Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) THE CURSE OF CARNE'S HOLD A Tale of Adventure BY G. A. HENTY AUTHOR OF "ALL BUT LOST," "GABRIEL ALLEN, M.P.," ETC., ETC. _NEW EDITION_ LONDON GRIFFITH FARRAN & CO. NEWBERY HOUSE, 39, CHARING CROSS ROAD _The Right of Translation and Reproduction is reserved._ [Illustration: "_'Hold tight, Mary,' he said, as he cut down a native who was springing upon him from the bushes._"] CONTENTS CHAPTER I. HOW THE CURSE BEGAN 5 CHAPTER II. MARGARET CARNE 21 CHAPTER III. TWO QUARRELS 39 CHAPTER IV. A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY 58 CHAPTER V. THE INQUEST 75 CHAPTER VI. RUTH POWLETT 96 CHAPTER VII. THE VERDICT 112 CHAPTER VIII. ENLISTED 128 CHAPTER IX. THE OUTBREAK 147 CHAPTER X. A SUCCESSFUL DEFENCE 165 CHAPTER XI. ATTACK ON A WAGGON-TRAIN 183 CHAPTER XII. IN THE AMATOLAS 202 CHAPTER XIII. THE RESCUE 219 CHAPTER XIV. RONALD IS OFFERED A COMMISSION 238 CHAPTER XV. A PARTING 256 CHAPTER XVI. SEARCHING FOR A CLUE 273 CHAPTER XVII. RUTH POWLETT CONFESSES 290 CHAPTER XVIII. GEORGE FORESTER'S DEATH 307 CHAPTER XIX. THE FIRE AT CARNE'S HOLD 324 CHAPTER XX. CLEARED AT LAST 340 THE CURSE OF CARNE'S HOLD CHAPTER I. HOW THE CURSE BEGAN. There was nothing about Carne's Hold that would have suggested to the mind of the passing stranger that a curse lay upon it. Houses to which an evil history is attached lie almost uniformly in low and damp situations. They are embedded in trees; their appearance is gloomy and melancholy; the vegetation grows rank around them, the drive is overgrown with weeds and mosses, and lichens cling to the walls. Carne's Hold possessed none of these features. It stood high up on the slope of a hill, looking down into the valley of the Dare, with the pretty village of Carnesford nestling among its orchards, and the bright stream sparkling in the sunshine.