about one o'clock
The servants brought forth the card-tables . Mike played several games of écarté , cheating openly , braving detection . He did not care what happened , and almost desired the violent scene that would ensue on his being accused of packing the cards . But nothing happened , and about one o'clock , having bade the last guest good-night , he returned to the dining-room . The room in its disorder of fruit and champagne looked like a human being -- Mike thought it looked like himself . He drank a tumbler of champagne and returned to the drawing-room , his pockets full of the money he had swindled from a young man . He threw himself on a sofa by the open window and listened to the solitude , terribly punctuated by the clanging of the clocks .