tached a considerable force to besiege Clive. Dupleix, seeing
this, and hoping that Clive might be detained at Arcot long enough to
allow of the siege of Trichinopoli being brought to a conclusion, had
sent the three hundred French soldiers to strengthen the force of Riza
Sahib.

He had still an overpowering force at Trichinopoli, Law having nine
hundred trained French soldiers, a park of fifty guns, two thousand
Sepoys, and the army of Chunda Sahib, twenty thousand strong. Inside
Trichinopoli were a few English soldiers under Captain Cope, and a
small body of troops of Muhammud Ali; while outside the walls, between
them and the besiegers, was the English force under Gingen, the men
utterly dispirited, the officer without talent, resolution, or
confidence.

Before leaving the troops with which he had won the battle of Arni,
Clive had expressed, to the two young writers, his high appreciation
of their conduct during the siege of Arcot; and promised them that he
would make it a personal request, to the authorities at Fort Saint
David, that they might be permanently transferred from the civil to
the military branch of the service; and such a request, made by him,
was certain to be complied with. He strongly advised them to spend
every available moment of their time in the study of the native
language; as, without that, they would be useless if appointed to
command a body of Sepoys.

Delighted at the prospect, now open to them, of a permanent relief
from the drudgery of a clerk's life in Madras, the young fellows were
in the highest spirits; and Tim Kelly was scarcely less pleased, when
he heard that Charlie was now likely to be always employed with him.
The boys lost not a moment in sending down to Madras, to engage the
services of a native "moonshee" or teacher. They wrote to their friend
Johnson, asking him to arrange terms with the man who understood most
English, and to engage him to remain with them some time.

A few days later, Tim Kelly came in.

"Plase, yer honors, there's a little shrivelled atomy of a man
outside, as wants to spake wid ye. He looks for all the world like a
monkey, wrapped up in white clothes, but he spakes English after a
fashion, and has brought this letter for you. The cratur scarce looks
like a human being, and I misdoubt me whether you had better let him
in."

"Nonsense, Tim," Charlie said, opening the letter; "it's the moonshee
we are expecting, from Madras. He has come to teach us t