pressed by the Midianites, and
when God's chosen people hid from their enemies in the caves of the
mountains, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon under an oak, and
said unto him: "Surely I will be with thee and thou shalt smite the
Midianites as one man." To which Gideon made answer: "If now I have
found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with
me." And Gideon made ready a kid and kneaded unleavened cakes; the
flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot and brought
the pot and the basket beneath the oak. Then the Angel of God said
unto him: "Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon
this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so. Then the angel of
the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and
touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out
of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. When
Gideon perceived that he had seen an angel of the Lord, he cried out:
"Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face
to face."[769] With three hundred men Gideon subdued the Midianites.
This example the doctors had before their minds.[770]

[Footnote 769: Judges, ch. vi. (W.S.).]

[Footnote 770: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 20.]

But for the Maid the sign of victory was victory itself. She said
without ceasing: "The sign that I will show you shall be Orleans
relieved and the siege raised."[771]

[Footnote 771: _Ibid._, pp. 20, 205. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p.
278. _Journal du siege_, p. 49.]

Such persistency made an impression on most of her interrogators. They
determined to make of it, not a stone of stumbling, but rather an
example of zeal and a subject of edification. Since she promised them
a sign it behoved them in all humility to ask God to send it, and,
filled with a like hope, joining with the King and all the people, to
pray to the God, who delivered Israel, to grant them the banner of
victory. Thus were overcome the arguments of Brother Seguin and of
those who, led away by the precepts of human wisdom, desired a sign
before they believed.

After an examination which had lasted six weeks, the doctors declared
themselves satisfied.[772]

[Footnote 772: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 19, 20.]

There was one point it was necessary to ascertain; they must know
whether Jeanne was, as she said, a virgin. Matrons had indeed already
examined her on her arrival at Chinon. Then there was a doubt as t