John was swept along in the crowd, his own little group noisily laughing and talking, Pansy hanging on his right arm, while her other fondled a Pekinese dog with an enormous blue bow. They turned in at a restaurant on the corner of a street, descended some marble steps that wound round a lift, and suddenly John, pulled through a couple of swing doors, halted amazed in a marble panelled room, over-lit, with innumerable small tables surrounded by men and women. Wellington made his way down the centre of the room, glancing at himself in the large mirrors on his left and enjoying the sensation their entrance caused. He commandeered a table down at the bottom, near the noisy waitresses' buffet; above the babble of voices rose the discordance of an orchestra on a dais. Its chief function appeared to be that of creating as much noise as possible, including antics at the piano and on a small drum and an organ. Wellington and de Courtrai appeared to be well-known, for several dandified youths, distinguished by spats, cuffs, side-whiskers or monocles, came over to speak to them, and all were very convivial, ending their remarks with, "Won't you introduce me?" Handshaking was a great ceremony, accompanied with "How d'ye do?" to which was allied its inseparable bromide, "Pleased to meet you." Pop distinguished herself by ordering steak and chips and a bottle of stout; Pansy had a more delicate taste, ordering sardines on toast, which de Courtrai declared was a specialty in this hall of many tables. Bewildered, John ordered the recommended dish, refused a cigarette from a pale gentleman who insisted upon talking across Pansy to him, and was suffocated with the heat and tobacco smoke. The conversation was still of Lydia and her loves, punctuated by long stories of the ladies, and other ladies' furs and "fellahs." John, desperate for a theme of conversation, began by praising the Pekinese, and then narrated his experience with the lady and her three dogs in the park. To his surprise it awakened immediate and deep interest. At the end, the girls giggled and Wellington exclaimed, "Chase me!" "It's thumbs up," said de Courtrai, wisely. "What a cheek!" asserted Pansy, rolling her eyes; Pop declaring, "It's a shime to lead awy the young,"--whereupon there was loud laughter. "Mind what you drink," said Fluffy impressively. "I should take Welly as chaperon," advised Pansy. John, getting redder and redder, partly in anger at his own naïve foolishness, partly at their insinuations, declared he was not going at all. "What!" they all screamed in amazement. "Wish I'd the chance," commented de Courtrai, adjusting his tie. "I want some one to take a motherly interest in me."