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diff --git a/39374-8.txt b/39374-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e97f40 --- /dev/null +++ b/39374-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12425 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Curse of Carne's Hold, by G. A. Henty + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Curse of Carne's Hold + A Tale of Adventure + +Author: G. A. Henty + +Release Date: April 4, 2012 [EBook #39374] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CURSE OF CARNE'S HOLD *** + + + + +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. + +There was nothing either gloomy or forbidding about its architecture, +and the family now simply called their abode The Carnes; the term "Hold" +that the country people applied to it was indeed a misnomer, for the +bombardiers of Essex had battered the walls of the old fortified house, +and had called in the aid of fire to finish the work of destruction. +The whole of the present structure was therefore subsequent to that +date; it had been added to and altered many times, and each of its +owners had followed out his own fancies in utter disregard of those of +his predecessors; consequently the house represented a medley of diverse +styles, and, although doubtless an architectural monstrosity, was +picturesque and pleasing to the eye of men ignorant of the canons of +Art. + +There were no large trees near it, though a clump rose a few hundred +yards behind it, and took away the effect of bareness it would otherwise +have had. The garden was well kept, and bright with flowers, and it was +clear that no blighting influence hung over them, nor, it would be +thought, over the girl, who, with a straw hat swinging in one hand, and +a basket, moved among them. But the country people for six miles round +firmly believed that a curse lay on Carne's Hold, and even among the +county families no one would have been willing to give a daughter in +marriage to an owner of the place. + +Carnesford, now a good-sized village, had once been a tiny hamlet, an +appanage of Carne's Hold, but it had long since grown out of leading +strings, and though it still regarded The Carnes with something of its +old feudal feeling, it now furnished no suit or service unless paid for +so doing. Carnesford had grown but little of late years, and had no +tendency to increase. There was work enough in the neighbourhood for +such of its inhabitants as wanted to work, and in summer a cart went +daily with fruit and garden produce to Plymouth, which lay about twenty +miles away, the coast road dipping down into the valley, and crossing +the bridge over the Dare at Carnesford, and then climbing the hill again +to the right of The Hold. + +Artists would sometimes stop for a week or two to sketch the quaint +old-fashioned houses in the main street, and especially the mill of +Hiram Powlett, which seemed to have changed in no way since the days +when its owner held it on the tenure of grinding such corn as the owners +of The Hold required for the use of themselves and their retainers. +Often, too, in the season, a fisherman would descend from the coach as +it stopped to change horses at the "Carne's Arms" and would take up his +quarters there, for there was rare fishing in the Dare, both in the deep +still pool above the mill and for three or four miles higher up, while +sea-trout were nowhere to be found plumper and stronger than in the +stretch of water between Carnesford and Dareport, two miles away. + +Here, where the Dare ran into the sea, was a fishing village as yet +untouched, and almost unknown even to wandering tourists, and offering +indeed no accommodation whatever to the stranger beyond what he might, +perchance, obtain in the fishermen's cottages. + +The one drawback to Carnesford, as its visitors declared, was the rain. +It certainly rained often, but the villagers scarcely noticed it. It was +to the rain, they knew, that they owed the bright green of the valley +and the luxuriousness of their garden crops, which always fetched the +top price in Plymouth market; and they were so accustomed to the soft +mist brought up by the south-west wind from over the sea that they never +noticed whether it was raining or not. + +Strangers, however, were less patient, and a young man who was standing +at the door of the "Carne's Arms," just as the evening was closing in at +the end of a day in the beginning of October, 1850, looked gloomily out +at the weather. "I do not mind when I am fishing," he muttered to +himself; "but when one has once changed into dry clothes one does not +want to be a prisoner here every evening. Another day like this, and I +shall pack up my traps and get back again on board." + +He turned and went back into the house, and, entering the bar, took his +seat in the little sanctum behind it; for he had been staying in the +house for a week, and was now a privileged personage. It was a snug +little room; some logs were blazing on the hearth, for although the +weather was not cold, it was damp enough to make a fire pleasant. Three +of the landlord's particular cronies were seated there: Hiram Powlett, +the miller; and Jacob Carey, the blacksmith; and old Reuben Claphurst, +who had been the village clerk until his voice became so thin and +uncertain a treble that the vicar was obliged to find a successor for +him. + +"Sit down, Mr. Gulston," the landlord said, as his guest entered. "Fine +day it has been for fishing, and a nice basket you have brought in." + +"It's been well enough for fishing, landlord, but I would rather put up +with a lighter basket, and have a little pleasanter weather." + +The sentiment evidently caused surprise, which Jacob Carey was the first +to give expression to. + +"You don't say, now, that you call this unpleasant weather, sir? Now I +call this about as good weather as we could expect in the first week of +October--warm and soft, and in every way seasonable." + +"It may be all that," the guest said, as he lit his pipe; "but I own I +don't care about having the rain trickling down my neck from +breakfast-time to dark." + +"Our fishermen about here look on a little rain as good for sport," +Hiram Powlett remarked. + +"No doubt it is; but I am afraid I am not much of a sportsman. I used to +be fond of fishing when I was a lad, and thought I should like to try my +hand at it again, but I am afraid I am not as patient as I was. I don't +think sea life is a good school for that sort of thing." + +"I fancied now that you might be a sailor, Mr. Gulston, though I didn't +make so bold as to ask. Somehow or other there was something about your +way that made me think you was bred up to the sea. I was not sure about +it, for I can't recollect as ever we have had a sailor gentleman staying +here for the fishing before." + +"No," Mr. Gulston laughed, "I don't think we often take to the rod. +Baiting a six-inch hook at the end of a sea-line for a shark is about +the extent to which we usually indulge; though sometimes when we are at +anchor the youngsters get the lines overboard and catch a few fish. Yes, +I am a sailor, and belong, worse luck, to the flagship at Plymouth. By +the way," he went on, turning to Jacob Carey, "you said last night, just +as you were going out, something about the curse of Carne's Hold. That's +the house up upon the hill, isn't it? What is the curse, and who said +it?" + +"It is nothing sir, it's only foolishness," the landlord said, hastily. +"Jacob meant nothing by it." + +"It ain't foolishness, John Beaumont, and you know it--and, for that, +every one knows it. Foolishness indeed! Here's Reuben Claphurst can tell +you if it's nonsense; he knows all about it if any one does." + +"I don't think it ought to be spoken of before strangers," Hiram Powlett +put in. + +"Why not?" the smith asked, sturdily. "There isn't a man on the +country-side but knows all about it. There can be no harm in telling +what every one knows. Though the Carnes be your landlords, John +Beaumont, as long as you pay the rent you ain't beholden to them; and as +for you, Hiram, why every one knows as your great-grandfather bought the +rights of the mill from them, and your folk have had it ever since. +Besides, there ain't nothing but what is true in it, and if the Squire +were here himself, he couldn't say no to that." + +"Well, well, Jacob, there's something in what you say," the landlord +said, in the tone of a man convinced against his will; but, indeed, now +that he had done what he considered his duty by making a protest, he had +no objection to the story being told. "Maybe you are right; and, though +I should not like it said as the affairs of the Carnes were gossiped +about here, still, as Mr. Gulston might, now that he has heard about the +curse on the family, ask questions and hear all sorts of lies from those +as don't know as much about it as we do, and especially as Reuben +Claphurst here does, maybe it were better he should get the rights of +the story from him." + +"That being so," the sailor said, "perhaps you will give us the yarn, +Mr. Claphurst, for I own that you have quite excited my curiosity as to +this mysterious curse." + +The old clerk, who had told the story scores of times, and rather prided +himself on his telling, was nothing loth to begin. + +"There is something mysterious about it, sir, as you say; so I have +always maintained, and so I shall maintain. There be some as will have +it as it's a curse on the family for the wickedness of old Sir Edgar. So +it be, surelie, but not in the way they mean. Having been one of the +officers of the church here for over forty year, and knowing the mind of +the old parson, ay, and of him who was before him, I always take my +stand on this. It was a curse, sure enough, but not in the way as they +wants to make out. It wouldn't do to say as the curse of that Spanish +woman had nowt to do with it, seeing as we has authority that curses +does sometimes work themselves out; but there ain't no proof to my mind, +and to the mind of the parsons as I have served under, that what they +call the curse of Carne's Hold ain't a matter of misfortune, and not, as +folks about here mostly think, a kind of judgment brought on them by +that foreign, heathen woman. Of course, I don't expect other people to +see it in that light." + +This was in answer to a grunt of dissent on the part of the blacksmith. + +"They ain't all had my advantages, and looks at it as their fathers and +grandfathers did before them. Anyhow, there is the curse, and a bitter +curse it has been for the Carnes, as you will say, sir, when you have +heard my story. + +"You must know that in the old times the Carnes owned all the land for +miles and miles round, and Sir Marmaduke fitted out three ships at his +own expense to fight under Howard and Blake against the Spaniards. + +"It was in his time the first slice was cut off the property, for he +went up to Court, and held his own among the best of them, and made as +brave a show, they say, as any of the nobles there. His son took after +him, and another slice, though not a big one, went; but it was under Sir +Edgar, who came next, that bad times fell upon Carne's Hold. When the +troubles began he went out for the King with every man he could raise in +the country round, and they say as there was no man struck harder or +heavier for King Charles than he did. He might have got off, as many +another one did, if he would have given it up when it was clear the +cause was lost; but whenever there was a rising anywhere he was off to +join it, till at last house and land and all were confiscated, and he +had to fly abroad. + +"How he lived there no one exactly knows. Some said as he fought with +the Spaniards against the Moors; others, and I think they were not far +from the mark, that he went out to the Spanish Main, and joined a band +of lawless men, and lived a pirate's life there. No one knows about +that. I don't think any one, even in those days, did know anything, +except that when he came back with King Charles he brought with him a +Spanish wife. There were many tales about her. Some said that she had +been a nun, and that he had carried her off from a convent in Spain, but +the general belief was--and as there were a good many Devonshire lads +who fought with the rovers on the Spanish Main, it's likely that the +report was true--that she had been the wife of some Spanish Don, whose +ship had been captured by the pirates. + +"She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that. Such a beauty, they +say, as was never seen before or since in this part. But they say that +from the first she had a wild, hunted look about her, as if she had +either something on her conscience, or had gone through some terrible +time that had well-nigh shaken her reason. She had a baby some months +old with her when she arrived, and a nurse was engaged from the village, +for strangely enough, as every one thought at the time, Sir Edgar had +brought back no attendant either for himself or his lady. + +"No sooner was he back, and had got possession of his estates, being in +that more lucky than many another who fought for the Crown, than he set +to work to rebuild The Hold; living for the time in a few rooms that +were patched up and made habitable in the old building. Whatever he had +been doing while he was abroad, there was no doubt whatever that he had +brought back with him plenty of money, for he had a host of masons and +carpenters over from Plymouth, and spared no expense in having things +according to his fancy. All this time he had not introduced his wife to +the county. Of course, his old neighbours had called and had seen her as +well as him, but he had said at once that until the new house was fit to +receive visitors he did not wish to enter society, especially as his +wife was entirely ignorant of the English tongue. + +"Even in those days there were tales brought down to the village by the +servants who had been hired from here, that Sir Edgar and his wife did +not get on well together. They all agreed that she seemed unhappy, and +would sit for hours brooding, seeming to have no care or love for her +little boy, which set folk more against her, since it seemed natural +that even a heathen woman should care for her child. + +"They said, too, there were often fierce quarrels between Sir Edgar and +her, but as they always talked in her tongue, no one knew what they were +about. When the new house was finished they moved into it, and the ruins +of the old Hold were levelled to the ground. People thought then that +Sir Edgar would naturally open the house to the county, and, indeed, +some entertainments were given, but whether it was that they believed +the stories to his disadvantage, or that they shrank from the strange +hostess, who, they say, always looked on these occasions stately and +cold, and who spoke no word of their language, the country gentry +gradually fell away, and Carne's Hold was left pretty much to its +owners. + +"Soon afterwards another child was born. There were, of course, more +servants now, and more state, but Lady Carne was as much alone as ever. +Whether she was determined to learn no word of English, or whether he +was determined that she should not, she at any rate made no attempt to +acquire her husband's language, and many said that it was a shame he did +not get her a nurse and a maid who could speak her tongue; for in the +days of Charles there were foreigners enough in England, and there could +have been no difficulty in procuring her an attendant of her own +religion and race. + +"They quarrelled more than ever; but the servants were all of opinion +that whatever it was about it was her doing more than his. It was her +voice to be heard rising in passionate tones, while he said but little, +and they all agreed he was polite and courteous in his manner to her. As +for her, she would walk for hours by herself up and down the terrace, +talking aloud to herself, sometimes wringing her hands and throwing her +arms wildly about. At this time there began to be a report among the +country round that Lady Carne was out of her mind. + +"She was more alone than ever now, for Sir Edgar had taken to making +journeys up to town and remaining for weeks at a time, and there was a +whisper that he played heavily and unluckily. So things went on until +the third child was born, and a fortnight afterwards a servant from The +Hold rode through the village late at night on his way for the doctor, +and stopped a moment to tell the news that there was a terrible scene up +at The Hold, for that during a momentary absence of the nurse, Lady +Carne had stabbed her child to death, and when he came away she was +raving wildly, the efforts of Sir Edgar and two of the servants hardly +sufficing to hold her. + +"After that no one except the inmates of The Hold ever saw its mistress +again; the windows in one of the wings were barred, and two strange +women were brought down from London and waited and attended on the poor +lady. There were but few other servants there, for most of the girls +from about here soon left, saying that the screams and cries that rang +at times through the house were so terrible that they could not bear +them; but, indeed, there was but small occasion for servants, for Sir +Edgar was almost always away. One night one of the girls who had stayed +on and had been spending the evening with her friends, went home late, +and just as she reached the house she saw a white figure appear at one +of the barred windows. + +"In a moment the figure began crying and screaming, and to the girl's +surprise many of her words were English, which she must have picked up +without any one knowing it. The girl always declared that her language +made her blood run cold, and was full of oaths, such as rough sailor-men +use, and which, no doubt, she had picked up on ship-board; and then she +poured curses upon the Carnes, her husband, the house, and her +descendants. The girl was so panic-stricken that she remained silent +till, in a minute or two, two other women appeared at the window, and by +main force tore Lady Carne from her hold upon the bars. + +"A few days afterwards she died, and it is mostly believed by her own +hand, though this was never known. None of the servants, except her own +attendants, ever entered the room, and the doctor never opened his lips +on the subject. Doubtless he was well paid to keep silence. Anyhow, her +death was not Sir Edgar's work, for he was away at the time, and only +returned upon the day after her death. So, sir, that is how the curse +came to be laid on Carne's Hold." + +"It is a terrible story," Mr. Gulston said, when the old clerk ceased; +"a terrible story. It is likely enough that the rumour was true, and +that he carried her off, after capturing the vessel and killing her +husband, and perhaps all the rest of them, and that she had never +recovered from the shock. Was there ever any question as to whether they +had been married?" + +"There was a question about it--a good deal of question; and at Sir +Edgar's death the next heir, who was a distant cousin, set up a claim, +but the lawyer produced two documents Sir Edgar had given him. One was +signed by a Jack Priest, who had, it was said, been one of the crew on +board Sir Edgar's ship, certifying that he had duly and lawfully married +Sir Edgar Carne and Donna Inez Martos; and there was another from a +Spanish priest, belonging to a church at Porto Rico, certifying that he +had married the same pair according to Catholic rites, appending a note +saying that he did so although the husband was a heretic, being +compelled and enforced by armed men, the town being in the possession of +a force from two ships that had entered the harbour the night before. +As, therefore, the pair had been married according to the rites of both +Churches, and the Carnes had powerful friends at Court, the matter +dropped, and the title has never since been disputed. As to Sir Edgar +himself, he fortunately only lived four years after his wife's death. +Had he lived much longer, there would have been no estate left to +dispute. As it was, he gambled away half its wide acres." + +"And how has the curse worked?" Mr. Gulston asked. + +"In the natural way, sir. As I was saying before it has just been in the +natural way, and whatever people may say, there is nothing, as I have +heard the old parson lay down many a time, to show that that poor +creature's wild ravings had aught to do with what followed. The taint in +the blood of Sir Edgar's Spanish wife was naturally inherited by her +descendants. Her son showed no signs of it, at least as far as I have +heard, until he was married and his wife had borne him three sons. Then +it burst out. He drew his sword and killed a servant who had given him +some imaginary offence, and then, springing at his wife, who had thrown +herself upon him, he would have strangled her had not the servants run +in and torn him off her. He, too, ended his days in confinement. His +sons showed no signs of the fatal taint. + +"The eldest married in London, for none of the gentry of Devonshire +would have given their daughter in marriage to a Carne. The others +entered the army; one was killed in the Low Countries, the youngest +obtained the rank of general and married and settled in London. The son +of the eldest boy succeeded his father, but died a bachelor. He was a +man of strange, moody habits, and many did not hesitate to say that he +was as mad as his grandfather had been. He was found dead in his +library, with a gun just discharged lying beside him. Whether it had +exploded accidentally, or whether he had taken his life, none could say. + +"His uncle, the General, came down and took possession, and for a time +it seemed as if the curse of the Carnes had died out, and indeed no +further tragedies have taken place in the family, but