James R. Mears

“ Oh, Steve!"
A faint "here," that sounded far away reached their ears.
"He's alive! I tell you, he's alive!" cried Bob Jarvis.
Grabbing the end of one of the planks that he had torn loose, Bob began dragging it toward the edge of the platform.
"What are you going to do, lad?"
"Do? Why, sir, I'm going after him."
"Wait; let the men do that. I cannot have you going in there," objected Mr. Penton. But Bob did not stop. He hauled the plank over, and, snatching the rope, made one end of the latter fast about the plank. He then began letting the plank over the side, end first. ”

“ Penton was watching Steve at work with a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
"That's a promising boy, Jim," he said.
"You mean young Rush?"
"Yes. This is the kind of job I should like to turn him loose on, if he had more experience. He's as sharp as a steel trap."
"That is true."
"He has that dogged persistence that would make him hang on like a bull terrier. I'm going to push him along as fast as seems advisable."
"He's a likely youngster," admitted the mine captain, studying Steve's back as the lad swung his iron bar with unerring precision. "Yes, he's a very likely lad." ”

“ The office boy obeyed, casting an angry glance at the unruffled countenance of Steve Rush as he closed the door behind him.
"Now, what is it you want, young man?" questioned the president. "State your business briefly, for I have no time to waste."
"I am looking for a position, sir."
Mr. Carrhart was about to make a sharp reply, when, chancing to glance into the face of the lad before him, he saw something there that arrested the words he was about to utter. The boy's face showed an earnestness of purpose, a stubborn determination that led the mining president to modify his tone. ”

“ All work in drift seventeen had been suspended for the moment, and even the diamond drills had ceased their bang, bang, bang. Every man in the drift, save Spooner himself, had uttered a yell of delight when he saw the young miner's sturdy punch.
"Look out, lad; he's coming for you again. Spooner, remember he's a boy; don't do anything you'll be sorry for. You'll be——"
[54]
The contractor had started for young Rush again.
"Get out of here!" roared the man. "Out of here before I wring your miserable neck!"
Steve snatched up an iron bar that the trammers used to fasten the catches on the cars. ”

“ He struck the water with a splash, broadside on, quickly sinking beneath the surface. Steve was too good a swimmer to swallow any water, however, and began holding his breath even before he struck the water, knowing as he did what was about to happen. The result was that he had propelled himself to the surface before many seconds had elapsed. He came up shaking himself like a water dog, but was careful to make as little noise as possible.
As soon as he succeeded in getting the water out of his eyes, he looked up, expecting to see a light on the platform on the sub-level. ”

“ You'll never make a miner until you've been properly trimmed, and I'm the boy who's taken the contract to do the job. I——"
"Jarvis, that will be about enough for the present," warned the boarding house boss from the head of the table.
"Can't a fellow have a little fun without being called down?" demanded Bob in a tone of disgust.
"Yes; have all the fun you want, but don't pick on a boy who isn't your size. You, boy down there, what did you say your name is?"
"Stephen Rush."
"Well, Steve, don't be afraid of Jarvis. His bark is much worse than his bite." ”

“ Spooner eyed the lad narrowly for a few moments. He was obliged to admit that Rush handled the shovel as well as any man he had ever had in his gang.
"You ought to be in the bull gang," jeered the contractor. "Yes, sir, you are wasting your talents working in an ore drift."
"What is a bull gang?" questioned the lad between shovels.
"That is the gang that shifts the timber down into the mine," answered the man shoveling by Steve's side. "The timber-men below take the stuff and build the supports and the lagging to keep the levels from caving in, you know." ”

“ Nobody ever accused Bob Spooner of having cold feet without getting hurt."
"You talk like it. But never mind; I'll do it. I owe him one and I owe the mine more than one. They'll have something to settle and it'll cost them a pretty penny, I reckon. It's now or never, for you and me. We'll never get a better opportunity. How do you suppose we are going to get in here after we leave to-day? Why, they wouldn't let us inside the cage after the orders the big boss will give them at the top of the shaft."
"Stop it! I'll do the trick. Where are the tools, though? I haven't a saw in my kit." ”

“ The contractor liked to have his men on the job early, and when he could drive them into doing so, he managed to get ten minutes or so extra work out of them before the whistle on the level blew the signal to begin work.
Steve smiled good-naturedly when Spooner ordered him to get in and begin shoveling. The lad was not averse to doing so. All evidences of the accident had been removed and once more the drift was open and workable. A new powder-man had taken the place of the injured man, a quiet, self-contained young fellow on whom Spooner's bulldozing tactics had no effect. ”

“ Steve sat gazing steadily at the door of a room on which was written the word "President." Now and then he caught sight of a shadow within, through the ground-glass partition, and now and again the sound of voices reached him.
"Are you going to move?" demanded a voice at his side.
Steve glanced up, finding the office boy standing close to him, a threatening scowl on his face. ”

“ The superintendent already knew all about the matter. He well knew who had started the fight and why, and he knew also of the warm friendship that had sprung up between the two boys since the battle; but Mr. Penton was a shrewd man—one who judged men with almost unerring instinct. He was drawing Steve out to verify his own impressions. ”

