ays Cousin Egbert. "Now I guess you're glad you pushed in here,
leg or no leg. I knew it would be a dandy surprise for you. Yes, sir; the
committee got a regular airplane to give a thrilling flight right here
in front of us. You look up in the sky there and pretty soon you'll see
it just as plain, sailing round and round like some great bird; and they
say this man flying it is going to loop the loop twice in succession. Now
I bet you're glad you come!"

Cousin Egbert says right at this minute he begun to take a dislike to
the Frenchman. After he'd took all that trouble to get him there to see
something exciting, the Frenchman just looked at him kind of sad for a
long time, and then says he believes he'd rather go back some place where
he can set down and rest his leg.

Cousin Egbert says he turned out to be like the Frenchmen you read about
that is blase about everything in the world and kind of tired of life,
not having the least bit of interest in whatever happens. But, of course,
he was polite to his guest and helped push a way back through the crowd,
with the crowd more excited than ever by this time, because the flying
machine was right up in the air, hundreds of feet off the ground.

"You'll think I'm a liar," he says to me; "but it's the God's truth this
Frenchman just kept pushing through that crowd and didn't even turn to
look up in the air when this man was actually risking his life by looping
the loop twice in succession. He never turned his head the least bit."

Cousin Egbert says, here he'd been up in one himself and knew what
flying meant, but he probably wouldn't of took the least notice if this
dare-devil had been killed right there before thousands.

"I don't understand it," he says. "It sure wouldn't be the least
use boosting for a brighter and busier Red Gap if everybody was as
cold-blooded as the French." He was right grouchy about the French
after this.

Anyway, he got his suffering man back to Horticultural Hall somewhat the
worse for being stepped on by the crowd; in fact, the Frenchman is kind
of all in when he gets to the auction block. He sets right down on it
looking white, and Genevieve May gets him a glass of water to revive him.
Pretty soon he says he's nearly as well as ever, but that wasn't much.

Now the patriots for the auction begun to throng in and Genevieve May is
once more proud and fluttering. She glances fondly at her noble array of
jars, with these illegitimate preserves sh