Other questions of a similar nature were asked, all of which the boys answered, discussing the work intelligently and to the point.

From that the engineer went on to a discussion of the mines where the Iron Boys had been employed before coming to Steelburgh. Little by little he drew out the story of their work and experiences on the iron range in the north country. He became deeply interested, and before the lads realized that they had done so, the story of their career, up to the present, had been told.

"Then you both have had experience in managing men?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," answered Steve.

"I am glad of it, for it makes easier what I wish to do. My invitation to-night was not wholly without purpose."

"I am aware of that, sir," smiled Rush.

"Oh, you are, eh?"

"Yes, sir."

"What is my purpose?"

"I am sure I don't know. I knew you were drawing us out for some reason.

I did wonder what it was."

"You are shrewd. Yes, I have been drawing you out, partly because I knew your story was an interesting one, and also because it might have a bearing on what I had in mind."

"Yes, sir."

"Would you lads consider dropping your mill work for a time?"

"What to do, sir?"

"To help put through this new plan of yours, to come directly to the point. When the work is finished you may return to your mill jobs if you wish, though I should like to make a proposition to you to join my department. There is a prosperous future in it."

Steve reflected over what the engineer had said. There were reasons why he wanted to accept, and others why he did not believe it would be wise.

Jarvis left the whole matter in the hands of his companion, and he said so when Steve asked him for his ideas on the subject.

"Very well, Mr. Phillips; if you think we shall be of any service to you we shall be glad to aid you to the best of our ability. I am afraid you are overrating our abilities. This will be new work for us and the probabilities are that we shall not make a very brilliant success of it."

"I am willing to take the risk. You don't ask what I want you to do?"

smiled the chief engineer.

"It doesn't matter. Whatever you think we can do best we will gladly do."

"That's the sort of talk that I like to hear. I'll tell you what I wish you to do. I am going to make you two young men foremen in full charge of the work, under myself and my a.s.sistant engineers, of course. How does the proposition strike you."

"Why--why, Mr. Phillips," stammered Steve.

"This is so sudden," murmured Jarvis under his breath; but the chief engineer heard him and laughed, much to Bob's confusion.

"I am afraid you have given us a rather large contract, sir," continued Rush. "Don't you think you could find some one much better fitted for the work than we are?"

"I am taking all the chances. That I am willing to do so should be evidence to you that I know what I am doing."

"Very good, sir; we shall do our best to merit your confidence. Is there any time limit on the work?"

"That is the point exactly. The work must be done within the next two weeks. The board has fixed that time limit. Now that they find they will be able to save money by the new arrangement, they are anxious to get the plan in working order at the earliest possible day. It is my plan to make each of you a foreman, and to let you arrange the work to the best advantage. How will you work it?"

"Work from opposite sides of the river," answered Steve. "Jarvis on one side and myself on the other. While the men are building the abutment in the middle of the river we can be running the line to the furnaces and to the gas engine house on the other side. In the meantime your experts can be making the connections at each end, so that there shall be no loss of time at any given point."

"Fine, fine!" nodded Mr. Phillips. "That is a most excellent plan. It's good generalship, and that is what counts in the battles of the industrial world, as well as the battles between the armed powers of the world."

"When do you wish the operations to begin?"

"To-morrow morning."

"Will Mr. Keating permit us to drop our work at the furnaces?"

"That has been arranged. You are free to start in to-morrow."

"Is there any increase in pay for the new work? Of course it is worth more than what we have been doing."

"Certainly. You are perfectly right in raising this question. I took it up with the superintendent this afternoon. We decided that twenty dollars a week would be a fair figure for the work while you are at it.

Will that be satisfactory."

"Yes, sir," answered the Iron Boys together. "I presume you will have the men a.s.signed from the different departments. You see, we do not know them and should not be able to gather a force suited to our requirements."

"That has been attended to also."

"One other thing Mr. Phillips; you will leave us free to get rid of any men who do not measure up to the work, will you not?"

"Yes, sir. Any man that you do not want on the job, get rid of him. I think I see two gangs working as perhaps they never worked before,"

added the engineer with a smile.

"They will have to earn their wages, just as we intend to do," announced Steve.

Mr. Phillips nodded approvingly. He considered himself especially fortunate in getting two such live young men to fill the particular places to which he had a.s.signed them. For the rest of the evening the three discussed the plans for pushing the work to completion in the shortest possible time. When at last the boys rose to take their leave they had outlined thoroughly in their own minds what they intended to do.

The next morning the Iron Boys were out bright and early. Their first work was to see to it that the material was gotten out and put at the proper places so as to be ready when the work of running the line was actually begun. The material, of course, was picked out by the engineers, as this required technical knowledge that Steve and Bob could not be expected to possess.

At the same time a gang of men had started in on the abutment out in the middle of the river. All day long Steve, on one side of the river, and Bob on the other calmly directed the work of the men. Mr. Phillips made a trip over the ground on both sides of the river. He was well satisfied with his inspection. He was convinced that he had made no mistake in choosing his two young foremen.

Chainmen had run the distances and staked them off, so that by noon the route to be followed by the pipe line was all laid out and ready for the detailed placing of the material. Places where the piping had to be raised or lowered were also marked out. Late in the afternoon Steve and Jarvis went over their respective contracts with blue prints in hand, fixing every detail of the work in their minds.

"I think we are ready to do business to-morrow," said Steve as the chief engineer came up. "Will you order the full gang to report early in the morning?"

"Yes; that's what I wanted to know--if you would be ready for them."

"We are ready for the great battle," smiled Rush.

On the following morning nearly a hundred men, all told, were working on the two sides of the contract, including the experts who were changing over the furnaces to make possible the installation of the new system.

It was early in the forenoon when Bob Jarvis, on his side of the river, made an interesting discovery. There were two men working for him who attracted his attention at once when he got a chance to look his workmen over and measure his force.