The Iron Boys in the Mines Part 34

Steve had not very much to do, so he walked back to his old post on the seventeenth level to wait until Bob Jarvis should come along. Steve and the superintendent had no sooner left the spot where they had been talking than a figure slunk from a deserted drift near by, glanced up and down the level, then hurried away. The man's hat was pulled down, and the candle above aided in throwing his face into deep shadow, but the full beard was not hidden, had anyone been near by to observe it.

Steve had been sitting on the platform at the chutes for about thirty minutes when the level's telephone rang.

"Mr. Penton wants to see you on the lower level," said the telephone boy.

"Where is he?" questioned Steve.

"He says he'll meet you near the suction pipes."

"Very good," answered the lad, rising. "If Mr. Jarvis comes along tell him where I have gone. If I get through in time I will meet him here and go up with him."

Rush hurried over, signaled the cage tender that he wished to descend, and a short time afterwards was being plunged deeper into the mine.

He left the cage at the sub-level just above the last level. The last level was flooded with water some twenty feet deep. All the water from the mine was drained down into the last level and from there pumped to the surface and thus disposed of.

There were naturally no mining operations carried on down on the last level.

Steve had been down there on numerous occasions and every inch of the ground was familiar to him. Upon leaving the cage he made his way through the dark, damp tunnels, whistling as he stepped briskly along.

He could not imagine what Mr. Penton could want of him down there, for if anything were wrong with the pumping system it was a matter for the engineering department and not for a track inspector.

Turning the last bend in the sub-level, Push began to move with more caution. A moment more and he caught sight of the big water pipes winding up through the roof of the level.

"I wonder where Mr. Penton is?" muttered the lad, stepping out on a plank platform.

As he did so a wave of dampness that almost chilled him swept up from the dark depths of the last level. An open s.p.a.ce extended from the floor down to the level itself and from this soundings were occasionally taken to determine the depth of the water. The lead line hung from a peg driven into a crevice in the rock. Steve noted that the line was dry.

"That is curious. Mr. Penton evidently has not made a sounding. I should have thought he would have done so if he had reason to think the water was not being pumped out as fast as it should be."

Rush raised his voice and called out the name of the superintendent.

Only the echo of his own voice came back to him.

"That's queer," decided Steve. "But, of course, he did not telephone me from here. He probably is on one of the levels above this. I will wait."

Resuming his whistling, the lad began pacing back and forth on the planking, having stuck his candlestick back on his miner's hat.

The young inspector had been waiting for fully half an hour, but not a sign of the superintendent did he see.

"Well, this is getting rather tiresome," he said, pausing to listen to the rhythmic click of the pumps that his ears could faintly catch. "I think I will amuse myself by sounding the water level."

The lad took down the rope, to one end of which a piece of lead had been attached, spun the weighted end a few times about his head, letting it fly out into the darkness, listening intently as the line ran swiftly through his hands.

A distant splash followed a few seconds later, whereupon the line gave out not quite so rapidly.

"It's down," nodded Steve. He leaned over the edge to pull the line in without drawing it over the edge of the planking, so that he could the better see that mark of the water on the rope.

"Gracious, I should hate to take a swim in that hole," said the Iron Boy, with a laugh.

He stopped suddenly. Steve thought he had heard something behind him.

"Is that you, Mr. Penton?" he asked, turning and peering into the darkness.

There was no reply.

"I must be getting the creeps," said Steve, beginning to whistle as he hauled in the line. "Wha--what--here, let go of me. Let----"

Some invisible force behind had put a sudden pressure upon Steve Rush.

He was being rapidly shoved toward the edge of the platform.

All at once Steve felt the flooring drop from beneath his feet; and, without making a sound, the lad plunged over into the darkness.

A loud splash followed, then all was still.

CHAPTER XXI

THE SEARCH FOR THE MISSING BOY

Bob Jarvis waited a long time at the chutes for his companion, but Steve did not return. This did not cause Bob any particular worry, as Steve no doubt had been called to some other part of the mine. So Bob deciding to wait no longer, strolled away.

At the close of the day's work, however, when Steve was not at the mouth of the shaft waiting for him, Bob began to wonder. He waited about the shaft for half an hour, then went on to his boarding place. Steve had not returned.

"Where's Rush?" demanded the boarding boss, knowing Steve's habit of punctuality.

"That is what's bothering me. I haven't seen him."

It was the business of the boarding boss to look quickly into any absences and report them to the superintendent or the mine captain. He got busy at once. Calling up the time-keeper's office, he inquired if Steve Rush had checked in.

The information came back a moment later that Steve had not come up from the mine yet; or, if he had, he had failed to report himself.

"Then something has happened to him," was Jarvis' emphatic conclusion.

"He left word for me to meet him at seventeen, but when I got there he had gone. I haven't seen him since."

The boarding boss agreed so strongly that he telephoned to the superintendent. The latter had not yet arrived home from his office, so the mine captain was communicated with.

But Bob Jarvis already was out of the house, headed for the shaft at top speed.

"Has Steve Rush come up yet?" he demanded of the cage-tender.

"Haven't seen him."

Bob hesitated. He realized the futility of wandering about the mine not knowing in what part of it he should look for the missing Steve. He then hurried to the time-keeper's office, learning that nothing had been seen of the missing boy.

Bob did not know which way to turn. But by the time he had reached the shaft again Superintendent Penton was there, together with the mine captain, preparing to go below. The cage had just come up and the men were stepping aboard when a boy from the boarding house where the Iron Boys lived came running up out of breath.

"Wait!" cried Bob. "Here comes a boy from our hashery. Maybe Steve has gone home."