Circling round the French
machine they assailed it with machine-gun fire. The enemy
appeared to take no notice but continued his gradual descent in a
steady line.
Presently the German airmen, having drawn sufficiently near,
observed that the French aviator was inert. Had he been killed?
Everything pointed to such a conclusion, especially as they had
raked the aeroplane fore and aft with bullets. But still
suspicious they continued their circling movements, their
attention so concentrated upon their quarry that they had not
observed another move. It was the crash of guns from their
masked artillery which broke in upon their absorption. Looking
round, they observed three French aeroplanes soaring around and
above them at high speed. Scarcely had they realised the
situation before a spirited mitraireuse fire was rained upon
them. One of the German aeroplanes was speedily disabled. Its
fuel tank was riddled and it sank rapidly, finally crashing to
earth in the deadly dive head foremost, and killing both its
occupants in the fall. The second aeroplane hurried away with
its pilot wounded.
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