first. Next he turned his attention to the ladle that had been capsized. He made a quick examination of this, motioning to the foreman to join him.

"The chain broke, did it not?"

"You can see that one of them did," answered the foreman gruffly.

"I am asking you. No matter what I see. How did it happen to break?"

"Too much strain on it, I suppose."

Rush picked his way gingerly around to the other side, for the ground was covered with metal that in some cases was still red hot. Reaching a point where he could do so without being burned he poked the broken chain about with an iron bar that he had picked up, until he got the break where he could see it more plainly. There was a dull mark across the break, that seemed especially to interest him. The dull mark extended clear to the surface of the link.

"Photographer, I want a picture, first of this break in the chain, and next a general view of the upset ladle and chain. You had better use a flash light on the link so your picture will show the break plainly."

"Say, what do you want to do that for?" demanded the foreman.

"What do I want to do that for?" repeated the boy, turning sharply.

"Yes, no need to give a fellow away like that. It was an accident."

"Bill Foley, what do you take me for? I'm not that kind of man. I would help you if I could, but I am paid for gathering all the facts whenever an accident occurs. You are the foreman of this open-hearth, and you ought to be the very first one to demand an honest investigation."

"It just broke, that's all. They're all likely to do that."

"They are all supposed to be examined daily, too," answered Rush quickly. "The company's first care is for the safety of its men. Still, it's not the part of my duty to preach to you."

"Then don't!" growled Foley.

"No; I'll do my duty, old chap, though in this case it means some trouble for you."

Two ambulances had arrived by this time and the surgeons were giving first aid to the injured as the men lay stretched out on the still hot cinders on the floor of the dingy mill.

The work of the mill had not ceased. It went on with a rush and a roar, interspersed with reverberating crashes, here and there, that sounded as though the steel roof were caving in.

"Any of them seriously hurt, Doctor?" demanded Steve.

"One is very badly burned. He won't get well. As for the others, I can't promise."

"Should they all go to the hospital?"

"Yes."

"Then take them there, please. Do you need any more ambulances?"

"No; but I wish you would get some men to carry these poor fellows to the ambulances."

"Foley, will you please assign men as litter-bearers?" requested Rush, turning to the foreman of the open-hearth.

The foreman did so sullenly and grudgingly.

"They might better go home," he growled. "You fellows are trying to make a mountain out of a mole-hill."

Four men were assigned to the task, however, and these, hurrying out, soon returned with two litters. On them the injured men were placed and in turn borne to the waiting ambulances, in which they were tenderly placed. The first ambulance, being filled, was hurried away to the company's hospital, a few doors from the main offices of the mills.

Steve pushed forward his inquiry with great energy. There seemed nothing too trivial for him to inquire about, if it could possibly bear on the accident. So persistent were his inquiries, into these accident cases, as to cause those who were in any way responsible to feel a sense of uneasiness the moment they saw the lad enter their building. Rush spared no one when that person was in any way to blame. He did his work well and conscientiously, without fear or favor. As a result he made many bitter enemies as well as some life-long friends.

The men in the mills with whom he came in contact in these hurried visits had come to regard Steve as one among many. He did not side with the bosses, and, though he was the friend of the men, he did not side with them unless their side chanced to be the right one.

The reader has already recognized in Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis, the Iron Boys, who, as told in "The Iron Boys in the Mines," began their career in the great industrial world, at the foot of the deep shaft in the Cousin Jack Iron Mine. It will be remembered that they distinguished themselves there in the beginning by their courage, resourcefulness and persistent efforts to serve their employers in the best possible manner. It was in this, their first employment, that the Iron Boys became friends after a fight and from that moment began a friendship that was destined to last for years, in fact as long as the lads lived. Their escapes from death were many and thrilling, but because of their courage and cool-headedness they came safely through their apprenticeship, winning promotion and the confidence and respect of their employers.

Again, as narrated, in "The Iron Boys as Foremen," Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis met with new and exciting experiences. They became, as will be remembered, involved in a great strike, and because of their fidelity to what they believed to be the right, were expelled from the union, even after they had by their heroic efforts saved the mine from destruction by fire and dynamite, and thus saved the lives of many of their companions. The Iron Boys through their further efforts exposed the leader of the strike, proving him to be a dishonest man and a rascal of the worst type, who, instead of working for the interests of the honest but misguided members of the union, was seeking power and money, regardless of the suffering that his unworthy ambition brought to others. In the end the lads, after deeds of violence had been perpetrated, saved the bridge that was the key to the transportation of the company's product, for all of which they were handsomely rewarded by their grateful employers.

From the mines the Iron Boys took the next step in their calling which they were determined to learn from start to finish. This second step had to do with the transportation of the ore from the mines to the mills. It will be recalled by readers of "The Iron Boys on the Great Lakes" that the lads shipped on an ore boat; that they boarded the boat through an ore chute, being dumped in the hold, and that they nearly lost their lives before making their way to the upper deck of the ship. Their first experience on shipboard had to do with the fire room in which they were put to work as stokers, and where they had a most unique but desperate battle with the "black gang" of the stoke hole. Collision and shipwreck were a part of their early experiences, during which Steve Rush and his companion again proved themselves heroes. And now, after a season on the Great Lakes, they had moved on to the steel mills, where the red ore that they had helped to take from the depths of the earth was worked up into pig iron and steel. The boys had declined to take letters of introduction to the mills, proceeding there like any one else and asking for jobs.

However, unknown to them, the president of the mining company had written to Mr. Keating, general superintendent of the mills, asking the superintendent to give the boys the best possible opportunity to learn the business. The president had recounted some of their achievements, so that, though they did not know it, the superintendent was fully prepared for their coming. He had taken a liking to the frank-faced, athletic young fellows the moment he first saw them. He saw in them the making of splendid men. He reasoned, however, that their rise would