shot. He began to practice again with his rifle, and with the
machine-gun; above all, he carefully examined every part of this
delicate weapon, taking it apart and putting it together, and increasing
his practice. He became a gunsmith. And there lies the secret of his
genius: he never gave up anything, nor ever acknowledged himself beaten.
If he failed, he began all over again, but after having sought the cause
of his failure in order to remedy it. When he was asked one day to
choose a device for himself, he adopted this, which completely expresses
his character: _Faire face_. He always faced everything, not only the
enemy, but every object which opposed his progress. His determination
compelled success. In the career of Guynemer nothing was left to chance,
and everything won by effort, pursuit, and implacable will.

On Sunday, December 5, 1915, as he was making his rounds in the
Compiègne region, he saw two airplanes more than 3000 meters above
Chauny. As the higher one flew over Bailly he sprang upon it and
attacked it: at 50 meters, fifteen shots from his machine-gun; at 20
meters, thirty shots. The German fell in a tail spin, north of Bailly
over against the Bois Carré. Guynemer was sure he had forced him down;
but the other airplane was still there. He tacked in order to chase and
attack him, but in vain, for his second adversary had fled. And when he
tried to discover the spot where the first must have fallen, he failed
to find it. This was really too much: was he going to lose his prey?
Suddenly he had an idea. He landed in a field near Compiègne. It was
Sunday, and just noon, and he knew that his parents would be coming home
from mass. He watched for them, and as soon as he perceived his father
rushed to him:

"Father, I have lost my Boche."