so needless as it appeared at first. The
German positions were in a salient, a large corner, the line turning
almost at right angles. We could cross them from the south, attack our
balloon, and then, if we wished, return to French territory on the
west side of the salient.

"We may miss some heavy shelling. If we double on our tracks going
home, they will be expecting us, of course; whereas, if we go out on
the west side, we will pass over batteries which didn't see us come
in. If there should happen to be an east wind, there will be another
reason in favor of the plan. The commandant is a shrewd soldier. It
may have been his way of saying that the longest way round is the
shortest way home."

Our Spads were ready after luncheon. A large square of tin had been
fastened over the fabric of each lower wing, under the rocket
fittings, to prevent danger of fire from sparks. Racks for six
rockets, three on a side, had been fastened to the struts. The rockets
were tipped with sharp steel points to insure their pricking the silk
balloon envelope. The batteries for igniting them were connected with
a button inside the car, within easy reach of the pilot. Lieutenant
Verdane, our French second-in-command, was to supervise our practice
on the field. We were glad of this. If we failed to "spear our
sausage," it would not be through lack of efficient instruction. He
explained to Drew how the thing was to be done. He was to come on the
balloon into the wind, and preferably not more than four hundred
metres above it. He was to let it pass from view under the wing; then,
when he judged that he was directly over it, to reduce his motor and
dive vertically, placing the bag within the line of his two circular
sights, holding it there until the bag just filled the circle. At that
second he would be about 250 metres distant from it, and it was then
that the rockets should be fired.

The instructions were simple enough, but in practicing on the target
we found that they were not so easy to carry out. It was hard to judge
accurately the moment for diving. Sometimes we overshot the target,
but more often we were short of it. Owing to the angle at which the
rockets were mounted on the struts, it was very important that the
dive should be vertical.

One morning, the attack could have been made with every chance of
success. Drew and I left the aerodrome a few minutes before sunrise
for a trial flight, that we might give our motors a thorough