"I agree with you. Rush, what do you think we ought to do in a case like this?"
"Then I will stop you if you say anything you ought not to."
"What I not only think but know ought to be done, is to kick the man Kalinski and the man Foley out of the place. I shouldn't ask them to go, I'd use my boot. Both men have lied. The truth is not in them, and some day you will find it out, even if you don't know it now."
The two bosses sprang to their feet, starting toward Steve, who stood eyeing them calmly, but in a belligerent attitude.
"I'd like nothing better than putting it over you two loafers. But, of course, you haven't the nerve to stand up one at a time and resent the imputation that you are liars."
"You told me to speak plainly. I am doing so, but I am telling the truth. Foley is angry with me because I told the truth and got him into trouble when I was in the accident department. He tried to get me to lie for him then. I knew, then, that he was more crooked than a steel rail coming through the rolls, and that's all I've got to say. I am glad to have put myself on record, and I'll take my medicine like a man, though the day will come when you will find that these men are rascals. The sooner you get rid of them the more certain will you be to avoid trouble. Good day----"
"Hold on, sir! Not quite so fast!" commanded the superintendent of the open-hearth building. "I have something to say for myself. The evidence is against you two. You have convicted yourselves. I have perfect confidence in both Foley and Kalinski. They have been faithful employés for many years."
"It is natural that I should take their version in preference to that of a man of whom I know nothing, and who has been in the mills less than a day."
"Even if those men are rascals," interjected Rush. "I dislike to use the word, but it is the only word I know that fits the case. If you wish to know anything about the honesty of myself and my companion, I wish you would be good enough to speak to Superintendent Keating. He knows people who have known us for some time, and----"
"I am running this division, young man. I think I am able to judge between right and wrong."
"Very well; I have nothing further to say in my defense. What do you propose to do?"