The exclamations of the women were amusing.
"Good gracious!"
"Isn't it fun!"
"Lovely!" And all that. It must have been a novelty for some of these
to act naturally for once. Nothing lasts so long as the natural
instinct for play; and we always find ourselves coming back to it.
Standing some hundred yards back from the road was the famous Hollywood
Inn, run by the genial Moriarty. Sometimes the members of the Hunt
Club put up there for the night when there was to be a run the
following morning. It was open all the year round.
We made the club at exactly ten-thirty. Fortune went with me;
doubtless it was the crowd going in that saved me from close scrutiny.
My spirits rose as I espied Teddy Hamilton at the door. He was on the
committee, and was in plain evening clothes. It was good to see a
familiar face. I shouldered toward him and passed out my ten dollars.
"Hello, Teddy, my son!" I cried out jovially.
"Hello!"--grinning. Teddy thought it was some one he knew; well, so it
was. "What's your card?" he cried, as I pressed by him.
"The ten of hearts."
"The ten of hearts," repeated Teddy to a man who was keeping tally on a
big cardboard.
This sight did not reassure me. If they were keeping tally of all the
cards presented at the door, they would soon find out that there were
too many tens of hearts, too many by one! Well, at any rate, I had for
the time being escaped detection; now for the fun.
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