e moment by the old-time dread of
the English. Joan's temper flamed up, and she halted and commanded the
trumpets to sound the advance. Then she wheeled about and cried out:

"If there is but a dozen of you that are not cowards, it is
enough--follow me!"

Away she went, and after her a few dozen who had heard her words and
been inspired by them. The pursuing force was astonished to see her
sweeping down upon them with this handful of men, and it was their turn
now to experience a grisly fright--surely this is a witch, this is a
child of Satan! That was their thought--and without stopping to analyze
the matter they turned and fled in a panic.

Our flying squadrons heard the bugle and turned to look; and when they
saw the Maid's banner speeding in the other direction and the enemy
scrambling ahead of it in disorder, their courage returned and they came
scouring after us.

La Hire heard it and hurried his force forward and caught up with us
just as we were planting our banner again before the ramparts of the
Augustins. We were strong enough now. We had a long and tough piece of
work before us, but we carried it through before night, Joan keeping
us hard at it, and she and La Hire saying we were able to take that big
bastille, and must. The English fought like--well, they fought like the
English; when that is said, there is no more to say. We made
assault after assault, through the smoke and flame and the deafening
cannon-blasts, and at last as the sun was sinking we carried the place
with a rush, and planted our standard on its walls.

The Augustins was ours. The Tourelles must be ours, too, if we
would free the bridge and raise the siege. We had achieved one great
undertaking, Joan was determined to accomplish the other. We must lie on
our arms where we were, hold fast to what we had got, and be ready
for business in the morning. So Joan was not minded to let the men be
demoralized by pillage and riot and carousings; she had the Augustins
burned, with all its stores in it, excepting the artillery and
ammunition.

Everybody was tired out with this long day's hard work, and of course
this was the case with Joan; still, she wanted to stay with the army
before the Tourelles, to be ready for the assault in the morning. The
chiefs argued with her, and at last persuaded her to go home and prepare
for the great work by taking proper rest, and also by having a leech
look to a wound which she had received in her foot. So we