Victor Rousseau Emanuel

“ Almost immediately we saw four Taubes rising from somewhere along the German lines and making toward us.
The Nieuport was at that time reputed the fastest plane in the air, and we had a good chance of outflying our opponents. Though we were both burning with eagerness to turn and fight, the recollections of our instructions restrained us. I headed my machine westward, and Lieutenant Arnault took up his flying position behind and above me, ready to protect me. ”

“ I opened my eyes and stared. A young girl was bending over me, her face transfigured with such infinite compassion that I could only marvel at its wondrous sweetness and serenity. Surprising, too, was the taste of some cordial on my lips.
I looked about me. I was sitting with my back against the fuselage of the plane, which lay at the extreme edge of the woods, hidden from observation by a tall hedge which offered an effective barrier to any one passing along the road near the church. ”

“ In the first days of the conflict, when the French, surprised by the German invasion of Belgium, were falling back in confusion all along the frontiers, Roget had been entrusted with dispatches whose delivery meant the salvation of the French armies; their non-delivery, ruin and defeat.
They were sent to General Joffre by the commander of a French army corps, already cut off on all sides and offering hopeless resistance to overwhelming numbers. They contained vital information as to the disposition of the German forces which seemed likely to entrap half the armies of the Republic. ”

“ Fearfully burned, and doubtless riddled with lead, Arnault had proved himself a true soldier of France.
The pilot of the second plane slumped in the cockpit. The Taube dropped sidewise, and began nose-diving after the Nieuport. I saw the two doomed ships weave their headlong course downward until they disappeared in the wake of the first one. ”

“ That was the story that I gleaned from my erstwhile war comrade, Captain Philippe Roget, at the little café opposite the statue in the square in Rouen. But what Chabot had told him he did not explain to me.
“I shall show you in a few moments, my dear Sewell,” said Philippe. “Come, let us settle our bill, for it is growing late, and, as I told you, I have an appointment with a lady.”
“And I am willing to hazard,” I answered, “that the lady is the girl who saved you from the Boches in that unknown village. ”

“ Five miles beyond Vitry you will find the French outposts, and twelve miles back of there, at Villerons-sur-Yser, General Joffre sleeps tonight.”
“How do you know?” I cried.
She smiled sadly.
“The Boches in our village are indiscreet,” she answered. “They think we poor peasants are too simple to understand them, especially when they speak their own language. This is the headquarters of an army corps, and little goes on here that is unknown to us. ”

“ Three of our fliers, venturing too low, had been shot down by German cannon. A fourth had lost his life in combat with a whole squadron of Taubes. There remained only myself and another, and it was we whom the General summoned to him that day.
“You are to fly to French Headquarters with dispatches, Captain Roget,” he said to me. “Lieutenant Arnault, with his plane, will accompany you. His mission will be to protect you against the attacks of hostile aircraft. He will sacrifice his life to that end, if necessary. But you yourself will avoid all action, if possible ”

“ Fortunately they feel entirely secure and it is not likely that the noise of your motor—if they heard it at all—has caused any alarm.”
I groaned. The invaders must have penetrated very far into the heart of France.
As if she understood what was passing in my mind, the girl smiled.
“France has been invaded many times before,” she said, “but she has always conquered in the end. Have no fear! The Boche will meet with a terrible blow that will send him reeling back to the Rhine. But ah, my poor country!” ”

“ Tramp, tramp! At least we might have lain down, grovelled on the earth, hoping thus to escape notice. But the girl stood proudly erect, her sensitive nostrils dilating with scorn as she watched the invaders. ”

“ We had gone forward with so much confidence, not knowing that the utmost valour is impotent against machine-guns and high-powered modern artillery. A third of our army had been killed. The bodies strewed the earth everywhere. ”

“ As we ate, we talked for the most part of impersonal affairs, guardedly skirting all references to the War—as ex-soldiers do when they meet. So much is taken for granted; so many experiences have been identical, that there is usually surprisingly little to talk about. ”

“ It almost seemed to me that the girl must have wheeled the machine into that position, for I had come down out in the open.
I looked at my companion again. It was dusk and I could just make out that she was dressed in some sort of peasant costume. She was not a peasant type, however, but looked rather like the daughter of some small landed proprietor in the vicinity.
“You are safe here,” she whispered, as I opened my lips to speak, “but you must be careful. The Germans are in possession of the village beyond that strip of trees. ”

“ These dispatches will inform him that we are cut off by a force seven times our superior. Furthermore, they will make it clear to him that the main German thrust is coming in this direction, and that the enemy are overwhelmingly strong. If these dispatches do not reach Joffre, he cannot learn the enemy’s strategical position—until it is too late. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1960, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 63 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
It is imperative that contributors search the renewal databases and ascertain that there is no evidence of a copyright renewal before using this license. Failure to do so will result in the deletion of the work as a copyright violation. ”