"Who can it be?"
"Hush!"
The two boys kept very still.
Steps and voices came nearer.
"Yes, every floor is protected by fire-escapes, as you see," declared a voice.
"It is some insurance man," breathed Peter. "Don"t move, Nat."
"Have you hand extinguishers here also?"
"Yes, at each corner of the room and on the walls."
"This floor is not in use, I take it."
"No," broke in another voice--the voice of Mr. Coddington himself. "We never have had occasion to use this floor, although we probably shall do so when we require more room for supplies. What are those packing-cases doing here, Tyler? They look as though they were empty."
"I hardly think empty cases would be left on this floor, sir. They shouldn"t be."
Mr. Tyler was evidently annoyed.
"Empty or full, they"ve no business in this room," said Mr. Coddington, sharply. "They might cause fire."
Simultaneously the three men stepped forward to investigate.
Mr. Tyler kicked the back of the nearest case with his foot, but Mr.
Coddington, who never stopped until he had got at the bottom of things, grasped the edge of one of the great boxes and tried to turn it over.
Now it happened that the boys, struggling to remain unseen, had huddled into this very box.
"The case is heavy, Tyler. I can"t stir it. Just see what is in it."
Mr. Tyler, alert to obey, dragged forth the case with the a.s.sistance of the insurance agent and when it was tipped up and Peter and Nat tumbled out on the floor three more astonished men never were seen.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE THREE MEN STEPPED FORWARD]
"How did you two boys get here?" questioned Mr. Tyler severely. "What are you doing?"
Nat, thoroughly terrified, looked helplessly at Peter. He couldn"t have answered had he tried. Peter himself was a good deal taken aback. He glanced at his father for some hint as to how to proceed, but Mr.
Coddington"s face was a study in conflicting emotions and furnished no clue. Therefore, after waiting a moment and receiving no aid in his dilemma, Peter replied simply:
"We are eating our luncheon."
"Eating your lunch! And who told you you might come here for such a purpose?"
"n.o.body. It just was a big, empty place with lots of sunshine and it seemed nicer than eating down-stairs," gasped Peter.
"Are you sure they were eating their lunch and not starting a fire?"
suggested the insurance inspector in an undertone.
"Of course we weren"t setting a fire!" Peter cried indignantly, hearing the whispered words of the inspector. "We just came up here to get where it was clean and quiet. When it is too cold to go out there isn"t any place to eat except right in the factory."
"Well, that is no excuse for your coming here. It is against the rule for any of the employees to come above the fourth floor without permission. I thought you both understood that. If you didn"t it is your own fault. You may finish out your week here and on Sat.u.r.day night you may consider yourselves discharged from the tannery." Mr. Tyler put his hand on Peter"s shoulder. "I"m sorry, Strong," he added.
"Just one moment, Tyler."
It was Mr. Coddington who spoke.
"Tell me more fully about this matter, Peter Strong. You say you have no suitable place to eat your lunch."
"Yes, sir."
"What do the other men do?"
"They sit around under the machinery anywhere they can. Often the place is dirty and sometimes it is hot. If the windows are opened to air the rooms the men get cold," answered Peter.
"Strong is a little fussy, I am afraid, Mr. Coddington," interrupted Mr.
Tyler. "The conditions are the same as they always have been--the same as they are in most mills. The men can go home at noon if they like."
"But they can"t get home, and eat anything, and get back here, all within an hour," objected Peter. "Besides, they are often too tired. It is much easier to stay right in the tannery. Of course in warm weather we have the park and can go outside, so then we are all right; but during the winter----"
"That will do, Strong," cut in Mr. Tyler. "Remember your time is up this week. What"s your name?" The superintendent turned severely on Nat.
"Jackson."
"Oh, yes--Jackson. You are the boy who was hurt."
Nat nodded.
"I am sorry to see that you are making such a poor return to the company for its kindness to you. It is unfortunate all around. But we cannot have the rules of the tannery broken. Mr. Coddington will, I am sure, agree with me there."
"Undoubtedly, Tyler. Any person who is at fault should be punished. In this particular case, however, just who _is_ at fault? If, as the lads say, they have nowhere to go at noon, is the fault wholly theirs if they seek a remedy from their discomfort? Suppose we suspend their sentence until we investigate the conditions and simply caution them not to repeat the offense. Had these empty cases not been left here by some negligent persons seclusion would have been impossible. Somebody beside the boys was to blame. Order the boxes removed and drop the matter."
Without another word Mr. Coddington stalked toward the elevator and the men who accompanied him had no choice but to follow.
Peter and Nat breathed a sigh of relief.
There had been but a hair"s breadth between them and a discharge from the tannery! To Peter the danger was not a very real one, but Nat, who was in ignorance of the true facts, was pale with fright.
"Whew, Peter! That was a close call," he stammered. "A narrow squeak!
But for Mr. Coddington we should both have been fired. I don"t know what I should have done if I had lost my place. It was mighty good of him to give us another chance, wasn"t it?"
"Mr. Coddington is all right, you can bet your life on that!" agreed Peter heartily. "It was lucky, though, that he was here."
Still aglow with excitement, the boys flew down over the stairs and took up their work, making no further allusion to the incident.