El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-04
THE BOUQUET The Herald.
BY cu-sot Daily Shert Stsry

He nimbiy climbed to his seat in the
machine and Immediately every trace
of nervousness left hirns He felt moth
ing but, sensation of joy and abso-
lutte security.
Lillian. raising herself on tip toes,
said to him: Here Pierre ishe had
never called him by his first name be-
fore). let me tie the bouquet to your
machine" And she tied it firmly to
a bar in front of him
$50 she wants to be the first to place
| flowers on my coffin" Lussones
thought. But Lillian looked at him
gaily with an arch smile about her
lips Then she borrowed a pencil and
wrote on the white wing of the mono
! plane: Bon retour."
Pierre, who was greatly moved
thought she could not have understood
right.
Then he gave the signal and his
mechanic started the propeller. There
was roar from the motor, whirrine
! buzz from the propeller and the pow
erful machine began to soar upwards
through the air. He puts on more
speed. Upwards he flies. He passes
through a layer of clouds. The cold
is biting his face is frozen, his hands
heavy and numb and his coat collar
seems to be growing too tight for him.
Still he is rising. They have for
gotten to wipe off his barometer, he
can barely see the figures and he wants
to see how high he is. He has a feel
ing of being suspended immovably in
empty space. His will power alone
prevents him from losing conscious
ness Shall he make the movement
which will precipitate him downward
! through space?
Lillian's bouquet tied firmly to the
rod. is losing the petals of its flow
ers one by one, and Eussones says TO
himself: This is the way my life will
go too
Suddenly his eyes open wide. He
sees a little blue flower, then one
more and, again another. Under the
orchids, robbed of their petals by the
breeze raised by the propeller. appears
bouquet Of forgetmenots, the en-
gagement flowers
Lussones is wild with joy.
He behaves like an automatom,
but his will power is strengthening,
he sets his teeth, he makes up his mind
that he must beat the record for aiti-
tude and win the prize, and with a
supreme effort, he rises higher still.
but he is growing faint He must de-
scend now, and this is the most dan
gerous part of his feat
Lussones glides toward the earth.
His machine descends in beautiful
vol plane, with the grace Of bird
flying in circles rapidly growing small
err The air whistles about his ears,
he catches sight of the earth, touches
1t gently and stops.
Dazed with excitement, Pierre rises
in his seat The crowd yells with ex-
element He has broken all records.
A score Of arms lift him up and carry
him shoulder high through the madly
excited throng Lillian is there, her
face is pale with emotion; she forgets
everything, throws her arms about
Pierre's neck, sobbing and laughing at
the same time.
''Oh, dear, how I have been afraid
I have been terribly punished, but
may as well confess it right here-l
would have married you. even II you
had not broken the record. or 1 would
never have married at ALL
Pierre gathers the few forgetmenots
that are still cllnging to the machine,
and, arm in arm. they walk together
to Mr. Pea body's limousine that is
waiting for them. and amidst the ap-
plause of the crowd. who uncover their
heads in homage to courage and love.