an aeroplane, through the home of the skylark.

Boom! Boom! I was suddenly brought back to--no, not to earth, but
to--things more material.

Looking down, I could discern several balls of smoke, which I
immediately recognised as shrapnel shells, or "Archibalds," that had
been fired at us by the Germans. They were well below. I looked round at
the Captain. He was smiling through his goggles, and humorously jerked
his thumb in the direction of the bursting "Archies."

"Too high, eh?" I shouted. But I had forgotten that in the fearful hum
of the rushing air and whirling motors my voice would not carry. It was
literally cut off as it left my lips. I picked up the 'phone and shouted
through it.

"Yes, they are pretty safe where they are," he said drily. Then a few
more burst underneath us.

By this time we were well out of the cloud bank. The atmosphere was much
clearer. I knelt up again on my seat and began to expose, and continued
turning the handle while we passed over St. Eloi and Hill 60. On certain
sections I could see that a considerable "strafe" was going on. Fritz
seemed to be having a very trying time. Near Messines my film suddenly
ran out. I had to reload. This was anything but an easy operation. I
unscrewed my camera from the gun socket, and in doing so had a near
escape from doing a head-dive to earth. Like an idiot, I had unfastened
my waist-strap, and in reaching over the fuselage my camera nearly
over-balanced, the aeroplane contributing to this result by making a
sudden dive in order to avoid an "Archibald."

For a second or two I had clear visions of flying through space on wings
other than those of an aeroplane. But fortunately I had the steel
crossbar to cling to, and this saved me.

Getting back to my seat, I asked the pilot to circle round the spot for
a few minutes. While changing my spool, I settled down in the bottom of
the car and reloaded my camera, eight thousand feet above the earth.
This operation occupied about ten minutes, and when I had finished I
gingerly raised myself on the seat and refixed the camera in its socket.

"Right away," I shouted. "Is it possible to go any lower?"

"It's very risky," he said, "but if you like I will try. Hold tight,
it's a dive."

I held tight. The nose of the machine tilted forward until it seemed as
if it was absolutely standing on end. The earth rushed up to meet us.
For the moment it seemed as if the aeroplane was out of control, but
with a grac