Bringing out one of his rattling oaths, he cried: 

“Then if she can bear the touch of holy water, and the sign of book and taper and bell—­and I know not what beside—­then shall she be sent to the King at Chinon, and I, Robert de Baudricourt, will send her—­come what may of the mission!”

CHAPTER IV.  HOW THE MAID WAS TRIED AND TESTED.

I had myself proposed the test, and yet when the moment came I was ashamed of myself.  The Abbe had put on his robes and his stole; a vessel containing holy water stood before him on the table; the book of the Blessed Gospels was in his hands, a boy with a taper stood at his side.  The place was the hall of the Castle, and the Governor with a few of those most in his confidence stood by to see what would follow.  I was at his right hand.

Bertrand brought in the Maid.  I know not what he had said to her, or whether he had prepared her for what was about to take place; but however that may have been, her face wore that calm and lofty serenity of expression which seemed to belong to her.  As she approached she made a lowly reverence to the priest, and stood before him where Bertrand placed her, looking at him with earnest, shining eyes.

“My daughter,” spoke the Abbe gravely, “have you security in your heart that the visions and voices sent to you come of good and not of evil?  Many men and women have, ere this, been deceived—­yea, even the holy Saints themselves have been tempted of the devil, that old serpent, who is the great deceiver of the hearts and spirits of men.  Are you well assured in your heart that you are not thus deceived and led away by whispers and suggestions from the father of lies?”

There was no anger in her face, but a beautiful look of reverent, yet joyful, confidence and peace.

“I am well assured, my father, that it is my Lord who speaks to me through His most holy and blessed Saints, and through the ever-glorious Archangel Michael.”

“And yet, my daughter, you know that it is written in the Holy Scriptures that the devil can transform himself into an angel of light.”

“Truly that is so, my father; but is it not also written that those who put their trust in the Lord shall never be confounded?”

“Yes, my daughter; and I pray God you may not be confounded.  But it is my duty to try and test the spirits, so as to be a rock of defence to those beneath my care.  Yet if things be with you as you say, you will have no fear.”

“I have no fear, my father,” she answered, and stood with folded hands and serene and smiling face whilst he went through those forms of exorcism and adjuration which, it is said, no evil spirit can endure without crying aloud, or causing that the person possessed should roll and grovel in agony upon the ground, or rush frantically forth out of sight and hearing.

But the Maid never moved, save to bend her head in reverence as the Thrice Holy Name was proclaimed, and as the drops of holy water fell upon her brow.  To me it seemed almost like sacrilege, in face of that pure and holy calm, to entertain for one moment a doubt of the origin of her mission.  Yet it may be that the test was a wise one; for De Baudricourt and those about him watched it with close and breathless wonder, and one and another whispered behind his hand: