"No, he ain't."

"He isn't? Then where is he?"

"Oh, he got blowed off when the explosion—when the hang-over——"

"Blown off?"

"Sure. He couldn't hang on in a hang-over, could he?"

Rush groaned. He ventured to peer from under the stove, up into the air. The top of the furnace was a volcano in full eruption. Fire, smoke and coke were belching high up into the air, there spreading out like a great umbrella and raining down over a wide area.

Pig-Iron reached out a hand, jerking Steve roughly back.

"Don't be a fool!" he growled.

"Do—do you think Jarvis is killed?"

"Most likely. Ought to be, if he isn't after getting that dose."