several of its +members have been unlike other men, suffering from fits of morose gloom +or violent passion. The father of Reginald, the present Squire, was of a +bright and jovial character, and during the thirty years that he was +possessor of The Hold was so popular in this part of the country that +the old stories have been almost forgotten, and it is generally believed +that the curse of the Carnes has died out." + +"The present owner," Mr. Gulston asked; "what sort of a man is he?" + +"I don't know nothing about him," the old man replied; "he is since my +time." + +"He is about eight-and-twenty," the landlord said. "Some folks say one +thing about him, some another; I says nothing. He certainly ain't like +his father, who, as he rode through the village, had a word for every +one; while the young Squire looks as if he was thinking so much that he +didn't even know that the village stood here. The servants of The Hold +speak well of him--he seems kind and thoughtful when he is in the +humour, but he is often silent and dull, and it is not many men who +would be dull with Miss Margaret. She is one of the brightest and +highest spirited young ladies in the county. There's no one but has a +good word for her. I think the Squire studies harder than is good for +him. They say he is always reading, and he doesn't hunt or shoot; and +natural enough when a man shuts himself up and takes no exercise to +speak of, he gets out of sorts and dull like; anyhow, there's nothing +wrong about him. He's just as sane and sensible as you and I." + +After waiting for two days longer and finding the wet weather continue, +Mr. Gulston packed up his rods and fishing tackle and returned to +Plymouth. He had learned little more about the family at The Hold, +beyond the fact that Mrs. Mervyn, who inhabited a house standing half a +mile further up the valley, was the aunt of Reginald and Margaret Carne, +she having been a sister of the late possessor of The Hold. In her youth +she had been, people said, the counterpart of her niece, and it was not +therefore wonderful that Clithero Mervyn had, in spite of the advice of +his friends and the reputation of the Carnes, taken what was considered +in the county the hazardous step of making her his wife. + +This step he had never repented, for she had, like her brother, been one +of the most popular persons in that part of the county, and a universal +favourite. The Mervyn estate had years before formed part of that of the +Carnes, but had been separated from it in the time of Sir Edgar's +grandson, who had been as fond of London life and as keen a gambler as +his ancestor. + +The day before he started, as he was standing at the door of the hotel, +Reginald Carne and his sister had ridden past; they seemed to care no +more for the weather than did the people of the village, and were +laughing and talking gaily as they passed, and Charles Gulston thought +to himself that he had never in all his travels seen a brighter and +prettier face than that of the girl. + +[Illustration: "_Charles Gulston thought he had never seen a prettier +and brighter face than that of the girl._"] + +He thought often of the face that day, but he was not given to romance, +and when he had once returned to his active duties as first lieutenant +of H.M.S. _Tenebreuse_, he thought no more on the subject until three +weeks later his captain handed him a note, saying: + +"Here, Gulston, this is more in your line than mine. It's an invitation +to a ball, for myself and some of my officers, from Mrs. Mervyn. I have +met her twice at the Admiral's, and she is a very charming woman, but as +her place is more than twenty miles away and a long distance from a +railway station, I certainly do not feel disposed to make the journey. +They are, I believe, a good county family. She has two pretty daughters +and a son--a captain in the Borderers, who came into garrison about a +month ago; so I have no doubt the soldiers will put in a strong +appearance." + +"I know the place, sir," Gulston said; "it's not far from Carnesford, +the village where I was away fishing the other day, and as I heard a +good deal about them I think I will take advantage of the invitation. I +dare say Mr. Lucas will be glad to go too, if you can spare him." + +"Certainly, any of them you like, Gulston, but don't take any of the +midshipmen; you see Mrs. Mervyn has invited my officers, but as the +soldiers are likely to show up in strength, I don't suppose she wants +too many of us." + +"We have an invitation to a ball, doctor," Lieutenant Gulston said after +leaving the captain, to their ship's doctor, "for the 20th, at a Mrs. +Mervyn's. The captain says we had better not go more than three. +Personally I rather want to go. So Hilton of course must remain on +board, and Lucas can go. I know you like these things, although you are +not a dancing man. As a rule it goes sorely against my conscience taking +such a useless person as one of our representatives; but upon the +present occasion it does not matter, as there is a son of the house in +the Borderers; and, of course, they will put in an appearance in +strength." + +"A man can make himself very useful at a ball, even if he doesn't +dance, Gulston," the doctor said. "Young fellows always think chits of +girls are the only section of the female sex who should be thought of. +Who is going to look after their mothers, if there are only boys +present? The conversation of a sensible man like myself is quite as +great a treat to the chaperones as is the pleasure of hopping about the +room with you to the girls. The conceit and selfishness of you lads +surprise me more and more, there are literally no bounds to them. How +far is this place off?" + +"It's about twenty miles by road, or about fifteen by train, and eight +or nine to drive afterwards. I happen to know about the place, as it's +close to the village where I was fishing a fortnight ago." + +"Then I think the chaperones will have to do without me, Gulston. I am +fond of studying human nature, but if that involves staying up all night +and coming back in the morning, the special section of human nature +there presented must go unstudied." + +"I have been thinking that one can manage without that, doctor. There is +a very snug little inn where I was stopping in the village, less than a +mile from the house. I propose that we go over in the afternoon, dine at +the inn, and dress there. Then we can get a trap to take us up to the +Mervyns', and can either walk or drive down again after it is over, or +come back by train with the others, according to the hour and how we +feel when the ball is over." + +"Well, that alters the case, lad, and under those conditions I will be +one of the party." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +MARGARET CARNE. + + +Ronald Mervyn was, perhaps, the most popular man in his regiment. They +were proud of him as one of the most daring steeplechase riders in the +service, and as a man who had greatly distinguished himself by a deed of +desperate valour in India. He was far and away the best cricketer in the +corps; he could sing a capital song, and was an excellent musician and +the most pleasant of companions. He was always ready to do his friends a +service, and many a newly-joined subaltern who got into a scrape had +been helped out by Ronald Mervyn's purse. And yet at times, as even +those who most liked and admired him could not but admit, Ronald Mervyn +was a queer fellow. His fits were few and far between, but when they +occurred he was altogether unlike himself. While they lasted, he would +scarce exchange a word with a soul, but shut himself in his room, or, as +soon as parade was over, mounted his horse and rode off, not to return +probably until late at night. + +Mervyn's moods were the subject of many a quiet joke among the young +officers of the regiment. Some declared that he must have committed a +murder somewhere, and was occasionally troubled in his conscience; while +some insisted that Mervyn's strange behaviour was only assumed in order +that he might be the more appreciated at other times. Among the two or +three officers of the regiment who came from that part of the country, +and knew something of the family history of the Mervyns, it was +whispered that he had inherited some slight share of the curse of the +Carnes. Not that he was mad in the slightest degree--no one would think +of saying that of Ronald Mervyn--but he had certainly queer moods. +Perhaps the knowledge that there was a taint in his blood affected him, +and in course of time he began to brood over it. + +When this mood was on him, soon after joining the regiment, he himself +had spoken to the doctor about it. + +"Do you know, doctor, I am a horrible sufferer from liver complaint?" + +"You don't look it, Mervyn," the surgeon replied; "your skin is clear, +and your eye is bright. You are always taking exercise, your muscles are +as hard as nails. I cannot believe that there is much the matter with +you." + +"I assure you, doctor, that at times for two or three days I am fit for +nothing. I get into such a state that I am not fit to exchange a word +with a human being, and could quarrel with my best friend if he spoke to +me. I have tried all sorts of medicines, but nothing seems to cure me. I +suppose it's liver; I don't know what else it can be. I have spoken +about it to the Major, and asked him if at any time he sees me look +grumpy, to say a word to the mess, and ask them to leave me to myself; +but I do wish you could give me something." + +The doctor had recommended courses of various foreign waters, and had +given him instructions to bathe his head when he felt it coming on; but +nothing had availed. Once a year, or sometimes oftener, Ronald retired +for two or three days, and then emerged as well and cheerful as before. + +Once, when the attack had been particularly severe, he had again +consulted the doctor, this time telling him the history of his family on +his mother's side, and asking him frankly whether he thought these +periodical attacks had any connection with the family taint. The doctor, +who had already heard the story in confidence from one of the two men +who knew it, replied: + +"Well, Mervyn, I suppose that there's some sort of distant connection +between the two things, but I do not think you are likely to be +seriously affected. I think you can set your mind at ease on that score. +A man of so vigorous a frame as you are, and leading so active and +healthy a life, is certainly not a likely subject for insanity. You +should dismiss the matter altogether from your mind, old fellow. Many +men with a more than usual amount of animal spirits suffer at times from +fits of depression. In your case, perhaps due, to some extent, to your +family history, these fits of depression are more severe than usual. +Probably the very circumstance that you know this history has something +to do with it, for when the depression--which is, as I have said, not +uncommon in the case of men with high spirits, and is, in fact, a sort +of reaction--comes over you, no doubt the thought of the taint in the +blood occurs to you, preys upon your mind, and deeply intensifies your +depression." + +"That is so, doctor. When I am in that state my one thought is that I am +going mad, and I sometimes feel then as if it would be best to blow out +my brains and have done with it." + +"Don't let such a fancy enter your head, Mervyn," the doctor said, +earnestly. "I can assure you that I think you have no chance whatever of +becoming insane. The fits of depression are of course troublesome and +annoying, but they are few and far apart, and at all other times you are +perfectly well and healthy. You should, therefore, regard it as I do--as +a sort of reaction, very common among men of your sanguine temperament, +and due in a very slight degree to the malady formerly existent in your +family. I have watched you closely since you came to the regiment, and, +believe me, that I do not say it solely to reassure you when I affirm +that it is my full belief and conviction that you are as sane as other +men, and it is likely that as you get on in life these fits of +depression will altogether disappear. You see both your mother and uncle +were perfectly free from any suspicion of a taint, and it is more than +probable that it has altogether died out. At any rate the chances are +slight indeed of its reappearing in your case." + +"Thank you, doctor; you can imagine what a relief your words are to me. +I don't worry about it at other times, and indeed feel so thoroughly +well, that I could laugh at the idea were it mooted; but during these +moods of mine it has tried me horribly. If you don't mind, I will get +you to write your opinion down, so that next time the fit seizes me I +can read it over, and assure myself that my apprehensions are +unfounded." + +Certainly no one would associate the idea of insanity with Ronald +Mervyn, as upon the day before the ball at his mother's house he sat on +the edge of the ante-room table, and laughed and talked with a group of +five young officers gathered round him. + +"Mind, you fellows must catch the seven o'clock train, or else you will +be too late. There will be eight miles to drive; I will have a trap +there to meet you, and you won't be there long before the others begin +to arrive. We are not fashionable in our part of the county. We shall +have enough partners for you to begin to dance by half-past nine, and I +can promise you as pretty partners as you can find in any ball-room in +England. When you have been quartered here a bit longer you will be +ready to admit the truth of the general opinion, that, in point of +pretty women, Devonshire can hold its own against any county in +England. No, there is no fear whatever of your coming in too great +strength. Of course, in Plymouth here, one can overdo the thing, but +when one gets beyond the beat of the garrison, men are at a premium. I +saw my mother's list; if it had not been for the regiment the female +element would have predominated terribly. The army and navy, India and +the colonies, to say nothing of all-devouring London, are the scourges +of the country; the younger sons take wings to themselves and fly, and +the spinsters are left lamenting." + +"I think there is more push and go among younger sons than there is in +the elders," one of the young officers said. + +"They have not got the same responsibilities," Ronald laughed. "It is +easy to see you are a younger son, Charley; there's a jaunty air about +your forage cap and a swagger in your walk, that would tell any +observant person that you are free from all responsibilities, and could, +as the Latin grammar says, sing before a robber." + +There was a general laugh, for Charley Mansfield was notoriously in a +general state of impecuniosity. He, himself, joined merrily in the +laugh. + +"I can certainly say," he replied, "'He who steals my purse steals +trash;' but I don't think he would get even that without a tussle. +Still, what I said is true, I think. I know my elder brother is a +fearfully stately personage, who, on the strength of two years' +difference of age, and his heirship, takes upon himself periodically to +inflict ponderous words of wisdom upon me. I think a lot of them are +like that; but after all, as I tell him, it's the younger sons who have +made England what it is. We won her battles and furnished her colonies, +and have done pretty nearly everything that has been done; while the +elder sons have only turned into respectable landowners and prosy +magistrates." + +"Very well, Charley, the sentiments do you honour," another laughed; +"but there, the assembly is sounding. Waiter, bring me a glass of +sherry; your sentiments have so impressed me, Charley, that I intend to +drink solemnly to the success of second sons." + +"You are not on duty, are you, Mervyn?" + +"No, I am starting in half an hour to get home. I shall be wanted to aid +in the final preparations. Well, I shall see you all to morrow night. +Don't forget the seven o'clock train. I expect we shall keep it up till +between three and four. Then you can smoke a cigar, and at five the +carriages will be ready to take you to the station to catch the first +train back, and you will be here in time for a tub and a change before +early parade." + +The ball at the Mervyns' was a brilliant one. The house was large, and +as Mr. Mervyn had died four years before, and Ronald had since that time +been absent on foreign service, it was a long time since an +entertainment on a large scale had been given there to the county. A +little to the disappointment of many of the young ladies in the +neighbourhood, the military and naval officers did not come in uniform. +There were two or three girls staying in the house, and one of them in +the course of the evening, when she was dancing with Ronald, said: + +"We all consider you have taken us in, Captain Mervyn. We made sure that +you would all be in uniform. Of course those who live near Plymouth are +accustomed to it, but in these parts the red coats are rather a novelty, +and we feel we have been defrauded." + +"We never go to balls, Miss Blackmoor, in uniform, except when they are +regular naval or military balls, either given by our own regiment or +some of the regiments in garrison, or by the navy. That is generally the +rule though perhaps in some regiments it is not so strictly adhered to +as with us." + +"Then I consider that it is a fraud upon the public, Captain Mervyn. +Gentlemen's dress is so dingy and monotonous that I consider it +distinctly the duty of soldiers to give us a little light and colour +when they get the chance." + +"Very well, Miss Blackmoor, I will bear it in mind; and next time my +mother gives a ball, the regiment, if it is within reach, shall come in +uniform. By the way, do you know who is the man my cousin is dancing +with? There are lots of faces I don't know here; being seven or eight +years away makes a difference in a quiet country place." + +"That is Mr. Gulston; he is first-lieutenant of the flagship at +Plymouth. I know it because he was introduced to me early in the +evening, and we danced together, and a capital dancer he is, too." + +"He is an uncommonly good-looking fellow," Ronald said. + +Margaret Carne seemed to think so, too, as she danced with him two or +three times in the course of the evening, and went down to supper on his +arm. + +Ronald having, as the son of the house, to divide his attentions as much +as possible, did not dance with his cousin. Lieutenant Gulston had been +accompanied by the third-lieutenant, and by the doctor, who never missed +an opportunity of going to a ball because, as he said, it gave him an +opportunity of studying character. + +"You see," he would argue, "on board a ship one gets only the one side +of human nature. Sailors may differ a bit one from another, but they can +all be divided into two or three classes--the steady honest fellow who +tries to do his work well; the reckless fellow who is ready to do his +work, but is up to every sort of mischief and devilment; and the lazy, +loafing fellow who neglects his duty whenever he possibly can, and is +always shamming sick in order to get off it. Some day or other I shall +settle on shore and practise there, and I want to learn something about +the people I shall have to deal with; besides, there's nothing more +amusing than looking on at a ball when you have no idea of dancing +yourself. It's astonishing what a lot of human nature you see if you do +but keep your wits about you." + +In the course of the evening he came up to the first-lieutenant. + +"Who is that man you have just been talking to, Gulston? I have been +watching him for some time. He has not been dancing, but has been +standing in corners looking on." + +"He is Mr. Carne, doctor; a cousin, or rather a nephew, of our hostess." + +"Is he the brother of that pretty girl you have been dancing with?" + +The lieutenant nodded. + +"Then I am sorry for her," the surgeon said, bluntly. + +"Sorry! What for?" + +The surgeon answered by another question. + +"Do you know anything about the family, Gulston?" + +"I have heard something about them. Why?" + +"Never mind now," the surgeon said. "I will tell you in the morning; +it's hardly a question to discuss here," and he turned away before the +lieutenant could ask further. + +It was four o'clock before the dancing ceased and the last carriage +rolled away. Then the military and naval men, and two or three visitors +from Plymouth, gathered in the library, and smoked and talked for an +hour, and were then conveyed to the station to catch the early train. +The next day, as they were walking up and down the quarter-deck, the +first-lieutenant said: "By the way, doctor, what was it you were going +to say last night about the Carnes? You said you were sorry for Miss +Carne, and asked me if I knew anything about the history of the family." + +"Yes, that was it, Gulston; it wasn't the sort of thing to talk about +there, especially as I understand the Mervyns are connections of the +Carnes. The question I was going to ask you was this: You know their +family history; is there any insanity in it?" + +The lieutenant stopped suddenly in his walk with an exclamation of +surprise and pain. + +"What do you mean, Mackenzie? Why do you ask such a question?" + +"You have not answered mine. Is there insanity in the blood?" + +"There has been," the lieutenant said, reluctantly. + +"I felt sure of it. I think you have heard me say my father made a +special study of madness; and when I was studying for my profession I +have often accompanied him to lunatic asylums, and I devoted a great +deal of time to the subject, intending to make it my special branch +also. Then the rambling fit seized me and I entered the service; but I +have never missed following the subject up whenever