"I have taken advantage of your hospitality so often I'd rather cry off," said Thatford.
"Oh, nonsense! come on. What do you say, Dunne?"
The intimacy under the influence of the wine had progressed so far that the men addressed each other as though they had been friends for years. Wine softens down the austerities and makes apparent friends with great readiness. It was decided to go to the bachelor rooms of Girard, and the three men passed to the street. Oscar meantime became quite gay and very plainly showed the effects of the wine, but really he was fearfully on the alert, and when we write fearfully we mean it just as we write it; for he did not know at what moment one of the men might plunge a knife through his heart or send a bullet through his brain. He knew that their purpose was a dire one, and the only question was, how would they work out their plan? Keen were his glances under his seeming inebriety, and he beheld the men exchange glances, and also recognized looks of triumph, intimating, "We've done it well. He is ours."
The three men walked on and at length halted in front of a house which our hero had once had under suspicion.
"Here we are," said Girard.
"All right," responded Oscar.
"Say, my friend," suggested Thatford, "we must not play for large stakes. Remember I am not a rich man; I can't lose like some of you golden bucks."
"I never play for big stakes," said Girard.
The men entered the house and Girard said:
"My gambling box is on the top floor. There I don't annoy my neighbors."