Filipe were making a desperate
effort to discover all offenders who were intentionally guilty of
violating the regulation. They had their eye on several outsiders who
made free with the house, and it was understood that certain men were
in danger of being requested not to continue their visits to a place
where they had no right. Snaffle, who had been first brought to the
club by Dr. Wilson to play poker, was one of these, and the men who sat
playing with him to-night were secretly curious to know how he happened
to be there on this particular occasion. He had come into the card-room
alone, with the easy air of familiarity which usually distinguished
him, and appearances seemed to point to his having taken the liberty of
walking into the house in the same way. The men liked well enough to
have him in the game, because he played recklessly and always left
money at the table, but not one of them, even Dr. Wilson, who was more
recklessly democratic in his habits and instincts than any of the rest,
would have cared to be seen walking with Erastus Snaffle on the streets
by daylight.
When Snaffle entered the club house, the servant whose duty it was to
wait at the outer door, had gone for a moment to the coat-room
adjoining the hall. Here Snaffle met him and offered him his coat and
hat. The servant extended his hand mechanically, but he looked at the
new-comer so pointedly that the latter muttered, by way of
credentials,--
"I came with Mr.
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