"Not quite so bad as that," answered Mr. Penton, laughing softly. "He does, however, request me to relieve you of your present duties."

Bob's face fell.

"But this is in order to give you something better. I am ordered to promote you to the grade of foremen. How does that strike you?"

"Knocks me clear over," answered Jarvis promptly.

"Promoted to the grade of foremen?" repeated Steve, scarcely able to believe that what he had heard was not a mistake.

"Yes. Something more than that. You are to be general foremen--shift bosses. The ordinary foreman, as you know, has charge of the shift in one drift only. You boys will have several drifts under your charge. You have had sufficient experience so that I think you will have no difficulty in handling the work. The more ore you get out the better the company will be satisfied. What the company wants is results. The man who can give them results is the man that the company wants to promote to higher positions. You have done well in this direction already. I shall expect you to continue to advance."

"You are very kind. We shall do the best we can, but it is a responsible position for a boy," replied Steve thoughtfully.

"For a mere boy, yes. I look upon you two lads as men. You have proved up to the mark, and you have done the work, a.s.suming the responsibilities of full-grown men."

"What pay do we get?" questioned Bob Jarvis, with an eye to business.

Mr. Penton laughed.

"That is a business-like question. I was wondering if you were going to ask that."

"Of course I am, sir. I wish to know."

"I will tell you. You will receive, beginning with the first of the coming week, one hundred and twenty-five dollars each per month. You should be able to lay up some money out of that."

"Indeed we shall," answered Steve. "It is a fine salary, but I shall do my best to earn it, as I know Bob will."

Jarvis nodded more emphatically than ever.

CHAPTER III

STEVE SHOWS THE IRON HAND

"TELL the mine captain that I wish to see him," said Steve Rush to one of the men working in his shift.

"Where is he?"

"That is what I am sending you to find out," answered the young foreman, somewhat sharply.

The messenger hurried away, grumbling to himself. While the Iron Boys were popular in the mines, there had been no little grumbling when it was learned that they had been promoted over men who had spent many years in the mines. Steve knew and understood this, but he knew that he had done no one an injustice. He had worked hard, and if his employers considered that he was ent.i.tled to promotion that was his own good fortune.

"One seldom gets anything in this world unless he works for it and earns it," was the lad's wise conclusion on this particular morning, as his keen eyes caught a disgruntled look on the face of more than one man working under him.

Steve, true to his name, was pushing the work of his employers with his characteristic rushing tactics. Upon taking up the new work he had made a brief speech to each shift in his department.

"Men," he said, "I am younger than most of you, but you may depend upon one thing. I shall always treat you with absolute fairness and do you justice. If at any time you think such is not the case, tell me so, or go to the superintendent. If I fail in my duty toward you, at any time, it will be because I do not know better, and under such circ.u.mstances I shall be glad to be enlightened. However, the business of the mining company comes first. Everything must give way before that. Our sole business in life, down here, is to get out iron ore. I am satisfied that this drift has not been getting out nearly as much as it should. I shall hereafter expect at least two more tons a day than you have been mining.

If you find that you cannot do it, you will have to give me a good excuse. The ore is running soft. You'll never have easier work than what is before you now. Take some pride in your work. See if you can't beat them all. If you break records I shall see to it that those higher up are informed of it. That is all I have to say."

A similar speech was made by Rush to each of the dozen drift crews under his command. Either his words, or the manner in which he spoke them took hold of the men, for the output of the twelve drifts was increased by twelve tons the first day.

Superintendent Penton rubbed his eyes when the report came in to him that night. He wondered if a mistake had not been made. On the report of the ore mined in Bob Jarvis' department he found a substantial increase also, though not within half a dozen tons of that shown by Steve Rush.

Mr. Penton said nothing, but decided to wait until the week was over, when, if the increase held up to the mark set, he would call the attention of the Duluth officials to the gain. He knew this would please Mr. Carrhart, for the president had great confidence in Rush, and in his rough and ready companion, Jarvis.

Both boys were stationed on the twentieth level, far down in the earth in the Red Rock Mine, to which they had been transferred with their promotion. That morning Steve had been making an inspection of the various drifts. It was the first opportunity he had had to make a thorough examination of them. In section twenty-four L he had made a discovery that led him to send for the mine captain at once.

"Anything gone wrong?" demanded the mine captain, strolling in half an hour later.

"No, but there is likely to be. Come in here. I want to show you something."

Steve led the way into the drift, where the diamond drills were banging away in a deafening chorus. He motioned for the men to shut off the drills; then, climbing up on the crumbling ore that was being shoveled into the tram cars, he held his candle up to the peak of the dome-like drift.

"Do you see that?" demanded Steve.

"I don't see anything very alarming."

"You don't?"

"I do not."

Rush pointed to a seam in the rocks overhead. The seam extended along through some three feet of rock and ore. There was a narrow opening or crack there into which the lad jabbed his sharp-pointed candlestick.

"Now do you see what I am trying to show you?"

"Pshaw! That's nothing. We always get those cracks in back-stoping."

"We are not back-stoping now; we're drifting," protested Steve. "That drift is dangerous."

"No more so than any of them. This isn't a kid's job; it's a man's job down in these mines."

"I am simply pointing it out to you, sir. At the same time I want to ask your permission either to abandon the drift until it can be sh.o.r.ed up, or to back-stope until we can get through to solid rock."

"Go on with your drifting. We can't stop for a little thing like that, I tell you," answered the mine captain, turning and starting away.

"Pull out your drills," commanded Rush.

The drill-men began to obey his command.

"Shovelers and trammers knock off. Hand in your time until I can see the superintendent and get you in a new place."

The mine captain came striding back. He had overheard the orders of the young foreman, and the captain's face reflected his anger.

"See here, what are you doing?" he demanded sternly.

"I am closing this drift for the present."