Rank behind rank we could see them
flashing through the shadow into the sunshine, and dashing forward
in compact order, their gaze fixed full upon the Maid in the centre
of the plain, who stood with uplifted sword and fluttering pennon,
a veritable angel of the battle.
But we saw other sights, too; for Lord Talbot was not idle on his
side, but sent forth from other of the bastilles bodies of men to
the aid of the defenders of St. Loup.
The whole plain was filled with surging masses of soldiers, rushing
one upon the other in the fury of the fray.
How would the Maid bear it? She whose tender heart ached at the
thought of human suffering, and whose soul was filled with yearning
sorrow for men struck down in their sins. I pressed up towards her
and saw her pitiful eyes fixed upon a convoy of wounded men, whom
we had sent to rescue from their peril, lying as they did in the
very heart of the plain. The eyes which had been flashing fire a
moment before, were suffused with tears, as the melancholy
procession passed her by.
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