Show u 7 l A TODA TODAY'S YS SHORT STORY I F Fiction ion i by Arner Americas America's leas lea s G Greatest W Writers T I 1 t e. e T U Prank Frank X A Ulla C CO G THE SPLENDOR AND THE GLORY By Frank Gould Comstock Henri The Tho engagement of ot and Celeste was ono one of at those events which P Paris loves lo because e of its Hs unexpectedness Its touch of tho the bizarre and of or romance the tho the winner of oC the Prix National to for I- I a a. nonstop flight from Paris to Moscow Moscow-a a great reat broad shouldered shouldered shouldered dered lean lenn faced fellow who never ne seemed content except when he ha was Inthe inthe In Inthe the air And Celeste Celesto one one of oC those slight alight li ht pretty silken haired blondes They had wet met on the field of or lanced glanced d and fallen In lov Now tho the da day had been bren set for the wedding wedding wed wed- ding dins and Celeste looked up at her lover and whispered Henri you Ou will give up flying after we are arc married 1 I 1 I She observed the expression of ot pain which crossed his face and continued in the low law v voice that she knew he loved zo no w we cul l LIsten No Xo ono one will ever Pcr equal c your rom feats while you ou live all the world knows ino s 's that He laughed proudly Mon Ion aleu- aleu eu no And so o you are afraid Well Vell I promise you OU to be careful then She saw that she alto had touched the wron wrong chord No no give no give it up en entirely en- en for r for my mp sake she whispered and kissed kissed him But Celeste Celeste- he replied he-replied replied seriously and was stopped with her small man hand upon his lips Then rhen she began besan to plead with him prettily yet ct et inexorably with all the skill charm and wistfulness that thal she possessed and which had attracted him He strove lau laughingly to put mt her request aside as a whim or a jest t. t but was met only by that unswerving Insistent in insistent insistent In- In demand At last sho she drew R away way from flom him suddenly her eyes flooded with tears tear of vexation I b believe you care caie more for your flying 1 ln than you OU do for me mc She saw that she sho had wounded him and returned qui quickly kh be begging ln forgive forgive- ol e 1 I ness spoke s almost I fadl sadly in a a. tone tono which silenced her at once Celeste I do not kno know whether you ou really realty dc desire ire me to give 1 0 u up my flights or whether you are arc merel merely jealous I Ican Ican Ican can tell you OU nothing but hut what I J have I told toM you yon so often before that I love you you above abo everything else in this world Then why why why-to she sho began coaxingly But continued without pause Can one give she up all alt at once that which seems eem part of ot ones one's innermost I Ido nature That is what you OU asic me to todo do and anil 1 I am ready to do even that if Ie it will 1 really make you OU happy But Butin Butin Butin in return I am going to ask one favor you 1 0 bo lie afraid to go SO up UI Celeste sure suie of ot victory laughed and murmured ed In his ear Wills VIlh you anc replied quietly and unexpectedly With W me I wish you rou to fly but once with once with me I wish you to taste for yourself the splendor and the glory and and then to say whether you can really wish me mc to relinquish It He lau laughed hed at the childish h gravity gravit of her expression and pinched her cheek So ma petite you are to judge for me mc and I swear to abide b by your decision That is m my one condition I He felt her b beginning to tremble in his arms and was on tho the verge of making any promises Hh she ml might ht de de- de mand Then came tho the thou thought ht of the thc glory of wheeling aloft of ot the imperceptible imperceptible imper imper- masterful movements of the tile controls a as the tho earth dropped away of the cushion of air all over which he rushed straight ht into the blue gra Celestes Celeste's voice came to him brokenly brokenly brok brok- enl enly You said you loved me mo above everything else in the world She was only Jealous then She could not realIze realize real real- ize what she asked o of him Ho repeated almost harshly yet without having the courage to look at ather tier her eyes You YO must go o up with me That Is m my ono ono condition So it came came about aboul that the flavor of romance of ot the wedding wedding- was still further heightened by the news that the thc happy pair pall would begin their honeymoon journey via aeroplane P Paris was beside itself with rapture I It Ita a was a trifle cloudy but hut otherwise a perfect day for the flight ht I handed his bride tenderly and proudly from the motor car which had lad brought them from the church to the grounds where hl his biplane was standing The aircraft wn was already surrounded by a corps corps' of