al
midnight hour and demanded a hand, as he reached forth his rattling
joints of bone. The men stared, even our hero for just one instant lost
his equipoise, but he recovered when like a wink he asked, as though no
one had entered the room:

"What do you do?"

The men, however, just sat and stared while the intruder said, a pallor
on his emaciated face and a glitter in his eyes:

"I heard the game going on, boys, and I could not resist--oh, I love a
little game at times."

"You are not well enough to sit up yet, Mr. Alling."

"Oh, yes; I feel better to-day; but whom have we here?"

One of the men winked and said:

"A friend of ours--one of the four hundred--but he ain't proud. He is a
gentleman clean through."

The man who had asked the question fixed his glittering eyes on our
hero. The dude appeared unconscious of the fact that he was undergoing a
study beneath the gaze of a man who could read the human face like a
book.

As intimated, the man was a very remarkable-looking individual. He was
one who would attract attention anywhere, owing to the singular sharp
expression on his face.

The man appeared to be satisfied with his study, and said, as he sat
down to the table: "Give me some cards. Ah, this is just glorious after
having lain in a sick bed for a month."

The dude, who was studying his cards, did not appear to overhear the
newcomer's remark. He had been a loser and seemed absolutely absorbed.

The game proceeded and drinks were ordered. The dude got seemingly very
drunk. He lost his money--some hundreds of dollars, and his watch, and
produced a diamond pin which he lost, and then he appeared to drop off
in a maudlin slumber.

The man let him snore in his chair and deliberately divided his money
among them. Then they dealt for the watch and pin, and finally the
question was asked:

"What shall we do with him?"

"Throw him into the street."

"That won't do," said the man who had entered the room at the last
moment. "You fellows don't know how to manage these things."

"What shall we do?"

"Let him sleep. He will sleep until morning--sleep like a top--and then
the first thing he will call for will be a drink; give him one, then
take him to some other house, fill him up, and leave him one by one. He
will forget afterward where he lost his watch and money. At least you
fellows can all swear he had his watch and money when you left him.
Throw him into the street, and he will be found, dragge