The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills Part 39

There was sarcasm in the tone of the secretary, certainly. His a.s.sociates gave him a glance of disapproval. Steve turned toward him with the same steady gaze that he had fixed on the superintendent during the latter's remarks.

"Sir, were I the kind of man who was looking for that sort of reward, fifty dollars certainly would be considered inadequate when one considers that the new plan will save your company thousands of dollars."

The directors started back in surprise. Such words as these, from an employe, were unusual to say the least.

"Then--then you want more money, eh?" almost shouted the secretary. "So that's where the shoe pinches, is it?"

"No, sir; the shoe doesn't pinch at all. I am paid by this company for my services, paid the same as my fellow-workers are paid. If, in the course of my employment, I am able to make any improvements or to suggest improvements that will better the service, I consider that such suggestions or improvements are wholly the property of my employer. I am neither ent.i.tled to nor wish additional pay for them. Believe me, gentlemen, I should not be backward about asking for what I thought rightfully belonged to me. I hope none of you will misunderstand me. May I retire, sir?" he added, turning questioningly to Mr. Keating.

The superintendent nodded. Steve's bold stand had frustrated Mr.

Keating as well as the others. For a few seconds after Rush's departure no one spoke; then, all at once the president burst out laughing.

"That's the time you met your match, I am thinking, Conkling."

"An impudent young rascal!" exploded the secretary. "To think he would dare stand there and insult us in that fas.h.i.+on. It was the most outrageous thing I ever heard of."

"Wait; hold on, Conkling," protested the president.

"I demand his discharge. We don't want a man like that in our employ."

"Now don't get excited. Are we going to let a monkey-man from furnace four involve this board in a fight?" The president's eyes twinkled merrily. He was enjoying the situation.

"I--I don't care; he must be discharged."

"On the contrary, Conkling, he will stay. That young man is just the kind of man we want here."

The superintendent spoke with considerable emphasis.

"What he says is true, Conkling, so far as the fifty dollars is concerned," continued the president. "Had I known what sort of boy we had to deal with I certainly should have insisted on your voting him more money or else none at all."

"He would not have accepted it under the circ.u.mstances," interrupted Mr.

Keating.

"No; that is quite evident, and I respect him for his position. You must admit, gentlemen, that Rush's viewpoint is somewhat unusual these days.

How much is he earning, Keating?"

"His wages are a dollar a day."

"Then promote him at once."

"I have offered to, but he doesn't want it. He is working his way up, and desires to follow the same course that any one does in going through the mills. Mr. Carrhart is responsible for his being here. He takes a very keen interest in both boys."

"Oh, he does, eh?"

"Yes, sir. The young men are not in want. Each of them own several thousand dollars worth of stock in this company."

"What?" almost shrieked the secretary who had not yet recovered his equilibrium.

The president laughed uproariously.

"This is too good. Here we've been voting a paltry fifty dollars to a man who is practically ent.i.tled to call us to account for so doing. We are his employes as much as he is ours. This is too good! I shall have to tell that story at the club," and the president indulged in another burst of laughter.

No one enjoyed the discomfiture of the secretary more than Mr. Keating and Mr. Phillips. The faces of both men bore smiles that they were unable to hide. The directors left soon after that. In going out, the president approached the superintendent.

"Keating, I hope you will look out for that young man."

"You may depend upon my doing so. I already have taken a great interest in both of them."

"I suppose I ought to order you to dismiss him, for if we men don't look out he'll be grabbing our own jobs some of these days."

The president went away, chuckling at his own witticism. After they had gone the two dignified men, namely, Superintendent Keating and Chief Engineer Phillips leaned back in their chairs and indulged in a good laugh at the directors' expense.

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 friends.h.i.+p 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.