I
unfastened my belt which, luckily, had not broken, and let myself slip
onto the ground, amazed not to be suffering intense agony. The only bad
effects were that my head was heavy, and blood was flowing through my
mask. I breathed, coughed, and shook my arms and legs, and was
dumbfounded to find that all my faculties functioned normally...."
Guynemer did not tell us so much; but, as a mathematician, he calculated
his chances. He too had switched off, and with the greatest sang-froid
superintended, so to speak, his fall. Its result was no less magical.
The infantrymen had observed this rainfall of airplanes. The French
plane reached the earth just before its pilot's last victim fell also,
in flames. The soldiers pitied the poor victor, who had not, as they
thought, survived his conquest! They rushed to his aid, expecting to
pick him up crushed to atoms. But Guynemer stood up without aid. He
seemed like a ghost; but he was standing, he was alive, and the excited
soldiers took possession of him and carried him off in triumph. A
division general approached, and immediately commanded a military salute
for the victor, saying to Guynemer:
"You will review the troops with me.
Pages:
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176