three o'clock in the morning
There were generally from fifteen to thirty present ; men of all classes : Journalists , actors , lawyers , out-at-elbows nondescripts . I have seen one of Her Majesty 's Judges and a prizefighter exchanging views across the table . A few attended regularly ; but the majority seemed to be always new-comers . They supped , talked , smoked , and drank whisky until two or three o'clock in the morning and appeared to enjoy themselves prodigiously . I noticed that on departing they wrung Paragot fervently by the hand and thanked him for their delightful evening . I remembered his telling me that they came to hear him talk . He did talk : sometimes so compellingly that I would stand stock-still rapt in reverential ecstasy : once to the point of letting the potatoes I was handing round roll off the dish on to the floor .