"Come in," he called.

A man stepped into the room. Steve could scarce repress an exclamation as he saw and recognized the newcomer.

"I begin to understand what the game is now," thought the boy, as he leaned back in his chair with a smile of recognition on his face.

CHAPTER IX

THE LABOR LEADER'S LURE

"WHY, Rush, this is, indeed, a surprise," exclaimed the newcomer, who was none other than the Russian, Cavard. "How are you, Driscold? But I fear I am intruding."

"Not at all. Take a seat. We were discussing matters in which you are interested, I know."

"Well, I'm listening," laughed the Russian. "What is the nature of this interesting discussion?"

"We were talking of improving the condition of the miners by organization. My young friend Rush rather misunderstood the purport of my remarks. I was about to show him wherein he was wrong when you entered."

"Yes; I am in thorough sympathy with organization," nodded the Duke. "It is the one needful thing in the mines here, and it is bound to come at no distant day. I am glad we three are alone here, so we can talk the matter over. You know, most of our men lack the intelligence to appreciate fully the kind of argument we are making."

"Do you mean that the miners in our mines are thinking of organizing?"

asked Steve, without appearing to take any great interest in the announcement.

"Well, I might say that such a thing is within the range of possibility."

"Form a union?"

"Oh, yes; that would be the natural result. 'In union there is strength,' you know."

"So I have read," replied the lad, with a faint smile. "Then you are unionizing the mines? Is that it?"

"I should hardly want to go so far as to say that, my dear, young friend," answered the Duke. "But I will say that the men have been considering the matter for some time. I am placing implicit confidence in you. This information is not mine to give at the present moment, so I shall have to ask you to consider all that I may say as being confidential."

Steve did not reply to this directly. He sat thoughtful and silent for a few seconds.

"Are you a union man, Mr. Driscold?" he asked suddenly.

"Mr. Driscold is the president of the Central Iron Miners' a.s.sociation,"

said Cavard, speaking for the red-haired man.

"Indeed."

Steve regarded the president curiously.

"Then you represent all of the unions in the country, sir?"

"No; not quite that. I am the state president only. The national body is represented by another man. Then, in case a union is organized here, there will be a local president and other officers, all playing a prominent part in the organization. Believe me, my dear young friend, there is a great chance for bright young men. We want young men to hold our offices, young men of brains, like yourself. It is the history of our organization that such young men, almost from the moment that they a.s.sume office in the union, make rapid strides in their work. They are sure to earn rapid promotion. We see to that; we push them along. Why, I know of a young man about your age who, like yourself, was a foreman before joining the union. In less than a year after doing so he was promoted to be a superintendent. That happened right in this state, not more than a hundred miles from where we are sitting at this very moment.

Stand by the union, and work for its interests, and you will be well taken care of at all times."

"Who are the gainers by the organization of a union?"

"The rank and file of the men, of course."

"But how are the officers paid? Surely they do not work for nothing."

"They are paid very moderate salaries," Mr. Driscold hastened to explain, after which he returned to his original subject. "Are there any other questions that you would like to ask?"

"Yes; I should like to know how all that you promise is brought about.

You say that the men will get better wages and shorter hours. How do you expect to accomplish that?"

"I will explain. I see that you do not understand. That is not surprising, since you have had no experience."

"No, sir; I have not."

"I will be very frank with you. Corporations are grasping. They get all they can out of their men, and when those men are no longer useful to them, they cast the men aside as they would a piece of worn-out machinery. They care nothing for you; they would discharge you to-morrow were it not for the fact that you are useful to them."

"I think you are wrong, sir," retorted Steve sharply. "I have never worked for a corporation before. The corporation I am now working for is interested in me to the same extent that I am interested in my work. I believe all of these great industrial organizations are looking for young men who are in earnest. I believe that they are willing to advance such young men just as fast as they are fitted for advancement. At least I have found that to be so in my own case. Of course we have to work long hours and work hard. But what do you expect? Surely you do not look for pay for doing nothing?"

"No, no; you misunderstand me entirely."

"I beg your pardon. You were starting to tell me how you brought about the conditions you mentioned a few moments ago."

"Yes. In the first place, the corporations like to have their men organized. It makes for better service all around. Well, to proceed, I will explain that, having organized, we should appoint a committee to wait upon the official who is in charge of the mines. This committee would lay before the superintendent, if he were the man called upon, such grievances as we might think existed. There would be a friendly discussion, and he, seeing the wisdom of what our committee demanded, would no doubt grant the request made."

"What if he refused?" interjected Steve.

"I presume it would go before the president of the mining company. At least, we should see that the grievances were carried to him."

"And if he refused to grant your demands, what then?" persisted Steve Rush, his keen eyes fixed upon the red-headed president of the a.s.sociation.

"Well, we should find a way to compel them to grant our demands,"

answered Mr. Driscold significantly.

"It seems to come back to the point of throttling a man," said Rush. "I never could become enthusiastic over the profession of highwayman, and it strikes me that this is about what the proposition amounts to."

The Iron Boy was pitting his wits against those of two shrewd and experienced men, who were seeking to lure him on by offering him sugar-coated pills. But Steve Rush knew full well, young as he was in the world's ways, that the inside of the pill was bitter and unpalatable. The lad was holding his own to such an extent that the man Driscold had adopted a sharp, incisive tone at several points in the discussion.

"You are wrong, Rush," interrupted Cavard. "You are altogether wrong."

"Perhaps I am, but I am trying to get to the bottom of the question. You spoke, Mr. Driscold, a moment ago, of finding a way to compel the officials of the company to agree to your demands. How would you go about it?"

The president hesitated a moment before replying.

"Why, our only recourse then--our only remedy, in that event--would be to call a strike."

"_Ah!_"