I have had an +opportunity. I have therefore visited asylums for lunatics whenever such +existed, at every port which we have put into since I have been in the +service. + +"When my eye first fell upon Mr. Carne he was standing behind several +other people, watching the dancing, and the expression of his face +struck me as soon as my eye fell upon him. I watched him closely all +through the evening. He did not dance, and rarely spoke to any one, +unless addressed. I watched his face and his hands--hands are, I can +tell you, almost as expressive as faces--and I have not the smallest +hesitation in saying that the man is mad. It is possible, but not +probable, that at ordinary times he may show no signs of it; but at +times, and last night was one of those times, the man is mad; nay, more, +I should be inclined to think that his madness is of a dangerous type. + +"Now that you tell me it is hereditary, I am so far confirmed in my +opinion that I should not hesitate, if called upon to do so, to sign a +certificate to the effect that, in my opinion, he was so far insane as +to need the most careful watching, if not absolute confinement." + +The colour had faded from the lieutenant's face as the doctor spoke. + +"I am awfully sorry," he said, in a low tone, "and I trust to God, +doctor, that you are mistaken. I cannot but think that you are. I was +introduced to him by his sister, and he was most civil and polite, +indeed more than civil, for he asked me if I was fond of shooting, and +when I said that I was extremely so, he invited me over to his place. He +said he did not shoot himself, but that next week his cousin Mervyn and +one or two others were coming to him to have two or three days' pheasant +shooting, and he would be glad if I would join the party; and, as you +may suppose, I gladly accepted the invitation." + +"Well," the doctor said, drily, "so far as he is concerned, there is no +danger in your doing so, if, as you say, he doesn't shoot. If he did, I +should advise you to stay away; and in any case, if you will take the +advice which I offer, you won't go. You will send an excuse." + +The lieutenant made no answer for a minute or two, but paced the room in +silence. + +"I won't pretend to misunderstand you, Mackenzie. You mean there's no +danger with him, but you think there may be from her. That's what you +mean, isn't it?" + +The doctor nodded. + +"I saw you were taken with her, Gulston; that is why I have spoken to +you about her brother." + +"You don't think--confound it, man--you can't think," the lieutenant +said, angrily, "that there is anything the matter with her?" + +"No, I don't think so," the doctor said, gravely. "No, I should say +certainly not; but you know in these cases where it is in the blood it +sometimes lies dormant for a generation and then breaks out again. I +asked somebody casually last night about their father, and he said that +he was a capital fellow and most popular in the country; so if it is in +the blood it passed over him, and is showing itself again in the son. It +may pass over the daughter and reappear in her children. You never know, +you see. Do you mind telling me what you know about the family?" + +"Not now; not at present. I will at some other time. You have given me a +shock, and I must think it over." + +The doctor nodded, and commenced to talk about other matters. A minute +or two later the lieutenant made some excuse, and turned into the cabin. +Dr. Mackenzie shook his head. + +"The lad is hard hit," he said, "and I am sorry for him. I hope my +warning comes in time; it will do if he isn't a fool, but all young men +are fools where women are concerned. I will say for him that he has more +sense than most, but I would give a good deal if this had not happened." + +Lieutenant Gulston was, indeed, hard hit; he had been much struck with +the momentary glance he had obtained of Margaret Carne as he stood on +the steps of the "Carne Arms," and the effect had been greatly +heightened on the previous day. Lieutenant Gulston had, since the days +when he was a middy, indulged in many a flirtation, but he had never +before felt serious. He had often laughed at the impressibility of some +of his comrades, and had scoffed at the idea of love at first sight, +but now that he began to think matters seriously over, the pain the +doctor's remarks had given him opened his eyes to the fact that it was a +good deal more than a passing fancy. + +Thinking it over in every light, he acknowledged the prudent course +would be to send some excuse to her brother, with an expression of +regret that he found that a matter of duty would prevent his coming +over, as he had promised, for the shooting. Then he told himself that +after all the doctor might be mistaken, and that it would be only right +that he should judge for himself. If there was anything in it, of course +he should go no more to The Hold, and no harm would be done. Margaret +was certainly very charming; she was more than charming, she was the +most lovable woman he had ever met. Still, of course, if there was any +chance of her inheriting this dreadful thing, he would see her no more. +After all, no more harm could be done in a couple of days than had been +done already, and he was not such a fool but that he could draw back in +time. And so after changing his mind half-a-dozen times, he resolved to +go over for the shooting. + +"Ruth, I want to speak to you seriously," Margaret Carne said to her +maid two days after the ball. Ruth Powlett was the miller's daughter, +and the village gossips had been greatly surprised when, a year before, +they heard that she was going up to The Hold to be Miss Carne's own +maid; for although the old mill was a small one, and did no more than a +local business, Hiram was accounted to have laid by a snug penny, and as +Ruth was his only child, she was generally regarded as the richest +heiress in Carnesford. That Hiram should then let her go out into +service, even as maid to Miss Carne at The Hold, struck every one with +surprise. + +It was generally assumed that the step had been taken because Hiram +Powlett wanted peace in the house. He had, after the death of his first +wife, Ruth's mother, married again, and the general verdict was that he +had made a mistake. In the first place, Hiram was a staunch Churchman, +and one of the churchwardens at Carnesford; but his wife, who was a +Dareport woman--and that alone was in the opinion of Carnesford greatly +against her--was a Dissenter, and attended the little chapel at +Dareport, and entertained the strongest views as to the prospects and +chances of her neighbours in a future state; and in the second place, +perhaps in consequence of their religious opinions, she was generally on +bad terms with all her neighbours. + +But when Hiram married her she had a good figure, the lines of her face +had not hardened as they afterwards did, and he had persuaded himself +that she would make an excellent mother for Ruth. Indeed, she had not +been intentionally unkind, and although she had brought her up strictly, +she believed that she had thoroughly done her duty; lamenting only that +her efforts had been thwarted by the obstinacy and perverseness of her +husband in insisting that the little maid should trot to church by his +side, instead of going with her to the chapel at Dareport. + +Ruth had grown up a quiet and somewhat serious girl; she had blossomed +out into prettiness in the old mill, and folks in the village were +divided as to whether she or Lucy Carey, the smith's daughter, was the +prettiest girl in Carnesford. Not that there was any other matter in +comparison between them, for Lucy was somewhat gay and flirty, and had a +dozen avowed admirers; while Ruth had from her childhood made no secret +of her preference for George Forester, the son of the little farmer +whose land came down to the Dare just where Hiram Powlett's mill stood. + +He was some five years older than she was, and had fished her out of the +mill-stream when she fell into it, when she was eight years old. From +that time he had been her hero. She had been content to follow him about +like a dog, to sit by his side for hours while he fished in the deep +pool above the mill, under the shadow of the trees, quite content with +an occasional word or notice. She took his part heartily when her +stepmother denounced him as the idlest and most impertinent boy in the +parish; and when, soon after she was fifteen, he one day mentioned that, +as a matter of course, she would some day be his wife, she accepted it +as a thing of which she had never entertained any doubt whatever. + +But Hiram now took the alarm, and one day told her that she was to give +up consorting with young Forester. + +"You are no longer a child, Ruth, and if you go on meeting young +Forester down at the pool, people will be beginning to talk. Of course I +know that you are a good girl, and would never for a moment think of +taking up with George Forester. Every one knows what sort of young +fellow he is; he never does a day's work on the farm, and he is in and +out of the 'Carne Arms' at all hours. He associates with the worst lot +in the village, and it was only the other day that when the parson tried +to speak to him seriously, he answered him in a way that was enough to +make one's hair stand on end." + +Ruth obeyed her father, and was no more seen about with George Forester; +but she believed no tale to his disadvantage, and when at times she met +with him accidentally, she told him frankly enough that though her +father didn't like her going about with him, she loved him and meant to +love him always, whatever they might say. Upon all other points her +father's will was law to her, but upon this she was firm; and two years +afterwards, when some words young Forester had spoken at a public-house +about his daughter came to his ears, Hiram renewed the subject to her, +she answered staunchly that unless he gave his consent she would not +marry George Forester, but that nothing would make her give him up or go +back from her word. + +For once Hiram Powlett and his wife were thoroughly in accord. The +former seldom spoke upon the subject, but the latter was not so +reticent, and every misdeed of young Forester was severely commented +upon by her in Ruth's hearing. Ruth seldom answered, but her father saw +that she suffered, and more than once remonstrated with his wife on what +he called her cruelty, but found that as usual Hesba was not to be +turned from her course. + +"No, Hiram Powlett," she said, shutting her lips tightly together; "I +must do my duty whether it pleases you or not, and it is my duty to see +that Ruth does not throw away her happiness in this world and the next +by her headstrong conduct. She does not belong to the fold, but in other +respects I will do her credit to say she is a good girl and does her +duty as well as can be expected, considering the dulness of the light +she has within her; but if she were to marry this reprobate she would be +lost body and soul; and whatever you may think of the matter, Hiram +Powlett, I will not refrain from trying to open her eyes." + +"I am quite as determined as you are, Hesba, that the child shall not +marry this young rascal, but I don't think it does any good to be always +nagging at her. Women are queer creatures; the more you want them to go +one way the more they will go the other." + +But though Hiram Powlett did not say much, he worried greatly. Ruth had +always been quiet, but she was quieter than ever now, and her cheeks +gradually lost their roses, and she looked pale and thin. At last Hiram +determined that if he could not obtain peace for her at home he would +elsewhere, and hearing that Miss Carne's maid was going to be married he +decided to try to get Ruth the place. She would be free from Hesba's +tongue there, and would have other things to think about besides her +lover, and would moreover have but few opportunities of seeing him. He +was shy of approaching the subject to her, and was surprised and pleased +to find that when he did, instead of opposing it as he had expected, she +almost eagerly embraced the proposal. + +In fact, Ruth's pale cheeks and changed appearance were not due, as her +father supposed, to unhappiness at her stepmother's talk against George +Forester; but because in spite of herself she began to feel that her +accusations were not without foundation. Little by little she learnt, +from chance words dropped by others, that the light in which her father +held George Forester was that generally entertained in the village. She +knew that he often quarrelled with his father, and that after one of +these altercations he had gone off to Plymouth and enlisted, only to be +bought out a few days afterwards. + +She knew that he drank, and had taken part in several serious frays that +had arisen at the little beershop in the village; and hard as she fought +against the conviction, it was steadily making its way, that her lover +was wholly unworthy of her. And yet, in spite of his faults, she loved +him. Whatever he was with others, he was gentle and pleasant with her, +and she felt that were she to give him up his last chance would be gone. +So she was glad to get away from the village for a time, and to the +surprise of her father, and the furious anger of George Forester, she +applied for and obtained the post of Margaret Carne's maid. + +She had few opportunities of seeing George Forester now; but what she +heard when she went down to the village on Sundays was not encouraging. +He drank harder than before, and spent much of his time down at +Dareport, and, as some said, was connected with a rough lot there who +were fonder of poaching than of fishing. + +Margaret Carne was aware of what she considered Ruth's infatuation. She +kept herself well informed of the affairs of the village--the greater +portion of which belonged to her and her brother--and she learnt from +the clergyman, whose right hand she was in the choir and schools, a good +deal of the village gossip. She had never spoken to Ruth on the subject +during the nine months she had been with her, but now she felt she was +bound to do so. + +"What is it, Miss Margaret?" Ruth said, quietly, in answer to her +remark. + +"I don't want to vex you, and you will say it is no business of mine, +but I think it is, for you know I like you very much, besides, your +belonging to Carnesford. Of course I have heard--every one has heard, +you know--about your engagement to young Forester. Now a very painful +thing has happened. On the night of the dance our gamekeepers came +across a party of poachers in the woods, as of course you have heard, +and had a fight with them, and one of the keepers is so badly hurt that +they don't think he will live. He has sworn that the man who stabbed him +was George Forester, and my brother, as a magistrate, has just signed a +warrant for his arrest. + +"Now, Ruth, surely this man is not worthy of you. He bears, I hear, on +all sides a very bad character, and I think you will be more than +risking your happiness with such a man; I think for your own sake it +would be better to give him up. My brother is very incensed against him; +he has been out with the other keepers to the place where this fray +occurred and he says it was a most cowardly business, for the poachers +were eight to three, and he seems to have no doubt whatever that +Forester was one of the party, and that they will be able to prove it. I +do think, Ruth, you ought to give him up altogether. I am not talking to +you as a mistress, you know, but as a friend." + +"I think you are right, Miss Margaret," the girl said, in a low voice. +"I have been thinking it over in every way. At first I didn't think what +they said was true, and then I thought that perhaps I might be able to +keep him right, and that if I were to give him up there would be no +chance for him. I have tried very hard to see what was my duty, but I +think now that I see it, and that I must break off with him. But oh! it +is so hard," she added, with a quiver in her voice, "for though I know +that I oughtn't to love him, I can't help it." + +"I can quite understand that, Ruth," Margaret Carne agreed. "I know if I +loved any one I should not give him up merely because everybody spoke +ill of him. But, you see, it is different now. It is not merely a +suspicion, it is almost absolute proof; and besides, you must know that +he spends most of his time in the public-house, and that he never would +make you a good husband." + +"I have known that a long time," Ruth said, quietly; "but I have hoped +always that he might change if I married him. I am afraid I can't hope +any longer, and I have been thinking for some time that I should have to +give him up. I will tell him so now, if I have an opportunity." + +"I don't suppose you will, for my brother says he has not been home +since the affair in the wood. If he has, he went away again at once. I +expect he has made either for Plymouth or London, for he must know that +the police would be after him for his share in this business. I am very +sorry for it, Ruth, but I do think you will be happier when you have +once made up your mind to break with him. No good could possibly come +of your sacrificing yourself." + +Ruth said no more on the subject, but went about her work as quietly and +orderly as usual, and Margaret Carne was surprised to see how bravely +she held up, for she knew that she must be suffering greatly. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +TWO QUARRELS. + + +Three days later the shooting party assembled. Several gentlemen came to +stay at the house, while Ronald Mervyn and his party, of course, put up +at Mervyn Hall. The shooting was very successful, and the party were +well pleased with their visit. Reginald Carne was quiet and courteous to +his guests, generally accompanying them through the day, though he did +not himself carry a gun. After the first day's shooting there was a +dinner party at Mervyn Hall, and the following evening there was one at +The Hold. + +Lieutenant Gulston enjoyed himself more than any one else, though he was +one of the least successful of the sportsmen, missing easy shots in a +most unaccountable manner, and seeming to take but moderate interest in +the shooting. He had, very shortly after arriving at the house, come to +the conclusion that the doctor was altogether mistaken, and that +Reginald Carne showed no signs whatever of being in any way different +from other men. "The doctor is so accustomed to us sailors," he said to +himself, "that if a man is quiet and studious he begins to fancy +directly there must be something queer about him. That is always the +way with doctors who make madness a special study. They suspect every +one they come across of being out of their mind. I shouldn't be at all +surprised if he doesn't fancy I am cracked myself. The idea is perfectly +absurd. I watched Carne closely at dinner, and no one could have been +more pleasant and gentlemanly than he was. I expect Mackenzie must have +heard a word let drop about this old story, and of course if he did he +would set down Carne at once as being insane. Well, thank goodness, +that's off my mind; it's been worrying me horribly for the last few +days. I have been a fool to trouble myself so about Mackenzie's +croakings, but now I will not think anything more about it." + +On the following Sunday, as Ruth Powlett was returning from church in +the morning, and was passing through the little wood that lay between +Carnesford and The Hold, there was a rustle among the trees, and George +Forester sprang out suddenly. + +"I have been waiting since daybreak to see you, Ruth, but as you came +with that old housekeeper I could not speak to you. I have been in +Plymouth for the last week. I hear that they are after me for that +skirmish with the keepers, so I am going away for a bit, but I couldn't +go till I said good-bye to you first, and heard you promise that you +would always be faithful to me." + +"I will say good-bye, George, and my thoughts and prayers will always be +with you, but I cannot promise to be faithful--not in the way you mean." + +"What do you mean, Ruth?" he asked, angrily. "Do you mean that after all +these years you are going to throw me off?" + +Ruth was about to reply, when there was a slight rustling in the bushes. + +"There is some one in the path in the wood." + +George Forester listened for a moment. + +"It's only a rabbit," he said, impatiently. "Never mind that now, but +answer my question. Do you dare to tell me that you are going to throw +me over?" + +"I am not going to throw you off, George," she said, quietly; "but I am +going to give you up. I have tried, oh! how hard I have tried, to +believe that you would be better some day, but I can't hope so any +longer. You have promised again and again that you would give up +drinking, but you are always breaking your promise, and now I find that +in spite of all I've said, you still hold with those bad men at +Dareport, and that you have taken to poaching, and now they are in +search of you for being one of those concerned in desperately wounding +John Morton. No, George, I have for years withstood even my father. I +have loved you in spite of his reproaches and entreaties, but I feel now +that instead of your making me happy I should be utterly miserable if I +married you, and I have made a promise to Miss Carne that I would give +you up." + +"Oh, she has been meddling, has she?" George Forester said with a +terrible imprecation; "I will have revenge on her, I swear I will. So +it's she who has done the mischief, and made you false to all you +promised. Curse you! with your smooth face, and your church-going ways, +and your canting lies. You think, now they are hunting me away, you can +take up with some one else; but you shan't, I swear, though I swing for +it." + +And