“You have a name, though,” insisted Edward.
“Oh, no, sah,” shouted another boy from the back of the room. “He was having no name. He was married man....”
“His name was Ng Sik Wong,” said one of the laboriously good little boys.
“What is his first name?”
“Ng,” buzzed the whole class.
“I can’t believe it.” Feeling a little braver Edward wrote down, “? Sick Wong—Scar on nose—pale blue—halfwitted,” in his notebook. “Now, ... ahem, Sick Wong, you’re one of the biggest boys in the class, aren’t you?”
“I new scholar.”
“Almost big enough to be a master, eh?”
“Eh—tya—tya.... Hey, Ng Sik Wong—you be master—number one class master—married man....”
Edward pressed on. “So I’m sure I can depend on you to try and help me.”