The old word cabaret, corresponding closely to our English "inn," was chosen, and the establishment decorated in imitation of a Louis XIII. hotellerie. Oaken beams supported the low-studded ceilings: The plaster walls disappeared behind tapestries, armor, old faience. Beer and other liquids were served in quaint porcelain or pewter mugs, and the waiters were dressed (merry anachronism) in the costume of members of the Institute (the Immortal Forty), who had so long led poetry in chains. The success of the "Black Cat" in her new quarters was immense, all Paris crowding through her modest doors. Salis had founded Montmartre!--the rugged old hill giving birth to a generation of writers and poets, and nourishing this new school at her granite breasts.
It would be difficult to imagine a form of entertainment more tempting than was offered in this picturesque inn. In addition to the first, the entire second floor of the building had been thrown into one large room, the walls covered with a thousand sketches, caricatures, and crayon drawings by hands since celebrated the world over.
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