or camera men and a a. perfect volley of clicks sounded as tho the two approached M. M r. r Kr and anal his remaining daughter lau with the rest of the the party part bringing up rear r. 1 Ker elan kissed Cele Celeste te on both hoth cheeks checks and anel upon tho the little curls that peeped out from beneath her gra gray li tightly drawn motoring veil and mut- mut to himself her concerning nus- nus band Beast Beast to beast to think Of f fRuch such Ruch an Idiotic way of or be beginning Beast or Beast or bird How T i en envy you whispered C Celestes Celeste's Oeste's Oestes O- O lestes leste's f sister r. r Goodbye Goodbye good good luck And the next moment had I lifted the slight ht figure Into the seat eat behind him In the fU fuselage flate and nd d placed her hands upon his ders Sh She was terribly frightened lout hut made no sl sign n gripping his coat cont firmly and waiting She glued her eyes to the hc elevator ator in front a as if she expected to mount the moment it tilted There was another volley of ot clicks from the cameras Then a slender young youn man In overalls ran to the rear I of ot the ma machine Partly turn turning In her head Celeste watched him pull down the tho propeller and as ns her husband uttered the word Contact swing the blade about once and dart aside from the tho shimmering circle that sprang into being The Tho engine roared in her cars she rice felt the jerking movement t I-t HS ns V Ville- Ville franc pulled the throttle lever fully Cull hack and the they began to roll forward 1 alon along tho the ground lound more and more smoothly at nl a constantly increasing pace Then thc they skimmed the surface surface surface sur sur- face like a a. stone store snipping skipping across water Suddenly I It seemed to her that they rushed up a steep hill in the air Her heart seemed to spring Into her mouth They flattened out with an almost t imperceptible mo movement of or the sta sta- an and were going goin horizontally a again ain Tho The rush h and the press of th the air wore were terrific Her chest seemed to be stove in her ribs giving away way Sh She Sho J could hard hardly exhale The Thu slightest parting of her lips admitted too much air nit She Sho was reminded of or a dro person struggling against the entrance of oC water Another air hill She was as awn aware re of ot the thc glowering Verin sha shadows of ot a wood od rushing rush rush- Ing wildly past Imst far bel below the below the w-the the trees she had barely discerned at nt the far tw end of oC the tho open space t What a distance they hail had conic come in a afew afew afew few seconds seconds' The continuous rush of air was beginning beginning be lIe be- be ginning to affect her blood like an intoxicant in- in toxicant rapidly p inducing Inducing- a dazed dazell feelIng feeling feel- feel Ing Ingo so that when turn turned d his hish h head ad momentarily showing his teeth In Ina Ina ina a smile she smiled back hack hacka a vaguely Then thc she he beat frantically upon hl his shoulders when she realized that he had misunderstood herShe her She summoned a all her strength and screamed to him but hut the articulate words were torn from hp her lips and lo lost t In the tho humming roar of ot the engine barely hearing nodded and laughed approvingly and tilted tilled up UI the tho elevator elc Ho He was going with the wind no now and a n bit unsteadily ll so that he lie had I to work the controls most of or the time I Little eddies d les constantly p caused C a n diving and rearing up motion of ot tho biplane I I comparable to the sensation of a roller coaster dip but more springy Ho lie felt the cushion of ot air again thick friendly and balanced upon it with a a. thrill of f tilting tilling the ailerons constantly p delicately ly with firm d decided movements If It this should be e his last night flight hL Ills IUs every faculty seemed to have been sharpened to I keener edge He lie Joyed joed In tn his uncanny knowledge of or the coming wind buffets buffet meeting them half hair wa way with the correct movements sensing the stronger puffs of oC air b by the slighter odes oges preceding He lie observed suddenly that a a. slight south wind was WiS bringing up a n den dense fog fOJ and swung to the left lert banking rI right ht f seeking to escape s 's pe It But nul In a moment he was enveloped loped by hy the mm milky milky shadows through which the sun aun glowed lowed dull re red Then the fo fog fear that haunts haunt every aviator came over O him the him the fear of or los los- los I hag ing his sense of oC the horizontal and of ot plunging to earth or vr of rising at some I impossible angle lIe He realized that he must mount above c this thit white obi obi-cm obscurity Ity v vIn In spite of or even his experience with such situations it seemed to stifle him Ho pulled