three
in the morning
they said to each other by a glance . `` If he stays he is lost . '' Philippe thought he had struck a vein of luck , and stayed . Towards three in the morning , the hundred and fifty thousand francs had gone back to the bank . The colonel , who had imbibed a considerable quantity of grog while playing , left the place in a drunken state , which the cold of the outer air only increased . A waiter from the gambling-house followed him , picked him up , and took him to one of those horrible houses at the door of which , on a hanging lamp , are the words : `` Lodgings for the night . '' The waiter paid for the ruined gambler , who was put to bed , where he remained till Christmas night .