“While going over these things to myself I had come near enough to the Boche without running any great danger. At 20 meters I fired. Almost at once my adversary tumbled in a tail-spin. I dived after him, continuing to fire my weapon. I plainly saw him fall in his lines. That was all right, no doubt about him. I had my fifth! I was really in luck, for less than ten minutes later another plane, sharing the same lot, spun downward with the same grace, taking fire as it fell through the clouds. “The second day afterwards, before Frise, in a new tête-à-tête with a hunting Boche, I leaped forward, caught up with him, got in back of him, a little below to avoid his fire, and at 15 meters fired 45 cartridges. He swayed sadly, in the shock of death, which I was beginning to be able to diagnose, then fell like a stone, taking fire on the way. He must have been burned up between Assevillers and Herbecourt. Although he was really my seventh Boche, he alone gained me the honor of a special mention.” [Illustration: GUYNEMER BEING DECORATED WITH THE ROSETTE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR Guynemer (in dark uniform) has just received the Rosette] Guynemer’s fifth citation rewarded him for this exploit, and declared him a hunting pilot with audacity and energy for any adventure. According to Guynemer’s own testimony, one of the most difficult things an airman of the Allies has to do is to compel the Boche to accept a duel, not that the latter lacks courage, but rather that he prefers not to run the risk of being brought down. As a result of forcing engagements, Guynemer seldom returned from a flight without a wound of some sort or other. On several occasions his garments were drilled with holes, his clothing more than once taking on the appearance of a sieve. This was the youth who in less than eight months from the downing of his fifth Boche had been awarded seven palms for his war cross. _Guynemer and His Parents_ Like Nungesser, Dormé (dor-may) and Triboulet (trib-oo-lay), Guynemer would not rest when he had left the hospital convalescent from some of his more serious wounds, and it is by signs like these that we find the souls of great heroes who know nothing about “vacations,” even for their health, so long as others are fighting. Guynemer was not strong and should have rested after his stay in the hospital. His parents begged him to rest, so Guynemer compromised by agreeing to establish himself near his family at Compiègne (kom-pee-ane), where at the same time he could serve France. Not far from his paternal home, at Vauciennes (vo-see-enn), his Baby Nieuport rested in a hangar, ready to carry him into those great open spaces to search for the enemy whenever the atmosphere permitted. [Illustration: GUYNEMER READY FOR FLIGHT]