A Match. 313 



find a knife and fork ready for him at our 'diggings.' A 

 few days after, he informed us that Leon, who at that time 

 was giving performances at the Aquarium, had challenged 

 him in the Sporting Life to a horse-taming contest for 50 

 a side, and that Leon was willing to let him use his machine ; 

 but that he was unable to accept the challenge as he had no 

 money. I said that I would be only too glad to act 

 as his backer, and that I was ready to go, then and 

 there, to the office of the paper and ' cover ' the 50 cheque 

 which had been left by Leon with the editor of the Sporting 

 Life. On hearing this, Sample seemed so overcome with 

 emotion that his eyes filled with tears ; and his throat with 

 sobs. He said a lot of nice things about our kindness to 

 him at a time when no one else would give him a friendly 

 hand. My wife, from womanly sympathy, began to cry, 

 and having got my cheque-book out of my desk, handed it 

 to me, and begged me to go at once to the Sporting Life 

 and put Sample's mind at rest. When Sample and I ar- 

 rived at the office, we explained the reason of our coming, 

 and I paid in my cheque. All the preliminaries were arranged 

 without any trouble; an influential committee was formed; 

 and on the opening night my wife and I went down early 

 to the Aquarium to see that our man was ready for the fray. 

 I may explain that the field of battle was the stage of the 

 Imperial Theatre, which is at the west end of the Aquarium. 

 When we arrived, we went behind the scenes and found 

 Sample in a great state of excitement on account of there 

 being some hitch in the working of the machine. I begged 

 him to leave the unlucky thing alone, and assured him 

 that a man of his great experience and skill could not 

 possibly lose in a competition against a comparative novice 

 who had never been out of the United Kingdom, and who 

 had taken to horses late in life. He replied that he did 

 not care a button about the match, and that his sole object 

 in making it was to demonstrate to the world the marvel- 

 lous efficacy of his invention for taming horses by machinery. 



