altogether in the
power of the English; wherefore they had built their great
bastilles around the city upon that side without molestation, and
were able to receive supplies from their countrymen without let or
hindrance.

But these bastilles were not the chiefest danger to the city, or
rather I should say, it was not these which were the chiefest cause
of peril, since no help could reach the garrison from that side.
They looked to the country to the south to help them, and it was to
stop supplies from reaching them by water or from the south that
the English had long since crossed the river and had established
themselves in certain forts along the south bank. Of these, St.
Jean le Blanc was one; but by far the most important and dangerous
to the city were the two great towers commanding the bridge, whose
names I have given before. Let me explain how these great
fortifications stood.

Les Augustins had once been a convent, and it stood on the south
bank, very near to the end of the bridge, guarding it securely from
attack, and commanding the waterway and the approach to the city.
Les Tourelles was an even stronger tower, constructed upon the very
bridge itself, and menacing the town in formidable fashion. Dunois
had broken down the main portion of the bridge on the north side to
prevent the advance into the city of the English from their tower;
so it stood grimly isolated from either bank; for the permanent
bridge at the south end had been destroyed to be replaced by a
drawbridge which could rise or fall at will.

And it was these towers of Les Augustins and Les Tourelles which
had reduced the city to such straits by hindering the entrance of
food supplies. Moreover, from Les Tourelles great stone cannon
balls had been hurled into the city in vast numbers, battering down
walls and doing untold damage to buildings and their inhabitants.

Now it was evident to all that these fortresses must be taken if
the city were to be relieved and the siege raised. But the Maid,
with her far-seeing eyes, had decreed that first the bastilles upon
the north bank should be attacked and destroyed; and it was easy to
follow her reasoning; "For," she said, "when the English are
fiercely attacked there, they will, without doubt, yield up these
lesser fortresses without a great struggle, concentrating
themselves in force upon the left bank, where they think to do us
most hurt. We shall then destroy their bastilles, so that they will
ha