The roadway was deserted.

Taking his courage in both hands, he stepped out upon the pavement and walked briskly downhill to the theatre.

The distance was a matter of five or six hundred yards only, and he met nobody.
Coming in sight of the brightly-lit portico, he made a dash for it and up the steps, where he blundered full tilt into the arms of a tall doorkeeper at the gallery entrance.
"Hallo!" exclaimed the man, falling back.

"Get out of this!" "One moment, my friend--" "Damme!" The doorkeeper, blocking the entrance, surveyed him and whistled.

"Hi, Charley!" he called; "come and take a look at this!" A scrag-necked youth thrust his face forward from the aperture of the ticket-office.
"Well, I'm jiggered," was his comment.