Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1916-06-16


saw nothing OF the other airships, be
ing intent upon my own work, though
/ was conscious Of being a part Of 6
flock Of gigantic birds about to make &
descent upon their prey. / cannot con
ceive Of more exhilarating expert
ence. Nevertheless knew that on M
self control would depend the value OF
my work.
Shots began to be fired at Us before
we came into position to drop q bomb.
Whether any Of the missiles were eff
fective | did not know. I suppose
should have been dreading a drop OF
a thousand feet TO earth, but ! was sc
intent on my work that there was nc
room in my brain for anything else
Then came the supreme moment of
dropping the first bomb. AS soon as
had rolled 1t over, without waiting
to see II it proved effective, seized
another and another.
There came up from below the
sounds Of many explosions, mingled
with the near singing Of balls about
our ears. The attack occupied only q
few minutes: then 1t was every aero
plane for itself. l only knew that the
machine on which served received a
shot that put US in the position Of a
bird with broken wing However.
We were not 50 much damaged but
that We could limp along. Other ma
chimes passed US in their fight. leaving
US far behind. We sinking toward the
earth
Not knowing much about an aero
plane myself relied upon Lieutenant
Meeker entirely. He could do NOTHING
to help matters. for II was the fan o:
the propeller that was damaged and
there was 10 way to fl II He coli5
only put on all the force there was IL
the engine and guide the mzehiEe over
such territory as would be best 10 fan
on IN case there came q sudden col
lapse Unfortunately. beneath Us wert
leafess trees whose branches seemed
70 be ready 10 receive Us on tleii
sharp points Ike bristling bayonets. In
looking down At them felt more fear
than at any time Of the flight. for
was unoccupied.
1t was soon very evident that we
would never get our machine back TO
our lines, and since we must come TO
earth In an enemy's country, II our
machinery did not give out so as to
drop Us suddenly to death. we would
doubtless be made prisoners, which /
dreaded more than almost any other
calamity.
By skillful management the lieuten-
ant kept US afoat till 1t was quite
dark and We had reached a point not
many miles from our lines. Then We
came to earth In a field covered with
snow. Looking back through what re-
manned Of the twilight, l saw what
looked like bird coming through the
air. l knew It for an aeroplane and
surmised that II belonged to the en-
envy. for doubtless all our machines
that had hot been captured had gone
on ahead. quite likely those in the
coming aeroplane had seen us 20 down
and would pounce upon us.
The lieutenant and | consulted bur
riedly how we might escape capture.
We had our side arms and could fight,
but within the enemy's lines such a
doubtless German troops about us. but
II we could conceal ourselves we might
eventually get within our lines We
felt sure we were In Belgium and
would therefore have what assistance
the citizens we might fall In with
could give us.
II occurred to me to go as far as pos
sible from our wrecked aeroplane and
burrow In the snow. but the lieutenant
suggested that our tracks would con-
duct those looking for us to our hiding
place. Hearing the Jingle Of sleigh
pecting at least 20 find road We
found one and a house on IT, Entering.
we asked the persons there II they
were Belgians. and when they replied
aff1rmatively we told them we were of
the British aviator corps and asked
them II they would help us
Meanwhile the aeroplane we had
seen came up and lowered over our
wrecked machine, but 1t was now too
dark for those in 1t to hunt for us to
advantage. Our host told us that the
road led to our lines and the snow on
1t was so hardened that we would
make no trucks. The German rear was
about ten miles away and If we could
pass II we might emerge among our
own troops.
We resolved to undertake II. Leav-
ing the house. we had not gone far be
fore we heard some one asking for us
In German. Fortunately we made no
sound on the packed snow and moved
on as fast as our legs would carry us.
We ran the greater part OF the night
and toward morning climbed a hill,
from which we looked down on TO the
trenches, which we recognized by the
hesultory firing that marked the line.
We were perfectly safe where we
were, but II would be impossible TO
pass that line and get behind our
trenches. Toward noon we saw aero
planes rising from the British region
and come toward us as II recon.
nottering. They were looking for such
machines OF our expedition as had
been wrecked. Nearer they came. and
the hill we were on being several hun.
dred feet high. when they reached 1t
one OF them few near enough for us to
attract Its attention. II alighted in a
clearing. took us aboard and returned
with us to the other side OF the line OF
trenches.