he grasped her suddenly by the throat; but at this moment there was +a sound of voices in the road behind them, and dashing Ruth to the +ground with a force that stunned her, he sprang into the woods. A minute +later the stablemen at The Hold came along the road and found Ruth still +lying on the ground. + +[Illustration: "_He grasped her suddenly by the throat._"] + +After a minute's consultation they determined to carry her down to her +father's house, as they had no idea what was the best course to pursue +to bring her round. Two of them, therefore, lifted and carried her down, +while the other hurried on to prepare the miller for their arrival. + +"Master Powlett," he said as he entered, "your girl has hurt herself; I +expect she slipped on a stone somehow, going up the hill, and came down +heavy; anyhow we found her lying there insensible, and my two mates are +bringing her down. We saw her two or three hundred yards ahead of us as +we came out of the churchyard, so she could not have laid there above a +minute or so when we came up." + +Ruth was brought in. Mrs. Powlett had not yet returned from Dareport, +but a neighbour was soon fetched in by one of the men while another went +for the doctor, and in a few minutes Ruth opened her eyes. + +"Don't talk, dear," her father said, "lie quiet for a few minutes and +you will soon be better; you slipped down in the road, you know, and +gave yourself a shake, but it will be all right now." + +Ruth closed her eyes again and lay quiet for a short time, then she +looked up again and tried to sit up. + +"I am better now, father." + +"Thank God for that, Ruth. It gave me a turn when I saw you carried in +here, I can tell you; but lie still a little time longer, the doctor +will be here in a few minutes." + +"I don't want him, father." + +"Yes, you do, my dear, and anyhow as he has been sent for he must come +and see you; you need not trouble about going up to The Hold, it was +three of the men there that found you and brought you down; I will send +a note by them to Miss Carne telling her you had a bad fall, and that we +will keep you here until to-morrow morning. I am sure you will not be +fit to walk up that hill again to-day. Anyhow we will wait until the +doctor comes and hear what he says." + +Ten minutes later the doctor arrived, and after hearing Hiram's account +of what had happened, felt Ruth's pulse and then examined her head. + +"Ah, here is where you fell," he said; "a good deal of swelling, and it +has cut the skin. However, a little bathing with warm water is all that +is wanted. There, now, stand up if you can and walk a step or two, and +tell me if you feel any pain anywhere else. + +"Ah, nowhere except in the shoulder. Move your arm. Ah, that is all +right, nothing broken. You will find you are bruised a good deal, I have +no doubt. Well, you must keep on the sofa all day, and not do any +talking. You have had a severe shake, that's evident, and must take care +of yourself for a day or two. You have lost all your colour, and your +pulse is unsteady and your heart beating anyhow. You must keep her quite +quiet, Hiram. If I were you I would get her up to bed. Of course you +must not let her talk, and I don't want any talking going on around her, +you understand?" + +Hiram did understand, and before Mrs. Powlett returned from chapel, +Ruth, with the assistance of the woman who had come in, was in bed. + +"I look upon it as a judgment," Mrs. Powlett said upon her return, when +she heard the particulars. "If she had been with me at chapel this never +would have happened. It's a message to her that no good can come of her +sitting under that blind guide, the parson. I hope it will open her +eyes, and that she will be led to join the fold." + +"I don't think it is likely, Hesba," Hiram said, quietly, "and you will +find it hard to persuade her that loose stone I suppose she trod on was +dropped special into the road to trip her up in coming from church. +Anyhow you can't talk about it to-day; the doctor's orders are that she +is to be kept perfectly quiet, that she is not to talk herself, and that +there's to be no talking in the room. He says she can have a cup of tea +if she can take it, but I doubt at present whether she can take even +that; the poor child looks as if she could scarce open her eyes for +anything, and no wonder, for the doctor says she must have fallen +tremendous heavy." + +Mrs. Powlett made the tea and took it upstairs. Any ideas she may have +had of improving the occasion, in spite of the doctor's injunctions, +vanished when she saw Ruth's white face on the pillow. Noiselessly she +placed the little table close to the bed and put the cup upon it. Ruth +opened her eyes as she did so. + +"Here is some tea, dearie," Hesba said, softly. "I will put it down +here, and you can drink it when you feel inclined." Ruth murmured "Thank +you," and Hesba stooped over her and kissed her cheek more softly than +she had ever done before, and then went quietly out of the room again. + +"She looks worse than I thought for, Hiram," she said, as she proceeded +to help the little servant they kept to lay the cloth for dinner. "I +doubt she's more hurt than the doctor thinks. I could see there were +tears on her cheek, and Ruth was never one to cry, not when she was hurt +ever so much. Of course, it may be because she is low and weak; still I +tell you that I don't like it. Is the doctor coming again?" + +"Yes; he said he would look in again this evening." + +"I don't like it," Hesba repeated, "and after dinner I will put on my +bonnet and go down to the doctor myself and hear what he has got to say +about her. Perhaps he will tell me more than he would you; he knows what +poor creatures men are. They just get frighted out of what wits they've +got, if you let on any one's bad; but I will get it out of him. It +frets me to think I wasn't here when she was brought in, instead of +having strangers messing about her." + +It came into Hiram's mind to retort that her being away at that moment +was a special warning against her going to Dareport; but the low, +troubled voice in which she spoke, and the furtive passing of her hand +across her cheek to brush away a tear, effectually silenced him. It was +all so unusual in the case of Hesba, whom, indeed, he had never seen so +soft and womanly since the first day she had crossed the threshold of +the house, that he was at once touched and alarmed. + +"I hope you are wrong, wife; I hope you are wrong," he said, putting his +hand on her shoulder. "I don't think the doctor thought badly of it, but +he seemed puzzled like, I thought; but if there's trouble, Hesba, we +will bear it together, you and I; it's sent for good, we both know that. +We goes the same way, you know, wife, if we don't go by the same road." + +The woman made no answer, for at that moment the girl appeared with the +dinner. Hesba ate but a few mouthfuls, and then saying sharply that she +had no appetite, rose from the table, put on her bonnet and shawl, and, +without a word, walked out. + +She was away longer than Hiram expected, and in the meantime he had to +answer the questions of many of the neighbours, who, having heard from +the woman who had been called in of Ruth's accident, came to learn the +particulars. When Hesba returned she brought a bundle with her. + +"The doctor's coming in an hour," she said. "I didn't get much out of +him, except he said it had been a shock to her system, and he was afraid +that there might be slight concussion of the brain. He said if that was +so we should want some ice to put to her head, and I have been up to The +Hold and seen Miss Carne. I had heard Ruth say they always have ice up +there, and she has given me some. She was just coming down to inquire +about Ruth, but of course I told her she couldn't talk to nobody. That +was the doctor's orders. Has she moved since I have been away?" + +Hiram shook his head. "I have been up twice, but she was just lying with +her eyes closed." + +"Well, I will go and sit up there," Hesba said. "Tell that girl if she +makes any noise, out of the house she goes; and the best thing you can +do is to take your pipe and sit in that arbour outside, or walk up and +down if you can't keep yourself warm; and don't let any one come +knocking at the door and worriting her. It will be worse for them if I +has to come down." + +Hiram Powlett obeyed his wife's parting injunction and kept on guard all +the afternoon, being absent from his usual place in church for the first +time for years. In the evening there was nothing for him to do in the +house, and his wife being upstairs, he followed his usual custom of +dropping for half an hour into the snuggery of the "Carne Arms." + +"Yes, it's true," he said in answer to the questions of his cronies, +"Ruth has had a bad fall, and the doctor this afternoon says as she has +got a slight concussion of the brain. He said he hoped she would get +over it, but he looked serious-like when he came downstairs. It's a bad +affair, I expect. But she is in God's hands, and a better girl never +stepped, though I says it." There was a murmur of regret and consolation +among the three smokers, but they saw that Hiram was too upset for many +words, and the conversation turned into other channels for a time, Hiram +taking no share in it but smoking silently. + +"It's a rum thing," he said, presently, during a pause in the +conversation, "that a man don't know really about a woman's nature, not +when he has lived with her for years and years. Now there's my wife +Hesba, who has got a tongue as sharp as any one in this village." A +momentary smile passed round the circle, for the sharpness of Hesba +Powlett's tongue was notorious. "It scarce seemed to me, neighbours, as +she had got a soft side to her or that she cared more for Ruth than she +did for the house-dog. She always did her duty by her, I will say that +for her; and a tidier woman and a better housewife there ain't in the +country round. But duty is one thing and love is another. Now you would +hardly believe it, but I do think that Hesba feels this business as much +as I do. You wouldn't have knowed her; she goes about the house with her +shoes off as quiet as a mouse, and she speaks that soft and gentle you +wouldn't know it was her. Women's queer creatures anyway." + +There was a chorus of assent to the proposition, and, in fact, the +discovery that Hesba Powlett had a soft side to her nature was +astonishing indeed. + +For three days Ruth Powlett lay unconscious, and then quiet and good +nursing, and the ice on her head, had their effect; and one evening the +doctor, on visiting her, said that he thought a change had taken place, +and that she was now sleeping naturally. The next morning there was +consciousness in her eyes when she opened them, and she looked in +surprise at the room darkened by a curtain pinned across the window, and +at Hesba, sitting by her bedside, with a huge nightcap on her head. + +"What is it, mother, what has happened?" + +"You have been ill, Ruth, but thank God you are better now. Don't talk, +dear, and don't worry. I have got some beef-tea warming by the fire; the +doctor said you were to try and drink a cup when you woke, and then to +go off to sleep again." + +Ruth looked with a feeble surprise after Hesba as she left the room, +missing the sharp, decisive foot-tread. In a minute she returned as +noiselessly as she had gone. + +"Can you hold the cup yourself, Ruth, or shall I feed you?" + +Ruth put out her hand, but it was too weak to hold the cup. She was +able, however, slightly to raise her head, and Hesba held the cup to her +lips. + +"What have you done to your feet, mother?" she asked, as she finished +the broth. + +"I have left my shoes downstairs, Ruth; the doctor said you were to be +kept quiet. Now try to go to sleep, that's a dear." + +She stooped and kissed the girl affectionately, and Ruth, to her +surprise, felt a tear drop on her cheek. She was wondering over this +strange circumstance when she again fell asleep. + +In a few days she was about the house again, but she was silent and +grave, and did not gain strength as fast as the doctor had hoped for. +However, in three weeks' time she was well enough to return to The Hold. +Hiram had strongly remonstrated against her doing so, but she seemed to +set her mind upon it, urging that she would be better for having +something to think about and do than in remaining idle at home; and as +the doctor was also of opinion that the change would be rather likely to +benefit than to do her harm, Hiram gave way. + +The day before she left she said to her father: + +"Do you know whether George Forester has been caught, or whether he has +got away?" + +"He has not been caught, Ruth, but I don't think he has gone away; there +is a talk in the village that he has been hiding down at Dareport, and +the constable has gone over there several times, but he can't find signs +of him. I think he must be mad to stay so near when he knows he is +wanted. I can't think what is keeping him." + +"I have made up my mind, father, to give him up. You have been right, +and I know now he would not make me a good husband; but please don't say +anything against him, it is hard enough as it is." + +Hiram kissed his daughter. + +"Thank God for that news, Ruth. I hoped after that poaching business you +would see it in that light, and that he wasn't fit for a mate for one +like you. Your mother will be glad, child. She ain't like the same woman +as she was, is she?" + +"No, indeed, father, I do not seem to know her." + +"I don't know as I was ever so knocked over in my life as I was +yesterday, Ruth, when your mother came downstairs in her bonnet and +shawl, and said, 'I am going to church with you, Hiram.' I didn't open +my lips until we were half-way, and then she said as how it had been +borne in on her as how her not being here when you was brought in was a +judgment on her for being away at Dareport instead of being at church +with us; and she said more than that, as how, now she thought over it, +she saw as she hadn't done right by me and you all these years, and +hoped to make a better wife what time she was left to us. I wasn't sure +at church time as it wasn't a dream to see her sitting there beside me, +and joining in the hymns, listening attentive to the parson as she has +always been running down. She said on the way home she felt just as she +did when she was a girl, five-and-twenty years ago, and used to come +over here to church, afore she took up with the Methodies." + +Ruth kissed her father. + +"Then my fall has done good after all," she said. "It makes me happy to +know it." + +"I shall be happy when I see you quite yourself again, Ruth. Come back +to us soon, dear." + +"I will, father; in the spring I will come home again for good, I +promise you," and so Ruth returned for a time to The Hold. + +"I am glad you are back again, Ruth," Miss Carne, who had been down +several times to see her, said. "I told you not to hurry yourself, and I +would have done without you for another month, but you know I am really +very glad to have you back again. Mary managed my hair very well, but I +could not talk to her as I do to you." + +Ruth had not been many hours in the house before she learnt from her +fellow-servants that Mr. Gulston had been over two or three times since +the shooting party, and that the servants in general had an opinion that +he came over to see Miss Carne. + +"It's easy to see that with half an eye," one of the girls said, "and I +think Miss Margaret likes him too, and no wonder, for a properer-looking +man is not to be seen; but I always thought she would have married her +cousin. Every one has thought so for years." + +"It's much better she should take the sailor gentleman," one of the +elder women said. "I am not saying anything against Mr. Ronald, who is +as nice a young gentleman as one would want to see, but he is her +cousin, and I don't hold to marriages among cousins anyhow, and +especially in a family like ours." + +"I think it is better for us not to talk about it at all," Ruth said, +quietly; "I don't think it right and proper, and it will be quite time +enough to talk about Miss Margaret's affairs when we know she is +engaged." + +The others were silent for a minute after Ruth's remark, and then the +under-housemaid, who had been an old playmate of Ruth's, said: + +"You never have ideas like other people, Ruth Powlett. It is a funny +thing that we can't say a word about people in the house without being +snapped up." + +"Ruth is right," the other said, "and your tongue runs too fast, Jane. +As Ruth says, it will be quite time enough to talk when Miss Margaret +is engaged; till then the least said the better." + +In truth, Lieutenant Gulston had been several times at The Hold, and his +friend the doctor, seeing his admonition had been altogether thrown +away, avoided the subject, but from his gravity of manner showed that he +had not forgotten it; and he shook his head sadly when one afternoon the +lieutenant had obtained leave until the following day. "I wish I had +never spoken. Had I not been an old fool I should have known well enough +that he was fairly taken by her. We have sailed together for twelve +years, and now there is an end to our friendship. I hope that will be +all, and that he will not have reason to be sorry he did not take my +advice and drop it in time. Of course she may have escaped and I think +that she has done so; but it's a terrible risk--terrible. I would give a +year's pay that it shouldn't have happened." + +An hour before Lieutenant Gulston left his ship, Ronald Mervyn had +started for The Hold. A word that had been said by a young officer of +the flagship who was dining at mess had caught his ears. It was +concerning his first-lieutenant. + +"He's got quite a fishing mania at present, and twice a week he goes off +for the day to some place twenty miles away--Carnesford, I think it is. +He does not seem to have much luck; anyhow, he never brings any fish +home. He is an awfully good fellow, Gulston; the best first-lieutenant I +ever sailed with by a long way." + +What Ronald Mervyn heard was not pleasant to him. He had noticed the +attentions Gulston had paid to Margaret Carne at the ball, and had been +by no means pleased at meeting him, installed at The Hold with the +shooting party, and the thought that he had been twice a week over in +that neighbourhood caused an angry surprise. The next morning, +therefore, he telegraphed home for a horse to meet him at the station, +and started as soon as lunch was over. He stayed half an hour at home, +for his house lay on the road between the station and Carne's Hold. The +answer he received from his sister to a question he put did not add to +his good temper. + +Oh, yes. Mr. Gulston had called a day or two after he had been to the +shooting party, and they had heard he had been at The Hold several times +since. + +When he arrived there, Ronald found that Margaret and her brother were +both in the drawing-room, and he stood chatting with them there for some +time, or rather chatting with Margaret, for Reginald was dull and moody. +At last the latter sauntered away. + +"What's the matter with you, sir?" Margaret said to her cousin. "You +don't seem to be quite yourself; is it the weather? Reginald is duller +and more silent than usual, he has hardly spoken a word to-day." + +"No, it's not the weather," he replied, sharply. "I want to ask you a +question, Margaret." + +"Well, if you ask it civilly," the girl replied, "I will answer it, but +certainly not otherwise." + +"I hear that that sailor fellow has been coming here several times. What +does it mean?" + +Margaret Carne threw back her head haughtily. "What do you mean, Ronald, +by speaking in that tone; are you out of your mind?" + +"Not more than the family in general," he replied, grimly; "but you have +not answered my question." + +"I have not asked Lieutenant Gulston what he comes here for," she said, +coldly; "and, besides, I do not recognise your right to ask me such a +question." + +"Not recognise my right?" he repeated, passionately. "I should have +thought that a man had every right to ask such a question of the woman +he is going to marry." + +"Going to marry?" she repeated, scornfully. "At any rate this is the +first I have heard of it." + +"It has always been a settled thing," he said, "and you know it as well +as I do. You promised me ten years ago that you would be my wife some +day." + +"Ten years ago I was a child. Ronald, how can you talk like this! You +know we have always been as brother and sister together. I have never +thought of anything else of late. You have been home four or five +months, anyhow, and you have had plenty of time to speak if you wanted +to. You never said a word to lead me to believe that you thought of me +in any other way than as a cousin." + +"I thought we understood each other, Margaret." + +"I thought so too," the girl replied, "but not in the same way. Oh, +Ronald, don't say this; we have always been such friends, and perhaps +years ago I might have thought it would be something more; but since +then I have grown up and grown wiser, and even if I had loved you in the +way you speak of, I would not have married you, because I am sure it +would be bad for us both. We have both that terrible curse in our blood, +and if there was not another man in the world I would not marry you." + +"I don't believe you would have said so a month ago," Ronald Mervyn +said, looking darkly at her. "This Gulston has come between us, that's +what it is, and you cannot deny it." + +"You are not behaving like a gentleman, Ronald," the girl said, quietly. +"You have no right to say such things." + +"I have a right to say anything," he burst out. "You have fooled me and +spoilt my life, but you shall regret it. You think after all these years +I am to be thrown