'That's the Commissioner - the head of the dockyard. He's a great man - a remarkably great man,' whispered the stranger in Mr Tupman's ear. The organisers of the ball took Sir Thomas Clubber and family to the top of the room. There the Honourable Wilmot Snipe, and other important gentlemen came over to pay their respects to the Misses Clubber; and Sir Thomas Clubber stood bolt upright, and looked majestically over his black kerchief at the assembled company.

'Mr Smithie, Mrs. Smithie, and the Misses Smithie,' was the next announcement.

'What's Mr Smithie's job?' inquired Mr Tracy Tupman.

'Something in the yard,' replied the stranger. Mr Smithie bowed deferentially to Sir Thomas Clubber; and Sir Thomas Clubber showed that he had seen with deliberate condescension. Lady Clubber looked through her glasses in a superior way at Mrs. Smithie and her family and Mrs. Smithie stared in her turn at Mrs. Somebody-else, whose husband did not even work in the dockyard.

'Colonel Bulder, Mrs. Colonel Bulder, and Miss Bulder,' were the next arrivals.

Vocabulary:

Pay respect: Speak politely to someone as your duty.
Bolt: Here it means completely.
Majestic: Like a king.
Kerchief:A kind of necktie.
Assembled company: Everyone who had come there
Deferential:Polite to someone superior
Condescension: Politely showing that someone is less important than yourself