enough fighting to last a
lifetime."

"Hooroo!" shouted Tim. "That's the best word I've heard for a long
time. And I shall settle down as yer honor's butler, and look after
the grand house, and see that you're comfortable."

"You must never leave me, Tim, that's certain," Charlie said. "At
least, till you marry and set up an establishment of your own."

"If I can't marry without leaving yer honor, divil a wife will Tim
Kelly ever take."

"Wait till you see the right woman, Tim. There is no saying what the
strongest of us will do, when he's once caught in a woman's net.
However, we'll talk of that when the time comes."

"And there's Hossein, yer honor. Fire and water wouldn't keep him away
from you, though what he'll do in the colds of the winter at home is
more than I know. It makes me laugh to see how his teeth chatter, and
how the creetur shivers of a cold morning, here. But, cold or no cold,
he'd follow you to the north pole, and climb up it if yer honor told
him."

Charlie laughed.

"He is safe not to be put to the test there, Tim. However, you may be
sure that if Hossein is willing to go to England with me, he shall go.
He has saved my life more than once; and you and he shall never part
from me, so long as you are disposed to stay by my side."

For some months, no great undertaking was attempted on either side.
Many petty sieges and skirmishes took place, each party preparing for
the great struggle, which was to decide the fate of Southern India.

At last, in January, 1760, the rival armies approached each other.
Captain Sherlock, with thirty Europeans and three hundred Sepoys, were
besieged by the French in the fort of Vandivash, which had shortly
before been captured by them from the French.

Lally was himself commanding the siege, having as his second in
command Monsieur Bussy, of whom, however, he was more jealous than
ever. Lally's own incapacity was so marked that the whole army, and
even Lally's own regiment, recognized the superior talents of Bussy.
But although Lally constantly asked the advice of his subordinate, his
jealousy of that officer generally impelled him to neglect it.

When the English, under Colonel Coote, who now commanded their forces
in Madras, were known to be advancing against him, Bussy strongly
advised that the siege should be abandoned, and a strong position
taken up for the battle. The advice was unquestionably good, but Lally
neglected it, and remained in front of Vand