fill in. After that I knew
that I was falling, with my motor going full speed. It was a
helpless realization. My brain refused to act. I could do
nothing. Finally, I did have one clear thought, "Am I on
fire?" This cut right through the fog, brought me up broad
awake. I was falling almost vertically, in a sort of half
_vrille_. No machine but a Spad could have stood the strain.
The Huns were following me and were not far away, judging by
the sound of their guns. I fully expected to feel another
bullet or two boring its way through. One did cut the skin
of my right leg, although I didn't know this until I reached
the hospital. Perhaps it was well that I did fall out of
control, for the firing soon stopped, the Germans thinking,
and with reason, that they had bagged me. Some proud Boche
airman is wearing an iron cross on my account. Perhaps the
whole crew of dare-devils has been decorated. However, no
unseemly sarcasm. We would pounce on a lonely Hun just as
quickly. There is no chivalry in war in these modern days.

I pulled out of the spin, got the broom-stick between my
knees, reached over, and shut down the motor with my right
hand. The propeller stopped dead. I didn't much care, being
very drowsy and tired. The worst of it was that I couldn't
get my breath. I was gasping as though I had been hit in the
pit of the stomach. Then I lost control again and started
falling. It was awful! I was almost ready to give up. I
believe that I said, out loud, "I'm going to be killed. This
is my last sortie." At any rate, I thought it. Made one last
effort and came out in _ligne de vol_, as nearly as I could
judge, about one hundred and fifty metres from the ground.
It was an ugly-looking place for landing, trenches and
shell-holes everywhere. I was wondering in a vague way
whether they were French or German, when I fell into the
most restful sleep I've ever had in my life.

I have no recollection of the crash, not the slightest. I
might have fallen as gently as a leaf. That is one thing to
be thankful for among a good many others. When I came to, it
was at once, completely. I knew that I was on a stretcher
and remembered immediately exactly what had happened. My
heart was going pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, and I could hardly
breathe, but I had