captive German balloon, he ascended to a great height behind the clouds and then literally fell out of the sky toward his target. At a distance of only fifty yards he dropped a bomb which struck the balloon squarely. The vibration waves caused his aeroplane to bounce about like a toy boat on a rough pond. But Pegoud still carried his good luck and, managing to steady the craft, sailed away amid a hail of German bullets."[1] [Footnote 1: New York "Sun."] Of all the fighting on the western front during the month of August, 1915, the main interest attaches to that carried on in the struggle for the important mountain peaks in the Vosges which dominated German positions in the Alsatian valleys and plain. According to the French official reports, these operations resulted in the capture of the peaks named Lingekopf, Schratzmannele and Barrenkopf. The German official statement of September 2, 1915, however, claimed that the first and last of these had been recaptured. The French preparations for the attack on Lingekopf included the building of a mountain road eight miles long with communication trenches extending even farther, and also the construction of innumerable camps, sheds, ammunition and repair depots, as well as ambulance stations. The mountain road proved to be a triumph of engineering, as more than a hundred tons of war material passed over it daily without a single breakdown. The slopes which had to be stormed were thickly wooded, which greatly facilitated their defense, while the main French approach trenches were exposed to a double enfilade fire, rendering their use impossible in daytime. Between Schratzmannele and Barrenkopf there was a German blockhouse with cement walls ten feet thick. This was surrounded with barbed-wire entanglements and chevaux-de-frise. The French delivered their first attack on July 20, 1915. After a violent bombardment of ten hours, chasseur battalions stormed the German positions, capturing the Linge summit to the left and the Barren to the right. The Germans, however, firmly retained their hold on Schratzmannele. They caught the exposed French flanks with a stream of machine-gun fire and forced the chasseurs to retire to sheltered positions lower down the slopes. Two days later the French made another attack, and for quite a month, judging from the contradictory "official" reports, these peaks changed hands about twice a week. The French claim that they obtained "complete possession" on August 22, 1915, and that "the enemy, who had employed seven brigades against us, had to accept defeat." The German version, on the other hand, ran: "The battle line of Lingekopf-Barrenkopf thus passed again into our possession. All counterattacks have been repulsed." CHAPTER VII POLITICAL CRISIS IN FRANCE--AEROPLANE WARFARE--FIERCE COMBATS IN THE VOSGES--PREPARATIONS FOR ALLIED OFFENSE