d her same judges there before her.
There could not be but one result: all the objections and hindrances
they could build around her with their hard labors of the day she would
charm away at night. In the end, she carried her judges with her in a
mass, and got her great verdict without a dissenting voice.

The court was a sight to see when the president of it read it from his
throne, for all the great people of the town were there who could get
admission and find room. First there were some solemn ceremonies, proper
and usual at such times; then, when there was silence again, the reading
followed, penetrating the deep hush so that every word was heard in even
the remotest parts of the house:

"It is found, and is hereby declared, that Joan of Arc, called the Maid,
is a good Christian and a good Catholic; that there is nothing in her
person or her words contrary to the faith; and that the King may and
ought to accept the succor she offers; for to repel it would be to
offend the Holy Spirit, and render him unworthy of the air of God."

The court rose, and then the storm of plaudits burst forth unrebuked,
dying down and bursting forth again and again, and I lost sight of
Joan, for she was swallowed up in a great tide of people who rushed to
congratulate her and pour out benedictions upon her and upon the cause
of France, now solemnly and irrevocably delivered into her little hands.

Chapter 9 She Is Made General-in-Chief

IT WAS indeed a great day, and a stirring thing to see.

She had won! It was a mistake of Tremouille and her other ill-wishers to
let her hold court those nights.

The commission of priests sent to Lorraine ostensibly to inquire into
Joan's character--in fact to weary her with delays and wear out her
purpose and make her give it up--arrived back and reported her character
perfect. Our affairs were in full career now, you see.

The verdict made a prodigious stir. Dead France woke suddenly to life,
wherever the great news traveled. Whereas before, the spiritless and
cowed people hung their heads and slunk away if one mentioned war to
them, now they came clamoring to be enlisted under the banner of the
Maid of Vaucouleurs, and the roaring of war-songs and the thundering of
the drums filled all the air. I remembered now what she had said, that
time there in our village when I proved by facts and statistics that
France's case was hopeless, and nothing could ever rouse the people from
their leth