"
"You will go with me?"
"Why not? They all know me."
"Tell them my name is John Hatton."
"I don't need to say a word. I have ways of putting up my hand which
they know, and obey. Ring the bell. I'll give the doorman the word to
pass you in. Walk forward then and you'll find your young man, as I told
you, in the room at the end of the passage. I'll bet on it. I shall be
close behind you, but do your own talking."
John followed the directions given and soon found himself in a room
handsomely but scantily furnished. There were some large easy chairs, a
wide comfortable sofa, and tables covered with green baize. A fire
blazed fitfully in a bright steel grate, but there were no pictures, no
ornaments of any kind, no books or musical instruments. The gas burned
dimly and the fire was dull and smoky, for there was a heavy fog outside
which no light could fully penetrate. The company were nearly all
middle-aged and respectable-looking. Their hands were full of cards, and
they were playing with them like men in a ghostly dream.
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