will! You have my orders--here and
now. We will move upon the forts of the south bank to-morrow at dawn."

"And carry them by storm?"

"Yes, carry them by storm!"

La Hire came clanking in, and heard the last remark. He cried out:

"By my baton, that is the music I love to hear! Yes, that is the right
time and the beautiful words, my General--we will carry them by storm!"

He saluted in his large way and came up and shook Joan by the hand.

Some member of the council was heard to say:

"It follows, then, that we must begin with the bastille St. John, and
that will give the English time to--"

Joan turned and said:

"Give yourselves no uneasiness about the bastille St. John. The English
will know enough to retire from it and fall back on the bridge bastilles
when they see us coming." She added, with a touch of sarcasm, "Even a
war-council would know enough to do that itself."

Then she took her leave. La Hire made this general remark to the council:

"She is a child, and that is all ye seem to see. Keep to that
superstition if you must, but you perceive that this child understands
this complex game of war as well as any of you; and if you want my
opinion without the trouble of asking for it, here you have it without
ruffles or embroidery--by God, I think she can teach the best of you how
to play it!"

Joan had spoken truly; the sagacious English saw that the policy of the
French had undergone a revolution; that the policy of paltering and
dawdling was ended; that in place of taking blows, blows were ready to be
struck now; therefore they made ready for the new state of things by
transferring heavy reinforcements to the bastilles of the south bank from
those of the north.

The city learned the great news that once more in French history, after
all these humiliating years, France was going to take the offensive; that
France, so used to retreating, was going to advance; that France, so long
accustomed to skulking, was going to face about and strike. The joy of
the people passed all bounds. The city walls were black with them to see
the army march out in the morning in that strange new position--its
front, not its tail, toward an English camp. You shall imagine for
yourselves what the excitement was like and how it expressed itself, when
Joan rode out at the head of the host with her banner floating above her.

We crossed the five in strong force, and a tedious long job it was, for
the boats were small and no