by like an old glove. No, by Heaven; you may throw me +over, but I swear you shall never marry this sailor or any one else, +whatever I do to prevent it. You say I have the curse of the Carnes in +my blood. You are right, and you shall have cause to regret it." + +He leapt from the window, which Margaret had thrown open a short time +before, for the fire had overheated the room, ran down to the stables, +leapt on his horse, and rode off at a furious pace. Neither he nor +Margaret had noticed that a moment before a man passed along the walk +close under the window. It was Lieutenant Gulston. He paused for a +moment as he heard his name uttered in angry tones, opened the hall door +without ceremony, and hurried towards that of the drawing-room. Reginald +Carne was standing close to it, and it flashed across Gulston's mind +that he had been listening. He turned his head at the sailor's quick +step. "Don't go in there just at present, Gulston, I fancy Margaret is +having a quarrel with her cousin. They are quiet now, we had best leave +them alone." + +"He was using very strong language," the sailor said, hotly. "I caught a +word or two as I passed the windows." + +"It's a family failing. I fancy he has gone now. I will go in and see. I +think it were best for you to walk off for a few minutes, and then come +back again. People may quarrel with their relatives, you know, but they +don't often care for other people to be behind the scenes." + +"No, you are quite right," Gulston answered; "the fact is, for the +moment I was fairly frightened by the violence of his tone, and really +feared that he was going to do something violent. It was foolish, of +course, and I really beg your pardon. Yes, what you say is quite right. +If you will allow me I will have the horse put in the trap again. I got +out at the gate and walked across the garden, telling the man to take +the horse straight round to the stables; but I think I had better go +and come again another day. After such a scene as she has gone through +Miss Carne will not care about having a stranger here." + +"No, I don't think that would be best," Reginald Carne said. "She would +wonder why you did not come, and would, likely enough, hear from her +maid that you had been and gone away again, and might guess you had +heard something of the talking in there. No, I think you had better do +as I said--go away, and come again in a few minutes." + +The lieutenant accordingly went out and walked about the shrubbery for a +short time, and then returned. Miss Carne did not appear at dinner, but +sent down a message to say that she had so bad a headache she would not +be able to appear downstairs that evening. + +Reginald Carne did not play the part of host so well as usual. At times +he was gloomy and abstracted, and then he roused himself and talked +rapidly. Lieutenant Gulston thought that he was seriously discomposed at +the quarrel between his sister and his cousin; and he determined at any +rate not to take the present occasion to carry out the intention he had +formed of telling Reginald Carne that he was in love with his sister, +and hoped he would have no objection to his telling her so, as he had a +good income besides his pay as first-lieutenant. When the men had been +sitting silently for some time after wine was put on the table, he said: + +"I think, Carne, I will not stop here to-night. Your sister is evidently +quite upset with this affair, and no wonder. I shall feel myself +horribly _de trop_, and would rather come again some other time if you +will let me. If you will let your man put a horse in the trap I shall +catch the ten o'clock train comfortably." + +"Perhaps that would be best, Gulston. I am not a very lively companion +at the best of times, and family quarrels are unpleasant enough for a +stranger." + +A few minutes later Lieutenant Gulston was on his way to the station. He +had much to think about on his way home. In one respect he had every +reason to be well satisfied with what he had heard, as it had left no +doubt whatever in his mind that Margaret Carne had refused the offer of +her cousin, and that the latter had believed that he had been refused +because she loved him--Charlie Gulston. Of course she had not said so; +still she could not have denied it, or her cousin's wrath would not have +been turned against him. + +Then he was sorry that such a quarrel had taken place, as it would +probably lead to a breach between the two families. He knew Margaret was +very fond of her aunt and the girls. Then the violence with which Ronald +Mervyn had spoken caused him a deal of uneasiness. Was it possible that +a sane man would have gone on like that? Was it possible that the curse +of the Carnes was still working? This was an unpleasant thought; but +that which followed was still more anxious. + +Certainly, from the tone of his voice, he had believed that Ronald +Mervyn was on the point of using violence to Margaret, and if the man +was really not altogether right in his head there was no saying what he +might do. As for himself, he laughed at the threats that had been +uttered against him. Mad or sane, he had not the slightest fear of +Ronald Mervyn. But if, as was likely enough, this mad-brained fellow +tried to fix a quarrel upon him in some public way, it might be horribly +unpleasant--so unpleasant that he did not care to think of it. He +consoled himself by hoping that when Mervyn's first burst of passion had +calmed down, he might look at the matter in a more reasonable light, and +see that at any rate he could not bring about a public quarrel without +Margaret's name being in some way drawn into it; that her cousin could +not wish, however angry he might be with her. + +It was an unpleasant business. If Margaret accepted him, he would take +her away from all these associations. It was marvellous that she was so +bright and cheerful, knowing this horrible story about that Spanish +woman, and that there was a taint in the blood. That brother of hers, +too, was enough to keep the story always in her mind. The doctor was +certainly right about him. Of course he wasn't mad, but there was +something strange about him, and at times you caught him looking at you +in an unpleasant sort of way. + +"He is always very civil," the lieutenant muttered to himself; "in fact, +wonderfully civil and hospitable, and all that. Still I never feel quite +at my ease with him. If I had been a rich man, and they had been hard +up, I should have certainly suspected there was a design in his +invitations, and that he wanted me to marry Margaret; but, of course, +that is absurd. He can't tell that I have a penny beyond my pay; and a +girl like Margaret might marry any one she liked, at any rate out of +Devonshire. Perhaps he may not have liked the idea of her marrying this +cousin of hers; and no doubt he is right there, and seeing, as I daresay +he did see, that I was taken with Margaret, he thought it better to give +me a chance than to let her marry Mervyn. + +"I don't care a snap whether all her relations are mad or not. I know +that she is as free from the taint as I am; but it can't be wholesome +for a girl to live in such an atmosphere, and the next time I go over I +will put the question I meant to put this evening, and if she says yes, +I will very soon get her out of it all." And then the lieutenant +indulged in visions of pretty houses, with bright gardens looking over +the sea, and finally concluded that a little place near Ryde or Cowes +would be in every way best and most convenient, as being handy to +Portsmouth, and far removed from Devonshire and its associations. "I +hope to get my step in about a year; then I will go on half-pay. I have +capital interest, and I daresay my cousin in the Admiralty will be able +to get me a dockyard appointment of some sort at Portsmouth; if not, I +shall, of course, give it up. I am not going to knock about the world +after I am married." + +This train of thought occupied him until almost mechanically he left the +train, walked down to the water, hailed a boat, and was taken alongside +his ship. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY. + + +Margaret Carne's message as to her inability to come down to dinner was +scarcely a veracious one. She was not given to headaches, and had not, +so far as she could remember, been once laid up with them, but after +what had been said, she did not feel equal to going downstairs and +facing Charlie Gulston. She had never quite admitted to herself that she +loved the young sailor who had for the last few weeks been so much at +the house, and of whose reason for so coming she had but little doubt; +but now, as she sat alone in the room, she knew well enough the answer +she should give to his question, when it came. + +At present, however, the discovery of her own feelings caused alarm +rather than pleasure. There had been no signs of fear in her face when +her cousin raged and threatened, but she did not believe that the +threats were empty ones; he had often frightened her when she was a +child by furious bursts of passion, and although it was many years now +since she had seen him thus, she felt sure that he would do as he had +threatened, and was likely enough to take any violent step that might +occur to him in his passion, to carry out his threat. + +Although she had put a bold front on it, Margaret felt at heart that his +reproach was not altogether unjustified. There had been a boy and girl +understanding between them, and although it had not been formally +ratified of late years, its existence was tacitly recognised in both +families, and until a few months before she herself had considered that +in the natural course of events she should some day be Ronald Mervyn's +wife. + +Had he reproached her gently, she would have frankly admitted this, and +would have asked him to forgive her for changing her mind now that years +had wrought a change in her feelings; but the harshness and suddenness +of his attack had roused her pride, and driven her to take up the ground +that there was no formal engagement between them, and that as he had not +renewed the subject for years she was at perfect liberty to consider +herself free. She had spoken but the truth in saying that their near +relationship was in her eyes a bar to their marriage. Of late years she +had thought much more than she had when a girl over the history of the +family and the curse of the Carnes, and although she had tried her best +to prevent herself from brooding over the idea, she could not disguise +from herself that her brother was at times strange and unlike other men, +and her recollections of Ronald's outbursts of temper, as a boy, induced +the suspicion that he, too, had not altogether escaped the fatal taint. +Still, had not Charlie Gulston come across her path, it was probable +that she would have drifted on as before, and would, when the time came +have accepted Ronald Mervyn as her husband. + +The next morning, when Ruth Powlett went as usual to call her mistress, +she started with surprise as she opened the door, for the blind was +already up and the window open. Closing the door behind her, she went in +and placed the jug of hot water she carried by the washstand, and then +turned round to arouse her mistress. As she did so a low cry burst from +her lips, and she grasped a chair for support. The white linen was +stained with blood, and Margaret lay there, white and still, with her +eyes wide open and fixed in death. The clothes were drawn a short way +down in order that the murderer might strike at her heart. Scarce had +she taken this in, when Ruth felt the room swim round, her feet failed +her, and she fell insensible on the ground. + +In a few minutes the cold air streaming in through the open window +aroused her. Feebly she recovered her feet, and, supporting herself +against the wall, staggered towards the door. As she did so her eye fell +on an object lying by the side of the bed. She stopped at once with +another gasping cry, pressed her hand on her forehead, and stood as if +fascinated, with her eyes fixed upon it. Then slowly and reluctantly, as +if forced to act against her will, she moved towards the bed, stooped +and picked up the object she had seen. + +She had recognised it at once. It was a large knife with a spring blade, +and a silver plate let into the buckhorn handle, with a name, G. +Forester, engraved upon it. It was a knife she herself had given to her +lover a year before. It was open and stained with blood. For a minute or +two she stood gazing at it in blank horror. What should she do, what +should she do? She thought of the boy who had been her playmate, of the +man she had loved, and whom, though she had cast him off, she had never +quite ceased to love. She thought of his father, the old man who had +always been kind to her. If she left this silent witness where she had +found it there would be no doubt what would come of it. For some minutes +she stood irresolute. + +"God forgive me," she said at last. "I cannot do it." She closed the +knife, put it into her dress, and then turned round again. She dared not +look at the bed now, for she felt herself in some way an accomplice in +her mistress's murder, and she made her way to the door, opened it, and +then hurried downstairs into the kitchen, where the servants, who were +just sitting down to breakfast, rose with a cry as she entered. + +"What is it, Ruth? What's the matter? Have you seen anything?" + +Ruth's lips moved but no sound came from them, her face was ghastly +white, and her eyes full of horror. + +"What is it, child?" the old cook said, advancing and touching her, +while the others shrank back, frightened at her aspect. + +"Miss Margaret is dead," came at last slowly from her lips. "She has +been murdered in the night," and she reeled and would have fallen again +had not the old servant caught her in her arms and placed her in a +chair. A cry of horror and surprise had broken from the servants, then +came a hubbub of talk. + +"It can't be true." "It is impossible." "Ruth must have fancied it." "It +never could be," and then they looked in each other's face as if seeking +a confirmation of their words. + +"I must go up and see," the cook said. "Susan and Harriet, you come +along with me; the others see to Ruth. Sprinkle some water on her face. +She must have been dreaming." + +Affecting a confidence which she did not feel, the cook, followed +timidly by the two frightened girls, went upstairs. She stood for a +moment hesitating before she opened the door; then she entered the room, +the two girls not daring to follow her. She went a step into the room, +then gave a little cry and clasped her hands. + +"It is true," she cried; "Miss Margaret has been murdered!" + +Then the pent-up fears of the girls found vent in loud screams, which +were echoed from the group of servants who had clustered at the foot of +the stairs in expectation of what was to come. + +A moment later the door of Reginald Carne's room opened, and he came out +partly dressed. + +"What is the matter? What is all this hubbub about?" + +"Miss Margaret is murdered, sir," the two girls burst out, pausing for +an instant in their outcry. + +"Murdered!" he repeated, in low tones. "You are mad; impossible!" and +pushing past them he ran into Margaret's room. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, in a long, low note of pain and horror. "Good God, +who can have done this?" and he leaned against the wall and covered his +face with his hands. The old servant had advanced to the bed, and laid a +hand on the dead girl. She now touched her master. + +"You had better go away now, Mr. Reginald, for you can do nothing. She +is cold, and must have been dead hours. We must lock the door up till +the police come." + +So saying, she gently led him from the room, closed the door and locked +it. Reginald Carne staggered back to his room. + +"Poor master," the old servant said, looking after him, "this will be a +terrible blow for him; he and Miss Margery have always been together. +There's no saying what may come of it," and she shook her head gravely; +then she roused herself, and turned sharply on the girls. + +"Hold your noise, you foolish things; what good will that do? Get +downstairs at once." + +Driving them before her, she went down to the kitchen, and out of the +door leading to the yard, where one of the maids was at the moment +telling the grooms what had happened. + +"Joe, get on a horse and ride off and fetch Dr. Arrowsmith. He can't be +of any good, but he ought to come. Send up Job Harpur, the constable, +and then ride on to Mr. Volkes; he is the nearest magistrate, and will +know what to do." + +Then she went back into the kitchen. + +"She has come to, Mrs. Wilson; but she don't seem to know what she is +doing." + +"No wonder," the cook said, "after such a shock as she has had; and she +only just getting well after her illness. Two of you run upstairs and +get a mattress off her bed and two pillows, and lay them down in the +servants' hall; then take her in there and put her on them. Jane, get +some brandy out of the cellaret and bring it here; a spoonful of that +will do her good." + +A little brandy and water was mixed, and the cook poured it between +Ruth's lips, for she did not seem to know what was said to her, and +remained still and impassive, with short sobs bursting at times from her +lips. Then two servants half lifted her, and took her into the servants' +hall, and laid her down on the mattress. All were sobbing and crying, +for Margaret Carne had been greatly loved by those around her. + +In half an hour the doctor arrived. + +"Is it possible the news is true?" he asked as he leapt from his gig; +the faces of those around were sufficient answer. "Good Heavens, what a +terrible business! Tell Mr. Carne I am here." + +Reginald Carne soon came down. He was evidently terribly shaken. He held +out his hand in silence to the doctor. + +"What does it all mean?" the latter said, huskily. "It seems too +horrible to be true. Can it be that your sister, whom I have known since +she was a child, is dead? Murdered, too! It seems impossible." + +"It does seem impossible, doctor; but it is true. I have seen her +myself," and he shuddered. "She has been stabbed to the heart." + +The doctor wiped his eyes. + +"Well, I must go up and see her," he said. "Poor child, poor child. No, +you need not ring. I will go up by myself." + +Dr. Arrowsmith had attended the family for many years, and knew +perfectly well which was Margaret's room. The old cook was standing +outside the door of the drawing-room. + +"Here is the key, sir. I thought it better to lock the door till you +came." + +"Quite right," the doctor replied. "Don't let any one up till Mr. Volkes +comes. The servant said he was going for him. Ah, here is Harpur. That +is right, Harpur; you had better come up with me, but I shouldn't touch +anything if I were you till Mr. Volkes comes; besides, we shall be +having the Chief Constable over here presently, and it is better to +leave everything as it is." They entered the room together. + +"Dear, dear, to think of it now," the constable murmured, standing +awe-struck at the door, for the course of his duty was for the most part +simple, and he had never before been face to face with a tragedy like +this. + +The doctor moved silently to the bed, and leant over the dead girl. + +"Stabbed to the heart," he murmured; "death must have been +instantaneous." Then he touched her arm and tried to lift it. + +"She has been dead hours," he said to the constable, "six or seven +hours, I should say. Let us look round. The window is open, you see. +Can the murderer have entered there?" He looked out. The wall was +covered with ivy, and a massive stem grew close to the window. "Yes," he +went on, "an active man could have climbed that. See, there are some +leaves on the ground. I think, Harpur, your best plan will be to go down +and take your station there and see no one comes along or disturbs +anything. See, this jewel-box on the table has been broken open and the +contents are gone, and I do not see her watch anywhere. Well, that is +enough to do at present; we will lock this room up again until Mr. +Volkes comes." + +When they came downstairs, the cook again came out. + +"Please, sir, will you come in here? Ruth Powlett, Miss Margaret's maid, +seems very bad; it was she who first found it out, and it's naturally +given her a terrible shock. She came down looking like a mad woman, then +she fainted off, and she doesn't seem to have any sort of consciousness +yet." + +"Ruth Powlett! why, I have been attending her for the last three weeks. +Yes, such a shock may be very serious in her case," and the doctor went +in. + +"Have you any sal volatile in the house?" he asked, after he had felt +her pulse. + +"There's some in the medicine chest, I think, sir, but I will soon see." + +She went out and presently returned with a bottle. The doctor poured a +teaspoonful into a glass and added a little water. Then he lifted Ruth's +head, and forced it between her lips. She gasped once or twice, and then +slightly opened her eyes. + +"That is right, Ruth," the doctor said, cheeringly, "try and rouse +yourself, child. You remember me, don't you?" Ruth opened her eyes and +looked up. + +"That's right, child, I mustn't have you on my hands again, you know." +Ruth looked round with a puzzled air, then a sharp look of pain crossed +her face. + +"I know, Ruth," said the doctor, soothingly; "it is terrible for every +one, but least terrible for your poor young mistress; she passed away +painlessly, and went at once from life into death. Every one loved her, +you know; it may be that God has spared her much unhappiness." + +Ruth burst into a paroxysm of crying; the doctor nodded to the old +servant. + +"That's what I wanted," he whispered, "she will be better after this. +Get