"Poker hands as expensive as that are liable to be long remembered," remarked Hatch, casually. "How long ago was that?"
"Three years, wasn't it, Harry?" asked Manning.
"All of that, I should say," was the reply.
"Twenty hours at the table," said Manning, and again he laughed cheerfully. "I was woozy when we finished."
Inside the café they sought out a table in a corner. No one else was near. When the waiter had gone, Hatch leaned over and looked Doane straight in the eyes.
"Shall I ask some questions?" he inquired.
"Yes, yes," said the other eagerly.
"What--what is it?" asked Manning.
"It's a remarkably strange chain of circumstances," said Hatch, in explanation. "This man whom you call Harry, we know as John Doane. What is his real name? Harry what?"
Manning stared at the reporter for a moment in amazement, then gradually a smile came to his lips.