Then Joan arrived and broke the constrained silence.

“Hullo, William!  Oh, William, you do look nice!”

William smiled with distant politeness, but his heart warmed to her.  It is always some comfort to learn that one has not suffered in vain.

“How d’you do?” he said with a stiff bow.

Then Johnnie Brent came and after him a host of small boys and girls.

William greeted friends and foes alike with the same icy courtesy.

Then the conjurer arrived.

Mrs. Brown had planned the arrangement most carefully.  The supper was laid on the big dining room table.  There was to be conjuring for an hour before supper to “break the ice.”  In the meantime, while the conjuring was going on, the grown-ups who were officiating at the party were to have their meal in peace in the library.

William had met the conjurer at various parties and despised him utterly.  He despised his futile jokes and high-pitched laugh and he knew his tricks by heart.  They sat in rows in front of him—­shining-faced, well-brushed little boys in dark Eton suits and gleaming collars, and dainty white-dressed little girls with gay hair ribbons.  William sat in the back row near the window, and next him sat Joan.  She gazed at his set, expressionless face in mute sympathy.  He listened to the monotonous voice of the conjurer.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, I will proceed to swallow these three needles and these three strands of cotton and shortly to bring out each needle threaded with a strand of cotton.  Will any lady step forward and examine the needles?  Ladies ought to know all about needles, oughtn’t they?  You young gentlemen don’t learn to sew at school, do you?  Ha!  Ha!  Perhaps some of you young gentlemen don’t know what a needle is?  Ha!  Ha!”

William scowled, and his thoughts flew off to the little house in the dirty back street.  It was Christmas Eve.  Her father was “comin’ out.”  She would be waiting, watching with bright, expectant eyes for the “spread” she had demanded from Father Christmas to welcome her returning parent.  It was a beastly shame.  She was a silly little ass, anyway, not to believe him.  He’d told her there wasn’t any Father Christmas.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, I will bring out the three needles threaded with the three strands of cotton.  Watch carefully, ladies and gentlemen.  There!  One!  Two!  Three!  Now, I don’t advise you young ladies and gentlemen to try this trick.  Needles are very indigestible to some people.  Ha!  Ha!  Not to me, of course!  I can digest anything—­needles, or marbles, or matches, or glass bowls—­as you will soon see.  Ha!  Ha!  Now to proceed, ladies and gentlemen.”

William looked at the clock and sighed.  Anyway, there’d be supper soon, and that was a jolly good one, ’cause he’d had a look at it.

Suddenly the inscrutable look left his countenance.  He gave a sudden gasp and his whole face lit up.  Joan turned to him.