"Whe--where--where----" breathed the superintendent, his face slowly blanching. "I declare, Phillips, he must have been caught under the pig and carried down to his death!"
The chief engineer shook his head sadly, leaning over the rail without a word as he gazed down into the river with averted face, that his companion might not see his emotion.
Far down below them the head of a man bobbed out of the water as the cloud of steam drifted slowly away.
Mr. Keating was greatly excited. He ran here and there, hoping to get a clearer view of the water.
"Rush! Rush! Is that you?" he called with hands to mouth.
An arm was raised from the water and waved at them.
"It's he! He's safe, he's safe, Phillips!" cried the superintendent, dancing about excitedly.
"Look out, Keating! What's the matter with you? You'll have us both in the river, the first thing you know."
The two gray-haired men shook hands, patted each other on the shoulder and laughed like schoolboys in the excess of their joy.
"Can you swim?" called the superintendent.
"Yes, I'll meet you on the other side," was the reply faintly borne to their ears.
"Come on, Phillips." Mr. Keating started on a run for the other side of the river, for which Rush was swimming steadily. The banks were high and steep on the far side, but there was an excellent beach, so that the Iron Boy had no difficulty in making a landing. He was obliged, however, to go around for some distance before finding a place to climb to the top.
Arriving finally, Steve found the superintendent and chief engineer pacing up and down the bank waiting for him. They grasped the lad's hands, each seeking to outdo the other in expressing their appreciation of what he had done.
"But what is troubling us is to understand how you were carried down by that pig and yet not killed?" questioned Mr. Keating.
"Certainly not. This is the only place the pig touched me."
Steve exhibited a rent in his lower trousers' leg on the right side, and parting this showed them a burn right down the leg. The burn looked an inch deep.
"Man alive, you must get to the hospital as quickly as you can!" commanded the superintendent.
Illustration: "Look!" Shouted Mr. Phillips.
"Yes, I should think I were about finished if I had such a burn as that. The pig raked you there, didn't it?" asked Mr. Phillips.