Page:A Child of the Jago - Arthur Morrison.djvu/47

 absent or busy ere the cake could be got at.

There was a burst of applause in the hall; the new wing had been declared open. Then there was more singing, and after that much shuffling and tramping, for everybody was free to survey the new rooms on the way out; and the Importances from the platform came to find the tea.

Filling the room and standing about in little groups; chatting, munching and sipping, while the sour-faced man distractedly floundered amid crockery; not a soul of them all perceived an inconsiderable small boy, ducking and dodging vaguely among legs and 'round skirts, making, from time to time, a silent snatch at a plate on the table; and presently he vanished altogether. Then the amiable bishop, beaming over the tea-cup six inches from his chin, at two courtiers of the clergy, bethought him of a dinner engagement, and passed his hand downward over the rotundity of his waistcoat.

"Dear, dear," said the Bishop, glancing