第12章 DOMREMY AND VAUCOULEURS.1424-1429.(7)

All thought of boxing her ears must ere this have departed from his mind.He hastened to consult the curé，which was the most reasonable thing to do.The curéwas as much puzzled as the Captain.The Church，it must be said，if always ready to take advantage afterwards of such revelations，has always been timid，even sceptical about them at first.The wisdom of the rulers，secular and ecclesiastic，suggested only one thing to do，which was to exorcise，and perhaps to overawe and frighten，the young visionary.They paid a joint and solemn visit to the carter's house，where no doubt their entrance together was spied by many eager eyes；and there the priest solemnly taking out his stole invested himself in his priestly robes and exorcised the evil spirits，bidding them come out of the girl if they were her inspiration.There seems a certain absurdity in this sudden assault upon the evil one，taking him as it were by surprise：but it was not ridiculous to any of the performers，though Jeanne no doubt looked on with serene and smiling eyes.She remarked afterwards to her hostess，that the curéhad done wrong，as he had already heard her in confession.

Outside，the populace were in no uncertainty at all as to her mission.

A little mob hung about the door to see her come and go，chiefly to church，with her good hostess in attendance，as was right and seemly，and a crowd streaming after them who perhaps of their own accord might have neglected mass，but who would not，if they could help it，lose a look at the new wonder.One day a young gentleman of the neighbourhood was passing by，and amused by the commotion，came through the crowd to have a word with the peasant lass."What are you doing here，/ma mie/？"the young man said."Is the King to be driven out of the kingdom，and are we all to be made English？"There is a tone of banter in the speech，but he had already heard of the Maid from his friend，Bertrand，and had been affected by the other's enthusiasm."Robert de Baudricourt will have none of me or my words，"she replied，"nevertheless before Mid-Lent I must be with the King，if I should wear my feet up to my knees；for nobody in the world，be it king，duke，or the King of Scotland's daughter，can save the kingdom of France except me alone：though I would rather spin beside my poor mother，and this is not my work：but I must go and do it，because my Lord so wills it.""And who is your Seigneur？"he asked."God，"said the girl.The young man was moved，he too，by that wind which bloweth where it listeth.He stretched out his hands through the gaping crowd and took hers，holding them between his own，to give her his pledge：

and so swore by his faith，her hands in his hands，that he himself would conduct her to the King."When will you go？"he said."Rather to-day than to-morrow，"answered the messenger of God.

This was the second convert of La Pucelle.The peasant /bonhomme/first，the noble gentleman after him；not to say all the women wherever she went，the gazing，weeping，admiring crowd which now followed her steps，and watched every opening of the door which concealed her from their eyes.The young gentleman was Jean de Novelonpont，"surnamed Jean de Metz"：and so moved was he by the fervour of the girl，and by her strong sense of the necessity of immediate operations，that he proceeded at once to make preparations for the journey.They would seem to have discussed the dress she ought to wear，and Jeanne decided for many obvious reasons to adopt the costume of a man--or rather boy.She must，one would imagine have been tall，for no remark is ever made on this subject，as if her dress had dwarfed her，which is generally the case when a woman assumes the habit of a man：and probably with her peasant birth and training，she was，though slim，strongly made and well knit，besides being at the age when the difference between boy and girl is sometimes but little noticeable.