Vance led the way through lanes of shining tables, at which were seated parties of two, three, four, five, or six.  The air of assurance and dignity about it all was exceedingly noticeable to the novitiate.  Incandescent lights, the reflection of their glow in polished glasses, and the shine of gilt upon the walls, combined into one tone of light which it requires minutes of complacent observation to separate and take particular note of.  The white shirt fronts of the gentlemen, the bright costumes of the ladies, diamonds, jewels, fine feathers—­all were exceedingly noticeable.

Carrie walked with an air equal to that of Mrs. Vance, and accepted the seat which the head waiter provided for her.  She was keenly aware of all the little things that were done—­the little genuflections and attentions of the waiters and head waiter which Americans pay for.  The air with which the latter pulled out each chair, and the wave of the hand with which he motioned them to be seated, were worth several dollars in themselves.

Once seated, there began that exhibition of showy, wasteful, and unwholesome gastronomy as practiced by wealthy Americans, which is the wonder and astonishment of true culture and dignity the world over.  The large bill of fare held an array of dishes sufficient to feed an army, sidelined with prices which made reasonable expenditure a ridiculous impossibility—­an order of soup at fifty cents or a dollar, with a dozen kinds to choose from; oysters in forty styles and at sixty cents the half-dozen; entrees, fish, and meats at prices which would house one over night in an average hotel.  One dollar fifty and two dollars seemed to be the most common figures upon this most tastefully printed bill of fare.

Carrie noticed this, and in scanning it the price of spring chicken carried her back to that other bill of fare and far different occasion when, for the first time, she sat with Drouet in a good restaurant in Chicago.  It was only momentary—­a sad note as out of an old song—­and then it was gone.  But in that flash was seen the other Carrie—­poor, hungry, drifting at her wits’ ends, and all Chicago a cold and closed world, from which she only wandered because she could not find work.

On the walls were designs in color, square spots of robin’s-egg blue, set in ornate frames of gilt, whose corners were elaborate moldings of fruit and flowers, with fat cupids hovering in angelic comfort.  On the ceilings were colored traceries with more gilt, leading to a center where spread a cluster of lights-incandescent globes mingled with glittering prisms and stucco tendrils of gilt.  The floor was of a reddish hue, waxed and polished, and in every direction were mirrors—­ tall, brilliant, bevel-edged mirrors—­reflecting and re-reflecting forms, faces, and candelabra a score and a hundred times.