Los Angeles herald., 1905-07-09

= N The month or May OF the year
1880. Jeanne, the Maid. came u
4 Lagny-sun Marne with small
company of men and arms, commanded
by Captain Barrette. For the last eight
months the town had paid allegiance
to King Charles of valois and had been
governed by Messire Ambrose de Lore.
who was fighting vallantly against the
English in Paris and elsewhere. Dur
ing this month Of May Ambrose de
Lore was absent, and his lieutenant,
Messire Jean Foucault. commanded the
garrison. Soon after Jeanne's arrival
in this place it was rumored that a
company of three or four hundred men
from Picardy and Champagne who
were on the side of the Duke of Bur.
gundy had made a successful assault on
lie de France and we're returning to
Picardy with a good deal of booty
Their captain was brave soldier
named Franquet d'Arras. The French
determined to cut off their retreat, and
consequently they set out from the
town under the command of Messire
Jean Foucault, Messire Geoffroy DE-
Saint -Balln, Sir Hugh Kennedy, a
Scotchman, and Captain Barrette, who
was Lombard.
The Maid herself was with them, but
1t is not likely that she led the exped
ition. She had heard in the trenches
before Melun voices which had told her
that she would be captured at Saint
Jean, and since then, as she herself ad.
mitted, she had not the courage to lead
soldiers into battle and was constrained
to rely altogether on her captains. AS
soon, however as she caught sight of
the enemy she pushed forward to the
ians quite close to Lagny but did not
succeed in taking them by surprise, for
the archers of Messire Franquet found
time to dismount and form in rank
beside a hedge, after the English fash
ion The soldiers of King Charles were
hardly more numerous than their op
ponents. One of the Frenchmen, a law
student, who was self-possessed and
calm. even when the worst dangers
were impending, remarked very sens
ibly that there would be a very tough
fight, as the two parties were so nearly
equal as to numbers. In truth, a fur
ious battle took place. The Burgundians
were greatly afraid of the Maid be-
cause they believed that she was a sor-
ceress and had at her command an
,,r;th l.
great valor. Twice the French were
repulsed but they returned to the at
tack, and finally all the Burgundians
were either killed or taken prisoners.
The French returned to Lagny loaded
with booty and had in charge the pris-
oners, among whom was Messire Fran
quet d'Arras. AS he was a gentleman
and lord of a manor, he naturally ex-
pected that he would be ransomed in
accordance with the custom at that
time The soldier who had captured
him was induced to surrender him. as
two persons in authority, the bailiff of
Senlis and the Maid, were anxious 70
get such a prize, and the Maid finally
obtained it. Did she get it by paying
a good round sum to d'Arras' captor?
1t is very probable, for soldiers were
not accustomed to make presents of
their high born prisoners since they
knew that they would be willing to pay
a good price for their liberty. When
she was questioned on this point, how
ever, the Maid replied that she had
neither the keys of the French treas
ury nor the skill to coin money, and
therefore it was not likely that shs
could afford to pay any money for
prisoners. However this may be, Cap
tain Franquet d'Arras was handed
over to her, and she at once took
steps to exchange him for one of her
countrymen, who was a prisoner of the
English. The man whom she wished
to deliver in this manner was a Pari-
sian by the name of Seigneur de
pOurs.