Here, at the very outset, was a difficulty of a new and an unexpected character. What was to be done? To try to get through the enormous throng in twenty minutes was obviously hopeless. Willing as the crowd might be to let us pass it was beyond their power to make way for us. We determined, therefore, to go to the stage door, and here a further difficulty presented itself. We could not gain admission; no one would open the heavy door. The man behind had received the strictest orders to prevent anyone from entering. In vain did Captain Molesworth implore him to let us through, explaining who we were. The man was obdurate. He said that he was very sorry, but he failed to recognise Captain Molesworth’s voice, and he could not disobey explicit instructions. All the time the precious minutes were flying, and the hour when the challenge was to be met had actually arrived. It was, indeed, an anxious and a trying moment. We heard afterwards that when the hour of the challenge came and Samson saw that I was not there, he strutted up and down the stage, exclaiming: “Ah! see, he does not come! I thought he would not meet me. I will give him five minutes, nay, ten minutes more.” He took out his watch, the minutes were speeding, and still Samson stood alone. Meanwhile, resolved not to be baffled by this absurd mischance, it was determined that, as fair words would not open the door, strength should smash it open. A blow well directed, and the door was burst from its hinges. The man inside was slightly injured by this rough method, but a ten pound note served to solace Ins feelings, and to heal his wounds. And we--well, we just managed to save the challenge by the space of half-a-minute. The Marquís of Queensberry and Lord de Clifford were appointed judges, and they examined closely all the bars, bells, weights, and chains that were to be used in the performance. Samson first desired that I should follow him in some juggling feat with a water bottle, but the judges decided that this was not in the order of the performance. Only such tests of actual strength as Samson was in the habit of displaying could now be allowed. Samson, abiding by this decision, took a large iron bar and bent it over his calf, his arms, and his neck, just as, in a similar way, by striking it on the muscles of the arm, one may bend a poker. The thing is little more than a trick. Of course, muscle is essential to its successful performance; for if you have no muscle you will hit the bone, with the danger of breaking it. Such a performance, although there is a certain knack in doing it gracefully, and with ease, was not difficult to follow. Samson next took a wire cable, winding it round his chest, under his arms, and then breaking it. This feat, which is performed by inflating the lungs and at the same time contracting the muscles of the chest, I was also able to repeat.