“ I'd give a year's wages for the privilege of turning the diamond drill on him," added the head driller.
"Did I hit a man?" asked Steve anxiously.
"No; you hit an apology for a man," was the quick reply.
By this time young Rush was bending over, looking down into the shadows that hung over the gutter along the side of the track. He made out the figure of a man lying there.
"Help me get him up, men," he cried. "Don't you see that he is hurt?"
"Serve him right if he is," growled the trammer, the workman who pushed the cars of ore out into the main level. ”

“ Steve smiled. He could well imagine what would happen if Spooner treated Bob as he had treated Steve. Bob was too hot tempered to endure the contractor's insults without resenting them.
Mr. Penton seemed to understand what was in Steve's mind.
"It will be good for the boy," he nodded. "Every boy needs a certain amount of hard knocks. They make a man of him."
"Bob is quite a man already," replied Rush, with a faint smile.
Mr. Penton laughed good-naturedly.
"Yes, I understand. You will report at the chute at once. Tell the mine captain to inform the time keepers of your change of place. ”

“ Bob managed to land a fairly strong blow on Steve's neck.
The latter returned the compliment by a vicious punch in the ribs that caused the larger boy to hug his opponent closer. Then all at once, with the last ounce of their failing strength, the two youthful gladiators began delivering short-arm jolts, each standing with an arm about the other's neck, driving in the blows with all the strength he had left.
Not for a moment had either lad sought to foul the other. It was a "square" fight, such as is seldom seen between professionals. ”

“ It gives every man a chance to show what sort of stuff he is made of. If his is a low grade of ore, as we would term it in the mines, then he stays where he is, but if of a higher grade from which the finest steel is made, then the man goes on up as fast as he is fitted to hold higher positions. There is practically no limit to the positions to which young men in this company may aspire. Take, for instance, the present president of this mining company, who is now drawing a salary equal to that received by the President of the United States. ”

“ It was understood, also, that several New York officials were to be in the party, and every department head in the mines was ordered to leave nothing undone to have all things under his charge in perfect order.
"We are about the only ones whose work won't show," complained Jarvis.
"Why not, Bob?" demanded Steve.
"Why, a track is a track, that's all. It doesn't show all the work we have put on it. They'll just walk along on our job while they are admiring the other fellow's work."
"I think you are in error. The officials of these big corporations are all practical men. ”

“ I'll fire you both, you lazy, [50] good for nothings!" he bellowed. "You ain't fit even to be swampers behind a pair of lazy mules. Push, I tell you! Push! Something will be doing here in a jiffy if you don't get that car out of the way!"
His words were prophetic in a measure, for something did happen a few seconds later, though Spooner was not the author of it. Rather was he the victim.
With a crash the trap door at the bottom of the rise burst open with a sound like a dynamite explosion in a new drift. A dark object was hurled out into the level, landing squirming on the soft ore in the car. ”

“ He learned that all was being done that could be done to repair the hoisting apparatus in the shortest possible time, so there was no necessity for him to climb the rest of the way up.
"I think I'll stay down here with you boys for the rest of the night," he said. "Everything is quiet. I see the surgeon has put the engineer out of house and home, so I think I shall lie down on the work-bench and get a little sleep."
"Yes, it is quiet enough," began Steve, when suddenly there came a dull, muffled report. The ground beneath their feet trembled perceptibly, then silence reigned. ”

“ Steve's face glowed happily.
"I am going to take you off the Spooner contract and give you another place to work. I have taken a keen interest in you, and I want you to learn all about the workings of the mine."
"That is what I am going to do, sir," answered Rush in a quiet but firm tone.
"I have decided to place you at the main chute on the same level where you have been working. Your duty will be to dump the cars as they come in. You will be right by the tally-boards and you will learn how we count up there, besides many other things. ”

“ Spooner had no more to say.
"How many tons a day does he get out of this contract?" asked Steve, as he was waiting for the cage to ascend to the surface.
"Fifty tons is the most we ever got out in a day," was the answer from Steve's companion.
"How much does he get a ton?"
"That we don't know. He never tells his business. Some contractors get less and some more, depending upon how the ore runs, how much paint rock there is to be thrown out in the dirt." ”

“ The contractor glared, started to speak, then gaining control of himself, turned and walked away. Rush, in the meantime, was energetically throwing dirt and when the long day was ended he had shoveled into ore cars ten tons of soft ore. The lad handed his tally slip to the contractor at the close of the day's work.
Spooner uttered a grunt of disapproval.
"Only ten tons!" he groaned. "You'll have to do better than that. Unless you can handle twelve you're not fit to be below ground." ”

“ All hands ran back so as to be well out of the way, and now that Steve understood what was being done, he shouldered his shovel and moved leisurely off in the direction taken by the others.
"That's the worst of a fool kid," grumbled the contractor. "They don't know enough to come in out of the wet——"
"The fuse is fired! Look out!" warned the powder-man, starting away from the scene on a run.
[58]
Steve watched the sputtering, squirming fuse far down the drift as the flame neared the charge of dynamite, six pounds all told. ”

“ Ike Penton, general superintendent of the Cousin Jack Mine, smiled indulgently into the eager face of Steve Rush.
"It's a man's work, not a boy's work. Mr. Carrhart's letter gives you a fine endorsement. He seems to think you have the making of a miner in you, and acting on his judgment, I shall of course give you a chance." ”