Lafayette’s next step was to hunt out a man who had been sent over to France from the American colonies as a secret agent, a representative of what was known as the American Committee of Secret Correspondence, of which Benjamin Franklin was a member. This man was Silas Deane of the colony of Connecticut. Deane was secretly sending arms and supplies from France to America, but he was so closely watched by the agents of the English Ambassador, Lord Stormont, that it was very difficult to see him without rousing suspicions. While the Marquis was studying the problem of how to get in touch with Deane he confided his secret to the Count de Broglie, his superior officer at Metz and his very good friend. The Count was at once opposed to any such rash venture. “You want to throw your life away in that land of savages!” exclaimed De Broglie. “Why, my dear Lafayette, it is the craziest scheme I ever heard of! And to what purpose?” “For the noblest of purposes, sir,” answered the Marquis. “To help a devoted people win their liberty! What ambition could be nobler?” “It is a dream, my friend, a dream that can never be fulfilled,” said the old soldier. “I will not help you to throw your life away. I saw your uncle die in the wars of Italy, I witnessed your brave father’s death at the battle of Hastenbeck, and I cannot be a party to the ruin of the last of your name, the only one left of the stock of the Lafayettes!” But even the old Marshal could not withstand the ardor and enthusiasm of the youth. So vehemently did Lafayette set forth his wishes that finally the Count promised that he would not actively oppose his plans, and presently agreed to introduce the Marquis to a Bavarian soldier named De Kalb, who might be able to help him. “I will introduce you to De Kalb,” said the Count. “He is in Paris now, and perhaps through him you may be able to communicate with this American agent, Monsieur Deane.” De Kalb was a soldier of fortune who had been to America long before the Revolution and knew a great deal about the colonies. At present he was in France, giving what information he could to the government there. And the upshot of Lafayette’s talk with the Count de Broglie was that the latter not only gave the Marquis a letter to De Kalb but also actually asked De Kalb to go to America and see if he could arrange things so that he, the Count de Broglie, might be invited by the American Congress to cross the ocean and become commander-in-chief of the American army! Perhaps it was natural that the veteran Marshal of France should think that he would make a better commander-in-chief than the untried George Washington.