s but a child; and now you say the same to me--be a
good girl. Thus I know that your heart is right, and that when my
Lord's time is come you will send me with His message to the
Dauphin.'

"And so saying she bent again in a modest reverence before us. Yet
let me tell you that as she did so, every man of us sprang to his
feet by an impulse which each one felt, yet none could explain. As
one man we rose, and bowed before her, as she retired from the hail
with the simple, stately grace of a young queen. Not till the door
had closed behind her did we bethink us that it was to a humble
peasant girl we had paid unconscious homage. We who had thought she
would well-nigh sink to the dust at sight of us, had been made to
feel that we were in the presence of royalty!"

"Tu Dieu! but that is a strange story!" quoth Sir Guy with knitted
brows. "For many a long day I have heard nought so strange! What
think you of it yourself, good Bertrand? For by my troth you speak
like a man convinced that a miracle may even yet be wrought for
France at the hand of this maid."

"And if I do, is that so strange? Cannot it be that the good God
may still speak through His saints to the sons of men, and may
raise up a deliverer for us, even as He did in the days of old for
His chosen people? Is His arm shortened at all? And is it meet that
we Christian knights should trust Him less than did the Jews of
old?"

Sir Guy made no reply, but fell into thought, and then asked a
sudden question:

"Who is this peasant maid of whom you speak? And where is she now?
Is she still abiding content at home, awaiting the time appointed
by her visions?"

"I trow that she is," answered Bertrand. "I did hear that she went
home without delay, as quietly as she had come. Her name is Jeanne
d'Arc. She dwells in the village of Domremy over yonder. Her father
is an honest prud'homme of the place. She has brothers and a
sister. She is known in the village as a pious and gentle maid,
ever ready to tend the sick, hold vigil for the dead, take charge
of an ailing child, or do any such simple service for the
neighbours. She is beloved of all, full of piety and good works,
constant in attendance at church, regular in her confession and at
mass. So much have I heard from her kinsman Laxart, though for mine
own part I have not seen her again."

"And what thinks De Baudricourt of her mission? Does he ever speak
of it?"

"Not often; and yet I know that he has not forgott