loss, and the flames spread to near-by buildings, for a time
threatening a good part of the city.

Swiss reports of a few days later said that upward of a hundred
workmen lost their lives, that scores were hurt and the property loss
ran well into the millions. The blow was severe, the heaviest up to
that time which German industries, far from the battle front, had
sustained. It revealed a new chapter of war in the air to communities
which would be snugly secure under any other condition. On the return
trip, ill fortune overtook the French flotilla. The machine of its
commander found it necessary to make a landing. Chief of Squadron, De
Goys, and Adjutant Bunau-Varilla were captured. They burned their
aeroplane before being taken prisoners.

CHAPTER III

ZEPPELINS ATTACK LONDON--BATTLES IN THE AIR

England's insularity disappeared on the night of May 31, 1915. The
isolation by sea which had kept her immune from attack since the days
of the Normans failed to save London from the Zeppelin. After ten
months of war the British capital looked upon its dead for the first
time. Four children, one woman, and one man were killed. An old apple
woman died of fright. There were numerous fires, only three of which
assumed serious proportions and these were extinguished by the fire
department after a few hours.

London's initial glimpse of a Zeppelin was obtained about 11.30 p. m.,
when the theatre section was filled with homeward bound throngs. The
lights attracted the raiders to this district, where a half dozen
bombs were dropped. No sooner had the first of the missiles fallen
than antiaircraft guns began to open a bombardment from many
directions. Searchlights mounted at advantageous points threw their
narrow pencils of light into the skies. The people in different
sections of the city caught a fleeting glance of a huge airship that
floated sullenly along, like some bird of prey from out of the past--a
new pterodactyl that instead of seizing its victims dropped death upon
them.

One shell fell in Trafalgar Square. The Zeppelins passed over the
Houses of Parliament, Westminster, and other famous buildings, but
apparently did not have their location well in mind as these noted
monuments escaped harm.

But the Zeppelins had come. And they left scars which greeted
Londoners the following morning to prove that the raid was not a bad
dream which would disappear with the morning mists. In addition to the
four persons ki