s wings that
were one day to carry him up into the blue--with their longitudinal
spars of ash or hickory, their ribs of light wood, their interior
bracing of piano wire, their other bracing wires, and their wing
covering. He saw the workmen prepare all the material for mortise and
tenon work, saw them attach the tension wires, fit in the ends of poles,
and finally connect together all the parts of an airplane,--wings,
rudders, motor, landing frame, body. As a painter grinds his colors
before making use of them, so Guynemer's prelude to his future flights
was to touch with his hands--those long white hands of the rich student,
now tanned and callous, often coated with soot or grease, and worthy to
be the hands of a laborer--every piece, every bolt and screw of these
machines which were to release him from his voluntary servitude.

[Footnote 13: See _Etude raisonnee de l'aeroplane_, by Jules Bordeaux,
formerly student at Ecole Polytechnique (Gauthier-Billars, edition
1912).]

One of his future comrades, _sous-lieutenant_ Marcel Viallet (who one
day had the honor of bringing down two German airplanes in ten minutes
with seven bullets), thus describes him at the Pau school: "I had
already had my attention drawn to this 'little girl' dressed in a
private's uniform whom one met in the camp, his hands covered with
castor oil, his face all stains, his clothes torn. I do not know what he
did in the workshop, but he certainly did not add to its brilliance by
his appearance. We saw him all the time hanging around the 'zincs.' His
highly interested little face amused us. When we landed, he watched us
with such admiration and envy! He asked us endless questions and
constantly wanted explanations. Without seeming to do so, he was
learning. For a reply to some question about the art of flying, he would
have run to the other end of the camp to get us a few drops of gasoline
for our tanks...."[14]

[Footnote 14: _Le Petit Parisien_, September 27, 1917.]

He was learning, and when he saw his way clear, he wanted to begin
flying. New Year's Day arrived--that sad New Year's Day of the first
year of the war. What gifts would he ask of his father? He would ask for
help to win his diploma as pilot. "Don't you know somebody in your class
at Saint-Cyr who could help me?" He always associated his father with
every step he took in advance. The child had no fear of creating a
conflict between his father's love for him and the service due to
F