a cup of hot tea for her, or beef-tea will be better still if you +have any, make her drink it and then leave her for a time. I will see +her again presently." + +Immediately the doctor left him, Reginald Carne wrote a telegram to the +Chief Constable of the county, and despatched a servant with orders to +gallop as fast as he could to the station and send it off. + +Mr. Volkes, the magistrate, arrived half an hour later, terribly shocked +by the news he had heard. He at once set about making inquiries, and +heard what the doctor and constable had to say. No one else had been in +the room except the old cook, Mr. Carne, and the poor girl's own maid. + +"It would be useless for you to question the girl to-day, Volkes. She is +utterly prostrate with the shock, but I have no doubt she will be able +to give her evidence at the inquest. So far as I can see there does not +seem to be the slightest clue. Apparently some villain who knows +something about the house has climbed through the window, stabbed her, +and made off with her jewellery." + +"It is a hideous business," the magistrate said; "there has not been +such a startling crime committed in the county in all my experience. And +to think that Margaret Carne should be the victim, a girl every one +liked; it is terrible, terrible. What's your opinion, doctor? Some +wandering tramp, I suppose?" + +"I suppose so. Certainly it can be none of the neighbours. In the first +place, as you say, every one liked her and in the second, a crime of +that sort is quite out of the way of our quiet Devonshire people. It +must have been some stranger, that's evident. Yet on the other hand it +is singular that the man should have got into her room. I don't suppose +there has been a window fastened or a door locked on the ground floor +for years; the idea of a burglary never occurs to any one here. By the +way, the coroner ought to be informed at once. I will speak to Carne +about it; if we do it this morning he will have time to send over this +evening and summon a jury for to-morrow; the sooner it is over the +better. Directly the Chief Constable arrives he will no doubt send round +orders everywhere for tramps and suspicious persons to be arrested. +Plymouth is the place where they are most likely to get some clue; in +the first place it's the largest town in this part, and in the second +there are sure to be low shops where a man could dispose of valuables." + +In the afternoon, Captain Hendricks, the Chief Constable, arrived, and +took the matter in hand. In the first place he had a long private +conversation with Job Harpur, who had been steadily keeping watch in the +garden beneath the window, leaving him with strict orders to let no one +approach the spot. + +He then, with a sergeant who had arrived with him, made a thorough +search of the bedroom. After this he examined every one who knew +anything about the matter, with the exception of Ruth Powlett, for whom +the doctor said absolute quiet was necessary, as to all they knew about +it. Then he obtained a minute description of the missing watch and +jewels, and telegraphed it to Plymouth and Exeter. Having done this he +went out into the garden again, and there a close search was made on the +grass and borders for the marks of footsteps. When all this was done he +had a long private conversation with Reginald Carne. + +The news of Margaret Carne's murder created an excitement in Carnesford, +such as had never been equalled since the day when Lady Carne murdered +her child and the curse of Carne's Hold began its work. There was not a +soul in the valley but knew her personally, for Margaret had taken great +interest in village matters, had seen that soups and jellies were sent +down from The Hold to those who were sick, had begged many a man off his +rent when laid up or out of work, and had many pensioners who received +weekly gifts of money, tea, or other little luxuries. She gave prizes in +the school; helped the parson with his choir; and scarcely a day passed +without her figure being seen in the streets of Carnesford. That she +could be murdered seemed incredible, and when the news first arrived it +was received with absolute unbelief. When such confirmation was received +that doubt was no longer possible, all work in Carnesford was suspended. +Women stood at their doors and talked to their neighbours and wept +freely. Men gathered in knots and talked it over and uttered threats of +what they would do if they could but lay hands on the murderer. Boys and +girls walked up the hill and stood at the edge of the wood, talking in +whispers and gazing on the house as if it presented some new and +mysterious attraction. Later in the day two or three constables arrived, +and asked many questions as to whether any one had heard any one passing +through the street between one and three in the morning; but Carnesford +had slept soundly, and no one was found who had been awake between those +hours. + +The little conclave in the sanctum at the "Carne's Arms" met half an +hour earlier than usual. They found on their arrival there a stranger +chatting with the landlord, who introduced him to them as Mr. Rentford, +a detective officer from Plymouth. + +"A sad affair, gentlemen, a sad affair," Mr. Rentford said, when they +had taken their seats and lit their churchwardens. "As sad an affair, I +should say, as ever I was engaged in." + +"It is that," Jacob Carey said. "Here's Mr. Claphurst here, who has been +here, man and boy, for nigh eighty years. He will tell you that such an +affair as this has never happened in this part in his time." + +"I suppose, now," the detective said, "there's none in the village has +any theory about it; I mean," he went on, as none of his hearers +answered, "no one thinks it can be any one but some tramp or stranger to +the district?" + +"It can't be no one else," Jacob Carey said, "as I can see. What do you +say, Hiram Powlett? I should say no one could make a nearer guess than +you can, seeing as they say it was your Ruth as first found it out." + +"I haven't seen Ruth," Hiram said; "the doctor told me, as he came down, +as she was quite upset with the sight, and that it would be no good my +going up to see her, as she would have to keep still all day. So I can't +see farther into it than another; but surely it must be some stranger." + +"There was no one about here so far as you have heard, Mr. Powlett, who +had any sort of grudge against this poor lady?" + +"Not a soul, as far as I know," Hiram replied. "She could speak up +sharp, as I have heard, could Miss Carne, to a slatternly housewife or a +drunken husband; but I never heard as she made an enemy by it, though, +if she had, he would have kept his tongue to himself, for there were not +many here in Carnesford who would have heard a word said against Miss +Carne and sat quiet over it." + +"No, indeed," Jacob Carey affirmed, bringing down his fist with a heavy +thump on his knee. "The Squire and his sister were both well liked, and +I for one would have helped duck any one that spoke against them in the +Dare. She was the most liked, perhaps, because of her bright face and +her kind words and being so much down here among us; but the Squire is +well liked, too; he is not one to laugh and talk as she was, but he is a +good landlord, and will always give a quarter's rent to a man as gets +behindhand for no fault of his own, and if there is a complaint about a +leaky roof or any repairs that want doing, the thing is done at once and +no more talk about it. No, they have got no enemies about here as I know +of, except maybe it's the poachers down at Dareport, for though the +Squire don't shoot himself, he preserves strictly, and if a poacher's +caught he gets sent to the quarter sessions as sure as eggs is eggs." + +"Besides," the old clerk put in, "they say as Miss Carne's watch and +things has been stolen; that don't look as if it was done out of +revenge, do it?" + +"Well, no," the detective said, slowly; "but that's not always to be +taken as a sign, because you see if any one did a thing like that, out +of revenge, they would naturally take away anything that lay handy, so +as to make it look as if it was done for theft." + +The idea was a new one to his listeners, and they smoked over it +silently for some minutes. + +"Lord, what evil ways there are in the world," Reuben Claphurst said at +last. "Wickedness without end. Now what do you make out of this, +mister? Of course these things come natural to you." + +The detective shook his head. "It's too early to form an opinion yet, +Mr. Claphurst--much too early. I dare say we shall put two and two +together and make four presently, but at present you see we have got to +learn all the facts, and you who live close ought to know more than we +do, and to be able to put us on the track to begin with. You point me +out a clue, and I will follow it, but the best dogs can't hunt until +they take up the scent." + +"That's true enough," the blacksmith said, approvingly. + +"Have there been any strangers stopping in the village lately?" the +detective asked. + +"There have been a few stopping off and on here, or taking rooms in the +village," the landlord answered; "but I don't think there has been any +one fishing on the stream for the last few days." + +"I don't mean that class; I mean tramps." + +"That I can't tell you," the landlord replied; "we don't take tramps in +here; they in general go to Wilding's beershop at the other end of the +village. He can put up four or five for the night, and in summer he is +often full, for we are just about a long day's tramp out from Plymouth, +and they often make this their first stopping-place out, or their last +stopping-place in, but it's getting late for them now, not many come +along after the harvest is well over. Still, you know, there may have +been one there yesterday, for aught I know." + +"I will go round presently and ask. Any one who was here the night +before might well have lain in the woods yesterday, and gone up and done +it." + +"I don't believe as you will ever find anything about it. There's a +curse on Carne's Hold, as every one knows, and curses will work +themselves out. If I were the Squire, I would pull the place down, +every stick and stone of it, and I would build a fresh one a bit away. I +wouldn't use so much as a brick or a rafter of the old place, for the +curse might stick to it. I would have everything new from top to +bottom." + +"Yes, I have heard of the curse on Carne's Hold," the detective said. "A +man who works with me, and comes from this part of the country, told me +all about it as we came over to-day. However, that has nothing to do +with this case." + +"It's partly the curse as that heathen woman, as Sir Edgar brought home +as his wife, laid on the place," the old clerk said, positively; "and it +will go on working as long as Carne's Hold stands. That's what I says, +and I don't think as any one else here will gainsay me." + +"That's right enough," the blacksmith agreed, "I think we are all with +you there, Mr. Claphurst. It ought to have been pulled down long ago +after what has happened there. Why, if Mr. Carne was to say to me, 'Have +the house and the garden and all rent free, Jacob Carey, as long as you +like,' I should say, 'Thank you, Squire, but I wouldn't move into it, +not if you give me enough beside to keep it up.' I call it just flying +in the face of Providence. Only look at Hiram Powlett there; he sends +his daughter up to be Miss Carne's maid at The Hold, and what comes of +it? Why, she tumbles down the hill a-going up, and there she lies three +weeks, with the doctor coming to see her every day. That was a clear +warning if ever there was one. Who ever heard of a girl falling down and +hurting herself like that? No one. And it would not have happened if it +hadn't been for the curse of Carne's Hold." + +"I shouldn't go so far as that," Hiram Powlett said. "What happened to +my lass had nothing to do with The Hold; she might have been walking up +the hill at any time, and she might have slipped down at any time. A +girl may put her foot on a loose stone and fall without it having +anything to say to The Hold one way or the other. Besides, I have never +heard it said as the curse had aught to do except with the family." + +"I don't know about that," the smith replied. "That servant that was +killed by the Spanish woman's son; how about him? It seems to me as the +curse worked on him a bit, too." + +"So it did, so it did," Hiram agreed. "I can't gainsay you there, Jacob +Carey; now you put it so, I see there is something in it, though never +before have I heard of there being anything in the curse except in the +family." + +"Why, didn't Miles Jefferies, father of one of the boys as is in the +stables, get his brains kicked out by one of the old Squire's horses?" + +"So he did, Jacob, so he did; still grooms does get their brains kicked +out at other places besides The Hold. But there is something in what you +say, and if I had thought of it before, I would never have let my Ruth +go up there to service. I thought it was all for the best at the time, +and you knows right enough why I sent her up there, to be away from that +George Forester; still, I might have sent her somewhere else, and I +would have done if I had thought of what you are saying now. Sure enough +no good has come of it. I can't hold that that fall of hers had aught to +do with the curse of the Carnes, but this last affair, which seems to me +worse for her than the first, sure enough comes from the curse." + +"Who is this George Forester, if you don't mind my asking the question?" +the detective said. "You see it's my business to find out about people." + +"Oh, George hadn't nothing to do with this business," Hiram replied. +"He's the son of a farmer near here, and has always been wild and a +trouble to the old man, but he's gone away weeks ago. He got into a +poaching scrape, and one of the keepers was hurt, and I suppose he +thought he had best be out of it for a time; anyhow, he has gone. But he +weren't that sort of a chap. No, there was no harm in George Forester, +not in that way; he was lazy and fonder of a glass than was good for +him, and he got into bad company down at Dareport, and that's what led +him to this poaching business, I expect, because there was no call for +him to go poaching. His father's got a tidy farm, and he wanted for +nothing. If he had been there he couldn't have wanted to steal Miss +Carne's jewellery. He was passionate enough, I know, and many a quarrel +has he had with his father, but nothing would have made me believe, even +if he had been here, that old Jim Forester's son had a hand in a black +business like this; so don't you go to take such a notion as that into +your head." + +"He would not be likely to have any quarrel with Miss Carne?" the +detective asked. + +"Quarrel? No," Hiram replied sharply, for he resented the idea that any +possible suspicion of Margaret Carne's murder should be attached to a +man with whom Ruth's name had been connected. "I don't suppose Miss +Carne ever spoke a word to him in her life. What should she speak to him +for? Why, he had left the Sunday school years before she took to seeing +after it. 'Tain't as if he had been one of the boys of the village." + +As Jacob Carey, Reuben Claphurst, and the landlord, each gave an +assenting murmur to Hiram's words, the detective did not think it worth +while to pursue the point further, for there really seemed nothing to +connect this George Forester in any way with Margaret Carne's death. + +"Well," he said, taking up his hat, "I will go round to this beershop +you speak of, and make inquiries as to whether any tramps have been +staying there. It is quite certain this young lady didn't put an end to +herself. What we have got to find out is: Who was the man that did it?" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE INQUEST. + + +It was six o'clock, and already quite dark, when, as Lieutenant Gulston +was writing in his cabin, his servant told him that Dr. Mackenzie had +just come off from the shore, and would be glad if he could spare him a +few minutes' conversation. + +"Tell him I will be on the quarter-deck in a minute." He added a few +lines to the letter he was writing, put it in an envelope, and, taking +his cap, went out, dropping the letter into the post-bag that hung near +his cabin, and then went on to the quarter-deck. He was rather pleased +with the doctor's summons, for he highly esteemed him, and regretted the +slight estrangement which had arisen between them. + +"Well, doctor," he asked, cheerily, "have some of the men been getting +into mischief ashore?" + +"No, lad, no," the doctor replied, and the first-lieutenant felt that +something more serious was the matter, for since he had obtained his +rank of first-lieutenant the doctor had dropped his former habit of +calling him lad. "No, I have heard some news ashore that will affect you +seriously. I am sorry, dear lad, very sorry. I may have thought that you +were foolish, but that will make no difference now." + +"What is it, doctor?" Lieutenant Gulston asked, with a vague alarm at +the gravity of the doctor's manner of treating him. + +"The evening papers came out with an early edition, Gulston, and the +boys are shouting out the news of a terrible affair, a most terrible +affair at your friends the Carnes'. Be steady, lad, be steady. It's a +heavy blow for a man to have to bear. Miss Carne is dead." + +"Dead! Margaret dead!" the lieutenant repeated, incredulously. "What are +you saying, doctor? There must be some mistake. She was well yesterday, +for I was over there in the evening and did not leave until nine +o'clock. It can't be true." + +"It is true, lad, unhappily; there is no mistake. She was found dead in +her bed this morning." + +The lieutenant was almost stunned by the blow. + +"Good God!" he murmured. "It seems impossible." + +The doctor walked away and left him for a minute or two to himself. "I +have not told you all as yet, lad," he went on, when he returned; "it +makes no difference to her, poor girl--none. She passed out of life, it +seems, painlessly and instantly, but it is worse for those who are +left." + +He paused a moment. "She was found stabbed to the heart by a midnight +robber." + +An exclamation of horror broke from the sailor. "Murdered? Good +Heavens!" + +"Ay, lad, it is true. It seems to have been done in her sleep, and death +was instantaneous. There, I will leave you for a while, now. I will put +the paper in your cabin, so that when you feel equal to reading the +details you can do so. Try and think it is all for the best, lad. No one +knows what trouble might have darkened her life and yours had this thing +not happened. I know you will not be able to think so now, but you will +feel it so some day." + +An hour later Lieutenant Gulston entered the doctor's cabin. There was a +look of anger as well as of grief on his face that the doctor did not +understand. + +"Doctor, I believe this is no murder by a wandering tramp, as the paper +says. I believe it was done from revenge, and that the things were +stolen simply to throw people off the scent. I will tell you what took +place yesterday. I drove up as far as the gate in the garden; there one +road sweeps round in front of the house, the other goes straight to the +stables; so I got down, and told the man he might as well drive straight +in, while I walked up to the house. The road follows close under the +drawing-room windows, and, one of these being open, as I passed I heard +a man's voice raised loud in anger, so loudly and so passionately, +indeed, that I involuntarily stopped. His words were, as nearly as I can +recollect, 'You have fooled me and spoilt my life, but you shall regret +it. You think after all these years I am to be thrown off like an old +glove. No, by Heaven; you may throw me over, but I swear you shall never +marry this sailor or anybody else, whatever I may have to do to prevent +it. You say I have the curse of the Carnes in my blood! You are right, +and you shall have cause to regret it.' The voice was so loud and +passionate that I believed the speaker was about to do some injury to +Margaret, for I did not doubt that it was to her he was speaking, and I +ran round through the hall-door to the door of the room; but I found +Carne himself standing there. He, too, I suppose, when he had been about +to enter, had heard the words. He said, 'Don't go in just at present, +Margaret and her cousin are having a quarrel, but I think it's over +now.' Seeing that he was there at hand I went away for a bit, and found +afterwards that Mervyn had jumped from the window, gone to the stable +and ridden straight off. Margaret didn't come down to dinner, making an +excuse that she was unwell. Now, what do you think of that, doctor? You +know that Mervyn's mother was a Carne, and that he has this mad blood +that you warned me against in his veins. There is his threat, given in +what was an almost mad outburst of passion. She is found dead this +morning; what do you think of it?" + +"I don't know what to think of it, Gulston; I know but little of Mervyn +myself, but I have heard men in his regiment say that he was a queer +fellow, and though generally a most cheery and pleasant companion, he +has at times fits of silence and moroseness similar, I should say, to +those of his cousin, Reginald Carne. It is possible, lad, though I don't +like to think so. When there is madness in the blood no one can say when +it may blaze out, or what course it can take. The idea is a terrible +one, and yet it is possible; it may indeed be so, for the madness in the +family has twice before led to murder. The presumption is certainly a +grave one, for although his messmates may consider Mervyn to be, as they +say, a queer fellow, I do not think you would find any of them to say he +was mad, or anything like it. Remember, Gulston, this would be a +terrible accusation to bring against any man, even if he can prove--as +probably he can prove--that he was at home, or here in Plymouth, at the +time of the murder. The charge that he is mad, and the notoriety such a +charge would obtain, is enough to ruin a man for life." + +"I can't help that," the lieutenant said, gloomily. "I heard him +threaten Margaret, and I shall say so at the coroner's inquest +to-morrow. If a man is such a coward as to threaten a woman he must put +up with any consequences that may happen to befall him." + +The coroner and jury met in the dining-room at The Hold; they were all +Carnesford men. Hiram Powlett, Jacob Carey, and the landlord of the +"Carne's Arms" were upon it, for the summoning officer had been careful +to choose on such an important occasion the leading men of the village. +After having gone upstairs to view the body, the coroner opened the +proceedings. The room was crowded. Many of the gentry of the +neighbourhood were present. Lieutenant Gulston, with a hard set look +upon his face, stood in a corner of the room with the doctor beside him. +Ronald Mervyn, looking, as some of the Carnesford people remarked in a +whisper, ten years older than he did when he drove through the village a +few days before, stood on the other side of the table talking in low +tones to some of his neighbours. + +"We shall first, gentlemen," the coroner said, "hear evidence as to the +finding of the body. Ruth Powlett, the maid of the deceased lady, is the +first witness." + +A minute later there was a stir at the door, and Ruth was led in by a +constable. She was evidently so weak and unhinged that the coroner told +her to take a chair. + +"Now, Miss Powlett, tell us what you saw when you entered your +mistress's room." + +"Upon opening the door," Ruth said, in a calmer and more steady voice +than was expected from her appearance, "I saw that the window was open +and the blind up. I was surprised at this, for Miss Carne did not sleep +with her window open in winter, and the blind was always down. I walked +straight to the washstand and placed the can of hot water there; then I +turned round to wake Miss Carne, and I saw her lying there with a great +patch of blood on her nightdress, and I knew by her face that she was +dead. Then I fainted. I do not know how long I lay there. When I came to +myself I got up and went to the door, and went downstairs to the kitchen +and gave the alarm." + +"You did not notice that any of Miss Carne's things had been taken from +the table?" the coroner asked. + +"No, sir." + +"Were there any signs of a struggle having taken place?" + +"No, sir, I did not see any. Miss Carne lay as if she was sleeping +quietly. She was lying on her side." + +"The bedclothes were not disarranged?" + +"No, sir, except that the clothes were turned down a short distance." + +"You were greatly attached to your mistress, Miss Powlett?