I The Fairy Tree 11 II The Dauphin and La Hire 28 III The Conspiracy 46 IV In Camp and Court 64 V The Coronation and the Capture 94 VI The Martyrdom 108 VII The Rescue 122 Appendix 135 List of Illustrations “Oh, were I only a man!” she sighed _Frontispiece_ _Facing page_ “Dear uncle, see these beautiful violets,” she cried 53 The last act in the ceremony was Charles’s coronation 101 The flames mounted higher, and the people saw, not a devil’s witch, but a praying angel with eyes fixed upon heaven 120 The Maid of Orleans Chapter I The Fairy Tree As the traveller, descending the valley from Neufchâteau, approaches the village of Domremy,[1] he will observe at his right upon an eminence of the nearest range of hills a stately chestnut-tree, its lower branches hung with wreaths of flowers, some fresh, some fading. If he does not mind a little fatigue and climbs to this spot, he will be richly rewarded for his exertions. The tree in itself is a sufficient compensation for his efforts, for who does not contemplate with admiration such a work of nature? Who does not listen with rapture to the gentle rustle of its leaves and find rest in its cool shade? But this tree has a still stronger attraction for those who believe its story. Ofttimes in the twilight they see happy sprites dancing round it with joyous faces, and the soft rustling of its leaves they declare is celestial whispers, for it is given to them to understand heavenly speech. This tree is the “Fairy Tree.”[2] The outlook from this spot will still further repay the traveller. A beautiful valley spreads out before him, bounded on either side by the forest-crowned heights of Argonne and Ardennes, between which the Meuse[3] winds its silvery way. Numerous villages dot these heights and are sprinkled here and there along the lower pasture-land. North and south gleam the towers of Neufchâteau and Vaucouleurs.[4] The nearest, and at the same time most pleasant of these villages, is Domremy, whose cottages, embowered in greenery, cluster about the little church of Saint Margaret. Many herds of cattle and sheep are feeding in the pastures between fields luxuriant with growing crops. Looking back, the eye catches the dusky summits of the Bois de Chêne,[5] and at the crossroad leading thither stands the chapel of Saint Catherine.