The
critic could only theorise, and no matter how dogmatic his
reasonings, they were certainly as unconvincing as those of the
object of his attack.
But truth has proved stranger than fiction. The imaginative
pictures of the novelist have not only been fulfilled but
surpassed, while the theorising critic has been utterly
confounded. Fighting in the air has become so inseparable from
the military operations of to-day that it occurs with startling
frequency. A contest between hostile aeroplanes, hundreds of
feet above the earth, is no longer regarded as a dramatic,
thrilling spectacle: it has become as matter-of-fact as a bayonet
melee between opposed forces of infantry.
A duel in the clouds differs from any other form of encounter.
It is fought mercilessly: there can be no question of quarter or
surrender. The white flag is no protection, for the simple
reason that science and mechanical ingenuity have failed, so far,
to devise a means of taking an aeroplane in tow. The victor has
no possible method of forcing the vanquished to the ground in his
own territory except driving. If such a move be made there is
the risk that the latter will take the advantage of a critical
opportunity to effect his escape, or to turn the tables.
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