d being in action and under fire, knowing that she had a
charmed life, she answered them that she had no more assurance of not
being killed than the commonest of her soldiers; and when some foolish
creatures brought her their rosaries and beads to touch, she told them
to touch these themselves, and that their rosaries would benefit quite
as much as if she had done so.

On one occasion at Lagny she was asked to resuscitate a dead child.
One of the greatest of the French nobles wrote to ask her which of the
rival Popes was the true one. When asked on the eve of a battle who
would be victor, she answered that she could no more tell than any of
the soldiers could. A woman named Catherine de la Rochelle, who
assumed the power of knowing where money was hidden, was commanded by
the King to take Joan of Arc into her confidence. The latter soon
discovered that Catherine was a fraud, and refused to have anything
to do with her. Catherine had suggested going to the Duke of Burgundy
to arrange a peace between him and the French King, to which
proposition Joan of Arc very sensibly said that it seemed to her that
no peace could be made between them but at the lance's point. Joan had
seen too much of the duplicity of the Duke to believe in any of his
treaties and promises.

The early months of the year 1430 were months of anxiety for the
citizens of Orleans and the other towns which had thrown off the
English allegiance. The truce made between Burgundy and France expired
at Christmas of the former year, but was renewed till Easter. Early in
the year, the burghers of Rheims implored help of Joan of Arc, and not
of the King, thus proving how far greater trust was placed in the
hands of the Maid of Orleans, by such a town as Rheims, than in the
goodwill of the King.

Twice during the month of March did Joan have letters written to
reassure them of aid in case of need. 'Know,' she says in a letter
dated the 16th of March, 'that if I can prevent it you will not be
assailed; and if I cannot come to your rescue, close your gates, and I
will make them [the English] buckle on their spurs in such a hurry
that they will not be able to use them.'

In the second letter to the people of Rheims, written at Sully on the
28th of March, Joan tells them that they will soon hear some good
news about herself. This good news referred no doubt to her return to
the field, for we find that by the end of that month she was again on
the march.

It was e