h
alone danger was expected; while another took up the post in some
jungles, by the side of the main road, the rest threw themselves down
to sleep. Some lay in the village, some in the shade of the bushes
along the sides of the hollow. Their arms were all piled in a heap,
sixty yards from the eastern bank. The two field pieces stood
deserted, on the north side of the village. Not a single sentry was
posted.

Manak Chand, knowing that, after marching all night, they would be
exhausted, now stole upon them, and surrounded the tank on three
sides. Happily, he did not perceive that their arms were piled at a
distance of sixty yards from the nearest man. Had he done so, the
English would have been helpless in his hands. After waiting an hour,
to be sure that the last of the English were sound asleep, he ordered
a tremendous fire to be opened on the hollow and village.

Astounded at this sudden attack, the men sprang up from their deep
sleep, and a rush was instantly made to their arms. Clive, ever
coolest in danger, shouted to them to be steady, and his officers well
seconded his attempts. Unfortunately the artillerymen, in their sudden
surprise, instead of rushing to their cannon, joined the rest of the
troops as they ran back to their arms, and the guns at once fell into
the hands of the enemy.

These had now climbed the eastern bank, and a fire from all sides was
poured upon the troops, huddled together in a mass.

"Major Marryat," Clive said, "if we fall back now, fatigued as the men
are, and shaken by this surprise, we are lost. Do you take a wing of
the Sepoy battalion, and clear the right bank. I will advance, with
the main body, directly on the village."

"Come on, my lads," Charlie shouted, in Hindostanee; "show them how
the men of Madras can fight."

The Sepoys replied with a cheer, advanced with a rush against the
bank, drove the defenders at once from the point where they charged,
and then swept round the tank towards the village, which Clive had
already attacked in front.

The loss of Charlie's battalion was small, but the main body, exposed
to the concentrated fire, suffered more heavily. They would not,
however, be denied. Reaching the bank, they poured a volley into the
village, and charged with the bayonet; just as Charlie's men dashed in
at the side. The enemy fled from the village and, taking shelter in
the jungles around, opened fire. The shouts of their officers could be
heard, urging them agai