through them and out at the western gate and rode away under whip and
spur.



Chapter 3 The Paladin Groans and Boasts

WE WERE twenty-five strong, and well equipped. We rode in double file,
Joan and her brothers in the center of the column, with Jean de Metz at
the head of it and the Sieur Bertrand at its extreme rear. In two or
three hours we should be in the enemy's country, and then none would
venture to desert. By and by we began to hear groans and sobs and
execrations from different points along the line, and upon inquiry found
that six of our men were peasants who had never ridden a horse before,
and were finding it very difficult to stay in their saddles, and moreover
were now beginning to suffer considerable bodily torture. They had been
seized by the governor at the last moment and pressed into the service to
make up the tale, and he had placed a veteran alongside of each with
orders to help him stick to the saddle, and kill him if he tried to
desert.

These poor devils had kept quiet as long as they could, but their
physical miseries were become so sharp by this time that they were
obliged to give them vent. But we were within the enemy's country now, so
there was no help for them, they must continue the march, though Joan
said that if they chose to take the risk they might depart. They
preferred to stay with us. We modified our pace now, and moved
cautiously, and the new men were warned to keep their sorrows to
themselves and not get the command into danger with their curses and
lamentations.