He required more liberty, more time
to investigate everything for himself, to see and touch everything. The
smallest detail interested him; he questioned the workmen, asking them
the use of some screw, and a thousand other things. The visit was too
soon over for him; and when his comrades had already left, and the
division prefect was calling the roll to make sure of all his boys,
Guynemer as usual was missing, and was discovered standing in ecstasy
before a machine which some workmen were engaged in setting up.
"The opening weeks of the automobile and aviation exhibition were a
period of comparative tranquillity for his masters, as Guynemer was no
longer the same restless, nervous, mischievous boy, being too anxious to
retain his privileges for the promenades. He was always one of those who
haunted the prefect when the hour for departure drew near. He was
impatient to know where they were to go: 'Where are we going?... Shall
you take us to the Grand Palais? (The Automobile and Aviation
Exhibition).... Wouldn't you be a brick!...' When they arrived, he was
not one of those many curious people who circulate aimlessly around the
stands with their hands in their pockets, without reaping anything but
fatigue, like a cyclist on a circular track.
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