They decided that it would be impolitic to begin their operations till after midnight.

There were three hours to spare.
'Let us go and see the gambling,' Racksole suggested.

'We might encounter the Berlin lady.' The suggestion, in the first instance, was not made seriously, but it appeared to both men that they might do worse than spend the intervening time in the gorgeous saloon of the Kursaal, where, in the season, as much money is won and lost as at Monte Carlo.

It was striking ten o'clock as they entered the rooms.

There was a large company present--a company which included some of the most notorious persons in Europe.