"I was up at 15,000 ft. over the German lines, when I saw Captain Selous take a dive at a German machine some 2000 feet below. What actually happened I do not know, but all at once I saw both wings of the machine collapse, and he fell to the earth like a stone." The major commanding Freddy's squadron thus wrote to his bereaved mother:-- "It is a severe blow to the squadron to lose him, for he was beloved by officers and men alike. In fact, his popularity extended to a much greater area than his own aerodrome. In the short time that I have known him I have been struck with the courage and keenness of your son--always ready for his jobs, and always going about his work with the cheeriest and happiest of smiles. He was the life and soul of the mess." The second son of Selous and his wife is Harold Sherborne Selous, who will be nineteen in October, 1918. He was educated at Radley College, and is at present in the Officers' Cadet Battalion at Pirbright, and expects to take a commission shortly. FOOTNOTES: [58] The collection of Birds and Mammals made by the Roosevelt expedition is now for the most part in the American Museum of Natural History at New York and at Washington. It is probably the best collection ever made by one expedition in Africa, and the book which the President wrote--"African Game Trails"--will always remain one of the best works of reference on the subject. [59] President Roosevelt realised his hopes. In two days, between Sir Alfred Pease's farm and the railway (Kapiti Plains), he and his son Kermit killed seven lions. They also killed several others in the Sotik. [60] Mr. Edward North Buxton also did much to help the President in his forthcoming trip. [61] Selous gave a full account of his trip in articles in the "Field," July-September, 1911. [62] George Grey, brother of Lord Grey of Falloden, an excellent hunter and charming personality. He was killed by a lion on Sir Alfred Pease's estate in 1910. [63] Selous, like all other good sportsmen, cherished a warm appreciation for the "Field" newspaper. Mr. J. E. Harting, the Natural History and Shooting Editor, was an old and much valued friend. [64] See "The Field," June 8th, 1912. [65] She died peacefully in 1913. CHAPTER XIII 1914-1915