is heart was full of a great gratitude and
affection, and never did he seek to belittle that which she had
wrought on his behalf.

Thankfulness, peace, and happiness shone in the eyes of the Maid as
she rode; but there was a nearer and more personal joy in store for
her; for as we passed through the town, with many pauses on account
of the greatness of the throng, pouring in and out of the churches
(for it was the vigil of the Madelaine), or crowding about the King
and the Maid, she chanced to lift her eyes to the windows of an inn
in the place, and behold her face kindled with a look different
from any I had seen there before, and she looked around for me, and
beckoning with her hand, she pointed upwards, and cried in tones of
strange delight and exultation:

"My father, fair knight, my father! I saw his face!"

Now, I knew that Jacques d'Arc had been greatly set against his
daughter's mission, and it had been declared that he had disowned
her, and would have withheld her from going forth, had such a thing
been within his power. She had never received any message of love
or forgiveness from him all these weeks, though her two younger
brothers had joined the army, and were always included in her
household. So that I was not surprised at the kindling of her
glance, nor at the next words she spoke.

"Go to him, my friend; tell him that I must needs have speech with
him. Ah, say that I would fain return home with him when my task is
done, if it be permitted me. Go, find him speedily, ere he can
betake himself away. My father! My father! I had scarce hoped to
look upon his face again!"

So whilst the King and the Maid and their train rode on to the huge
old palace of the Archeveche, hard by the Cathedral, I slipped out
of my place in the ranks, and passed beneath the archway into the
courtyard of the old inn, where the Maid declared that she had seen
the face of her father looking forth.

I had not much trouble in finding him; for already a whisper had
gone forth that certain friends and relatives of the wonderful Maid
had journeyed from Domremy to witness her triumphant entry into
Rheims. Indeed, some of these had followed us from Chalons, all
unknown to her, who would so gladly have welcomed them. Chalons,
though a fortified town, and with a hostile garrison, had opened
its gates to us without resistance, feeling how hopeless it was to
strive against the power of the Maid.

The wonder and awe inspired by her pre