PR E FA C E . e old r e l izo i thi boo tth thos e o e ve k o To ws e p p g i tt h t c ildren or whom was wri en . f I N I the writing of this little sketch , have u t n been indebted to man y a h ors and to ma y ooks in c ludin b , g the English versions of the original documents collected and translated by Father Wyndham and Mr . T . Douglas Murray , and the invaluable quotations given by Mr . Andrew Lang from sources not easily accessible to the general reader . To none has my obligation been quite so great as to the last named, by whom, through my friend andtpublisher, Mr . Buchan , I have been per mi te d n W here a d there to take over hole paragraphs in succession which , in their noble simplicity , suited perfectly the minds of children . These have usually embodied ’ either translations of Joan s recorded words , or authentic descriptions of her, or accounts iv Preface . of armour and military incidents, such as my own unaided knowledge might not com pass without fear of blunder . I have tried, wherever it was possible , to indicate my debt by inverted commas ; but occasionally the quotation h as been too closely inter twined for that with modifications of my own a a Elimination is lways tiresome process, and so great was the mass of material heaped c up by various hands , that in aiming at are ful accuracy and lifelike truth , much time and work were Spent over preparing my little a te book ; but without such help s I have it m corded, must either have been much ore meagre or infinitely more laborious, for my c on gemal task has been obviously lightened by the toil of my learned and scholarly pre de c e or sws s . I ill only add one word regarding the lin e s of verse with which the life closes . I wrote them expressly for the children who ” T h e read Story of a Brave Child , because I shrank equally from their thinking of the as earth outside the kingdom of Heaven , or Preface. supposing th e heavenly rest to be dise m bodied passiveness . If it be complained that ll the lines are beyond their inte igence , I reply that I hope they may stir the imagi nation of some who in after years will more fully understand them ; and I think that in the subconscious mind of most they will prevent an y dangerous misunderstanding of the sense in which I have used the word ” M. rest . A . ' LI S T OF YLL US TR A TI ON S . n t ea a ta e Coron a ti n e o o Cka ri s V1I . A tr j f ( f e S ir e/zn iie rt. G e R A j , ) Tae Vision ea n o A re A ter en of j f . ( f L epaen ) t - er ten jea n of A re. (Af B as i Lepag e) tn jea n of A re. (Af er I gres ) ’ i t r ium a n n to le . je an s Tr p n E ry i O an s ne I/Ve eme i en to an e T ie g v je y l a n A ter l en e en e s . ( f p e ) ri tR ne ms . or ton iza e 13 i C on a i of C s V1 a L mep e en ) tm tr Len ea t r on er a C e n e A e e je an aken P is o p i g . ( f p v ) tr ture b . E o e tiz c je a n in Prison . (Af e Pi y G jy) I O jean of A re. people that God helps and saves the world, “ and it was on Twelfth Night , the day when we keep the festival in honour of the Wise Men and of the Light that was to shine forth through Mary ’ s Son to all the nations of d u 6 1 12 the worl , that on Jan ary , 4 , nearly five hundred years ago , in one of the small cot li tle i t g , v s tages of a hamlet in Lorraine a ‘ m m n gg ym o n te eo le g h o f, Eg nog wa beautiful country g g c p p sim e p l A mai It was in this hamlet , named Domremy , where She was born that T welfth Night morning in the fresh , sweet air of the country , that the little girl grew up . She ’ d Arc was the daughter of Jacques , and was ’ d Arc named Jeanne , but we usually call her by an English translation of her name and speak of her as Joan of Arc . Domremy was one of those pretty villages through which a little river winds its way , sparkling and singing as it goes . Just outside was the village there a beautiful beech tree near to a flowing spring , where the Sick ’ Tno S tr a o B r /tii o y f a ave C . 1 1 people used sometimes to take of the waters h to eal their fever . Sometimes the tree was ’ ’ th e called Ladies Tree , sometimes the Fairies T . ree It was told in the village that long , long ago two people who loved one another dearly used to Sit under its branches and enjoy one another ’ s companionship for many a sunshiny hour ; and that made the tree sacred . It belonged now to the lord of the Bourle mon t a ws manor , Sieur de , and rightly ’ L Arbre ou rle mon t named de B ; but every one felt that it belonged most of all to the children and the good people . There is a story that when any of the chil dren of Domremy were far away in distant countries they used to dream of that tree , and if they were about to pass through the gates of pearl into a country more beautiful than saw any on earth , then they always a vision of Sh e the tree . Joan said afterwards , when was “ is questioned about it It a beautiful tree , oea a ma . a beech , from which comes the y It belongs to the Seigneur Pierre dc Bourle mont , Knight . I have sometimes been to play with the young girls, to make garlands r 12 jean of A e . for Our Lady of Domremy . Often I h ave heard the old folk— they are not of my — lineage say that the fairies haunt this tree . I have also heard one of my godmothers , named Jeanne , wife of the Maire Aubrey of sa n Domremy , y that She has see fairies there whether it be true , I do not know . As for saw. me, I never them , that I know of If I saw them anywhere else , I do not know . I have seen the young girls putting garlands on the branches of this tree , and I myself have sometimes put them there with my companions . Sometimes we took these garlands away , sometimes we left them . V Above the illage there is an oak wood , and it was remembered that Merlin had fore told the coming of a maiden out of an oak wood in Lorraine . It was said also that n France , which had been lost by a woma that is to say , by the wicked queen of that — day Should be saved by a maid . I wish I could describe to you how the children of that village of Domremy are said to have loved the fairies , for whom , we are told , they used to hang garlands on the beech T/tt e at/a e S ory of a B rav c . 13 ’ tree . Among Joan s many godmothers there was one named Dame Aubrey , who , you will sh e remember, told them had seen the fairies dance under the tree but that was the last V ision any one had of them there . And I must tell you frankly that , for my ’ r pa t , I think that in Joan s day it is not at sawf all certain that any one the airies with their mortal eyes . But of the beautiful V isions of angels and saints that came to Joan when sh e grew up into girlhood , we have very good proof indeed ; for they Spoke to her words which enabled her to do in twelve short months on e h what no else , eit er man or woman , was was able to do , and Joan ready to die a pain ful death rather than deny the truth of those wonderful Voices of S . Michael and S . Margaret and the rest . We are , however, getting on much too ’ fast , and must go back to Joan s earliest days . was She hardy an in spinning and sewing , and in helping her 14 jean of A re. r f n mother. And she was ve y o d of all the animals, and used to take them across to a wc astle s a little island here stood the , fortress round which flowed two arms of the river ; for she wanted the poor beasts to be out of the way of the soldiers at a time when all the countryside was disturbed by the war between France and England , in which the Dukes of Burgundy and Bedford were taking part .