wn directly beneath him became visible and
then the river Rhine, passing between Ludwigshafen on the west and
Mannheim on the east, was lit up by the rays of the moon coming through
a sudden rift in the clouds. Jock by now was only eight hundred feet
above Mannheim; he opened up his throttle and circled around the city
while his navigation officer on his large-scale chart compared the
landmarks momentarily made visible by the rift in the clouds.
At last, thoroughly satisfied as to their position, fourteen
one-hundred-and-twelve-pound bombs were dropped as near the factory as
possible. If some of these bombs dropped in the town itself, it was not
due to intention on the part of the aviators, who, blinded by
searchlights, could not be sure of sending all the bombs with accuracy.
With over one hundred and sixty miles to travel in a plane riddled with
shrapnel from the bursting shells, the prominent thought in the minds of
the aviators was, that their work being accomplished, their next move
was to "beat it" in the direction where lay friendly country.

After the release of the bombs, Jock climbed up through the clouds and
steered a direct course for home. Since the ground could not be studied
because of the intervening clouds, the aviators devoted their entire
attention to compass, time, and the stars. During this flight above the
clouds the efficiency of the Hun's sound instruments was thoroughly
demonstrated, for, although the clouds were too dense for any
searchlight to penetrate and this effectually screened the machine from
observation from below, again and again Jock's plane was surrounded by
the black puffs of bursting anti-aircraft shells.

After flying for a sufficient number of hours to bring them above their
aerodrome, if their calculations were correct, Jock and his companion
discussed the advisability of coming down through the clouds; the
unanimous decision, however, was to continue on until a lack of petrol
would force them to land, for changes in wind might have created a
considerable error in their calculations, unchecked as they were by
observations of landmarks; so after flying for another hour they came
down through the clouds and succeeded in making a safe landing near a
small French village just before their supply of petrol was exhausted.

III

One evening in August, 1918, there was a strong southwest wind blowing
across the eastern part of France and severe thunderstorms were reported
to be ap