A few roomy buildings serve as storehouses
and strongholds in times of danger. There are also little wine-shops, as
in the old country, which the French love, and in which they are always
entertained by the music of violins.
There is much gay color on the streets of these hamlets, for the Frenchmen
are dressed in bright-colored suits, made of Indian blankets. And lounging
about in cheap paint or soiled finery are lazy Indians, begging at times
and at times idly watching the boats rowing up and down the river.
We see, too, now and then, the familiar red-and-buff uniforms of the
British army officers, which are regarded with awe whenever they appear.
For you must remember that after 1763 all the French hamlets were in
British hands, and the English officers were the great men of this country
north of the Ohio.
CLARK'S HARD TASK
Although the life was gayer and easier in these French villages than in
the frontier settlements, and although the taking of Kaskaskia and
Vincennes had been easy, Clark still had a hard task before him. His small
force was made up of men who were in the habit of doing as they pleased,
and over them he had no control except through their personal liking for
him.
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