Howdy. 
 
I've been wanting to share with the Comicvine community some stories I found in what might be the most interesting book in exsistance. 
This book is a collection of tales that may, or may not be, true, but are no doubt interesting. 
 
Tonight I will share a story withyou from the book; hopefully it entertains. 
  
 

The Other Man In An Iron Mask.

 
Could a man walk around the world without showing his face? It was one of those idle questions that arose when members of London's National Sporting Club were gathered together after a good lunch in 1907. John Pierpont Morgan, the American millionaire, and the sporting peer, Lord Lonsdale, were arguing. Lonsdale said it could be done; Morgan said it could not. 
The argument resulted in a wager equivalent to $100,000, and all that was needed was someone to attempt the feat. In that same company, was Harry Bensley, a 31-year-old playboy with an annual income of  £  5  ,000 from investments in Russia. He wanted to get away from the tedium of club life -- and offered his services. 
A stiff set of rules was drawn up, the main one being that, like the character in Alexandre Dumas' novel The Man in the Iron Mask, Bensley would wear an Iron Mask at all times. In addition, he would push a baby carriage, set out with £ 1 in his pocket, and take nothing but a change of underwear.

He had to pass through a specified number of British towns and 125 in 18 other countries. He also had to find a wife on his journey, who was not to see his face; and to finance himself, he would sell picture postcards. To ensure that he kept to the rules, a paid escourt was to accompany him.

Harry set out on January 1, 1908. Wearing a 4-and-a-half pound Iron Helmet and pushing a 200-pound spindly-wheeled baby carriage, he left Trafalgar Square amid cheering crowds.

At Newmarket Races he met Edward VII, and sold him a postcard for £ 5. The amused King asked for an autograph, but this would have revealed his identity, known only to his backers, so Harry had to refuse. 
At Bexleyheath, Kent, a zealous policeman arrested him for selling postcards without a license. Harry appeared in court wearing his Mask, and the angry magistrate ordered him to remove it. But when the wager was explained to him, the magistrate allowed Harry to be charged as "The Man in the Iron Mask", and only fined him a small amount of money. 
Harry Bensley spent six years pushing his carriage across 12 countries, passing through New York, MOntreal, and Sydney. Two hundred offers of marriage poured in, some from titled ladies, but Harry declined them all. 
In August 1914 he arrived in Genoa, Italy, with only six more countries to visit. But the first World War had broken out, and as a patriotic young man he felt he had to join the British forces. The bet was called off. Harry was given a consolation prize that amounted to $20,000, which he gave to charity.

He was one of the lucky ones who survived the war, but in 1917 his fortunes suffered a blow. His investments were lost in the Russian Revolution, and he was penniless. He died in 1956, in a one-room apartment in Brighton.