Monsieur Rocheblave, a Frenchman, had command of the British forces roundabout Kaskaskia, and the hunters reported him to be an exceedingly vigilant officer, who kept a large number of spies continually on the alert to guard against the approach of people from Kentucky who were known to have taken sides with the eastern colonists in the struggle for liberty. There were eighty British soldiers in the garrison, and all the redskins nearabout were in the pay of the commandant, therefore it might be said that the force at this point was exceeding strong; but Simon Kenton's friends believed it might be taken by surprise, providing we could capture the spies sent out by Rocheblave. Once our people appeared before the garrison, when the Indians were not there to lend their aid, the post must of a necessity surrender, and thus the work set for us to do might be accomplished without bloodshed. That this renegade Frenchman was exerting himself to stir up the Indiana against the settlers there could be no question; in fact one of these hunters had good proof that such was the case, he having been present when the king's officer offered a certain reward in the shape of ammunition and blankets if the savages would surprise and massacre a number of families who had made a clearing on the banks of the Mississippi River. Kaskaskia was founded, as I have read, after the visit of La Salle to the Mississippi in 1683, by Father Gravier, Catholic missionary among the Illinois Indians, and was the capital and chief town of the Illinois country so far as the French continued in possession of it. In 1763, it was ceded by the French to Great Britain, and such of the French officers as held possession were continued in the pay of the English king. With the exception of fifteen or twenty, such as the hunters whom we met, all the settlers in that vicinity were of French descent. The day following our arrival at the mouth of the Tennessee River was spent in idleness. We had a plentiful supply of meat, and the hunters were unwilling to talk or think of anything save the possible capture of the outpost from whence had been sent so many murdering bands of savages to shed blood simply that the king's hold upon this fair country might be the stronger. Therefore it was we remained idle, wasting our time, as I thought, until an hour past noon, when Paul and I had wandered a short distance up the river in company with Simon Kenton and the hunter whom he had greeted as a friend, and then were spoken those words which lifted from Simon Kenton's heart the greatest burden man can bear. Several times since he so suddenly appeared to me on the bank of the Ohio River, having come at a time when he could render my mother and myself the greatest possible service, had he commenced a sentence regarding himself, and suddenly stopped, as if fearing to betray somewhat of his own life which others should not know.