THROUGH THE AIR BARRAGE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 207, 21 May 1918, Page 5

THROUGH THE AIR BARRAGE

AN AIRMAN'S THRILL. 'Xlie Observer has seen his bombs burst among the buildings of the factory, and he knows that tho explosions will bo followed almost immediately by a hostile demonstration. Ho is still leaning over the front of the machine, watching the clouds .of smoke among tho roofs which ho has destroyed, when ho sees rushing upwards from tho ground chains of luminous green balls, which pass in front and on' either side of him. He does not trouble about these, for with tho first bursting of the bombs fifteen great searchlights hare leapt from the ground and are sweeping the whole iky near him, making it full of light and Illuminating the machine, although they have not touched him. Some, of the beams pass within a few feet of him—blinding lanes of white light, seeming almost tangible.

At the same timo he sees four quick, red flashes in ono place near tho town, followed by several others in different positions, as battery after battery comes into action to start a barrago over the factory and its vicinity..

He waits . . . and almost begins to count. Suddenly he sees a brilliant red flash sear the machine, and another ana another, and hears the sharp crack! crack! of the bursting shells. On the ground now the flashes are incessant, and the shells burst ull around him as he passes through the soreen o£ explosive. Round puffs of smoko float past him, and he can see thorn dotted all over tho sky--.white in the moonlight. He seems to be passing through a cauldron, of tire. Searohlights aro everywhere; tho sky is split with them in a dozen different directions as they cross and recross, for ever looking for hun. Hundreds of green balls, like sparkling necklaces of emeralds, come soaritg by the wings, leaving their trails of smoke. Ceaselessly the red Hashes of the s-hells light up the machine as they burst around it.

Tho excitement is intoxicating. It seems unreal and exotic, yet eom.ehow he is not frightened. He almost wants to shout with th'e wonder of it nil. To move amid such a sea of light and fire moving and flashing and rushing past him, amid suoh an expression of Eatred and of the desire to find him out and destroy him, and yet to pass through it unscathed, is fascinating. If he had seen all that terrible array of searchlights and that wall of bursting shells before him as he approached his objective he would probably have suffered from a great anticipation is tho best friend of terror. But now that it has started around him, and he ha« to pass through it in order to get away, the. effect Is very different—montai and physical eicitemont overcome all the suggestions of Teason, and fear is overwhelmed by a kind of ecstasy.

Meanwhile the machine is getting very near the gronnd, but he knows that if the engiras are started now tho results will be disastrous, for the whole of the enemy weapons—searchlights, shells, ma-chine-gun ' fire, green balls—at present scattered, will be concentrated upon him, and his downfall will be almost certain.

At last ho looks back over the tail of tho machine and sees the maelstrom of light sufficiently far behind him to bo harmless. The Pilot puts on tho engines and speaks to him, "Well! That was hot! How did you do, old man?"

"All right! Hit the place, anyway! Glad it's all- over, aren't you? What about Gome of your chocolate?"—" Daily Mail."