have something to growlabout, I promise you that. How long has this thing been going on?"
"For six weeks, sir."
"How much have you cheated the company out of thus far?"
Marvin handed Mr. Penton a slip of paper on which he had made some figures while talking, after which the tally-man departed very much crestfallen.
Spooner was the next man summoned, and the contractor passed the most uncomfortable hour of his life under Mr. Penton's shrewd questioning. Spooner had been a miner and his contracting was of only recent date. When he saw that the superintendent was in possession of all the facts, he admitted that he had been receiving pay for many tons a day more than he had delivered to the company.
Mr. Penton considered the matter for some moments, while the contractor stood before him twisting his hat nervously between his hands, now and then shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"What do you think I ought to do with a rascal like you?" finally demanded the superintendent.
"I'll give up my contract and go back to working in the drift."
"You will do nothing of the sort! You willkeep on with your contract until you have paid back what you have robbed the company of, you and your partner in crime, Marvin. You are a fine pair. By rights I ought to send both of you to jail. Perhaps I may do that yet, but that will depend upon what officials higher up order me to do. For the present, however, you will engage to pay back what you have stolen; that is, unless you prefer to hand over the money in a lump."
"I haven't that much money—I have no money."
"I thought not; therefore two thirds of the amount will be deducted from the money due you each week and one third from the wages of the tally-man."
Spooner essayed to speak, but the words seemed to stick in his throat. Finally he managed to mumble:
"All—all right, sir."
"But, mind you, no more of your thieving tricks, or I'll have you in the cooler before you realize it."
"All right, sir. I—I'd like to ask a question."
"Ask it."
"Who was the man who gave me away?"
"You ought to know better than to ask me that question. Frankly, it is none of your concern.We have been looking for this leak for some time, and we have found it. Had you possessed a grain of common sense you would have known that, sooner or later, you would have been checked up. You're checked. The interview is ended. Go back to work."
"I'llfindthe man!" growled Spooner. "I'll find him if it takes all the rest of my life to do it, and when I do——"
"What then?" interrupted the superintendent, fixing stern eyes on the man before him.
"I'll tell him what I think of him," answered the contractor lamely, as he left the room.
All the other contract drifts had been found to be working regularly, so it was reasonable that the entire shortage might be charged to Spooner. As a matter of fact, this shortage tallied very closely with the figures that the tally-man had given to the superintendent.
When the contractor returned to his drift he was more subdued than any of his regular shift had ever before seen him. They could not understand the sudden change. There was one there, however, who did understand. That one was Bob Jarvis. Bob was leaning against the "shore" just outside of the vein the men were working. He was doing nothing in particular.
Some moments passed before Spooner discovered this.
"Get in there, you, before I shove you in! Get hold of a shovel! What do you think I'm paying you for? What are you trying to do—hold up the wall? The lagging will do that without your help. Get to work."
"I am working," answered Bob coolly, making no effort to obey the order of the contractor.
"You are working, eh?"
"Yes."
"May I inquire what you are working at?"
"Yes, I'm working for the company. My particular business at this moment is watching you."
"Watching me?"
"Yes, sir; I am here to check you up. I am not working for you to-day. As I said, I am working for the company. Don't let me disturb you, sir. I'll try not to get in the way."
"Do you know why you are doing this?"
"Yes; because I am ordered to do so."
"Is that all you know?"
"It may be, and then again it may not be."
With a growl, Spooner turned and began to abuse his men, while Bob remained leaning against the wall, checking each car as it was filled.
In the meantime, when Marvin returned to his station on the level below, he stepped to the tally-board and relieved the man who hadbeen placed there to act during the regular man's absence.
As Marvin was looking over the boards Steve stepped up, touching him on the shoulder. The tally-man's face flushed angrily.
"What do you want?"
"Merely to say to you that I have had orders to check you up, to see that you check every car properly."
"I won't stand it. I'll——"
Steve shrugged his shoulders.
"That is a matter with which I have no concern. You will have to fight that out with the superintendent. I shall obey my orders and it will be better for you, I should imagine, to submit without trying to make matters uncomfortable for me. I shall do what I have been told to do, just the same. When a train draws up you will plug only when you see that I am looking at the board, please. I'll dump the cars after you have done that and I shall know if you have moved the plugs when I am not looking."
Marvin's face twitched nervously, but he made no reply.
There was nothing of triumph in Steve's attitude. The lad was attending to business to the best of his ability. He discovered, after a time, that Marvin was watching him narrowly.As he watched, the tally-man's face grew blacker and blacker.
