“Why not?” I asked. “I speak to you because I seem to like you, surely that is sufficient.” “We will see,” he added; “I have come a long way to see you. I have come from Paris. I am an amateur in your own line, performing feats of strength myself. Of all my friends I have the reputation of being the strongest. Having read of your performances in the French and English papers, I was determined to come to London to see you. I saw the whole programme at the Tivoli to-night, waiting impatiently for your display. When you stepped on to the stage I nearly dropped to the ground.” “Why!” I asked, growing curious. Tears stood in his eyes, as he exclaimed earnestly, “Will you promise to forgive me, promise me that or I cannot tell you.” I told him that I did not know what I had to forgive, but at any rate I promised to forgive him in advance. “Well,” he went on, “if I had known you were Mr. Sandow I would never have struck you that blow in Paris;” and then in enthusiastic French fashion he clung hold of me and kissed me on the cheek--on the cheek that he had previously smacked--before all the people. Of course, why had I been so blind? This was my assailant of the French billiard room. All, however, was now forgiven and forgotten, and as a token of our good understanding he presented me with a handsome gold watch. To-day we are the greatest friends, and, whenever I go to Paris, I stay with him. He is a French Count, but for obvious reasons, not the least being that he is my friend, despite the hard knocks which came of our first meeting, it would not be fair to disclose his name. [Illustration] CHAPTER V. THE LIVING WEIGHTS. About this time there were many strong men. Each hall in London could boast of at least one. It was also a great weight lifting period. When I lifted my heaviest bell, 280lbs., the other strong men put out a placard stating that they were lifting 300lbs. By the time I had practised sufficiently to raise the weights I was lifting from 280lbs. to 300lbs., they came out with the statement that they were lifting 320lbs., and so their little game went on. For my part I was determined to introduce a novelty. Henceforth, there should be actually living weights. I started, therefore, at the Tivoli with a new display, lifting a horse at arm’s length above my head, and marching with it to musical accompaniment. This was followed by a display with human dumb-bells. Taking a long bar with a large ball at each end, I placed in each ball a man, and I raised bar, balls, and men, slowly over the head. After putting them down the balls opened and the men rolled out. This performance I accomplished in order to equal the feat of lifting 300lbs. dead weight. Further, I lifted, and supported on my chest, a grand pianoforte, with an orchestra of eight performers on top of the instrument.