St Nicholas [serial] . young girl who would sub-due the archers of Breton and who would per-form wonders. Now the young folk often talked of this, forthe dear France was in a sad state, if one couldbelieve the tales of adventurers who straggledinto the village, and helpmust come from somewhere,or all the beautiful, smiling country would passinto the hands of the English, who were fastoverrunning it, and whose advances Franceseemed powerless to resist. All these children were French at heart andhated the English. But in the group of chat-terers little Jeanne sat silent, her dark headagainst the
St Nicholas [serial] . young girl who would sub-due the archers of Breton and who would per-form wonders. Now the young folk often talked of this, forthe dear France was in a sad state, if one couldbelieve the tales of adventurers who straggledinto the village, and helpmust come from somewhere,or all the beautiful, smiling country would passinto the hands of the English, who were fastoverrunning it, and whose advances Franceseemed powerless to resist. All these children were French at heart andhated the English. But in the group of chat-terers little Jeanne sat silent, her dark headagainst the trunk of the Fairy Tree, her dreamyeyes gazing far away to the border of the Forest HER COMRADES. 32 JEANNE DARC OF THE FLAMING SWORD 33 of Oak. The superstitions of the Domremy chil-dren had never touched her; young as she was,the little maid would have ventured without fear while they grazed she could go into this quietplace, and think and pray; for Jeanne was a piouschild, and a chapel was meant for prayer. It was. DOMREMY, JEANNE D ARC S NATIVE VILLAGE. or tremor into the heart of it all, and herthoughts were not of the dark secrets of theforest, but of the country which lay beyond, thepoor distracted country under the heel of theEnglish. Sometimes she would steal apart fromher companions into the church, to pray for theprostrate France and the King, who, she hadheard, was a wanderer in his own land, a kingwithout a crown, for that was far away in thecity of Reims, and he would have to passthrough fields of battle to get it. so restful and still that often the tired littlegirl would close her eyes, and sleep would stealupon her; and one day she dreamed that Godspoke to her and commanded her to leave herflock and her work at home, her parents andbrothers and sister, and all her little friends inDomremy, and go forth to help France and theKing. So vivid was the dream, so deep and reverberat-ing the voice, that Jeanne awoke with a start andsat up, rubbing her bewildered eyes.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidstnicholasserial371dodg