his lils elevator t n sharply sharply- pulled it until he told himself he could be he doin doing nothing else but hut rising The needle of ot the aneroid in the fuselage before him that should hould have ha denoted his increased height vacillated un tin un- certainly What was happening in this smothering smothering smothering ering mist Had he ho plunged ell Into a world where the laws of or flight were set at defiance c Then he remembered that he carried the extra weight of or a la passenger He glanced about at her and momentarily p glimpsed her eyes wide wido open and h her r til lips parted smilingly Ho pulled th elevator again and rocked rockell his hiR controls Isis His machine responded Instantly telling him Indeed that thit lie ho was still moving but moving but in which direction he lie knew not nol The rhe fo fog had obscured tile the horizon and could no longer level his wings with this guiding guiding guid guid- I I IlIe ing line lie leaned forward peering at the needle at last it had harl begun to mark hl his rise moving steadily p. p Ho He shot hol suddenly from the tho fo fog into a blinding glare blare of or shimmering shimmering- golden sunlight and limitless blue and ah drew drewIn cw i In deep reviving breaths of air again The deadly from Irom which he had just arisen like Wee one from the depths of the sea swirled below him all angrily rily as if iC disappointed that he had esea escaped pe With a defiant impulse he shook his fist at it ft it then thrilled with triumph bumph as ashe ashe he ho looked up a again aln Into the lh slue blue e. e lIe He- was master there The glory of f r it IU He lie flattened out then took height once more D By degrees the haze b 1 below low parted I here and there thero in great ranged ragged ra rents like holes torn in a white fleecy covering covering cov cov- ering ering- through h w which ich part views of the distant earth were presented momentarily mo mo- like fairy fairy dissolving views that changed as ns he watched Now a river ilver gleamed silver now the toning tolling green fields became visible then theil the brown t top p of or houses then the gray spires of oC a cit city wedged closely close close- ly 1 together Odors Odor of r flowers of oC hay of or prairies wet wel with th the passing shower show show- er arose to hl his nostrils Tho Tim birdman drew drep breath sharply with the beauty of ot it all Never before before be before be- be fore had such a vision Ision spread beneath his eye eyes It seemed the gift of oC theall theair theair the air all to grace race his honeymoon Look Look he called c. to Celeste and pointed downward I She did not take her wi e open eyes ees from his when he turned his head nor nor stop smiling Then gradually gradual this fixed expression ceased to resemble a smile smite It Il did slid not change change It it was wa's was rigid yet rigid yet It suddenly became a terrible distor distor- tion It vas was the expression of ot the face of or one gasping for breath Dislodged cd b by VUle ranc's movement the hands slid from his shoulders and the dead girl fell Cell forward 1 against hl him l. l By some miracle of equilibrium the hi plans pursued its wa way through the sky unguided looked a away from those wide open eyes and lI listened Surely he could hear hear hear-a a low whispering whispering whis whis- a rustling all about him along along- the spread of trembling translucent wings s on either side side voices of invisible things that mocked keeping keepin pace that pace that sought maliciously to tip his machine anti and would have ha succeeded save that he lun lunged cd for Cor the controls and steadied It Then TheIl he glanced around cautiously as if expecting further attack Bah It was but the wind in the wires at his ear ear he told himself Nevertheless he deliberately let go so gothe gothe the levers leveri again to t tempt them these them these phantoms that haunted the air and in which he lie had hud aIwa always believed ed as sailors sailors sailors sail sail- ors have hoo their superstitions of ot the sea And again the they were whispering conspiring conspiring conspiring con con- tilting und tilling and again ho cleverly erl thwarted and cursed them I Ho lie bent back to kiss the parted parle lips tips I behind him whirling about instantly I at the tho rustling whispers that recommenced But nut the they fled as us quickly The wl wide c sky was empty to his view Yet 1 et ho he sensed that they followed Then madness the madness the madness s with I which he had struggled so often through the late long Ions stretches of his lonely flights the flights the air madness s came swiftly I anti and mercifully upon Henri and with one arm about hi his wife he lie I laughed to the clouds cloud and shouted to the sun flun and took height n again ain Into the hc eternal blue |