The Iron Boys as Foremen; or, Heading the Diamond Drill Shift

by Mrs. Molesworth

  CHAPTER XXIV

  CONCLUSION

  A GREAT mob was packed in Liberty Hall later in the evening. There wereno mutterings. The men were sullen and discouraged. Outside the hall wasa platoon of guardsmen ready to fall in for whatever services might bedemanded of them. The spirit of the striking men seemed to have beenbroken.

  Three of the six who had gone down to plant the dynamite under thebridge had been killed by the fire of the guardsmen. Every shaft wasguarded by armed men, with orders to shoot any man who approached theshaft after dark. The company was prepared to keep the siege up allwinter if necessary, though they promised that, were the miners to throwout their leader and elect an honest man, the company might treat withthem, looking toward a settlement.

  The chairman rose. His face was solemn, but his eyes belied thesolemnity of his face.

  "My friends," he began, "the bosses have triumphed over us to-day, butwe shall down them yet. I have a piece of news for you showing thetrickery to which they have resorted. The men of the Blair Mine havegone back to work. The bosses have done this to tantalize you."

  None thought how inconsistent this was. The men began to grow noisy andrestless after this announcement.

  "How do they go back?" shouted a voice.

  "At the old terms," answered the chairman. "They gave it up."

  "We'll keep it up! We won't give up till we starve!"

  "No; down with the bosses! We should get guns and drive these troops,these hirelings, from the range. Arm yourselves, men, and assert yourmanhood!" cried another voice, that of one of the leader's lieutenants,though he made certain that only a few of those about him observedwhence the words came.

  Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis rose from the corner of the room near thestairway unobserved. Steve jumped up on a window-sill, waving his hat toattract their attention.

  "Men, men! Listen to me!"

  There was a sullen roar when the miners discovered who it was, and themob rose to its feet, surging toward Steve.

  "Stay where you are if you value your lives. There are fifty riflestrained on this hall at this moment. The guardsmen will riddle you withbullets if you make a hostile move toward me."

  The men hesitated.

  "I am your friend, though you do not believe it. I will prove to youthat I am. Listen to me, boys. Listen! That man," pointing to Cavard,"is a scoundrel. It is he who has led you on to this terrible strike. Itis he who is to blame for the suffering of your families. I tell you Iknow this. I could prove it to you, but there are other things that youmust know first."

  "Speak out. We'll hear you," cried a voice.

  "I am going to do so. Your leader has just told you, almost sheddingtears as he did so, that the Blair Mine had resumed operations. Butthere was something else that he did not tell you. He did not tell youthat he had had a conference with the owners of the mine, and that theyhad made a deal with him. Money is what Cavard has been workingfor--money and power. He's got the money now, and he doesn't care whatbecomes of you----"

  "It's a lie!" shrieked the man Cavard.

  "It is the truth. Men, Cavard was paid fifteen thousand dollars by anofficial of the Blair mine last night to call off the strike. I couldgive you the official's name. That fifteen thousand dollars wasdeposited in the bank here to-day. It is here, all here. I have theproofs. He is a traitor! He has sold you out at the expense of yourfamilies. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

  With a howl of rage the men turned to the place where Cavard had beenstanding. But the man was gone. He had slunk out under cover of SteveRush's thrilling speech never to be seen in the mining village again.Steve had seen him go, but had not tried to detain him.

  "What shall we do?" cried the men, when they discovered that their preyhad escaped them.

  "Call the strike off, here and now, and go to work. After all hasquieted down again, reorganize your union if you wish, and put honestmen at the head of it. I shall be with you heart and soul, if you arewilling to do as I have suggested."

  There was a moment of silence.

  "Rush! Rush! Three cheers for the gamest, squarest boy on the ironrange!" shouted a miner excitedly, as he sprang to a seat, waving hisarms.

  The audience rose as one man, and the building fairly trembled undertheir roars. They rushed toward the Iron Boys. Bob was caught in thecrush and pushed half way down the stairs. But the men were not going toleave just yet. They were enthusiastically shouting the name of Rush.

  Steve was caught up. His hat was lost, his coat was nearly ripped fromhis shoulders, and he was borne in triumph to the rostrum, where theytossed him up into the president's chair.

  "You're the next president of the miners' union," they howled.

  Steve raised a protesting hand.

  "No, boys; you must choose an older man than I. You need level headshere. Besides, I may not be with you next year, but while I am here Ishall work for your good. Good luck, boys! To-morrow you will go towork, and there will be happiness in your homes on Christmas Day."

  The men had seated themselves again. But as Steve finished speaking agiant figure rose up directly in front of the platform.

  It was Segunder Olsen.

  "Whoop! Y-e-o-w!" howled the giant.

  The strike was ended. As soon as Steve could get away he hurried to hisroom and went to bed. But his eyes were bright and his heart was full ofhappiness.

  On the following day he was summoned to the main office of the company,with his companion. Each lad was handed a bank book by the president,after the latter had expressed his appreciation of their splendid work.The bank books showed that Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis had a thousanddollars apiece placed to their credit in the bank.

  Their work had been well done. They had done their duty, they had riskedtheir lives and they had won. Their patriotism for the great industrialcause had carried them on to a triumphant success. Next season they wereto try themselves out in new fields, where they were destined todistinguish themselves in a marked manner.

  Their further experiences will be told in a following volume entitled,"THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; Or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes." Inthat new life the lads were destined to meet with even more thrillingexperiences than they had had during their eventful career in the mineson the great iron range.

  THE END