re, and was carried down to Calcutta in a boat. On arriving
there, he heard that the Lizzie Anderson had just cast anchor off the
fort. He caused himself at once to be conveyed on board, and was
received with the greatest heartiness and pleasure, by his old friend,
the captain; and assiduously attended by the doctor of the ship. In
order that he might have as much air as possible, the captain had a
sort of tent, with a double covering, erected on deck. During the
daytime the sides of this were lifted, so that the air could pass
freely across the bed.

Charlie's wound was a severe one and, had he been nursed in a hospital
on shore, it is probable that it would have been fatal. Thanks,
however, to the comforts on board ship, the freshness and coolness of
the situation, and the care of all surrounding him, he was, after some
weeks' illness, pronounced convalescent; and was sufficiently
recovered to join the force with which Clive marched against Plassey.

This force consisted of nine hundred and fifty European infantry, a
hundred artillerymen, fifty sailors, and two thousand one hundred
Sepoys. The artillery consisted of eight six-pounders and two small
howitzers. The army of the nabob was fifty thousand strong, and
against such a force it was, indeed, an adventurous task for an army
of three thousand men, of whom only one-third were Europeans, to
advance to the attack. Everything depended, in fact, upon Meer Jaffier
and his two colleagues in treachery, Rajah Dulab Ram and Yar Lutf
Khan.

The nabob, on hearing of Clive's advance, had sent to Monsieur Law;
who was, with a hundred and fifty men, at a place over a hundred miles
distant; to which he had, in accordance with the orders of Clive, been
obliged to retire; and begged him to advance to join him, with all
speed. The nabob had with him forty or fifty Frenchmen, commanded by
Monsieur Saint Frais, formerly one of the council of Chandranagore.
These had some field pieces of their own, and also directed the native
artillery, of fifty-three guns; principally thirty-two, twenty-four,
and eighteen pounders.

Had Clive been sure of the cooperation of Meer Jaffier and his
confederates, who commanded three out of the four divisions of the
nabob's army, he need not have hesitated. But he was, till the last
moment, in ignorance whether to rely upon them. The nabob, having
become suspicious of Meer Jaffier, had obtained from him an oath,
sworn on the Koran, of fidelity; and al