Page:Daughters of Genius.djvu/480

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468 THE TRIAL OF JEANNE DARC. " At the attack of which tower was' it that you with' drew your men ? " " I do not remember. I was very sure of raising the seige of Orleans ; 1 had had a revelation on the subject ; I told the king before going there I should raise it." " Before the assault, did you tell your people that you alone would receive the javelins and the stones thrown by the machines and cannons ? " " No ; a hundred of my people, and even more were wounded. I said to them, ' Fear not, and you will raise the siege.' At the assault of the bridge tower I was wounded in the neck with an arrow or lance ; but I had great comfort from St. Catherine, and I was cured in less than fifteen days. I did not cease on that account to ride on horseback and to labor. I knew well I should be wounded ; I told my king so, but that, notwithstanding, I should keep at work. They had been revealed to me by the voices of my two saints, blessed Catherine and blessed Margaret. It was I who first placed a ladder against the tower, and it was in raising that ladder that I was wounded in the neck by the lance." The session ended soon after, and the prisoner was removed. There were six of these public examinations, but nothing further of much importance was elicited by them. The public examinations being at an end, the court took a week to review and consider the evidence obtained. They decided that further light was needed on some points, and ordered that she should be examined in secret by seven learned doctors, and her answers recorded for the subsequent use of the whole court. There were nine of these secret questionings, but she adhered to her fatal line of defence, ever insisting upon her supernatural pre- tensions, and adding particulars which placed her more hopelessly than before in the power of her enemies. To