ng.

We must not forget the little donkeys which the French brought from
Africa to take the place of men in carrying supplies up to the trenches.
Single file they trotted along on their errand and they had their own
hospitals for wounded. It is said that when curtains of fire began ahead
they would throw forward their long ears inquiringly and hug close to
the side of the trench for cover and even edge into a dugout with the
men, who made room for as much donkey as possible, or when in the open
they would seek the shelter of shell-craters. Lest their perspicacity be
underrated, French soldiers even credited the wise elders among them
with the ability to distinguish between different calibers of shells.

XXII

THE MASTERY OF THE AIR

"Nose dives" and "crashers"--The most intense duels in
history--Aviators the pride of nations--Beauchamp--The D'Artagnan of
the air--Mastery of the air--The aristocrat of war, the golden youth
of adventure--Nearer immortality than any other living man can
be--The British are reckless aviators--Aerial influence on the
soldier's psychology--Varieties of aeroplanes--Immense numbers of
aeroplanes in the battles in the air.

Wing tip touching wing tip two phantoms passed in the mist fifteen
thousand feet above the earth and British plane and German plane which
had grazed each other were lost in the bank of cloud. The dark mass
which an aviator sees approaching when he is over the battlefield proves
to be a fifteen-inch shell at the top of its parabola which passes ten
feet over his head. A German aviator thinking he is near home circles
downward on an overcast day toward a British aerodrome to find out his
mistake too late, and steps out of his machine to be asked by his
captors if he won't come in and have tea. Thus, true accounts that come
to the aviators' mess make it unnecessary to carry your imagination with
you at the front.

They talk of "nose dives" and "crashers," which mean the way an enemy's
plane was brought down, and although they have no pose or theatricalism
the consciousness of belonging to the wonder corps of modern war is not
lacking. One returns from a flight and finds that a three-inch
anti-aircraft gun-shell has gone through the body of his plane.

"So that was it! Hardly felt it!" he said.

If the shell had exploded? Oh, well, that is a habit of shells; and in
that case the pilot would be in the German lines unrecognizable among
the deb