CHAPTER XI
The Thorough Man
About three o'clock that afternoon Rushton himself suddenly appeared and began walking silently about the house, and listening outside the doors of rooms where the hands were working. He did not succeed in catching anyone idling or smoking or talking. The nearest approach to what the men called 'a capture' that he made was, when he stood outside the door of one of the upper rooms in which Philpot and Harlow were working, and heard them singing one of Sankey's hymns—'Work! for the night is coming.' He listened to two verses and several repetitions of the chorus. Being a 'Christian' he could scarcely object to this, especially as by peeping through the partly open door he could see that they were suiting the action to the word. When he went into the room they glanced round to see who it was, and stopped singing. Rushton did not speak, but stood in the middle of the floor, silently watching them as they worked, for about a quarter of an hour. Then without having uttered a syllable he turned and continued his investigations.
None of the men looked round from their work or spoke. The only sounds heard were the noises made by the saws and hammers of the carpenters who were fixing the frieze rails and dado rails or repairing parts of the woodwork.
Crass placed himself in Rushton's way several times, but beyond curtly acknowledging the foreman's servile 'Good hafternoon, sir,' the master took no notice of him.
After about an hour spent in this manner Rushton went, but as no one saw him go, his departure was not discovered for some considerable time.
Owen was secretly very disappointed. 'I thought he had come to tell me about the drawing-room,' he said to himself, 'but I suppose it's not decided yet.'
Just as the 'hands' were beginning to breathe freely again,
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