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"She was generally liked--was she not?" + +"Yes, sir. Every one who knew Miss Carne was fond of her." + +"Have any of you any further questions to ask?" the coroner asked the +jury. + +There was no reply. + +"Thank you, Miss Powlett. I will not trouble you further at present." + +The cook then gave her testimony, and Dr. Arrowsmith was next called. He +testified to the effect that upon his arrival he found that the room had +not been disturbed in any way; no one had entered it with the exception, +as he understood, of Miss Carne's maid, the cook, and Mr. Carne. The +door was locked. When he went in, he found the deceased was dead, and it +was his opinion, from the coldness and rigidity of the body, that she +must have been dead seven or eight hours. It was just nine o'clock when +he arrived. He should think, therefore, that death had taken place +between one and half-past two in the morning. Death had been caused by a +stab given either with a knife or dagger. The blow was exactly over the +heart, and extended down into the substance of the heart itself. Death +must have been absolutely instantaneous. Deceased lay in a natural +position, as if asleep. The clothes had been turned down about a foot, +just low enough to uncover the region of the heart. + +After making an examination of the body, he examined the room with the +constable, and found that a jewel-box on the table was open and its +contents gone. The watch and chain of the deceased had also disappeared. +He looked out of the window, and saw that it could be entered by an +active man by climbing up a thick stem of ivy that grew close by. He +observed several leaves lying on the ground, and was of the opinion that +the assassin entered there. + +"From what you say, Dr. Arrowsmith, it is your opinion that no struggle +took place?" + +"I am sure that there was no struggle," the doctor replied. "I have no +question that Miss Carne was murdered in her sleep. I should say that +the bedclothes were drawn down so lightly that she was not disturbed." + +"Does it not appear an extraordinary thing to you, Dr. Arrowsmith, that +if, as it seems, Miss Carne did not awake, the murderer should have +taken her life?" + +"Very extraordinary," the doctor said, emphatically. "I am wholly unable +to account for it. I can understand that had she woke and sat up, a +burglar might have killed her to secure his own safety, but that he +should have quietly and deliberately set himself to murder her in her +sleep is to me most extraordinary." + +"You will note this circumstance, gentlemen," the coroner said to the +jury. "It is quite contrary to one's usual experiences in these cases. +As a rule, thieves are not murderers. To secure their own safety they +may take life, but as a rule they avoid running the risk of capital +punishment, and their object is to effect robbery without rousing the +inmates of the house. At present the evidence certainly points to +premeditated murder rather than to murder arising out of robbery. It is +true that robbery has taken place, but this might be merely a blind." + +"You know of no one, Dr. Arrowsmith, who would have been likely to +entertain any feeling of hostility against Miss Carne?" + +"Certainly not, sir. She was, I should say, universally popular, and +certainly among the people of Carnesford she was regarded with great +affection, for she was continually doing good among them." + +"I am prepared to give evidence on that point," a voice said from the +corner of the room, and there was a general movement of surprise as +every one turned round to look at the speaker. + +"Then perhaps, sir, we may as well hear your evidence next," the coroner +said, "because it may throw some light upon the matter and enable us to +ask questions to the point of further witnesses." + +The lieutenant moved forward to the table: "My name is Charles Gulston. +I am first-lieutenant of the _Tenebreuse_, the flagship at Plymouth. I +had the honour of the acquaintance of Mr. and Miss Carne, and have spent +a day or two here on several occasions. I may say that I was deeply +attached to Miss Carne, and had hoped some day to make her my wife. The +day before yesterday I came over here upon Mr. Carne's invitation to +dine and spend the night. His dogcart met me at the station. As we drove +up to the last gate--that leading into the garden--I alighted from the +trap and told the man to drive it straight to the stable, while I walked +across the lawn to the house. The drawing-room window was open, and as I +passed I heard the voice of a man raised in tones of extreme passion, so +much so that I stopped involuntarily. His words were: + +"'You have fooled me and spoilt my life, but you shall regret it. You +think that after all these years I am to be thrown off like an old +glove. No, by Heaven! You may throw me over, but I vow that you shall +never marry this sailor, or any one else, whatever I may have to do to +prevent it. You say I have the curse of the Carnes in my blood. You are +right, and you shall have cause to regret it.' + +"The words were so loud and the tone so threatening that I ran round +into the house and to the door, and should have entered it had not Mr. +Carne, who was standing there, having apparently just come up, begged me +not to do so, saying that his sister and cousin were having a quarrel, +but that it was over now. As he was there I went away for a few minutes, +and when I returned I found that Miss Carne had gone upstairs, and that +her cousin had left, having, as Mr. Carne told me, left by the open +window." + +While Lieutenant Gulston was speaking a deep silence reigned in the +room, and as he mentioned what Reginald Carne had said, every eye turned +towards Ronald Mervyn, who stood with face as white as death, and one +arm with clenched hand across his breast, glaring at the speaker. + +"Do you mean, sir----?" he burst out as the lieutenant ceased; but the +coroner at once intervened. + +"I must pray you to keep silent for the present, Captain Mervyn. You +will have every opportunity of speaking presently. + +"As to these words that you overheard, Mr. Gulston, did you recognise +the speaker of them before you heard from Mr. Carne who was with his +sister in the drawing-room?" + +"Certainly. I recognised the voice at once as that of Captain Mervyn, +whom I have met on several occasions." + +"Were you impressed with his words, or did they strike you as a mere +outburst of temper?" + +"I was so impressed with the tone in which they were spoken that I ran +round to the drawing-room to protect Miss Carne from violence." + +"Was it your impression, upon thinking of them afterwards, that the +words were meant as a menace to Miss Carne?" + +"No, sir. The impression left upon my mind was that Captain Mervyn +intended to fix some quarrel on me, as I had no doubt whatever that it +was to me he alluded in his threats. The matter dwelt in my mind all the +evening, for naturally nothing could have been more unpleasant than a +public quarrel with a near relative of a lady to whom one is attached." + +There was a long silence. Then the coroner asked the usual question of +the jurymen. + +None of them had a question to ask; indeed, all were so confounded by +this new light thrown upon the matter that they had no power of framing +a question. + +Job Harpur was then called. He testified to entering the bedroom of the +deceased with Dr. Arrowsmith, and to the examination he had made of it. +There he had found the jewel-box opened, its contents abstracted, and +the watch gone. He could find nothing else disarranged in the room, or +any trace whatever that would give a clue as to the identity of the +murderer. He then looked out of the window with Dr. Arrowsmith, and saw +by a few leaves lying on the ground, and by marks upon the bark of the +ivy, that some one had got up or down. + +Dr. Arrowsmith had suggested that he should take up his post there, and +not allow any one to approach, as a careful search might show footsteps +or other marks that would be obliterated were people allowed to approach +the window. When Captain Hendricks came they examined the ground +together. They could find no signs of footsteps, but at a distance of +some ten yards, at the foot of the wall, they found a torn glove, and +this he produced. + +"You have no reason in connecting this with the case in any way, I +suppose, constable?" the coroner asked as the glove was laid on the +table before him. "It might have been lying there for some time, I +suppose." + +"It might, sir." + +It was a dog-skin glove stitched with red, with three lines of black and +red stitching down the back. While the glove was produced and examined +by the jury, Ronald Mervyn was talking in whispers to some friends +standing round him. + +"I wish to draw your attention," Lieutenant Gulston said in a low tone +to Captain Hendricks, "that Captain Mervyn is at this moment holding in +his hand a glove that in point of colour exactly matches that on the +table; they are both a brighter yellow than usual." The Chief Constable +glanced at the gloves and then whispered to the coroner. The latter +started, and then said, "Captain Mervyn, would you kindly hand me the +glove you have in your hand. It is suggested to me that its colour +closely resembles that of the glove on the table." Mervyn, who had not +been listening to the last part of the constable's evidence, turned +round upon being spoken to. + +"My glove, yes, here it is. What do you want it for?" The coroner took +the glove and laid it by the other. Colour and stitching matched +exactly; there could be no doubt but that they were a pair. A smothered +exclamation broke from almost every man in the room. + +"What is it?" Ronald Mervyn asked. + +"The constable has just testified, Captain Mervyn, that he found this +glove a few feet from the window of the deceased. No doubt you can +account for its being there, but until the matter is explained it has, +of course, a somewhat serious aspect, coupled with the evidence of +Lieutenant Gulston." + +Again Ronald Mervyn whitened to the hair. + +"Do I understand, sir," he said in a low voice, "that I am accused of the +murder of my cousin?" + +"No one is at present accused," the coroner said, quietly. "We are only +taking the evidence of all who know anything about this matter. I have +no doubt whatever that you will be able to explain the matter perfectly, +and to prove that it was physically impossible that you could have had +any connection whatever with it." + +Ronald Mervyn passed his hand across his forehead. + +"Perhaps," the coroner continued, "if you have the fellow of the glove +now handed to me in your pocket, you will kindly produce it, as that +will, of course, put an end to this part of the subject." + +"I cannot," Ronald Mervyn answered. "I found as I was starting to come +out this morning that one of my gloves was missing, and I may say at +once that I have no doubt that the other glove is the one I lost; though +how it can have got near the place where it was found I cannot explain." + +The men standing near fell back a little. The evidence given by Mr. +Gulston had surprised them, but had scarcely affected their opinion of +their neighbour, but this strong piece of confirmatory evidence gave a +terrible shock to their confidence in him. + +Mr. Carne was next called. He testified to being summoned while dressing +by the cries of the servants, and to having found his sister lying dead. + +"Now, Mr. Carne," the coroner said, "you have heard the evidence of +Lieutenant Gulston as to a quarrel that appears to have taken place on +the afternoon of this sad event, between your sister and Captain Mervyn. +It seems from what he said that you also overheard a portion of it." + +"I beg to state that I attach no importance to this," Reginald Carne +said, "and I absolutely refuse to give any credence to the supposition +that my cousin, Captain Mervyn, was in any way instrumental in the death +of my sister." + +"We all think that, Mr. Carne, but at the same time I must beg you to +say what you know about the matter." + +"I know very little about it," Reginald Carne said, quietly. "I was +about to enter the drawing-room, where I knew my cousin and my sister +were, and I certainly heard his voice raised loudly. I opened the door +quietly, as is my way, and was about to enter, when I heard words that +showed me that the quarrel was somewhat serious. I felt that I had +better leave them alone, and therefore quietly closed the door again. A +few seconds later Lieutenant Gulston rushed in from the front door, and +was about to enter when I stopped him. Seeing that it was a mere family +wrangle, it was better that no third person should interfere in it, +especially as I myself was at hand, ready to do so if necessary, which I +was sure it was not." + +"But what were the words that you overheard, Mr. Carne?" + +Reginald Carne hesitated. "I do not think they were of any consequence" +he said. "I am sure they were spoken on the heat of the moment, and +meant nothing." + +"That is for us to judge, Mr. Carne. I must thank you to give them us as +nearly as you can recollect." + +"He said then," Reginald Carne said, reluctantly, "'I swear you shall +never marry this sailor or any one else, whatever I may have to do to +prevent it.' That was all I heard." + +"Do you suppose the allusion was to Lieutenant Gulston?" + +"I thought so at the time, and that was one of the reasons why I did not +wish him to enter. I thought by my cousin's tone that did Lieutenant +Gulston enter at that moment an assault might take place." + +"What happened after the lieutenant, in compliance with your request, +left you?" + +"I waited a minute or two and then went in. My sister was alone. She was +naturally much vexed at what had taken place." + +"Will you tell me exactly what she said?" + +Again Reginald Carne hesitated. + +"I really don't think," he said after a pause, "that my sister meant +what she said. She was indignant and excited, and I don't think that her +words could be taken as evidence." + +"The jury will make all allowances, Mr. Carne. I have to ask you to tell +them the words." + +"I cannot tell you the precise words," he said, "for she spoke for some +little time. She began by saying that she had been grossly insulted by +her cousin, and that she must insist that he did not enter the house +again, for if he did she would certainly leave it. She said he was mad +with passion; that he was in such a state that she did not feel her life +was safe with him. I am sure, gentlemen, she did not at all mean what +she said, but she was in a passion herself and would, I am sure, when +she was cool, have spoken very differently." + +There was a deep silence in the room. At last the coroner said: + +"Just two more questions, Mr. Carne, and then we have done. Captain +Mervyn, you say, had left the room when you entered it. Is there any +other door to the drawing-room than that at which you were standing?" + +"No, sir, there is no other door; the window was wide open, and as it is +only three feet from the ground I have no doubt he went out that way. I +heard him gallop off a minute or two later, so that he must have run +straight round to the stables." + +"In going from the drawing-room window to the stables, would he pass +under the window of your sister's room?" + +"No," Reginald replied. "That is quite the other side of the house." + +"Then, in fact, the glove that was found there could not have been +accidentally dropped on his way from the drawing-room to the stable?" + +"It could not," Reginald Carne admitted, reluctantly. + +"Thank you; if none of the jury wish to ask you any question, that is +all we shall require at present." + +The jury shook their heads. They were altogether too horrified at the +turn matters were taking to think of any questions to the point. The +Chief Constable then called the gardener, who testified that he had +swept the lawn on the afternoon of the day the murder was committed, and +that had a glove been lying at that time on the spot where it was +discovered he must have noticed it. + +When the man had done, Captain Hendricks intimated that that was all the +evidence that he had at present to call. + +"Now, Captain Mervyn," the coroner said, "you will have an opportunity +of explaining this matter, and, no doubt, will be able to tell us where +you were at the time Miss Carne met her death, and to produce witnesses +who will at once set this mysterious affair, as far as you are +concerned, at rest." + +Ronald Mervyn made a step forward. He was still very pale, but the look +of anger with which he had first heard the evidence against him had +passed, and his face was grave and quiet. + +"I admit, sir," he began in a steady voice, "the whole facts that have +been testified. I acknowledge that on that afternoon I had a serious +quarrel with my cousin, Margaret Carne. The subject is a painful one to +touch upon, but I am compelled to do so. I had almost from boyhood +regarded her as my future wife. There was a boy and girl understanding +between us to that effect, and although no formal engagement had taken +place, she had never said anything to lead me to believe that she had +changed her mind on the subject; and I think I may say that in both of +our families it was considered probable that at some time or other we +should be married. + +"On that afternoon I spoke sharply to her--I admit that--as to her +receiving the attentions of another man; and upon her denying altogether +my right to speak to her on such a subject, and repudiating the idea of +any engagement between us, I certainly, I admit it with the greatest +grief, lost my temper. Unfortunately I have been from a child given to +occasional fits of passion. It is long since I have done so, but upon +this occasion the suddenness of the shock, and the bitterness of my +disappointment, carried me beyond myself, and I admit that I used the +words that Lieutenant Gulston has repeated to you. But I declare that I +had no idea whatever, even at that moment, of making any personal threat +against her. What was in my mind was to endeavour in some way or other +to prevent her marrying another man." + +Here he paused for a minute. So far the effect of his words had been +most favourable, and as he stopped, his friends breathed more easily, +and the jury furtively nodded to each other with an air of relief. + +"As to the glove," Ronald Mervyn went on, deliberately, "I cannot +account for its being in the place where it was found. I certainly had +both gloves on when I rode over here; how I lost it, or where I lost it, +I am wholly unable to say. I may also add that I admit that I went +direct from the drawing-room to the stable, and did not pass round the +side of the house where the glove was found." He again paused. "As to +where I was between one o'clock and half-past two the next morning, I +can give you no evidence