Evening star., 1918-02-17
BY JOSEPH STFHLIN.

Four of US are flying in close forma-
ton toward the lines to take up our
shift Of the patrol. The sky Is almost
speckless. The earth, 5000 meters be-
low. stretches away. hazy at the edges
like crazy quilt of shades of green
and yellow. We are not quite up to the
line yet, and the shelling that will be
our continual accompaniment after we
cross it has not begun.
! am glad to be on patrol duty again
am not compelled to stick close to
some heavy, slow-moving observation
machine. as when I fly "pour protec-
ton" Our whole duty Is to tack back
and forth over the lines on the lookout
to drive back or send down any boche
airman who tries to penetrate our lines
on a special mission from his high
command.
There is little to worry US. We have
driven their "sausages'' down days ago,
and their chasse-pilots have for some
time showed reluctance to let us get at
them. / can understand that, for the
captured German machines that l have
tried are much sitter and harder to
work than my own.
True, we have copied some very good
things from the German machines. The
idea of the trip, which times the firing
on my stationary mitrailleuse so that
the bullets pass between the propeller
blades instead of hitting them, is
swiped from the Fokker cnasse plane.
Before we had the tripping device we
used metal-dedecting plates on the
propeller blades, and the 10 per cent OF
our bullets striking the plates carom.
ed of in all directions, to the danger ol
our comrades.
Stealing Rated as Mutual"
The stealing is mutual, however.
Lieut. Fokker of course, stole the
whole fixed machine gun idea from our
Garros, who was the first to see that
| fixed gun aimed by pointing the whole
machine was nearer to one solidly
! mounted on the ground than anything
| else We are thieves robbing thieves.
We are on the lines now, and l begin
| twisting in my seat looking for boche
| machines. I look down perfunctorily
and see what is farthest from my
! thoughts, big boche who has had the
! impertinence to try sneaking into our
| lines directly under US He will pay
1 for his nerve" ] think to myself.
| He is big Rumpler biplane machine.
| a two-seater, with a pilot and the OBJ
server on board The pilot. like me, has
! a fixed gun mounted on the fuselage of
! cockpit has a free gun that he can
swing over a wide field of fire, but
| which vibrates so violently that its ac-
| curacy is lower than that of the fixed
gun.
| He is doing reglage duty, apparently
| flying low into our lines. picking out
likely targets and then going back to
pass the word by wireless to a boche
| for if he is allowed to carry out his
mission valuable men or valuable
equipment will be heavily strafed.
| I drag my control stick from side to
Nieuport zig-zags. That is the signal
to the others that l have sighted a
boche l fly over little toward the
nearest of our machines, and the pilot
| waves his hand. I understand that he,
| too, has seen the Rumpler
Maneuvers for Position.
I pull in an almost verticle virare.
| standing my machine practically on
| end. / pique downward to take the
boche from in front. My chef de patrol,
famous ace with twenty boches to
| his credit, shoots on toward the Ger
man lines. l assume that he will pres
emily pique to take the German in the
rear. The maneuyer. successfully car
ried through, will bring the four of us
down on all sides of the Rumpler like
| so many hawks.
l drop like a stone for 1900 metera
When about 300 meters above Inc
Rumpler I look up to place the others.
There is not machine in sight
There is no time for idle specula
tion. however. Already the boche
observer has started his mitraiIleuse.
| | can hear its tack-tack-tack I know
his fighting is purely defensive. His
| only duty now is to get away to his
own lines with the facts that he has
gathered. Setting me is a secondary
| matter with him.
Getting him. on the contrary, is a
matter of first Importance to me.
Prize money, a citation, if I bring him
down where he can be Officially
seen," and the need of preventing him
from taking his notes home, ali give
me motive.
so to work heading straight at
him. My finger is on the detente. the
trigger set on my stick control and
connected by wire with the mitrail-
leuse. AS soon get a bead I will
pour stream of mixed explosive bull
s----------@---- --------------------