“His nose dipped and his tail flicked up, and he went roaring down,
full out, after his last Hun. A rapid crackle of one machine gun
after another struck his ear before ever he had the last hostile fully
centered in his sights. Ricky knew that at last the flight had arrived
and were joining in the fight. But he paid no heed to them; his enemy
was in the ring of his sights now, so with his machine hurling down at
the limit of speed of a falling body plus all the pull of a hundred and
odd horsepower, the whole fabric quivering and vibrating under him, the
wind roaring past and in his ears, Ricky snuggled closer in his seat,
waited till his target was fully and exactly centered in his sights,
and poured in a long, clattering burst of fire.
[Illustration:
_Drawn by Joseph Cummings Chase._