fruit salad might
not have been so palatable as it looked.

"Tell me this: Did you see me?"

I thought for a moment, and then said, "Yes."

"When?"

"When you passed over my head."

"And twenty seconds before that you would have been a sieve, if either
of us had been a Boche."

I yielded the point to save further argument.

He had come swooping down fairly suddenly. When I saw him making his
way so saucily among the _eclatements_ I felt my confidence returning
in increasing waves. I began to use my head, and found that it was
possible to make the German gunners guess badly. There was no menace
in the sound of shells barking at a distance, and we were soon clear
of all of them.

J. B. took me aside the moment I landed. He had one of his fur boots
in his hand and was wearing the other. He had also lighted the cork
end of his cigarette. To one acquainted with his magisterial
orderliness of mind and habit, these signs were eloquent.

"Now, keep this quiet!" he said. "I don't want the others to know it,
but I've just had the adventure of my life. I attacked a German. Great
Scott! what an opportunity! and I bungled it through being too eager!"

"When was this?"

"Just after the others dove. You remember--"

I told him, briefly, of my experience, adding, "And I didn't know
there was a German in sight until I saw the smoke of the tracer
bullets."

"Neither did I, only I didn't see even the smoke."

This cheered me immensely. "What! you didn't--"

"No. I saw nothing but sky where the others had disappeared. I was
looking for them when I saw the German. He was about four hundred
metres below me. He couldn't have seen me, I think, because he kept
straight on. I dove, but didn't open fire until I could have a nearer
view of his black crosses. I wanted to be sure. I had no idea that I
was going so much faster. The first thing I knew I was right on him.
Had to pull back on my stick to keep from crashing into him. Up I went
and fell into a nose-dive. When I came out of it there was no sign of
the German, and I hadn't fired a shot!"

"Did you come home alone?"

"No; I had the luck to meet the others just afterward. Now, not a word
of this to any one!"

But there was no need for secrecy. The near combat had been seen by
both Talbott and Porter. At luncheon we both came in for our share of
ragging.

"You should have seen them following us down!" said Porter; "like two
old rheumatics going into the subway. We s