Kaskaskia was safe from the Indians for two reasons.
First, the fort frightened the thievish ones; second, the place was full of trappers and traders who had intermarried with every tribe in the West. This last point is the grand secret of the control which the French have always exercised over the Indians. At the present day it turns into friends and allies thousands of the same race in the Hudson’s Bay Territories, that are relentless foes to white men in the American Territories.
In Kaskaskia, on that sultry Fourth, a hundred years ago, trader and Indian could be seen side by side in every shady place, smoking over bargains in furs like old friends.
The blazing sun at last dipped behind the western prairies, and a gentle breeze came sighing up the Mississippi, when Monsieur Rocheblave, the French-English Governor, who was sitting by the open window of the government house at the top of the hill, suddenly spoke to his wife.
“Coralie, ma chere, I do believe I see Mademoiselle Roland, and that she is coming hither. Yes, it is she indeed.”
Madame Rocheblave, who was lying on a sofa fanning herself languidly, bleated out, with a whining, querulous tone:
“Rubie? What can the girl want? I declare I wish my cousin Roland had done any thing in the world rather than leave that wild creature in the way he did, half the time for me to take care of, the other half to that ugly Indian they call the Grand Door of the Wabash. I wish he’d keep her altogether. She has lost all the manner of society, and tells the truth so quick and plain that she lacerates my feelings.”
M. Rocheblave had risen to look out of the window better.
“For all that, my angel,” he said, soothingly, “we must remember that mademoiselle your cousin is a very important person. She represents the union between us and the tribes, a link carefully forged by her illustrious father, at his own cost, which must be maintained. Therefore, Coralie, be polite to mademoiselle, who is about to become our guest. It is a great privilege you and I enjoy, to entertain a princess.”