The man who had rung the bell was the returning dealer, Tom Bruce.
Flood beckoned him to the table.
“Continue the game, Mr. Bruce,” said he gravely. “Gentlemen, I do not wish the episode of this evening to be noised abroad, and those of you who are my friends will govern yourselves accordingly.”
“Oh, we’ll keep mum about it, Mose!” cried several promptly.
As Flood passed the humpback, who was replacing the bar on the door, he laid his hand on the man’s shoulder and said softly:
“Not a word of this, John, for your life!”
“Trust me, sir!”
Moses Flood knew that he could trust him, and he believed that no other man on earth knew what he had done there that night. He locked the brace deal box in the drawer from which he had taken it, but kept the deck of strippers in his hand when he led Cecil Kendall into his private room.
As the door closed upon the two men, Nathan Godard sauntered nearer to Bruce and said carelessly:
“I’m going out to supper, Tom. I have one or two errands to do, and may be out a bit longer than usual.”