Before the bewildered William could realise what was happening they surrounded him on all sides and drew him on to the lawn. The clergyman held him by the hand.
"Don't be frightened, little boy," he said kindly.
"I don't suppose he understands English," said a tall, thin lady in a small sailor hat. "They don't, you know--out there."
A large motherly woman bore down upon him with a glass of milk and a bun. William was hungry. In moments of uncertainty his rule was to lie low and take the good things provided by the gods without question. Moreover, it was perhaps safer in the circumstances not to understand English--at any rate, not till he had consumed the bun and milk. They led him to a table facing the audience and put the bun and milk before him. People in the farther rows of chairs craned their necks to see him. He gave them his inscrutable frown in the intervals of drinking and consuming large mouthfuls of bun. The man stood up and addressed the gathering in a high-pitched, drawling voice.
"I need not inform my friends that we--er--see before us our--er--little _protégé_ from Borneo and--er--let me say that he--er--does us credit." He placed his hand upon William's head and looked down at William with a proud smile.
Meeting William's unflinching, unsmiling glare, his smile faded and he quickly drew back his hand.
"Er--credit," he resumed, putting a hand to his collar as he moved a step farther from William. "To--er--those who may be strangers here this afternoon let me say that we--er--of this--er--parish have--er--for the past two years--made ourselves responsible for the--er--rearing and--er--education of a little native of Borneo."
He paused for applause, which was set going by the Vicar's wife, who was the tall, thin lady in the small sailor hat.
"The Reverend Habbakuk Jones, who is--er--at the native mission school, has come--er--over to see us--bringing--er--our little native _protégé_." Again he smiled lovingly and drew near to William. William, whose mouth was fuller of currant bun than European etiquette would have sanctioned, raised his face, and, without interrupting the process of mastication, gave Mr. Theophilus Mugg such a look as sent him precipitately to the farther end of the table.