“We finally reached Brown’s, and, having secured a table, we ordered chops and ale. Sothern and myself had not prearranged any joke upon our guest, but he had given me a wink, which I knew meant mischief, and I was ready to play second to any part he proposed performing. While we were eating, Sothern suddenly reached over and placed his fork in one of my chops, attempting to remove it to his plate. I prevented this by the insertion of my own fork, and then said, in calm but determined tones, ‘Ned, I don’t like that,’ to which Lord Dundreary responded, but not in the feeble tones of that stuttering stage nobleman, ‘Mr. Florence, I don’t care whether you like it or not; I want that chop!’ “With that I sprang upon him with uplifted knife and grabbed my dearly beloved friend by the throat, and he seized me in a similar way, while he apparently made desperate efforts to cut my jugular vein. In the melee which ensued the table was upset, and chops, ale, dishes, knives, forks and all the other appurtenances descended upon poor Lee in a shower. Brown, the proprietor of the establishment, who knew us both intimately, rushed forward and separated us, and at his solicitation, he thinking we were entirely in earnest, we finally shook hands and renewed our vows of eternal friendship upon one another’s bosoms. * * * * * “That was the inception of the famous Lee dinner hoax. Sothern came to me afterward and said he desired to give the Englishman a dinner at the Gramercy Park Hotel, in order to introduce him to the customs of the great American people, and said that the only part he desired me to take in it was to be sure that Lee should be on hand at the appointed hour, which was noon of the following Sunday. To this I agreed. I knew, of course, that some sort of a joke was to be perpetrated upon Miss Neilson’s husband, but I pledge my word that I was not fully let into the secret, and was not advised of the programme. At the designated time I escorted Lee to the banquet room, which was on the first floor in the rear of the hotel office. I found out afterward that by special arrangement with Mr. Judson, the proprietor, the doors and windows had been well padded and covered so that no noise within could reach beyond them. The apartment was lighted with wax candles. Those assembled were John McCullough, Harry Montague, J. S. Polk, Charles Gaylor, all of whom had achieved fame upon the stage; Dan Bryant and Nelson Seymour, the most famous negro minstrels of their day; Commodore Dickinson, of the New York Yacht Club; George Brown, of the chop house, which bore his name; a gentleman named Cooper and, of course, Sothern, Lee and myself. None other than these was present. * * * * *