"I wonder if he suspects?" thought Rush.
As a matter of fact, Marvin was beginning to see light. At noon the tally-man hurried away, after sulkily asking Steve to watch the tally-board. First, however, the man made a memorandum of the tally, so that Steve could not change it without Marvin's being aware of the fact. The lad pretended not to have observed this, but a quiet smile hovered about the corners of his mouth as he laid out his lunch on a clean, white napkin on the bench beside him.
Instead of going up in the cage, Marvin hastily climbed a ladder to the sub-level, where he waited for Spooner to come out.
"Well, what is it?" demanded the contractor in a surly tone.
"I've got wise to something. Where can we talk?"
"Come over in the drift here. There's no one near by."
The men slipped into a dead drift, extinguished their candles and engaged in earnest conversation.
Bob Jarvis' shrewd eyes had observed the actions of the men. He was sitting in the Spooner contract eating his lunch, but they had not noticed him.
"I wish I could find out what they are talking about," he muttered. "But I am not a spy. I don't know that I care particularly. I'll tell Steve, for I have an idea there is mischief in the air. There they go down the level."
The two men climbed down the ladder to the main level. A few minutes later Steve saw Spooner alone, sauntering along the tracks. When the contractor reached the chute he halted, peering over at the lad as if he had just discovered him.
"Hello, Rush," he greeted, turning and coming over to where Steve was sitting.
"Good afternoon."
Spooner sat down on the bench, and, for a moment or two, nothing was said, Steve continuing with his lunch as indifferently as if the contractor had not been there.
"So you're the sneak who gave me away, are you?" demanded Spooner, turning upon the lad savagely.
Steve eyed the contractor calmly.
"Am I?"
"You are!"
"I may be the man, and in fact I will admit that I was instrumental in exposing your crookedness, but I am not a sneak. It strikes me that you have laid yourself open to being called one."
The man's face turned white with anger. He opened and closed his fingers, with difficulty restraining himself from fastening them upon the calm-faced boy beside him. Steve munched his food steadily, but he was watching the man narrowly.
"I—I'll be even with you for that, you sneaking cur!" shouted Spooner. "Yes, I'll be even with you!"
"I wouldn't threaten, were I in your place. If anything should happen to me you might be accused, you know," answered Rush in a tantalizing tone. "What do you propose to do to me?"
Spooner leaped up and shook his fist under the Iron Boy's nose. The latter did not flinch.
"What do I propose to do to you? I'll tell you what I am going to do to you. I'm going to drive you out of this mine. I'll never stop till I've driven you off the range and out of the mine country. You'll never be able to get a day's work in a mine on this range after I get through with you, if nothing worse happens to you in the meantime. I'll——"
"It strikes me that you are pretty much in the same box yourself——"
"Oh, I wish you were a man! I wish you weren't a weak, baby-faced kid! I'd beat you to a pulp right——"
"Don't let that worry you, Spooner. Sail in, if you feel you have got to take it out of me. Perhaps you will feel better after you have vented your ugly temper on someone, even if it is a boy. Now get off from this platform!" commanded Rush, with a sudden change of tone, as he rose quickly to his feet. "You've got no business here, anyway. Get out!"
Steve grabbed up the iron bar with which he dumped the cars and started for the contractor. He had no intention of using it on the man, but he did not wish to engage in a fight with the fellow, being pretty sure that he would get the worst of it, for Spooner was a large and powerful man. Therefore the Iron Boy chose what he considered to be the most effective way of ridding himself of the contractor's presence.
Spooner hesitated a moment, then began backing up, his face pale with rage, his fists clenched.
"You had better turn about and face the other way, unless you want to fall through the chutes," warned Steve.
Spooner turned with an exclamation. A second more and he would have fallen in and shot down to the level below. As it was, he was obliged to jump over the opening to save himself, landing on the other side of the track. There he paused and renewed his abuse of young Rush.
"I've had enough of your nonsense! Get out!" commanded the sturdy lad. He, too, leaped the chutes and made for the contractor, brandishing his iron bar. Spooner turned and ran down the level until he reached the ladder, up which he climbed to his own drift.
"There, I guess I shall not be troubled by that fellow any more," said Steve, returning slowly to his interrupted lunch.
But he had not heard the last of Spooner.
The contractor, fuming with rage, was already plotting the downfall of the lad who had been the cause of his undoing.
