It was with considerable emotion that Arthur Knight went through the factories and saw his people at work. They were all English, like himself, and he felt drawn towards them for this reason, if for no other—for he was a true-hearted patriot. Many of them, too, were nearer him because they were sharers in his faith, served the same Master, and hoped for the same heaven. He thought he could tell which these were by the look upon their faces, by their demeanour, and even their dress: for his religion was very simple and sincere; and he had not a doubt but that godliness exalts a man in every respect, and is profitable altogether, for the present as well as the future life. These men and women, who were members of Christian churches, and, therefore, must be living their daily life on a higher level than the rest, having nobler motives to guide them, would, he hoped, be very much his friends and helpers in his future efforts to benefit the others. Knight looked upon them all, indeed, as his friends; a great change and deterioration would have to be wrought in him before he could regard them as “_hands_” merely; to him they were men and women, boys and girls; they were heads and hearts, much more than hands, and were to be his companions as well as his servants in the future. To him “the fatherhood of God” and “the brotherhood of man” were not well-sounding phrases only, but very significant realities; but he knew that he would have to prove this to his people before they would believe it. So he was busy with plans, which he confided to his friend John Dallington, who came to spend a few days with him. He would at once provide a reading-room for the men, and he would get Miss Wentworth and her band of helpers to look after the women. For the boys—great, rough, uncouth fellows as some of them were—he had a warm heart, a resourceful brain, and a patient, tolerant temper; and the first thing he did was to turn the top floor of his house, which had hitherto been unoccupied, into class rooms of different kinds for their especial comfort and benefit. One morning he told Dallington that he was going to see a former _employé_ of his father’s, and invited him to accompany him. “I must try to master the broad facts and general principles of the business myself,” he said, “and I have a hard spell of work before me. But Hancourt can help me. I should like your opinion of him. Come with me and see him. It is a pleasant errand. My father has left him a hundred pounds, and I will give him the cheque with the news. And Hancourt has two children well worth knowing.” When they reached the house the children were as usual very much in evidence. “How do you do, Mr. Arthur?” said the girl, and when he lifted her she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Mother said I was to kiss you as soon as ever I saw you, because your father is dead.” “Oh, Sissie!” said Geoff, reprovingly. “You should not talk about Mr. Knight to Mr. Arthur, now, you know.”