he had gained. Joe
Little and Dicky Mann were his only real rivals in this field. Dicky
had one assistant that was of the greatest use to him in the frequent
companionship of Dubois, the French officer attached to headquarters.
While Dicky's French was often ungrammatical, his pronunciation was
good, much better, in fact, than either Joe's or Bob's.

One day Dicky was sent as an observer with Richardson, the little
major who usually accompanied that clever pilot being away on temporary
leave. Dicky pleased headquarters so much with his initial report
that more and more observation work was given him. Thus he gained
valuable experience which bade fair to ensure that he would be kept
at observing most of the time.

The boy was inclined at first to regret this, for the obvious reason
that those who did the flying work were much more "in the picture,"
as Dicky put it, but the real fascination of the observation work
soon weaned him from any genuine desire to give it up. To his great
delight he was at last put on the observation staff permanently, or
at least was given regular work with that department---and who should
be assigned to pilot him but Bob Haines! To be with Bob, of whom
Dicky was especially fond, was a genuine pleasure to him, and the
combination proved a very good one from every standpoint. Bob's
passion for photographic work and Dicky's absorbing interest in
mapping operations resulted in their approaching their joint work
in a spirit of splendid enthusiasm for it, which could not but
produce good results.

Aeroplane work in war-time, however, has its "ups and downs," as
Jimmy Hill would say in his weekly letters home. He rarely missed
a fortnight that this sage observation did not appear in some part
of his four-page epistle. Jimmy stuck religiously to four pages,
though he knew enough of censorship rules to avoid mention of his
work, except in vague generalities. This necessity made writing
four pages dull work at times, and resulted in Jimmy's adoption of
various set phrases as filling matter. His mother, who knew Jimmy
as only mothers know their sons, read into the often repeated
sentences Jimmy's ardent desire to show himself a ready and willing
correspondent, when he was nothing of the kind. She loved those
letters none the less for their sameness, thereby showing her
mother-wisdom.

Thus far in the career of the Brighton boys with the aero forces at
the front their fortune had been on