"No, Mr. McNaughton, superintendent of the open-hearth furnaces. He's the boss of this department," grinned the messenger.
"You'd better be coming along, if you know what's good for you."
"Very well, but I must first report to the pit boss."
"He isn't here. He knows where you are going."
"All right, I'll take your word for it. What does Mr. McNaughton want with me?"
"He'll tell you when you see him," answered the boy.
Steve thought that the summons had something to do with the explosion in the pit. He had no idea that he was to be involved in any way, so he walked confidently along with the messenger, out at the rear door and on to a low, rambling building just across the tracks from the open-hearth building. This was the office of Superintendent McNaughton. Steve did not remember to have seen this superintendent before. The messenger, after entering with Rush, opened a door leading into a large office, and shoved Steve in.
A sandy-haired, rugged-faced man sat at a desk, while around the room were several men from the shops. Among them were Bill Foley and Watski Kalinski. The latter grinned when he saw Steve.
"What's your name?" demanded the man at the desk gruffly.
Steve's face was so coated with grime that it was unrecognizable, even to one who knew him well, which the superintendent did not.
"A man named Jarvis is your side partner, isn't he?"
"Never mind about volunteering information, my man. I'll ask whatever questions I want answered."
"Where were you when the explosion in number eight occurred?"
"Not at first. I saw the latter part of it."
"What was the man Jarvis doing the last time you saw him?"
"Sprinkling the cinders in number eight."
"Humph! What did you tell the fool to do that for?"
"I tell him?" questioned Steve wonderingly.
"Didn't the pit boss warn both of you not to put water on the pit when it was hot?"
"He did not. I heard him utter some sort of a warning, but it was not definite enough for me to understand what he was getting at."
"Kalinski, what did you tell me about this man's having told his partner to hose down the pit?"
"One of the men told me he heard this fellow Rush tell the other man to turn the hose on and cool the blamed pile off quick."
Steve uttered the words quietly but incisively.