But if anyone arrived at any such conclusion they would make a false estimate of his character.
Still, he was eminently qualified for his position. He spoke broken English at the commencement of the evening, but, strange to say, this wore off as the hours flew by.
He was a thin sallow-faced man, with a shrewd expression, and captivating manners.
He said, addressing those present, “We are all friends here; all know one another, and we are here for amusement, that’s all.”
Several of the members assented by nods to this proposition.
The croupier seemed satisfied.
“He loved play,” he said, and here he shook a pound’s worth of “counters” in his white long-fingered hand.
Gambler, indeed! Not he.
He was no gambler, but he loved play to beguile the tedium of what would be otherwise his lonely hours.
He loved society, and was glad to see so many faces around him with which he had been familiar for years.