At length a force of fewer than two hundred men started upon the march across the wilderness to Kaskaskia. This place was fortified and garrisoned by a strong body of militia, so that the only prospect of capturing it lay in effecting a surprise. The party, therefore, proceeded with the utmost caution, their front and flanks screened by scouts. After a toilsome journey of fifty miles through dense forest, they emerged upon the prairie and the difficulties of the march were lightened whilst the danger of discovery increased. However, the adventurers seem to have been attended by the most extraordinary good fortune, for on the evening of the fourth of July they arrived without mishap on the southern bank of the river, upon the opposite side of which stood the town they sought. The Americans lay concealed in the woods until nightfall, when they crossed the stream in some boats which they had happily found. When all were landed, Clark divided his force into two bodies. Whilst one of these formed a cordon round the fort, he led the other into it. Never was more strikingly illustrated the old adage that “Fortune favors the bold.” The entire population of the place was gathered in or about a large hall, where the officers of the garrison were giving a ball. Even the sentries had deserted their posts to watch the dancing and hear the music. Clark had found a small gate, through which he and his men easily gained admittance to the fort. They traversed the deserted streets without exciting attention and at last took up posts in the vicinity of the hall, from the windows of which floated the mingled sounds of music and merry laughter. Clark went forward and stood with folded arms in the doorway of the building, calmly surveying the scene. Some minutes passed before his presence was noted. Then a woman, seeing the dread figure of an American backwoodsman silhouetted in the opening, screamed in terror. Confusion instantly prevailed. Shriek followed shriek. The violins ceased. The dancers stood riveted to the floor, or ran hither and thither aimlessly. The men, as soon as they had overcome the first shock of surprise, advanced towards the entrance. Clark’s waiting men now entered the building and made the French officers prisoners. A house-to-house patrol disarmed all the inhabitants and ordered them on the penalty of death to remain within doors until daylight. These creole subjects of the British King had been taught to believe the American backwoodsmen to be more cruel and barbarous than the Indians, and they were filled with the worst fears for their fate. Clark sought to increase their wild fancies, for he fully appreciated the precarious nature of his situation, in the midst of a hostile population many times more numerous than his own force and surrounded by Indians ready to come to their aid.