The Cordova daily times., 1918-08-05

send for another plot; that Irishmnn
will be back. If he has to walk" And
he knew that the only thing that kept
me from walking was the fact that our
own automobile had been sent out to
bring me home.
| had lots to think about that day,
and | had learned many things; one
was not to have too much confidence
In my own ability. One Of the men in
the squadron told me that had bet
ter not take those chances; that 1t
was going to be long war and
would have plenty of opportunities to
be killed without deliberately wishing
them on" myself. Later | was to learn
the truth of his statement.
That night my "fight"-cach squad
ron Is divided into three flights, CON
SiSting of six men each-got ready to
20 out again. As I started to put on
my tunic | noticed that ! was not
marked up for duty as usual.
! askci the commanding officer, n
major, what the reason for that wrs,
and he replied that he thought had
done enough for one day. However.
! knew that If did not CO. someone
else from another flight" would have
to take my place. and | insisted upon
going up with my patrol as usual. and
the ma jor reluctantly consented. Had
he known what was in store for me, ]
am sure he wouldn't have changed his
mind so readily.
As 1t was we had only five machines
for this patrol, anyway, because ms we
crossed the lines one of them had to
drop out on account of motor trouble.
Our patrol was up at 8 p. m, and up
to within ten minutes of that hour 1t
had been entirely uneventful.
At T:50 y. ~. however, while we
We're flying ut a height Of 1900 feet
we observed three other English ma
chimes which were about 5000 feet
below us pick Il fight with nine Hun
machines
I knew right then that we were in
for it, because / could see over toward
the ocean whole flock of Hun ma
chimes which evidently had escaped
the attention of our scrappy country
men below us.
SO we dove down on those nine
Huns.
At first the fight was fairly even.
There were eight of us to nine of them.
But soon the other machines which
had seen In the distance, and which
were fiyinS even higher than we were,
arrived on the scene, and when they,
In turn, dove down on us. there was
Just twenty of them to our eight,
Four of them singled me out. was
diving, and they dived right down after
me, shooting aS they came. Their
tracer bullets were coming closer to
me every moment. These tracer bull
lets are balls of fire which enable the
shooter to follow the course his bull
lets are taking and to correct his aim
accordingly They do no more harm
to a pilot II he IL hit than an ordinary
bullet. but If they hit the petrol tank,
good night When a machine catches
fire In flight there Is no way of put
ting IL out II takes less than min
ute for the fabric to burn off the wings
and then the machine drops like an
arrow. leaving a trail of smoke like
comet.
As their tracer bullets came closer
and closer to me l realized that my
chances of escape were nil. Their very
next shot. felt, must hit me.
Once, some days before, when ! was
a a
fight above me. A German machine
was set on fire. and dived down
through our formation in flames on its
way to the ground. The Hun was div
ing at such sharp angle that both
his wings came of, and as he passed
within few hundred feet of me | saw
the look OF horror on his face.
Now, when l expected any moment
to suffer n similar fate, l could not
help thinking of that poor Huns last
look of agony.
realized that my only chance lay
in making an Immelman turn. This
maneuver was invented by German
one OF the greatest who ever flew and
who was killed In action some time be-
fore. This turn, which made success
fully, brought one of their machines
right In front of me, and as he sailed
along barely ten yards away. | had
the drop" on him, and he knew It.
His white face and startled eyes
can still see. He knew beyond ques-
ton that his last moment had come. |
because his position prevented his TAX
ing aim ut me. while my gun pointed
straight at him. My first tracer bullet |
passed within yard of his head, the