During the three hours which followed he remained in a daze of wonder, fear, and bewilderment.
He could not understand why at one time there was a forest behind the curtain, and at another the interior of a house, therefore this sudden change confused him.
It was impossible to hear every word spoken on the stage, and, consequently, he failed to comprehend why people ran around discharging fire-arms so frequently.
Owing to these drawbacks the performance was not as pleasing as it might have been, while the heat, lack of ventilation, and the general excitement, gave him a most severe headache.
Therefore, instead of regretting that the evening’s entertainment had come to an end, as did Tom and Bob, he was only too well satisfied to be in the comparatively fresh air once more.
“To-morrow mornin’ we’ll go up to the park,” Tom said as they walked rapidly toward Baker’s Court; for he fancied, because of his friend’s silence, that the boy from the country was having another attack of homesickness.
This supposition was correct; and when Josiah was in the tiny chamber he would have been perfectly willing to bring his visit to an immediate close, if by such a means he could be transported instantly to his own room, where his mother would be within call.
CHAPTER VII.
A MIDNIGHT ALARM.
The labor of sight-seeing had so wearied Josiah that his eyes closed very quickly after getting into bed, despite the unpleasantness of his surroundings; and he did not return from dreamland until at an early hour next morning, when the sudden clash of heavy wheels, the clang of gongs, and the hoarse rush of escaping steam, brought him from the bed to his feet trembling with undefined fear.
“Hurry up and get into your clothes!” Tom cried. “There’s a fire, an’ it sounds as if it was right here in the court.”