9 minutes and, through miscalculating his
turn, only just missed colliding with it. He got No. 6 under control
again and succeeded in getting back to his starting-point in 29 1/2
minutes, thus winning the 125,000 francs which constituted the Deutsch
Prize, together with a similar sum granted to him by the Brazilian
Government for the exploit. The greater part of this money was given by
Santos-Dumont to charities.

He went on building after this until he had made fourteen non-rigid
dirigibles; of these No. 12 was placed at the disposal of the military
authorities, while the rest, except for one that was sold to an American
and made only one trip, were matters of experiment for their maker. His
conclusions from his experiments may be gathered from his own work:--

'On Friday, 31st July, 1903, Commandant Hirschauer and
Lieutenant-Colonel Bourdeaux spent the afternoon with me at my airship
station at Neuilly St James, where I had my three newest airships--the
racing 'No. 7,' the omnibus 'No. 10,' and the runabout 'No. 9'--ready
for their study. Briefly, I may say that the opinions expressed by the
representatives of the Minister of War were so unreservedly favourable
that a practical test of a novel character was decided to be made.
Should the airship chosen pass successfully through it the result will
be conclusive of its military value.

'Now that these particular experiments are leaving my exclusively
private control I will say no more of them than what has been already
published in the French press. The test will probably consist of an
attempt to enter one of the French frontier towns, such as Belfort or
Nancy, on the same day that the airship leaves Paris. It will not,
of course, be necessary to make the whole journey in the airship. A
military railway wagon may be assigned to carry it, with its balloon
uninflated, with tubes of hydrogen to fill it, and with all the
necessary machinery and instruments arranged beside it. At some station
a short distance from the town to be entered the wagon may be uncoupled
from the train, and a sufficient number of soldiers accompanying the
officers will unload the airship and its appliances, transport the whole
to the nearest open space, and at once begin inflating the balloon.
Within two hours from quitting the train the airship may be ready for
its flight to the interior of the technically-besieged town.

'Such may be the outline of the task--a task presented imperiously to
Fre