"I know that your man on the rear end of the dolly nearly put an end to me by that last blow he struck with the mall. Whatever possessed him to do it!"
"He must have misunderstood you. That was a close call. Did the juice burn you?"
"It scorched my cheek a little as it went by," laughed Rush.
"What's that? Did you get singed again?" demanded Jarvis.
"Yes; a little. But we must expect those things in the steel mills."
"Hello, what's the matter over there?" cried Bob, running to the edge of the platform and looking down at the burning cars of the hot metal train.
Pig-Iron explained that a flare-back had flooded the place with molten metal, setting everything inflammable on fire.
The front of the furnace had been blown out and the platform was littered with debris, brick, sheet-iron, metal that was still glowing and which would continue to glow for hours before it became cold and gray. The place looked a wreck, though conditions were not nearly as bad as appeared to the inexperienced eye. There was little that could be done to clear away until the metal had cooled.
In the meantime, the head melter had sent one of his men to make a report of the occurrence to the superintendent of that division.