"Do my bidding, my children, confess yourselves and pray till set
of sun. Then I will come to you and set you your appointed tasks,
and tomorrow I will lead you into the city!"
That night there was no sleep for the Maid or for her soldiers. At
no time was it dark, for midsummer was over the land, and the moon
hung in the sky like a silver lamp when the sun had set. The Maid
came forth as she had said with the last of the daylight, and at
her command a great mound was speedily raised, of earth, brushwood,
faggots, stones--anything that the soldiers could lay hands upon;
and when this hillock was of height sufficient to satisfy the young
General, the great guns were brought and set upon it in such
masterly fashion, and in such a commanding way, that La Hire,
Dunois and Xantrailles, who came to see, marvelled at it, and we
could note from the top of this earthwork that within the city
great commotion reigned, and that it was as busy as a hive that has
been disturbed.
As the first mystic glow of the summer's dawn kindled in the
eastern sky, the Maid stood, a white luminous figure in full
armour, poised lightly on the top of one of our pieces of ordnance,
her drawn sword in her hand, pointing full in the direction of the
city.
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