Produced by Dianna Adair, Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Illustration: Steve Tossed the Man Out of the Pit. _Frontispiece._ The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills OR Beginning Anew in the Cinder Pits By JAMES R. MEARS Author of The Iron Boys in the Mines, The Iron Boys as Foremen, The Iron Boys on the Ore Boats, The Iron Boys on the Steel Rail Job, etc. Illustrated PHILADELPHIA HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. TOO SLOW FOR HIM 7 II. MAKING A NEW START 24 III. IN THE CINDER PIT 33 IV. LAYING HANDS ON THE BOSS 42 V. ON THE BRINK OF A VOLCANO 53 VI. BOB'S DIZZY FLIGHT 63 VII. AN UNJUST SENTENCE 71 VIII. IGNATZ ON THE WAR PATH 80 IX. STEVE MEETS WITH DISAPPOINTMENT 93 X. SOMETHING HAPPENS TO THE BOSS 103 XI. READJUSTING THEIR FINANCES 112 XII. THE BOYS MEET WITH A SURPRISE 121 XIII. FACING THEIR ACCUSERS 130 XIV. BY THE ROARING FURNACES 142 XV. MENACED BY A DOUBLE PERIL 154 XVI. THROUGH THE MELTING POT 164 XVII. A HANG-OVER AND A FLAREBACK 173 XVIII. IN A FIERY RAIN 182 XIX. RUSH MAKES A SUGGESTION 194 XX. THE CHIEF EXPRESSES HIMSELF 203 XXI. RAKED BY THE "PIG" 213 XXII. DIRECTORS GET A SHOCK 224 XXIII. AN UNLOOKED-FOR PROMOTION 235 XXIV. CONCLUSION 250 The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills CHAPTER I TOO SLOW FOR HIM The telephone bell rang sharply. Its very insistence seemed to indicate the nervous haste of the person on the other end of the line. "Hello!" growled the boy, looking longingly out of the office window as he clapped the receiver to his ear. "What's that? What building? Pity they couldn't pick out a hot day, while they were about it. Yes, I'll tell him. 'Yes,' I said. Can't you hear?" Several clerks, with coats and vests off, were lounging about the office of the great steel works in the accident department. The sun beat down on the building with relentless energy, and there was scarcely a breath of air stirring. There was little incentive to work, and hardly any one was making the slightest pretext at it.