n Mr. Clive put the case; fight at once, or wait. Against
the custom, he himself voted first--against immediate action. Then he
asked me and Grant in turn; we voted with him. 'Twas Eyre Coote's turn
next; he voted t'other way, and gave his reasons--uncommonly well, I must
admit. He said our men were in good spirits, and had been damped enough
by the rains. The Frenchman Law might come up and join the Nawab, and
then every froggy who entered our service after Chandernagore would
desert and fight against us. We're so far from Calcutta 'twould be
difficult to protect our communications. These were his reasons. I
watched Clive while Coote was speaking; he stuck his lips together and
stared at him; and, have you noticed? he squints a trifle when he looks
hard. Well, the voting went on, and ended as I said--twelve against
immediate action, seven for."

"How did the Bengal men vote?"

"I'm bound to say, for--except Le Beaume. 'Twas the Madras men who
outvoted 'em."

"Well, with all respect, sir, I think the opinion of the Bengal men, who
know the people and the country, ought to have outweighed the opinion of
strangers. Still, it would be difficult to oppose Colonel Clive."

Further conversation was cut short by the arrival of a messenger
summoning Desmond to attend the colonel.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"Under a clump of trees beyond the camp, sir. He's been there by himself
an hour or more."

Desmond hurried off. On the way he met Major Coote.

"Hullo, Burke," cried the major; "you've heard the news?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry for it."

"All smoke, my dear boy, all smoke. Colonel Clive has been thinking it
over, and has decided to disregard the decision of the Council and cross
the river at sunrise tomorrow."

Desmond could not refrain from flinging up his hat and performing other
antics expressive of delight; he was caught in the act by Clive himself,
who was returning to his tent.

"You're a madcap, Burke," he said. "Come to my tent."

He employed Desmond during the next hour in writing orders to the
officers of his force. This consisted of about nine hundred Europeans,
two hundred Topasses, a few lascars, and some two thousand Sepoys. Eight
six-pounders and two howitzers formed the whole of the artillery. Among
the Europeans were about fifty sailors, some from the king's ships, some
from merchantmen. Among the latter were Mr. Toley and Bulger, whose
excellent service in capturing the Good Intent had en