wrote in a letter to his parents, "for the mission was hard." On his way
back an English aviator shot at him, but on recognizing him signaled
elaborate excuses.

Some rather exciting reconnaissances with Captain Siméon--one day over
Saint-Quentin they were attacked by a Fokker and, their machine-gun
refusing to work, they were subjected to two hundred shots from the
enemy at 100 meters, then at 50 meters, so that they were obliged to
dive into a cloud, with one tire gone--and a few bombardments of railway
stations and goods depots did not assuage his fever for the chase.
Nothing sufficed him but to explore and rake the heavens. On November 6,
3000 meters above Chaulnes, he waged an epic combat with an L.V.G.
(_Luft-Verkehr-Gesellschaft_), 150 H.P. Having succeeded in placing
himself three meters under his enemy, he almost laughed with the surety
he felt of forcing him down, when his machine-gun jammed. He immediately
banked, but he was so near the enemy that the machines interlocked.
Would he fall? A bit of his canvas was torn off, but the airplane held
its own. As he drew away he saw the enormous enemy machine-gun aimed at
him. A bullet grazed his head. He dived under the Boche, who retreated.
"All the same," Guynemer added gaily, "if I ever get into a terrible
financial fix and have to become a cab-driver, I shall have memories
which are far from ordinary: a tire exploding at 3400 meters, an
interlocking at 3000 meters. That rotten Boche only owed his life to a
spring being slightly out of order, as was shown by the autopsy on the
machine-gun. For my eighth combat, this was decidedly annoying...."

It was annoying, but what could be done? Nothing, in fact, but return to
one's apprenticeship. He was perfectly satisfied with his work as a
pilot, but it was necessary to avoid these too frequent jammings which
saved the enemy. At Stanislas College Guynemer was known as an excellent