Myles Heywood maintained entire silence upon the subject, nor could any one of all who inquired of him get him to say what he thought of the new master. He might have deep thoughts about it--at least they were unexpressed. The rest of the hands talked the event over with lively excitement. The general impression was a favourable one. The men liked what he had said, though he was generally pronounced to be a ‘bit too much of a swell,’ and it was agreed that he ‘spoke rather fine,’ and, they said, minced his words too much; was, in short, rather too much of a fine gentleman. Otherwise he was considered sound, and they were pleased to find him on the right side in politics. The women, too, liked him, for reasons apparently similar to those alleged by Peter van den Bosch, as their grounds for liking Philip van Artevelde, ‘And wenches who were there, said Artevelde Was a sweet name, and musical to hear.’ Mary Heywood, at least, said she ‘liked the chap: he had siccan a soft voice, and a nice, smooth-soundin’ name, like.’ The general conclusion was a very Lancashire one; that the young man had spoken well and reasonably; sensibly enough for a person who knew nothing about his business, but that ‘fair words butter no parsnips;’ and the conjecture may reasonably be hazarded whether Sebastian’s speech had induced any one of his hearers to form a decided opinion, good or bad, of him. They waited to see, and indeed the time was striding forward with fearful rapidity, nearer and nearer, when the sincerity of his profession should be put to the proof. CHAPTER XIII. INITIATION. Sebastian and Hugo drove away from the factory, accompanied by Mr. Sutcliffe, the manager and head man of the business. Arrived at the Oakenrod, Mallory and his manager retired to the library, and there plunged straight into business. Mr. Sutcliffe was a small, mild-looking man, with eyes that were keen despite his nervous, almost timid expression, a bald head, spectacles, a gentle smile, and a large bundle of what he called ‘documents.’ Over these documents he and Sebastian remained absorbed until luncheon was announced. They tarried not long over that meal. Hugo von Birkenau appeared to be a very familiar friend, for Sebastian made no excuse for leaving him, and with a slight apology to his mother he and Mr. Sutcliffe returned to the library.