the Royal Flying Corps busy. I was
keen about the last, and I made several trips myself over the lines
with Archie Roylance, who had got his heart's desire and by good luck
belonged to the squadron just behind me. I said as little as possible
about this, for G.H.Q. did not encourage divisional generals to
practise such methods, though there was one famous army commander who
made a hobby of them. It was on one of these trips that an incident
occurred which brought my spell of waiting on the bigger game to an end.

One dull December day, just after luncheon, Archie and I set out to
reconnoitre. You know the way that fogs in Picardy seem suddenly to
reek out of the ground and envelop the slopes like a shawl. That was
our luck this time. We had crossed the lines, flying very high, and
received the usual salute of Hun Archies. After a mile or two the
ground seemed to climb up to us, though we hadn't descended, and
presently we were in the heart of a cold, clinging mist. We dived for
several thousand feet, but the confounded thing grew thicker and no
sort of landmark could be found anywhere. I thought if we went on at
this rate we should hit a tree or a church steeple and be easy fruit
for the enemy.

The same thought must have been in Archie's mind, for he climbed again.
We got into a mortally cold zone, but the air was no clearer. Thereupon
he decided to head for home, and passed me word to work out a compass
course on the map. That was easier said than done, but I had a rough
notion of the rate we had travelled since we had crossed the lines and
I knew our original direction, so I did the best I could. On we went
for a bit, and then I began to get doubtful. So did Archie. We dropped
low down, but we could hear none of the row that's always going on for
a mile on each side of the lines. The world was very eerie and deadly
still, so still that Archie and I could talk through the speaking-tube.

'We've mislaid this blamed battle,'he shouted.

'I think your rotten old compass has soured on us,' I replied.

We decided that it wouldn't do to change direction, so we held on the
same course. I was getting as nervous as a kitten, chiefly owing to the
silence. It's not what you expect in the middle of a battle-field ... I
looked at the compass carefully and saw that it was really crocked.
Archie must have damaged it on a former flight and forgotten to have it
changed.

He had a very scared face when I pointed this out.

'Gr