n of Arc what was the special
sign or secret that she had revealed to the King at Chinon. She,
however, gave them no further information than in saying that the sign
was a beautiful and honoured mark of Divine favour. For hours she was
urged to tell of what this special sign or token consisted--whether of
precious stones, gold, or silver. Joan, who apparently was wearied out
by the pertinacity of her inquisitors, seems to have allowed herself
to mix with the reality the fabulous, and described that an angel had
appeared to Charles bringing him a crown of matchless beauty. She
seems, poor creature, half dazed and bewildered by her sufferings and
her tormentors, to have mixed up in her mind and in her replies the
actual event of the King's coronation at Rheims with her angelic
visions and voices; for to her one must have appeared as real and
actual as the other.

Nine examinations in the prison tower of Rouen were undergone by Joan
of Arc:--Once on the 10th of March; twice on the 12th, and again on
the 13th; twice on the 14th; again on the 15th; and twice more on the
17th. In all these successive trials, nothing of importance was
obtained by the judges from the prisoner. Both answers and questions
were similar to those which have already been recorded during the days
of her examinations in public. Throughout all this trying process of a
week's long and minute cross-questioning, the heroine maintained the
same firmness, and answered with the same simple dignity as on the
former occasions. Two of her answers may be justly called sublime.
When during the course of the seventh day's trial, she was asked what
doctrine Saint Michel had inspired her with, she answered:--

'The pity that I have for the Kingdom of France!'

And again, when at the close of the last day's examination she was
asked why she had taken such special care that her banner should be
carried and held near the King during the ceremony of the coronation,
she answered:--

'If it had been in the travail it was right that it should be in the
place of greatest honour.' ('_Il avait ete a la peine; c'etait bien
raison qu'il fut a l'honneur!_')

Glorious words, worthy of her who spoke them! They bear with them an
heroic ring, and reveal by one sublime expression the very soul and
spirit of Joan of Arc!

Little as the secret interrogations had revealed to Joan of Arc's
examiners regarding the mysterious sign they were so eager to wrest
from her, Cauchon had su