Calls for Sardanapalus and all his company resounded from every part of the house, and it was a tremendous moment when the curtain was drawn aside, and the great actor, apparently not a penny the worse for having just been burnt alive, advanced majestically to the footlights.

Then all the other performers were generously permitted to approach and share in the ovation, bowing again and again in acknowledgment of the approbation of their patrons, and looking, thought Austin rather cruelly, exactly like a row of lacqueys in masquerade.

This marked the close of the proceedings, and Austin, with a sigh of relief, soon found himself once more in the cool streets, walking briskly in the direction of the country.
Well, he had had his experience, and now his curiosity was satisfied.
What was the net result?
He began sifting his sensations, and trying to discover what effect the things he had seen and heard had really had upon him.

It was all very brilliant, very interesting; in a certain way, very exciting.

He began to understand what it was that made so many people fond of theatre-going.