The men and the boy left the division superintendent's office laughing happily, and though Steve Rush was a humble apprentice in the mills, these men treated him as an equal, which they knew him to be. The trio proceeded directly to the furnaces. Though the hour was late they went immediately at the business that had brought them there. Their first work was to examine the furnace stoves, to decide where changes would have to be made if it were decided to adopt the new plan. To do this all three climbed to the top of one of the stoves.
"Where was it your idea to make your connections, Rush?" asked the chief engineer. "This might not be a bad place at the top."
"You know best, but I think I should begin up here with the pipe connection, carrying the pipe down to the bottom of the stove, with frequent intakes. There will be no danger of fire getting into the pipe, will there?"
"No; that can be guarded against, unless there should be an explosion, against which we cannot protect ourselves."
"It seems to me that an automatic valve might be invented that would shut off the feed pipe in case of an explosion."
"That is an excellent idea. Suppose you try it?"
"Oh, I am afraid I couldn't do that. I am not a mechanic."
"Try it," replied the engineer.
The officials talked rapidly for the next few minutes, as darkness was fast settling down over the yards, and the flame from the furnaces began to cast shadows here and there. Much of the conversation was so technical that Steve could only surmise what the men were talking about. At last they concluded their discussion and started away. Steve was left at the exit from the yards, from where he proceeded on to his boarding place.
"Well, Phillips, now that we have gone over this thing, what do you think about it? Can it be made to work out as Rush believes it will?"