d on the night of the
10th the Germans made yet a fresh assault, supported by artillery fire,
against the point which has all along attracted most of their attention.

The attempt was again a costly failure toward which our guns were able
to contribute with great effect.

Details have been received of an exciting encounter in midair. One of
our aviators on a fast scouting monoplane sighted a hostile machine. He
had two rifles, fixed one on either side of his engines, and at once
gave chase, but lost sight of his opponent among the clouds. Soon,
however, another machine hove into view which turned out to be a German
Otto biplane, a type of machine which is not nearly so fast as our
scouts. Our officer once again started a pursuit. He knew that owing to
the position of the propeller of the hostile machine he could not be
fired at when astern of his opponent. At sixty yards range he fired one
rifle without apparent result. Then as his pace was carrying him ahead
of his quarry he turned round, and, again coming to about the same
distance behind, emptied his magazine at the German.

The latter began at once to descend as if either he or his machine were
hit, and shutting off his engine and volplaning to free his hands, the
pursuer recharged his magazine. Unfortunately it jammed, but he managed
to insert four cartridges and to fire them at his descending opponent,
who disappeared into a cloud bank with dramatic suddenness. When the
British officer emerged below the clouds he could see no sign of the
other. He, therefore, climbed to an altitude of some 7,000 feet and came
to the conclusion that the German must have come to earth in the French
lines.

The French airmen, too, have been very successful during the last three
days, having dropped several bombs among the German cavalry and caused
considerable loss and disorder, and having by similar means silenced a
battery of field howitzers.

The German anti-aircraft guns recently have been unusually active. From
their rate of fire they seem to be nearly automatic, but so far they
have not had much effect in reducing the air reconnoissances carried out
by us.

A striking feature of our line--to use the conventional term which so
seldom expresses accurately the position taken up by an army--is that it
consists really of a series of trenches not all placed alongside each
other, but some more advanced than others, and many facing in different
directions. At one place they run