The Power And The Glory by Gilbert Parker

When La Salle left Quebec after killing Darois and getting money from those who had before refused him, he went again to Fort Frontenac where La Forest was in charge, and, taking a surgeon, ship carpenters, joiners, masons, soldiers, voyageurs, and laborers--twenty-five in all--needed for the outfit of a vessel, he at length reached Michillimackinac, and was again faced by hostility. He went forward with six Frenchmen and an Indian. If the Iroquois had invaded the land of the Illinois it would be ill. In all his travels he had met with discouragement, but difficulty only braved his spirit. When at last he made the journey all was lonely, now all was life to the full. The plains were alive with buffalo, and they killed buffalo and deer, geese and swans. They cut the meat into flakes and dried it. The men were in good fettle and they looked forward to seeing Tonty. They passed the cliff called the Rock of St. Louis where Tonty had been ordered to build his stronghold, but it had no signs of life. No work had been done on it. They gazed on a scene of desolation--ashes, charred poles, human skulls, wolves, crows and buzzards, open graves, bones, mangled corpses. The contents of the caches--store of corn--were scattered and cornfields burned.

As La Salle gazed on the terrible scene, a vast comet appeared. It was the largest and most lurid in recorded history and came nearer to the earth than any other. Many believed it a portent against the earth, but not La Salle; it had for him only scientific interest. For days he watched it and marveled at the excitement of the Frenchmen and the Indians. To him, if aught, it was a beacon to march forward.