Through the Alleyway

There was a fellow who was clearly new to town riding round the subway tracks with a ticket in his hand and confusion on his face. The vexed fellow was scratching his scalp and trying to match the strange symbols on his gilded ticket with those on the grimed cabin walls, but he could not make heads or tails of it. Then a stranger who looked like he was from the wrong side of the tracks came to him and spoke in a familiar tongue, "You are going to want to get off on the third stop."
Taken aback and with a gasp of relief the fellow returned, "Oh, thank you sir, are you also going to see the show?"
The Stranger paused for but a moment before replying, "Why yes, I do believe I am, I can lead you there if you like." The fellow appeared a touch hesitant to reply himself, and so the stranger continued, "I know that I may look quite the sight, and I can assure you that I am, but I do love the theater and I know my way around these streets like the back of my own hand." 
"Well, I do suppose that this city is quite the labyrinth and I do have a need for both a local guide as well as a good compatriot to enjoy the show with, so I very will just have to take you up on that offer." 
The two shook hands and laughed and spoke of things both near and far as the train rushed its way to their station. Together they left the dingy earthen tunnel and emerged into a world of music and light full of grand halls and great buildings. For a moment the fellow stood astonished, but the deep gongs of a far off clock tower that barely managed to reach his ears through the ambience indicated that it really was time that they must be on their way, and so they hurried along. 
As the pair were weaving through the crowds all wandering the winding streets of the entertainment district, they came upon a dim junction and the stranger stopped a moment and spoke, "Ah, yes, I remember now, there should be a shortcut through these old alleyways, if we take it we are sure to catch the first act."
"Excellent," returned the fellow, "then let us make our way posthaste."
"Well, hmm," the stranger humphed, "Well, the thing is, you know, you really shouldn't be so trusting as strangers such as myself. Why, once we are deep in that dark alleyway, I am liable to bash you with a blackjack and make off with all your goods."
"Well at least you are an honest man," the fellow responded, "and that honesty is something I can trust. Go, lead on and I shall follow."
"Very well," the Stranger frankly replied, and off they went through the back alleys. Where the stranger led, the fellow followed. They went left, right, and all around as they strayed further from the watchful streets. Then, the stranger passed another corner, and the fellow followed, and for but a brief moment he caught a glimpse of the stranger swinging down a blackjack over his head before everything went dark. When the fellow awoke, all his belongings and his ticket were gone and the stranger was nowhere to be found.