Part 12 (2/2)
Strange bits of narration could be overheard from different rooms as he held forth:
”Then I _embusqued_ myself became a slacker”
”What!”
”Oh! I _eht dazzled ot his sisters' birthdays, but he could not always give them the present he preferred ”Sorry I could not present you with a Boche”
He was hardly different when his reat man Only on one subject he always and instantly became serious, namely, when the future was mentioned ”Do not let us e from one of my own notebooks will help to show Guynemer as I used to see hine Called on the Guynemers He is fascination itself with his ”Goddess on the clouds” gait--as if he re that he could also fly--with his incomparable eyes, his perpetual ance and ardor, and with that iests the antique runner, even when he is for an instant in repose His parents and sisters do not le motion he makes They drink in his every word, and his life seeh echoes in their souls They believe in him, are sure of him, sure of his future, and that all will be well
Noticing this certitude, whether real or assulance at the frail God of aviation,He talks passionately, as usual, of his aerial fights But just now one thought see a new o, found difficult to get built, and hich he e than ever
Then he showed us his photographs with the white blotches of bursting shells, or the gray wings of German airplanes One of these is seen as it falls in fla, too, soistered, and the memory of itto ask: What about yourself--some day? because he looked so full of life that the notion of death could never present itself to hihts, for he said:
”You have plenty of tiht, and then you have no tiht down six times, and I always had plenty of tihed his clear, boyish laugh
As a ht he was hit three times, and each time the bullet was deadened by soraphs of hied Needless to say, it was not he who showed the and eager, then the schoolboy with the fine carriage of the head, then the lad fresh froularly calm expression, and well filled-out cheeks A little later the expression appeared ain there was a decidedly stern look, with the face less oval and thinner The rough fingers of war had chiseled this face, and sharpened and strengthened it I looked from the picture to him, and I realized that, compared to his for terrible But just then he laughed, and the laughter conjured away all phantasies
V THE MAGIC MACHINE
As a tiny boy who had invented an enchanted bed for his sisters' dolls, as a boy who, at College Stanislas, had rigged up a telephone to send es to the last forms in the schoolroom, or manufactured ladly accepted the work of cleaning, burnishi+ng, and overhauling engines, Guyne a pilot, and later on a chaser, he exhibited in the study and perfecting of his airplanes the sahts He was everlastingly calling for swifter or more powerful machines, and not only strove to communicate his own fervor to technicians, but went into ested improvements, and whenever he had a chance visited the workshops and assisted at trials Such trials are soerous
One of his friends, Edouard de Layens, was killed in this kind of accident, and Guyneallant airman should perish otherwise than in battle He was in reality an inventor, though this stateh it may not be wise at present to bear it out by facts
Every part of his un was fa theain
There are practical improvements in modern airplanes which would not be there had it not been for him And there is a ”Guynemer visor”
Confidence and authoritativeness had not colory, for frorossed by his ideas, and it is because he was thus engrossed that he found persuasive words to bring others round to his views But, naturally enough, he had not at first the prestige which he possessed when he becaion of Honor, and enjoyed world-wide fame In his 'prentice days when, in workshops or in the presence of well-known builders, he would ainst errors, or deht him flippant and saucy Once so rapidity: ”When you blunder, raw lads like myself pay for your mistakes”
It ht up ealth, he was apt to be unduly impatient Delays or objections irritated him He wanted to force his will upon Time, which never admits compulsion, and tried to over-ride obstacles His peculiar fascination gradually won its way even in workshops, and his appearance there was greeted with acclamation, not only because the men were curious to see him, but because they were in sympathy with him and had put his ideas to a successful test The workmen liked to see him sit in a half-finished machine, and explain in his short, decisive style what he wanted and as sure to give superiority to French aviation The erly This, too, was a triumph for him What he told them on such occasions he had probably whispered to himself many times before when, on rainy days, he would sit in his airplane under the hangar, and think and talk to hiers wondered if he was not crazy
However, he had ineers, especially Major Garnier of Puteaux and M Bechereau of the Spad works These two, instead of dis him as a snappish airman continually at variance with the builder, took his inventions seriously and strove todelays, was at last decorated for his eminent services, the Secretary of Aeronautics, M
Daniel Vincent, ca to place the ineer's breast, when he saw Guyneraciously handed the :
”Give M Bechereau his decoration; it is only fair you should”