LAYING THE TRAP
STEVE RUSH and his companion had held a long consultation over the events of the past few days. They had decided that it would be well to watch both Spooner and Marvin. Bob had overheard a conversation, or rather a few words, between the two men that warned him they were plotting mischief.
"What can they do?" asked Steve.
"If we knew, we should have no cause to worry," answered Bob.
"It is my opinion that they will put up some sort of job to waylay us outside one of these nights. Well, we shall be ready for them. Forewarned is forearmed, you know. If they try any such trick they'll find we are pretty well able to take care of ourselves, even if we are 'weak kids,'" said Rush, with a smile.
A number of weeks passed without incident. During that time Spooner and Marvin made good their stealings. They were then called to the office and both men were discharged. This occurred at the noon hour. They were told to go back to the mine, get their tools and clear out. When the men did return Steve and BobJarvis were eating their lunch up in the Spooner drift.
"There are the cubs now," whispered Marvin, pointing to the end of the drift. "It's our chance."
"Is it safe?"
"As safe as it ever will be. If you haven't got the nerve to do it, I'll do it myself."
"I've got the nerve, all right, but I don't propose to put my neck in a halter. I'd rather come back at some other time and carry the thing through."
"Getting cold feet already?" jeered Marvin.
"Don't you talk to me like that, or I'll pound you right here and now. Nobody ever accused Bob Spooner of having cold feet without getting hurt."
"You talk like it. But never mind; I'll do it. I owe him one and I owe the mine more than one. They'll have something to settle and it'll cost them a pretty penny, I reckon. It's now or never, for you and me. We'll never get a better opportunity. How do you suppose we are going to get in here after we leave to-day? Why, they wouldn't let us inside the cage after the orders the big boss will give them at the top of the shaft."
"Stop it! I'll do the trick. Where are the tools, though? I haven't a saw in my kit."
"I know where there is one. I sneaked it from the boss timber-man yesterday after we had our talk. I hid it behind the lagging about half way down the drift there. Come with me; I'll get it for you."
"Be careful," warned Spooner, peering around a bend in the drift at the two boys in the far end. From that distance he could see only their bobbing candles. "All clear. Hurry!"
Marvin reached to the top of the lagging at a certain point, and when his hand came away it held a saw.
"Here it is. Hurry, now!"
Spooner tucked the saw under his coat. This done, he moved along the drift away from the place where the boys were sitting, until he came to a slanting partition.
"There is a ladder inside. You know how to climb down it," whispered Marvin, as he cautiously opened a door in the partition. The interior was so dark that the men could see nothing. There was a sudden rush and some unseen object tore by them in the blackness. It was an ore skip, with its load of iron ore thundering to the surface. Its force was so great as to extinguish the candles of the two miners. Marvin quickly relighted them.
"Now get in and be lively. You will haveto get away before the afternoon shift starts in, or you may get something down on your head."
"You go down and stay on guard. If there is any danger, if anything turns up, stamp three times on the floor when there is no skip going by. Otherwise I shall not hear it."
"I'm wise. Good luck! We can't lose this time and we'll be even with the whole bunch for all time."
Spooner stepped inside the dark chamber, pulling the door cautiously shut after him. His long service in iron mines had given him an excellent knowledge of every foot of the mine he was then working in, and though in deep darkness, he was not at all uncertain in his movements.
The contractor was now in the large shaft through which the ore skips ran with their cargoes to the top of the shaft, where they emptied the ore into waiting trams which ran out over a trestle and dumped it on the pile where Steve Rush had begun his work when he first came to the Cousin Jack Mine. It was a dangerous place for one who was not wholly sure of himself, but Spooner descended the ladder confidently, making his way to the bottom, then down a short ladder to a platform that was directly beneath that on which the tally-man and thedumper in level seventeen stood when at their work.
Reaching this platform, the contractor removed his candle from his hat, making a careful examination of his surroundings. His attention finally centred on a section of the flooring above. That particular part was held up by a post some three feet in length, the latter being supported by a two-inch plank laid across two other posts that protruded up through the floor of the lower platform.
"I wish those skips would get busy," muttered Spooner. "They'll hear the saw above there if I am not careful." Then it occurred to him that, it being the noon hour, the skips were not running regularly. With an exclamation of disappointment, the man stepped up to the main post and ran his hands over the plank that supported it.
