The bravest woman in the world, just before her descent from a height of 37,500 feet!

she flung her body upon the surface of the deep; and she felt the intoxication of the final victory!!

The most dangerous of her parachute jumps was the one she made from the fort of "Copacabana" in "Rio de Janeiro," the capital of Brazil, last May... "Gil Delamare," the well-known French cameraman, was recording the scenes of that jump of hers with hands that trembled; he had a right to be more afraid than she — he is her fiancé; and moreover "Léo Valentin," who was nicknamed the Bird Man, had earlier been killed in the same attempt in England. She, however, showed a superhuman courage that won her the title of "the girl with the nerves of steel" — the girl whose shoe the bravest of men is unequal to unlacing!!

She is no more than twenty-nine; and when she sets her foot into space, she no longer takes any account of the difficulties that may cross her path... From a height of 37,500 feet above the earth, Colette Duval, the French mannequin, threw herself into space... The temperature at that hour was thirty below zero; and when she reached a height of 16,250 feet the "drum" of her left ear split, and she could not keep herself from screaming, and from the violence of the pain the tears rolled from her eyes... Then, when she reached a height of 13,000 feet, she could no longer see anything; and exhaustion had taken every hold of her when she began to feel for the cords of the "parachute" at a height of 4,800 feet!!

And a height of 800 feet was the safest distance to enable her to complete her task;

When the parachute opened she shuddered like a wounded bird; then she stared into the face of the earth, to see the rescue boats gathered in wait for her. She did not feel the pressure of the water when

With her fiancé, who took her pictures.