The stranger launched a blow at Jarvis, whereupon Bob knocked the man flat on his back.
"Police!" shouted the boy. Three Iron and Steel Police came running to the scene. "Take this man into custody! He's been up to some deviltry. Hello, I should say so. It's that fiend, Kalinski. I'll make a charge against him after I find what he has been up to."
Shaking Kalinski, Jarvis demanded to know if he had seen Rush, but the Pole would not answer a word. Bob got a boat and hurried out to the abutment after seeing Kalinski safely in the hands of the police. As Jarvis neared the abutment, calling out the name of his companion, he heard Steve's faint answer.
"I knew it, I knew it!" fairly shouted Bob. "That scoundrel has been doing Steve up! Oh, I ought to have wrung his neck while I had the chance!"
Rush was quickly taken ashore; and, accompanied by Bob, went to the police station and made the charge against Kalinski. The engineer was routed out, and an examination was quickly made of the foundation. It was found that Kalinski had partially sawed in two, half of the uprights that held the framework, so that, with additional weight upon it, the structure would have collapsed. The men were called out at once. There was no sleep for the Iron Boys that night. By daylight the work had been shored up and made safe for the time being.
The boys were highly complimented for their vigilance, though by some miscarriage of justice, Kalinski got off scott-free and quickly disappeared from the mills.
As for the contract, Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis pushed it along with renewed vigor. By this time the men had come to like their young overseers and all worked at high pressure. The result was that the contract was finished some days before the time named by the officials, and Steve, proud and happy, had the pleasure of seeing the plan that was the product of his own brain put into successful operation.
Bob and Steve still continued to board at the Brodskys. On the strength of Steve's recommendation, Ignatz received a promotion and an increase in wages. The bestowal of this mark of favor upon her son caused Mrs. Brodsky fairly to worship the Iron Boys, and Ignatz became their devoted shadow.
A few days after finishing their contract the boys were detailed to the open-hearth furnaces, where they were promoted to melter's assistants. This sounded much better than it really was, for the boys were to face another trying experience there. In fact, they were destined to face many trying experiences in other parts of the mills ere they had completed their education amid the roar of the ponderous machinery, the thunder of the giant cranes and the deafening reports of exploding metal.
But all this will be told in a following volume entitled, "The Iron Boys on the Steel Rail Job; Or, Juggling With Life and Death in the Rolling Mills."