PAGE
The Warrior Maid[Frontispiece]
The Gooseberry Spring[20]
Often they appeared in the little garden[74]
“The holy man has been to Rome”[80]
There was no smile on his face[142]
Far into the night they rode[156]
“France and St. Denys!”[234]
“Forward! They are ours!”[326]

JOAN OF ARC

11

CHAPTER I

A Children’s Festival

“There is a fountain in the forest called
The Fountain of the Fairies. An ancient oak,
The goodliest of the forest, grows beside.”
Southey. “Joan of Arc,” Book II.

“Who-oo-ee!” The gleeful shout came from the lips of a little girl who stood, with her hands cupped about her lips, on the edge of a streamlet which divided the village of Domremy into two parts.

She was a slight little maiden, of some twelve summers, and as she gave the call she danced about in the warm sunshine as though unable to keep still from the mere joy of being. Her hair was very dark and very abundant. Her eyes were wonderful for their blueness and the steadfastness of their gaze. Her face, though comely, was remarkable not so much 12 for its beauty as for the happiness of its expression. She stood still listening for a moment after sending forth her call, and then, as the Sabbath quiet remained unbroken, she sent forth the cry again in a clear, sweet voice that penetrated into the farthest reaches of the village:

“Who-oo-ee!”