ld the shore line. The marvellous speed of the
aircraft appealed to me then, as it was not long before we were over
the harbour gates. At the same time, the seaplane just then did not seem
to be making any headway. From a height of 4,000 feet the great vessels
looked like fair-sized matches. How impossible it seemed to aim straight
enough ever to hit one of those narrow things. As we turned around above
the town in the direction of the hangars the trembling wings appeared to
waver a bit more than usual. I looked down at the town, and we appeared
at a standstill. You can tell sometimes when persons are looking at the
planes by a speck of white, which is a face. The earth and sea rose
nearer, for, as one does not appreciate, the plane was descending.

Our seaplane swung around and around like a bird about to settle, and,
as the seagulls do, alighted on the waters against the wind. With
remarkable skill and patience the pilot carefully steered the machine
until she faced the ways on which waited a throng of air-station
officers and waders. Soon we were properly placed, and a dozen men clad
in waterproof clothes splashed forward into the water, and caught the
floats of the seaplane's wings. As the engine had been stopped before we
landed, I got the first chance to speak to my pilot. He told me to get
on the back of one of the waders, and in a few minutes I was again on
dry land. Then the first thing I thought of was how the machine looked
in the air. The officers congratulated my pilot on a remarkably fine
landing.

We had been more than two hours and ten minutes in the air, and we were
both glad of a good stretch as we walked to the hangar, the burring buzz
of the propeller still in my ears.

III. ADVENTURES IN A SEAPLANE

It was an interesting gathering which faced the warm fire in a
smoking-room of an East Coast station of the Royal Naval Air Service.
Many of the seaplane pilots who were attired in the blue and gold of
naval officers had recently returned from successful endeavours in their
hazardous life in the North Sea and on the Belgian Coast. And here they
were in old England chatting about their experiences without brag or
boast--just telling modestly what had happened.

On one side of the spacious room, on a long, deep leather-cushioned
sofa, were an officer of the guards who was known to have an income of
at least ten thousand dollars a year, and who had taken to flying for
the excitement; a stocky y