ench
controlling board's severity.]

One after another, the victorious birds came back to cover from every
part of the violet and rosy sky. But joy over their success must show
itself, and they indulged in all the fanciful caprioles of acrobatic
aviation, spinning down in quick spirals, turning somersaults, looping
or plunging in a glorious sky-dance. Last of these young gods, Guynemer
landed after one final circle, and took off his helmet, offering to the
setting sun his illuminated face, still full of the spirit of battle.

III. GUYNEMER IN CAMP

On the Somme Guynemer was one of the great French champions; on the
Aisne he became their king. No enemy could resist him, and his daring
appeared without bounds. On May 27 he attacked alone a squadron of six
two-seaters above Auberive at an altitude of 5000 meters, and compelled
them to go down to an altitude of 3600 meters. Before landing, he
pounced on another group of eight, scattering them and bringing down
one, completely smashed, with its fuselage linen in rags, among the
shell-holes in a field. He was like the Cid Campeador, to whom the Sheik
Jabias said:

...Vous eclatiez, avec des rayons jusqu'aux cieux,
Dans une preseance eblouissante aux yeux;
Vous marchiez, entoure d'un ordre de bataille;
Aucun sommet n'etait trop haut pour votre taille,
Et vous etiez un fils d'une telle fierte
Que les aigles volaient tous de votre cote....

His feats exceeded all hopes, and his appearance in the sky fairly
frightened the enemy. On June 5, after bringing down an Albatros east of
Berry-au-Bac, he chased to the east of Rheims a D.F.W., which had
previously been attacked by other Spads. "My nose was right on him,"
says Guynemer's notebook, "when my machine-gun jammed. But just then the
observer raised his hands. I beckoned to him several times to veer
towards our lines, but noticing that he was making straight for his own,
I went back to my gun, which now worked, and fired a volley of fifteen
(at 2200 altitude). Immediately the machine upset, throwing the observer
overboard, and sank on Berru forest." However, Guynemer's day's work was
not done to his satisfaction after these two victories (his forty-fourth
and forty-fifth): he attacked a group of three, and later on a group of
four, and came back with bullets in his machine.

Meanwhile he had been made, on June 11, 1917, an Officer of the Legion
of Honor with the following citation:

A