In his absence, new arrivals had continued to crowd in, and when he entered the main chamber again, the noise hit him as a sonic wave. Hundreds of people all talking at once and gradually growing louder as they competed with those close around them and as they felt more relaxed. A fusion of registers and intonations, of words, exclamations and laughter that rose as if from a gigantic bee swarm. Almost it was a physical barrier, and Pearly was conscious of effort as he made his way to the stage, past the ravaged plates of food on the hired tablecloths, the wheat cracker screes, the discarded plastic cups and paper napkins, the empty wine bottles accumulating in cartons on the floor. Andrew Nisse stood talking with Warwick, Nancy and others with some responsibility for the evening. Andrew had played no part in the preparations, and sought no special treatment, but his title alone was sufficient reason for him to be accorded eminence by the organisers, and he accepted that with quiet assurance. He shook hands with Pearly, congratulated him on the turnout. The talk was for a time of some of the more illustrious, or notorious, old boys already identified in the throng. Chimp Thwaites, married three times, bankrupted twice. There was no doubt a connection between the domestic and financial events, but he retained an indomitable self-confidence. Stephen Hollister, who headed one of Auckland’s biggest construction firms, and Lyall Simpson, who had won an Olympic bronze medal in the javelin.

‘I think we should kick things off promptly,’ said Pearly after a while. ‘Get the formal stuff out of the way, and then everyone can concentrate on enjoying themselves. And if we wait much longer we’ll never be heard above the din even with the microphone.’ A good many people would be intimidated by standing up on the town-hall stage and bringing order to hundreds of guys out to enjoy themselves, but Pearly was up to it. When his loud voice didn’t bring immediate attention, he got the sound man to tweak the system so that it emitted an unpleasant, penetrating squeal and Pearly stood close to the edge of the stage and held his arms high as if for a blessing. ‘Now I know how our teachers felt,’ he said as the noise subsided. ‘Always a talkative bunch, especially those at the back of the room,’ and he singled out by name someone there he knew.