Charlie had mounted to the castle, the better to observe the movements
of the enemy, and he presently saw a small body of horsemen ride out
of the camp, and mount the hillside across the valley. A glass showed
that some of these were native officers, while others were in the dark
uniform of the French.
"I have no doubt," Charlie said to the rajah, "that is the nizam
himself, with Bussy, gone up to reconnoitre the position. I wonder how
he likes the look of it. I wish we could have turfed the battery
above, and the newly stripped land. We might, in that case, have given
them a pleasant surprise. As it is, they are hardly likely to begin by
an attack along the slopes in the rear of the town, and you will see
that they will commence the attack at the farther face of the town.
The battery above cannot aid us in our defence there; and although the
castle may help, it will only be by a direct fire. If they try to
carry the place by a coup de main, I think we can beat them off, but
they must succeed by regular approaches.
"We must inflict as much loss as we can, and then fall back. However,
it will be sometime before that comes."
The next morning, Charlie found that the enemy had, during the night,
erected three batteries on the slopes facing the north wall of the
town, that farthest removed from the castle.
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