In considering Guynemer’s personal accounts of his various flights, it is evident that the Ace, while not inspired by the same craving for combat that Major Bishop acknowledges, was a hero of unusually high-pitched nerves, inspired with dreams of battle, and whose quests for the Boche were insatiable. Guynemer talked much concerning his “will.” It was his _will_ to get into service in spite of his five rejections and being compelled to enter as a mechanic. He _would_ scorn an observer’s work and become a hunter. He _would_ make his score larger and larger. He _would_ fly regardless of climatic conditions or his own health, going up even when convalescing from injuries. And it was this _will_ which doubtless made him the terror of his enemies and the glory of France. Among the first duties assumed by an airman when he is learning the mastery of his machine is that of reconnoitering. But Guynemer, fast becoming specialized in pursuit, soon stopped all reconnoitering and found himself assigned to a single-seated airplane. It was on February 3, 1916, that in the course of a single flight he succeeded in getting his first official “double.” [Illustration: A PAGE FROM GUYNEMER’S NOTE BOOK OF FLIGHT Showing record of his first victory, July 19, 1915] He was making his usual round in the Roy section just before noon, and was about to end his flight, when he saw an airplane in the distance. “The game was coming to me,” he said. All he had to do was not to let it escape. Guynemer gave chase and soon caught up with it. The enemy did not seem to wish to avoid the fight. Possibly he had not seen Guynemer at all. Being faster than he, Guynemer got behind him, opening fire at 100 meters,[A] and, as he fired at rapid intervals, his cartridges were soon exhausted. At that instant a cloud of smoke, which increased rapidly, made a sinister tail to the Boche, who dived, severely wounded. He fell, however, within his own lines, and Guynemer could not follow him to earth. It was certainly one enemy less, but Guynemer’s total record was not improved. [A] A meter is a little more than a yard in length--exactly stated, 39.37 inches. Fortune, however, favored him. “I was coming back,” he said, “thinking over the methods of fighting, considering how I had attacked, asking myself whether I would not have done better to approach from some other direction, when at almost 11.30 I found another hunting plane. Yes, I had made a mistake just now, when I opened fire from so far away--I should have waited. At 100 meters we cannot be sure of the aim. My method, which up to this time always consisted in attacking almost point-blank, seemed to me much better. It is more risky, but everything lies in maneuvering so as to remain in the dead angle of fire. Certainly it is rather difficult, but nevertheless it can be mastered with skill.