Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1901-05-11
CHAPTER xv11l.-tCon,inued)


To kill time while awaiting Uncle Da-
rid's message Of recall-honestly keep
Ing the promise that he most bitterly re-
GREETED having made--hc formed habit
of haunting the great iron mills and glass
works near the mouth of the Hun and
along the narrow strip Of available
ground between Coal Hill and the river.
1nsensibly that atmosphere, pulsating
with energy and thrilling with the opera
ton of tremendous forces all about him,
awokc in the young man new IDEAS and
comprchcnsions of life. stirring him first
with awe. then with curiosity and finally
with a burning desire to bear an active
part in that mighty vibration. The ma
chincry's rumbling roar filling the air.
the quivcring of the solid earth beneath
his feet. the vivid bursts of coorcd flame
that dazzled his sight, the earnest. pur-
poseful activity of the muscular toilers
who jostlcd hini--all together had for
him an understandable fascination. This,
he knew, was more truly mans work
than any he had known before.
One day lc accidentally learned that
the daily wages of puddlcr were more
than the weekly earnings of skillful
uuENtSitT. uc eUiDtES VI b''V'N" '"s'
latent In him began to glow. He wished
to be puddler. What did the puddlei
do? He went to the mill and watched
one critically. The chap he made study
of was a huge. muscular fellow, very
giant, with short curly hair. close.matted
and dark with pcrspirntion; neck IKE
that of bull: naked to the waist, show
ing thews and sincws like those OF q
gladiator. His eyes were red ana ms
skin seemed baked to light reddish
brown. With his brawny legs braced
wide apart. the big muscles Of his arms,
shoulders and back knotting, extending
and writing like serpents In motion, he
busted himself doing something with
long iron bar thrust through hole IN
an iron door.
John tried to look into the hole, but
could see only an intense white light, that
seemed to dry his eyeballs and left q
cherry.red spot In his vision, wherever hi
looked, for several minutes afterward
But the giant saw clearly what he wa
doing with his iron bar there. His train
ed sight could distinguish nice grndation'
Of color In that apparently incandescen,
glow. Presently he uttered sharp wort
of warning, at hearing which his helper
standing near and, like him, naked to thu
waist, sprang under a heavy stream o,
water flowing constantly from an oper
pipe higher than his head, was drenchet
In an instant aud jumped back to hii
place. Then the puddler shouted another
word: there was a rattle Of chains, Z
skreek and clash Of metal, and where
the hole hnd been yawned wide opening
into the Gerccly glowing chamber where
molten iron boiled like water In pot.
John knew that was what was In there
but could no more see 1t than he coult
distinguish objects upon the suns sur
face at high noon. hut the puddlcr die
not appear to mind the dazzling glare
Quickly stepping backward, he withdrew
from the furnacc-front the iron bar h
had been manipulating, with a great bal
of Iron, In a plastic state, adhering to thu
end. That ball, larger than his head
looked to John like chunk Of the sun.
The helper. by the aid Of tongs pcnden
from traveller" In the semi-blacknes
far overhead, seized the candent mas
and ran with 1t before him, like u smal
comet OF which he was the tail, or tn,
true phlogiston, away across the mill 4
the ''crushcr." The furnace door close,
automatically with q clung, leaving 0nl!
n pencil of white light darting out Of |
little hole In its center ana stabbing lik,
Il blade through the murk Of the mill
and the pnddler, leaping under the fallinl
stream of water, spread his big arms an,
threw back his head to let the crysta
flood dash upon his upturncd face an,
broad, hairy breast. Steam went VI
from him rs IL he had been red hot.
John had some doubt as to whether hi
eyes would stand such cooking as tn
puddlcr's got, but apart from that, tn
work pleased him, and he resolved t
master 1t. Whether he would cOntinu
at It an hour after he received his sun,
mons Of recall was quite another matter
1t would be absurd that he, already TIN
owner Of two tine farms ana prospective
heir to a third, larger and better thar
both Of them. should acquire permanen
habit Of pudding iron for days wage
during the rest of his life. hut what bet
ter or more manly occupation could d.
find while divorced from his farms
None, surely. SO he found employment
as u helper with q good-natured giant
whose willingly given instruction and hi
own natural aptitude for learning speed
lily put him IN possession Of the merel
mechanical trick Of pudding, and opened
his eyes to the seriousness of an atteinp
TO master II real knowledge Of this deli
cate scientific process.
Half Il dozen workers In iron and glas
boarded In the same house with JOh
Cameron. They We're generally rougl
fellows, honest enough but coarse, and In
stinctively appreciative Of the fact tina
he was not really one OF them. Conse
quently they rather held aloof from him
There was one, however, a glass blowe,
known as "Rilly the Barker" with WHOM
his sympathetic pity brought him upo
terms of more intimacy. Billy was
lean, understood, hollOw-chceked chan
fast middle age, weak and shy, upO
whom consumption had set the seal O
doom. lie had frequent violent and pro
tracted spells Of coughing, and was I'M
able to work more than one or two day
in the week usually, SO he was destitute
wretched and tired Of life.
One night, John returning home yer
late from work, found Billy seated on tn
well cover in the garden, with his lea
arms twned about his knees. and shivel
Ing.
Hello" exclaimed the young mar
what are you doing here? Don't 20
know that with such cough as yours
You shouldn't he out In this damp nigh
ARP
II know I shouldn't, but there's n
choice for me. I'm sort Of shy about hay
ing heavy boots chucked at my head"
"What do you mean2"
"There are four OF us In the rOOI
,,,hn,n Z horn N hnA <huo, .ou~.o !,