t gave him a chance of success with the odds so heavily
against him.

Getting boats the American leader ferried his men across the stream
under cover of the darkness and in profound silence; the work occupying
about two hours. He then approached Kaskaskia under cover of the night,
dividing his force into two divisions, one being spread out to surround
the town so that none might escape, while he himself led the other up to
the walls of the fort.

Inside the fort the lights were lit, and through the windows came the
sounds of violins. The officers of the post had given a ball, and the
mirth-loving creoles, young men and girls, were dancing and revelling
within, while the sentinels had left their posts. One of his captives
showed Clark a postern-gate by the river-side, and through this he
entered the fort, having placed his men round about at the entrance.
Advancing to the great hall where the revel was held, he leaned silently
with folded arms against the door-post, looking at the dancers. An
Indian, lying on the floor of the entry, gazed intently on the
stranger's face as the light from the torches within flickered across
it, and suddenly sprang to his feet uttering the unearthly war-whoop.
Instantly the dancing ceased; the women screamed, while the men ran
towards the door. But Clark, standing unmoved and with unchanged face,
grimly bade them continue their dancing, but to remember that they now
danced under Virginia and not Great Britain. [Footnote: Memoir of Major
E. Denny, by Wm. H. Denny, p. 217. In "Record of the Court of Upland and
Military Journal of Major E. Denny," Philadelphia, 1860 (Historical
Society of Penn.). The story was told to Major Denny by Clark himself,
some time in '87 or '88; in process of repetition it evidently became
twisted, and, as related by Denny, there are some very manifest
inaccuracies, but there seems no reason to reject it entirely.] At the
same time his men burst into the fort, and seized the French officers,
including the commandant, Rocheblave. [Footnote: It is worth noting that
these Illinois French, and most of the Indians with whom the French fur
traders came in contact, called the Americans "Bostonnais." (In fact the
fur traders have taught this name to the northern tribes right across to
the Pacific. While hunting in the Selkirk Mountains last fall, the
Kootenai Indian who was with me always described me as a "Boston man.")
Similarly the Indians round the upper Ohio and thenc