“Why so?” the gentleman continued, most pressingly. “I find, on the contrary, nothing easier. If we cannot go in side by side, we can follow each other.” “Pardon me, sir, if I refuse your request; but no stranger is allowed on my stage.” “Very good,” my assailant then said, pleasantly; “if that is the case, I will tell you my name, so that I may be no longer a ‘stranger’ to you. I am Baron Brunnow, the Russian ambassador, as great an admirer of your mysteries as I am desirous to find them out.” And he continued his ascent, while striving to force the barrier. “What, Monsieur Robert-Houdin,” he added, “do you still refuse me this? I only ask one or two explanations, nothing more.” “I must persist in my refusal, Monsieur le Baron, for several reasons, and, more especially, for this one----“ “What?” “Your perspicuity and talent are so universally recognized, that I would not deprive you of the pleasure of yourself detecting these secrets, which are hardly worthy your powerful intellect.” “Ah! ah!” the Baron replied, with a laugh, “how diplomatic we are. Do you wish to follow in my track?” “I am unworthy to do so, Monsieur le Baron.” “Very good, very good. In the meanwhile, I am repulsed with loss, and forced to take my place among the spectators. I yield; but tell me, Monsieur Robert-Houdin, have you ever been in Russia?” “No, sir, never.” “Then give me your card.” And the ambassador wrote his name below mine. “Here,” he said, handing it me back, “if you ever feel an inclination to visit our country, that card will be very useful to you; and, if I happen to be at St. Petersburg at the time, come and see me, and I will procure you the honor of performing before his Majesty the Emperor Nicholas.” I thanked Baron Brunnow, and he left me. During this conversation, the quadrilles were being danced, and, before their termination, the crowd had occupied all the seats for my performance, save those reserved for the royal family and the court. The Queen herself soon arrived, and I immediately received orders to begin. Would that I had a more skillful pen with which to depict in its true colors the picture which revealed itself to my dazzled gaze at this moment! At any rate, I will attempt to describe it. Imagine a large lawn rising before me in an amphitheatrical shape, and arranged like the pit of a theatre. It would have been impossible to say whether the ground was covered with grass or gravel, so thronged was it with ladies, who were alone allowed to sit down. In the first row and nearest my theatre, the Queen, having her royal husband on her right, was surrounded by her young and graceful family. A little in the rear the ladies in waiting and the lady patronesses formed the royal escort. At a respectful distance behind, the wives and daughters of the subscribers took their places, while the gentlemen formed symmetrical groups round this vast space.