d by the arras, till the sound of her name,
proclaimed aloud in a hundred different tones, warned her that
something was required of her, and she stepped forward with a
questioning look in her startled eyes, as though just roused from
some dream.

She had been one of the first to prostrate herself at the new-made
King's feet when the coronation ceremony was over; and the tears
streaming down her face had been eloquent testimony of her deep
emotion. But she had only breathed a few broken words of devotion
and of joy, and had added something in a choked whisper which none
but he had been able to hear.

"The King calls for the Maid! The King desires speech with the
Maid!" such was the word ringing through the hall; and she came
quietly forth from her nook, the crowd parting this way and that
before her, till she was walking up through a living avenue to the
place where the King was now seated upon a throne-like chair on the
dais at the far end of the hall.

As she came towards him the King extended his hand, as though he
would meet her still rather as friend than as subject; but she
kneeled down at his feet, and pressing her lips to the extended
hand, she spoke in a voice full of emotion:

"Gentle King, now is the pleasure of God fulfilled towards you. Now
is the will of my Lord accomplished. To Him alone be the praise and
glory! It was His will that I should be sent before you to raise
the siege of Orleans, to lead you to this city of Rheims, there to
receive your consecration. Now has He shown to all the world that
you are the true King--that it is His will you should reign over
this fair realm, that this kingdom of France belongs to you and you
alone. My task is now accomplished. His will in me is fulfilled. Go
forward, then, noble King--strong in the power of your kingly might
and right, doubting not that He will aid you still; though He will
work with other instruments, with other means, for my task in this
is now accomplished!"

There was a little stir and thrill throughout the hall as these
words were spoken. Dismay fell upon many, wonder upon all, triumph
gleamed from the eyes of a few; but most men looked one at the
other in consternation. What did she mean by these words?--this
Heaven-sent Maid to whom we owed so much? Surely she did not think
to leave us just in the hour of her supreme triumph? How could we
hope to lead on the armies to fresh victories, if the soldiers were
told that the Maid would no lo