The thought occurred to me that I should take the bear’s place, and measure my strength against the king of the forests. Of course there is always between the unarmed man and the beast this disadvantage, that the beast has natural weapons in his teeth and claws, whilst a man has nothing to help him in the fight. This lion, moreover, was a particularly furious animal. Only a week before he made a meal of his keeper. I have met many lions in various places, and this beast was certainly the largest and finest of them all. I was fully prepared to meet him as he was, provided I could have an equivalent for his claws in a short dagger or some similar weapon; but the law in America, as in England, is rightly very stern against cruelty to animals, and the dagger, of course, could not be allowed. If I desired to meet the beast the only way was to fight him as I would box a man, completely unarmed. As there is no law to prevent cruelty to men, there was no objection to this method, though Colonel Bone, as well as my own friends, insisted that if there was to be a fight it must be a struggle between brute strength and human strength. In short, mittens would have to be placed on the lion’s feet to prevent him from tearing me to pieces with his claws, and a muzzle would have to be placed over his head. Even with these precautions I was advised not to proceed with the contest. “With his strength,” said Colonel Bone, “he’ll knock your head off.” But, personally, I had no fear, I was only anxious for the contest to begin. The engagement was accordingly made, and “A lion fight with Sandow” was boldly advertised. The announcement sent a thrill through the cities for hundreds of miles around, and in order fully to be equipped for a performance which would be bound to attract thousands and thousands of people, I decided to rehearse my fight with the lion beforehand. Accordingly, preparations were made, and with much difficulty the lion was mittened and muzzled. It took several men with lassos and chains some hours to perform this operation, for not only had they to guard against the animal’s overpowering strength, but they had to proceed cautiously in order not to injure him. A great cage, measuring seventy feet across, was brought round, and into it Colonel Bone, one of the most experienced of lion tamers, let the animal enter. Few people were present, but amongst them was my manager, that tall, slim, great, little Ziegfeld, with a face white as snow. There is no doubt that Mr. Ziegfeld and the small company felt the position acutely, for, though personally I had confidence in myself--and confidence of victory is always half a battle won--yet those around were by no means sure of the issue, and there was some fear that my first fight with a lion might be my last.