El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-01-08
THIRTY-sECOND YEAR OF PUBLICATION
A Tragedy In the Air
A short story.

now long Snall llNe-
II "Oh you must not think Of
dsing,7 said the doctor evasiveIy. you
must not give up so easy
She fell back onto the pillow ex-
hausted, and closed her eyes. Suddenly
she sat I'D again.
Isn't that muster
Yes it is the CiniseIi circus. There
is a performance OF it just now"
The sick Sirl lay silent, but the mu-
sic seemed to make ner restless, as Il
1t recalled some long forgotten men,
doctor" she said. at last. will you
go to the circus and ask for the ring
master, Gilbert Ferrand? But-Wait
a moment, what time is it? Only
o'clock. The performance won't be
over for more than hour and he maS
come too late shall tell you the
story. doctor, and you will tell it to
He gave her some medicine and she
began.
to get an engagement with that circus.
l had been trained since 1 was a child
to the life OF a trapeze performer.
and another girl, Gisela, were engaged
at the same time, 70 appear together
in the air
~Gisela was a merry, mfsehievous
pig-headed girl, very pretty, but too
fond of flattery- On the trapeZe she
was a marvel Of daring, who thought
thrill the audience below She and I
never were very friendly She thought
[ was too shy and bashful and T.
we'll I have told you what 1 thought
Of her Perhaps 1 was a little Jealous
of her too, because the audiences every
where adored her. For awhile we were
rivals only in our work, but soon an
other element came in We both fell
in love with Gilbert Ferrand-
"Gisela loved him in a superficial,
light hearted manner while my love
was of the kind which comes to a
woman only once in a lifetime. She
made no attempt 10 conceal her feel
ings, while I kept mine a secret from
everyone. knew that her love was
nothing compared TO mine, and she
would have forgotten him IN less than
a month if they had parted.
loved him, though he was cold ana
distant towards me, and I love him as
much now as L ever did
1t did not take long before We dis
covered each others feelings. and from
that moment We were deadly enemies,
though we tried to never show IL
1 am not sure that Ferrand had any
idea. about our feelings, though ! have
an idea he suspected something. While
he was cold to me, ne leased Gisela and
jOked with her all the time This made
me hate her even more and L often
wished she were out Of the way.
'One evening, towards the end Of
the season. We were to have a great
gala performance to which all the Of
1icers of the garrison had been in
vited, and the immense hall was crowd
ed from pit TO gallery
When we left our dreSsingroom
Ferrand took Gisela's hand and led her
into the ring. He said something to
her which made her smile in her
charmingIy mischieyOus manner. This
drove me mad. My legs trembled and
my face felt like a stony mask
wanted TO get even. with that girl, now
''GiseIa that night had ordered that
no safety net was TO be used while
she was performing. At first Ferrand
had objected. but as she insisted, he
The sensation Of such performances
was a double turn on the flying tr-
pezes. 1 would hang head downward AT
one end Of the building while Gisela
stood at the other end A trapezs
hanging from the center would swing
over toward her. She would catch il
with both her hands and speed to-
wards me. Just before the trapezs
started to swing back again she would
let go, turn a double somersault and
stretch out both arms to catch hold Of
mine. People held their breath until
everything was over. and then the ap-
plause shook the building.
This great turn was about TO be-
gin G1seIa was in her place She
never hurried before starting off, but
liked to stand flirting with the aud
fence before she finally caught the
trapeze.
Suddenly a suggestion entered my
mind If turned slightly to the right
or left she would miss my hands, I
saw there vas no net below. 1 swear
that 1 never thought Of it until she
was already in the air. before I had
time TO consider the enOrmity OF such
a crime, the accident had happened
4 heard her body rushing through
the air, the horrible thud as it struck
the ground. and the panic that fol-
lowed felt so dizzy that I almost
lbs hold 7
my body and caught hold of the ropes
with my hands
For two days I did not leave my
room and the tOrtures 1 suffered were
dreadful neither ate nor drank any
thing. I had hoped to eliminate my
rivals chances Of winning Ferrand and
now she was dead ? Oh If I had only
realized all this before
Late in the afternoon I went to the
circus 1 hoped to meet Ferrand and
al the same time was afraid to meet
him 1 went through the long halls
without seeing anyone but as entered
the ring. ] shuddered at the sight Of the
empty space.
In the center Of the ring stood a
lonely figure, mOuonlesS staring AZ
the spot where Gisela mad fallen. nv
heart stopped beating 1t was Gilbert
Ferrand
Suddenly he turned and looked at
me with an expression 1 shall never
forget Then he turned away without
guessed the truth.
If ne had cursed me, struck me or
killed me 1 should not have felt as I
did But his expression OF hatred and
contempt was dreadful. 1 felt il was
my death sentence silently pronounced.
1 knew it would kill me as 1t has.
I never was suspected, though I
was cross examined but even if had
been arrested IL would have made me
feel no worse. / Joined travelling
circus. and now nave come here to
die"
There was a deep silence in the room
The mental effort had completely eN-
hausted the miserable girl. She shut
her eyes and lay motionless.
1t must be late, now doctor" she
said at last Perhaps you had better
go for him now. There is no time to
waste"
The doctor stood Up. took his hat,
and left the room. Half an hour later
he returned with Gilbert Ferrand- As
the two men entered the girl raised
her head and stared at them with
CLASSY eyes Suddenly she recognized
berrand and smile spread across her
thin face. She held out her hands with
a cry and fell back on her pillow.