"I guess this will be about the right spot," he decided, placing his saw about midway on the right-hand side of the post. Spooner took off his blouse, throwing this over the saw to deaden the sound. Then, holding a corner of the coat up by one hand that he might see what he was doing, he began drawing the saw rapidly across the plank. The latter being hard wood, his efforts were not productive of immediate results. But the saw slowly ate its way into thetough timber until at last the man withdrew it, and, holding his candle low, examined the cut he had made.
"I think that will be enough for this side. I'll open up the other side a little," he muttered.
Spooner had just begun to saw when a sound somewhere above him caused the man quickly to extinguish his candle. He stood still and listened.
"What's this door doing unlatched?" demanded a voice, which the fellow recognized as belonging to the mine captain.
Spooner did not catch the reply.
"Somebody will be tumbling into the shaft, first thing you know, and then we shall have damages to pay."
"I reckon you'll have some to pay as it is," muttered the man below. "I hope this costs you a million!"
The door through which Spooner had entered the shaft was closed with a bang and he heard no more of the voice above him.
"I've got to look sharp or I'll be caught. I haven't had a signal from Marvin yet, so everything must be clear above us."
Once more the steady rasp of the saw began on the other side of the post, and a few minutes later the contractor used his candle to examine his work.
"I guess that will do the business," he chuckled. "And now I must be getting out of here lively."
Instead of taking the saw with him, the fellow tossed it over to one side, then began climbing the ladder. Very soon he was at the door opening on to the sub-level where his contract had been located. Spooner opened it ever so little and listened. He could hear subdued voices. He opened the door a little wider, and, as he did so, Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis sauntered by.
"Keep your eyes open, old chap," was Bob's parting salutation.
"I will," answered Steve, starting down the ladder to his post.
Jarvis returned to the drift where he was working—Spooner's old place. This was the chance for the other man to get out of the shaft. He knew it was time for the afternoon shift to go to work, and just as he slid from the shaft and closed the door behind him the whistle blew the signal to resume operations. The contractor ran along the drift, gathering up his tools and starting down the same ladder that young Rush had taken.
Reaching the main level, the man took his time in going to the cage. At the bottom of the shaft he was joined by Marvin.
"Did you fix it?" whispered the latter.
"Sh-h-h!" warned Spooner.
The men ascended to the surface without exchanging further words. Once in the open, however, Marvin said in a low tone:
"Tell me about it."
"It's done; it's all fixed."
"You think it will work?"
"I am sure of it."
"Then somebody's stock will go down, and I don't know as I care a rap whose it is."
"I don't think we'll have to guess far to know whose it will be," answered Spooner, with a grin.
"What are you going to do?"
"I am going over to Tracy to get a job. We can both get work there, but they haven't lost us yet. No, sir; the Cousin Jack has not done with you and me, by a long shot. We've got a few tricks left up our sleeves that will open their eyes. But we have made a mighty good start; yes, sir, a mighty good start."
Chuckling at his own villainy, Spooner hurried along, the other man by his side.
Steve and Bob had returned to their work at once. The former was now filling the place of the man Marvin at the tally-board, and at the same time dumping the cars. The two jobs kept him continually moving, but this Steve, true tohis name, thoroughly enjoyed. He liked to be driving ahead every minute of the day.
From the moment the whistle blew he was hard at work. He had no time to talk with the motor-man as he had before when dumping the cars, for he had to keep the number of cars and the drift or contractor in his mind while he was dumping them, and until he could jump back to the tally-board.
When night came Steve was ready to turn in. He confessed that he was tired. For one thing he felt no little relief, and that was that Spooner and Marvin were no longer in the employ of the company.
The next morning the boys went to work in high spirits. The shift had been at work something more than an hour, when the catch on one of the tram cars caught as Steve sought to release it, and resisted his efforts stubbornly.
"Smash it!" cried the motor-man. "I'm in a hurry."
"I'm going to," answered Steve.
Raising the iron bar above his head, he brought it down on the offending catch with all his strength. A crash followed and the ore shot down through the chute with the roaring sound of a cataract.
Instantly the second car was pushed over the chute.
"Get busy, there!" yelled the motor-man when he saw that no effort was being made to release the ore.
He shouted several times, but there was no response from Rush.
"Where's that lazy bones?" he demanded, hopping from his motor and running around the end of the train. "What, what—— Something's happened! Look!" shouted the motor-man, pointing to the platform.
Steve had disappeared. In the place where he had stood a moment before was a black hole about three feet square. Through this hole could be heard the thunder of the skips as they rushed back and forth at almost projectile speed.