“I had never before met a Hun at such close quarters in the air and though we flew parallel to one another for only a few minutes, the time seemed like a week. I remembered some of the tactics told me by some of the older and best fighters in the corps, and was wondering how I could employ them. Finally a thought occurred to me. Two machines flying at the same height are not necessarily on exactly the same level, as they keep going up and down for about 20 feet. “I was flying between the Hun and his own lines and I had fuel for another hour and a quarter anyway. I wanted to make sure of this bird, but decided to play a waiting game. We continued our flight side by side. “After a while, however, much sooner than I expected, the Hun began to get restless and started to maneuver for position; like myself he was utilizing the veriest fraction of every little opportunity in his endeavor to out-maneuver the antagonist. Finally, the Hun thought he had gotten the lead. “I noticed that he was trying to side-slip, go down a little, evidently for the purpose of shooting me from underneath, but not far enough for me to get a dive on him. I was not quite sure as yet that such was really his intention, but the man was quick. Before I knew what had happened he had managed to put five shots into my machine, but all of them missed me. THE HUN SPINS EARTHWARD “I maneuvered into an offensive position as quickly as I could, and before the Hun could fire again I had my machine gun pelting him. My judgment must have been fairly good. “The Hun began to spin earthward. I followed to finish him, keeping in mind, meanwhile, that it is an old game in flying to let the other man think you are hit. This bit of strategy will often give an opportunity to get into a position that will give you the drop on your antagonist. The ruse is also sometimes used to get out of a fight when in trouble with gun jam, or when bothered by a defective motor. [Illustration: _Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase._ Sergeant James B. Lepley _42nd Division, 168th Infantry, Company “M”_ On the night of July 14 and 15, 1918, to the northeast of Châlons-sur-Marne, near Souain, Lepley left his trench in a dense gas attack, and made his way to a wood through a rain of shrapnel. He went in search of two men lost from his platoon. He found them and guided them back to the trenches. A few days later, near Sergy, he led his platoon in a charge upon six machine-gun emplacements, which they captured, together with over thirteen prisoners of the Prussian Guards.] “I discovered soon that this precaution was not necessary, for the Hun kept spinning down to the ground. He landed with a crash. “A few minutes later I landed two fields away from the wreck and ran over to see the kill I had made. “I had hit the Hun about fifty times and had nearly cut off both his legs at the hips.