ew complication appeared in the
shape of a small German machine. Seeing that our bus was in
difficulties, it awaited an opportunity to pounce, and remained at a
height slightly greater than ours, but some distance behind the bus that
acted as rearguard to the party. Its speed must have been about ten
miles an hour more than our own, for though the Hun pilot had probably
throttled down, he was obliged to make his craft snake its way in short
curves, so that it should not come within dangerous range of our guns.
At times he varied this method by lifting the machine almost to stalling
point, letting her down again, and repeating the process. Once I saw
some motor transport on a road. I leaned over the side to estimate their
number, but gave up the task of doing so with accuracy under the double
strain of watching the Hun scout and listening to the jerky voice of the
engine.

As we continued to drop, the German evidently decided to finish us. He
climbed a little and then rushed ahead. I fired at him in rapid bursts,
but he kept to his course. He did not come near enough for a dive,
however, as the rest of the party, two thousand feet above, had watched
his movements, and as soon as he began to move nearer two of them fell
towards him. Seeing that his game was spoiled the Boche went down
steeply, and only flattened out when he was low enough to be safe from
attack.

Near St Guillaume an anti-aircraft battery opened fire. The Hun pilot
then thought it better to leave Archie to deal with us, and he annoyed
us no more. Some of the shell-bursts were quite near, but we could not
afford to lose height in distance-dodging, with our machine in a dubious
condition twenty-five miles on the wrong side of the trenches.

Toutpres, to the south-west, was to have been included in the list of
towns covered, but under the adverse circumstances V. decided not to
battle against the wind more than was necessary to get us home. He
therefore veered to the right, and steered due west. The south-west wind
cut across and drifted us, so that our actual course was north-west. Our
ground speed was now a good deal greater than if we had travelled
directly west, and there was no extra distance to be covered, because of
a large eastward bend in the lines as they wound north. We skirted the
ragged Foret de Quand-Meme, and passed St Guillaume on our left.

The behaviour of the engine went from bad to worse, and the vibration
became more and more intense