wice ere she heard or knew.

"Jeanne--fairest maiden--what do you see?"

She turned her gaze upon him--radiant, misty, marvellous.

"I see the Land of Promise," she answered, speaking very low, yet
so clearly that I heard every word. "The chosen of the Lord will go
forward to victory. He will drive out the enemy before the face of
him upon whom He shall set the crown of pure gold. France shall
prosper--her enemies shall be confounded. What matter whose the
work, or whose the triumph? What matter who shall fall ere the task
be accomplished--so that it be done according to the mind of the
Lord?"

"And by the power of the Maid--the Deliverer!" spoke the King, a
gush of gratitude filling his heart, as he looked first at the
slight figure and inspired face of the Maid, and then at the city
towards which we were riding, the faint clash of joy bells borne
softly to our ears. "For to you, O my General, I owe it all; and
may the Lord judge betwixt us twain if I share not every honour
that I may yet win with her who has accomplished this miracle!"

But her gaze was full of an inexplicable mystery.

"Nay, gentle Dauphin, but that will not be," she said; "One shall
increase, another shall decrease--hath it not ever been so? My task
is accomplished. My work is done. Let another take my place after
tomorrow, for my mission will be accomplished."

"Never!" cried the King firmly and earnestly, and when I heard him
thus speak my heart rejoiced; for I, no more than others, believed
that success could attend the King's further efforts without her
who was the inspiration of the army, and the worker of these great
miracles which had been wrought. How often have I wondered
since--but that is no part of my story. Let me tell those things
which did happen to us.

How can I tell of our entry into Rheims? Have I not spoken in other
places of other such scenes, often in the early dusk of evening,
when whole cities flocked out to meet the Maid, to gaze in awe and
wonder upon her, to kiss her hands, her feet, her knees, the neck
and flanks of the horse she rode, and even his very footprints in
the road, as he moved along with his precious burden?

As it was there, so was it here--the same joy, the same wonder, the
same enthusiasm. The King was greeted with shouts and acclamations,
it is true; but the greater admiration and wonder was reserved for
the Maid, and he knew it, and smiled, well pleased that it should
be so; for at that time h