"And the German Field Flight?" Sherbrand interrogated. "Their Fifth Arm was represented," said Raymond, sipping his burgundy, "by many Taubes and Aviatiks armed with the machine-gun and some ordinary bombs of _schrapnel_,—also a dirigible of ’Parsifal’ type dropping big bombs. We were hampered in our offensive by a prejudice which does not trouble the Germans. To throw bombs upon friend and foe alike—that is not our idea of War. It annoyed me, and I wasted on that flatulent brute of a ’Parsifal’ all my remaining _fléchettes_ and little Morocco bombs. Aha, the _côtelettes_!" A waiter set them before him. He tucked his napkin under his chin, and helped himself, and said: "Thus, though I had damaged her steering-gear and riddled her outer envelope, and the Flying Pig wallowed in difficulties below me, I could not pursue the advantage I had got. When the pilot of an Aviatik launched himself to the rescue, all the ammunition of my carabine was exhausted. I had one cartridge left in my automatic revolver, and not a single bomb with which to return the compliments of the German’s _mitraille_. My petrol-tank had been perforated. My single bullet missed him. The duel was too unequal, so I withdrew from the field, leaving him to cavalier the Flying Pig. We may meet again upon terms more equal, when French military aviators fight with machine-guns. And now to business. It concerns your gyroscopic stabiliser, the patent of which my Chiefs desired to buy for the use of our _Service Aëronautique_. You demanded, according to M. Jourdain’s statement, £8,000 and a royalty for the world-patent. We will buy it of you outright for £12,000. Is it agreed?" Sherbrand straightened in his chair, and said, looking the other squarely in the eyes: "No, sir, thank you! You see, though the War Office wouldn’t have anything to say to me——" "It occurs to you that now you may find a market for your invention?" _To the devil with this smug young British tradesman!_ thought Raymond behind his knitted brows. "Come!" he said. "Another proposal. Will you make and supply us with your hawk-hoverer? Or sell us the right to manufacture a thousand for the sole use of the S. Aë.? Name your price—I shall not be frightened. It is not State money, but my private fortune that I draw upon—with the approval of my Chiefs. It has been my whim to lavish on my _escadrille_ what other men hang in jewels upon their mistresses. Efficiency is my vice. I have heard of worse!" He scrawled some invisible figures with a polished finger-nail upon the tablecloth and exclaimed, with a laugh and a shrug: "_Sapristi_! At even a hundred pounds apiece you would soon be a millionaire, even without the fortune you expect from your War Office! Upon occasion it pays to be a patriot. Decide, Monsieur, lest my patience run dry before my purse!"