whatever." A gasp of dismay broke from almost +every one in the room. + +"It was becoming dark when I mounted my horse," he said, "and I rode +straight away; it is my custom, as my fellow-officers will tell you, +when I am out of spirits, or anything has upset me, to ride away for +hours until the fit has left me, and I have sometimes been out all +night. It was so on this occasion. I mounted and rode away. I cannot say +which road I took, for when I ride upon such occasions, I am absorbed in +my thoughts and my horse goes where he will. Of myself, I do not know +exactly at what hour I got home, but I asked the stableman, who took my +horse, next morning, and he said the clock over the stable-gate had just +struck half-past three when I rode in. I do not know that I have +anything more to say." + +The silence was almost oppressive for a minute or two after he had +finished, and then the coroner said: "The room will now be cleared of +all except the jury." + +The public trooped out in silence. Each man looked in his neighbour's +face to see what he thought, but no one ventured upon a word until they +had gone through the hall and out into the garden. Then they broke up in +little knots, and began in low tones to discuss the scene in the +dining-room. The shock given by the news of the murder of Miss Carne was +scarcely greater than that which had now been caused by the proceedings +before the coroner. A greater part of those present at the inquest were +personal friends of the Carnes, together with three or four farmers +having large holdings under them. Very few of the villagers were +present, it being felt that although, no doubt, every one had a right to +admission to the inquest, it was not for folks at Carnesford to thrust +themselves into the affairs of the family at The Hold. + +Ronald Mervyn had, like the rest, left the room when it was cleared. As +he went out into the garden, two or three of his friends were about to +speak to him, but he turned off with a wave of the hand, and paced up +and down the front of the house, walking slowly, with his head bent. + +"This is a horribly awkward business for Mervyn," one of the young men, +who would have spoken to him, said. "Of course Mervyn is innocent; still +it is most unfortunate that he can't prove where he was." + +"Most unfortunate," another repeated. "Then there's that affair of the +glove and the quarrel. Things look very awkward, I must say. Of course, +I don't believe for a moment Mervyn did it, because we know him, but I +don't know what view a jury of strangers might take of it." + +Two or three of the others were silent. There was present in their minds +the story of The Hold, and the admitted fact of insanity in the family +of Ronald Mervyn, which was in close connection with the Carnes. Had it +been any one else they, too, would have disbelieved the possibility of +Ronald Mervyn having murdered Margaret Carne. As it was, they doubted: +there had been other murders in the history of the Carnes. But no one +gave utterance to these thoughts, they were all friends or acquaintances +of the Mervyn family. Ronald might yet be able to clear himself +completely. At any rate, at present no one was inclined to admit that +there could be any doubt of his innocence. + +"Well, what do you think, doctor, now?" Lieutenant Gulston asked his +friend, as separated from the rest they strolled across the garden. + +"I don't quite know what to think," Dr. Mackenzie said, after a pause. + +"No?" Gulston said in surprise. "Why it seems to me as clear as the sun +at noon-day. What I heard seemed pretty conclusive. Now there is the +confirmation of the finding of the glove, and this cock and bull story +of his riding about for hours and not knowing where he was." + +"Yes, I give due weight to these things," the doctor said, after another +pause, "and admit that they constitute formidable circumstantial +evidence. I can't account for the glove being found there. I admit that +is certainly an awkward fact to get over. The ride I regard as +unfortunate rather than damnatory, especially if, as he says, his fellow +officers can prove that at times, when upset, he was in the habit of +going off for hours on horseback." + +"But who else could have done it, Mackenzie? You see the evidence of the +doctor went to show that she was murdered when asleep; no common burglar +would have taken life needlessly, and have run the risk of hanging; the +whole thing points to the fact that it was done out of revenge or out of +ill-feeling of some sort, and has it not been shown that there is not a +soul in the world except Mervyn who had a shadow of ill-feeling against +her?" + +"No, that has not been shown," the doctor said, quietly. "No one was her +enemy, so far as the witnesses who were asked knew; but that is a very +different thing; it's a very difficult thing to prove that any one in +the world has no enemies. Miss Carne may have had some; some servant may +have been discharged upon her complaint, she may have given deep offence +to some one or other. There is never any saying." + +"Of course that is possible," said the lieutenant again, "but the +evidence all goes against one man, who is known to have an enmity +against her, and who has, to say the least of it, a taint of insanity in +his blood. What are the grounds on which you doubt?" + +"Principally on his own statement, Gulston. I watched him narrowly from +the time that you gave your evidence, and I own that my impression is +that he is innocent. I give every weight to your evidence and that +afforded by the glove, and to his being unable to prove where he was; +and yet, alike from his face, his manner, and the tone of his voice, I +do not think that he is capable of murder." + +No other words were spoken for some time, then the lieutenant asked: + +"Do you think that an insane person could commit a crime of this kind +and have no memory of it in their saner moments?" + +"That is a difficult question, Gulston. I do believe that a person in a +sudden paroxysm of madness might commit a murder, and upon his recovery +be perfectly unconscious of it; but I do not for a moment believe that a +madman sufficiently sane to act with the cunning here shown in the mode +of obtaining access, by the quiet stealthiness in which the victim was +killed whilst in her sleep, and by the attempt to divert suspicion by +the abstraction of the trinkets, would lose all memory of his actions +afterwards. If Captain Mervyn did this thing, I am sure he would be +conscious of it, and I am convinced, as I said, that he is not +conscious." + +"What will the jury think?" the lieutenant asked after a long pause. + +"I think they are sure to return a verdict against him. A coroner's jury +are not supposed to go to the bottom of a matter; they are simply to +declare whether there is _primâ facie_ evidence connecting any one with +a crime; such evidence as is sufficient to justify them in coming to a +conclusion that it should at any rate be further examined into. It's a +very different thing with a jury at a trial; they have the whole of the +evidence that can be obtained before them. They have all the light that +can be thrown on the question by the counsel on both sides, and the +assistance of the summing-up of the judge, and have then to decide if +the guilt of the man is absolutely proven. A coroner's jury is not +supposed to go into the whole merits of the case, and their finding +means no more than the decision of a magistrate to commit a prisoner for +trial. I think the coroner will tell the jury that in this case such +evidence as there is before them points to the fact that Captain Mervyn +committed this murder, and that it will be their duty to find such a +verdict as will ensure the case being further gone into." + +"Most of the jury are tenants of the Carnes," Gulston said; "two or +three of them I know are, for I met them at the inn when I was over here +fishing. They will scarcely like to find against a relation of the +family." + +"I don't suppose they will," the doctor argued, "but at the same time +the coroner will not improbably point out to them that their verdict +will simply lead to further investigation of the case, and that even for +Captain Mervyn's own sake it is desirable that this should take place, +for that the matter could not possibly rest here. Were they to acquit +him, I imagine the Chief Constable would at once arrest him and bring +him before a magistrate, who, upon hearing a repetition of the evidence +given to-day, would have no choice but to commit him for trial." + +"I suppose he would do that, anyhow?" Lieutenant Gulston said. + +"Not necessarily. I fancy a man can be tried upon the finding of a +coroner's jury as well as upon that of a magistrate. Perhaps, however, +if the coroner's jury finds against him he may be formally brought up +before the magistrates, and a portion of the evidence heard, sufficient +to justify them in committing him for trial. See, people are going into +the house again. Probably they have thrown the door open, and the jury +are going to give their finding. I don't think we need go in." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +RUTH POWLETT. + + +Lieutenant Gulston and his companion had not long to wait to learn the +verdict, for in a few minutes the people began to pour out of the house, +and a constable came out, and, after looking round, walked up to the +lieutenant. + +"Mr. Gulston," he said, "your presence will be required to-morrow at +eleven o'clock at Mr. Volkes's. Captain Mervyn will be brought up there +at eleven o'clock to-morrow." + +"Very well," Mr. Gulston replied. "What verdict have the coroners jury +found?" + +"They have found Captain Mervyn guilty of wilful murder," the man +replied. + +The next morning the inquiry was heard before Mr. Volkes and two other +magistrates, and the doctor's evidence, that of Mr. Gulston, the +gardener, the cook, and the constable who found the glove, was +considered sufficient. Mr. Carne was not summoned, and although Ruth +Powlett's name was called, she did not answer to it, Dr. Arrowsmith +explaining to the bench that she was too ill to be present. Captain +Mervyn was asked if he had any questions to ask the witnesses, or any +statement to make; but he simply said that he should reserve his +defence, and the case was then adjourned for a week to see if any +further evidence would be forthcoming, the magistrates intimating that +unless some altogether new light was thrown upon the subject they should +commit the prisoner for trial. + +Very gravely and silently the men who composed the coroner's jury walked +down to Carnesford; scarce a word was spoken on the way, and a +stranger, meeting them, might have supposed, not unnaturally, that they +were returning from a funeral. The news had arrived before them, having +been carried down at full speed by one of the few villagers who had been +present. It had at first been received with absolute incredulity. The +idea that Captain Mervyn should kill Margaret Carne seemed so wild a +proposition that the first person to arrive with it was wholly +disbelieved, and even the confirmation of those who followed him was +also doubted. People, however, moved towards the foot of the hill to +meet the jury, and a small crowd had collected by the time they had come +down. The jury, upon being questioned, admitted that they had found +Ronald Mervyn guilty, and when the fact was grasped, a sort of awed +silence fell upon their hearers. + +"Why, whatever were you all thinking of?" one of the men said. "Why, you +must have been downright mad. You find that Captain Mervyn was the +murderer of his own cousin, and Mr. Carne your own landlord, too! I +never heard tell of such a thing." + +The jury, indeed, were regarded almost as culprits; even to themselves +now, their verdict seemed monstrous, though at the time the evidence had +appeared so strong that they had felt themselves unable to resist the +coroner's expressed opinion that, upon the evidence before them, they +had no course open but to return a verdict of wilful murder against +Ronald Mervyn. + +"You will hear about it presently, lads," Hiram Powlett said. "If you +had been in our place, and had heard what we have heard, you would have +said the same. I should have no more believed it myself this morning, if +any one had told me that Captain Mervyn had murdered his cousin, than I +should if they had told me that the mill stream was running the wrong +way; but now I sees otherwise. There ain't one of us here as wouldn't +have given another verdict if we could have done so, but having heard +what we heard there weren't no other verdict to be given. I would have +given a hundred pounds myself to have found any other way, but I +couldn't go against my conscience; and besides, the coroner told us that +if Captain Mervyn is innocent, he will have full opportunity of proving +it at the trial. And now I must be off home, for I hear Mr. Carne sent +down Ruth, as soon as she had given her evidence, in one of his +carriages." + +Ruth had so far recovered that she was sitting on a chair by the fire +when her father entered. She had heard nothing of what had taken place +at the inquest beyond her own evidence, and she looked anxiously at her +father as he slowly took off his coat and hat and hung them up, and came +over to the fire beside her. + +"How are you feeling now, Ruth? You were looking sadly when you were in +the court." + +"I believe you will kill the child between you," Mrs. Powlett said, +testily, as she entered with the dinner. "Any one can see with half an +eye that she ain't fit to be going before a court and giving evidence +after the shock as she 'as had. She ought to have been left quiet. If +you had half the feeling of a man in you, Hiram Powlett, you wouldn't +have let them do it. If I had been there I should have got up and said: +'Your worship can see for yourself as my daughter is more fit to be in +bed than to be worrited and questioned here. She ain't got nothing to +tell you more than you knows yourself. She just came in and found her +mistress dead, and that's all she knows about it.'" + +"And what verdict did you find, father?" Ruth asked, as soon as her +mother had finished. + +[Illustration: "'_What verdict did you find, father?' Ruth asked._"] + +"Verdict! What verdict should they find," Mrs. Powlett said, angrily, +"but that they just knew nothing at all about it?" + +"That wasn't the verdict, Hesba," Hiram Powlett said, as he seated +himself at the table; "I wish to God it had been. There was things came +out at the trial as altogether altered the case. We found as one had +been quarrelling with Miss Carne, and threatening what he would do to +her. We found as something belonging to him had been found close at +hand, where it could only have been put somewhere about the time of the +murder. We found as the person couldn't tell us where he had been at the +time; and though it were sorely against us to do it, and seemed the most +unnatural thing in the world, we had to find a verdict of wilful murder +against Captain Mervyn." + +Ruth had risen from her seat as her father was speaking; her face had +grown whiter and whiter as he went on, and one hand had gone to her +heart, while the other clutched at the back of the chair. As he finished +she gave a sudden start, and burst into a scream of hysterical laughter, +so startling Hiram Powlett and his wife, neither of whom was looking at +her, that the former upset his chair as he started to his feet, while +the latter dropped the plate she was in the act of setting before him. + +For some minutes the wild laughter rang through the house. Hesba had at +once taken the girl in her arms, and seated her in the chair again, and +after trying for a minute or two vainly to soothe her, turned to Hiram. + +"Don't stand staring there, Hiram; run for the doctor. Look what you +have done, with your stories about your courts and your verdicts. You +have just scared her out of her mind." + +Fortunately as Hiram ran up into the village street he saw Dr. +Arrowsmith--who had waited at The Hold, talking over the matter to some +of his neighbours--driving down the hill, and at once fetched him in to +Ruth. + +"The girl is in violent hysterics, Hiram," the doctor said, as soon as +he had entered. "Carry her upstairs, and lay her down on the bed; it's +no use trying to get her to drink that now"--for Mrs. Powlett was trying +in vain to get Ruth to take some brandy--"she cannot swallow. Now I will +help you upstairs with her. The great thing is to get her to lie down." + +It seemed hours to Hiram Powlett, as he listened to the wild screaming +and laughter overhead, but in reality it was not many minutes before the +doctor came down again. + +"I am going to drive home and get some chloroform," he said, "I shan't +be two minutes gone;" and before Hiram could ask a question he hurried +out, jumped into his dogcart, and drove off. + +There was no change until his return, except that once or twice there +was a moment's cessation in the screaming. Hiram could not remain in the +house, but went out and walked up and down until the doctor returned. + +"No change, I hear," the latter remarked, as he jumped down from the +dogcart, for Ruth's cries could be heard down at the gate of the garden. + +Then he hurried on into the house and upstairs, poured some chloroform +into a handkerchief, and waved it in Ruth's face. Gradually the screams +abated, and in two or three minutes the girl was lying quiet and still. + +"Now, lift her head, Mrs. Powlett, while I pour a few drops of this +narcotic between her lips." + +"Can she swallow, sir?" + +"Not consciously, but it will find its way down her throat. I don't like +doing it, but we must send her to sleep. Weak as she is, and shaken by +all she has gone through, she will kill herself if she goes on with +these hysterics." + +As soon as Ruth showed signs of returning consciousness, the doctor +again placed the handkerchief near her face, keeping his fingers +carefully on her pulse as he did so. + +This was repeated again and again, and then the opiate began to take +effect. + +"I think she will do now," he said, at last; "it's a hazardous +experiment, but it was necessary. Now you can go down to your husband +for a few minutes, and tell him how she is. I shall remain here for a +time." + +"She is off now," Mrs. Powlett said, as she came downstairs. + +"Asleep?" Hiram asked. + +"Well, it's sleep, or chloroform, or laudanum, or a little of each of +them," Mrs. Powlett said. "Anyhow, she is lying quiet, and looks as if +she were asleep. Dear, dear, what things girls are. And to think that +all these years we have never had a day's sickness with her, and now it +all comes one on the top of the other; but, of course, when one's got a +husband who comes and blurts things out before a girl that's that +delicate that the wind would blow her over, what can you expect?" + +"I didn't mean----" Hiram began, but Hesba cut him short. + +"That's the way with men; they never do mean; they never use the little +sense they have got. I don't expect that there's a man, woman, or child +in Carnesford that wouldn't have known better. Here you had her down +here for well nigh a month as bad as she could be; then she gets that +terrible shock and goes off fainting all day; then she has to go into +court, and as if that wasn't enough for her, you comes and blurts out +before her that you found as Captain Mervyn murdered his cousin. I +wouldn't call myself a man if I was you, Hiram Powlett. I had a better +idea of you before." + +"What could I have said?" urged Hiram, feebly. + +"Said?" Hesba repeated, scornfully. "In the first place you need not +have said anything; then if you couldn't hold your tongue, you might +have said that, of course, you had found a verdict of wilful murder +against some one or other, which would be quite true; but even if it +hadn't been you need not have minded that when it comes to saving your +own daughter's life. There, sit down and have some food, and go out to +your mill." + +Hiram Powlett had no appetite whatever, but he meekly sat down, ate a +few mouthfuls of food, and then, when Hesba left the room for a moment, +took his cap from the peg and went out. Mrs. Powlett ate her meal +standing; she had no more appetite for it than her husband, but she knew +she should not have an opportunity of coming downstairs again when once +the doctor had left, so she conscientiously forced herself to eat as +much as usual, and then, after clearing away the things, and warning the +little servant that she must not make the slightest sound, she went into +the parlour and sat down until the doctor came downstairs. + +"She is quiet now. I will come back again when I have had my dinner. Sit +close by her, and if you see any signs of change, sprinkle a little +water on her face and send for me; and you may pour a few drops of +brandy down her throat. If her breathing continues regular, and as slow +as it is at present, do nothing until I return." + +For a fortnight Ruth Powlett lay between life and death, then she turned +the corner, and very slowly and gradually began to recover. Six weeks +had passed by, and she was about again, a mere shadow of her former +self. No further evidence of any kind had been obtained with reference +to the murder at The Hold. Mrs. Mervyn had a detective down from +London, and he had spent days in calling at all the villages within +twenty miles in the endeavour to find some one who had heard a horseman +pass between the hours of twelve and three. This, however, he failed to +do; he had tracked the course of Ronald Mervyn up to ten o'clock, but +after that hour he could gather no information. Even a reward of fifty +pounds failed to bring any tidings of a horseman after that hour. Ronald +Mervyn had followed a circuitous route, apparently going quite at +random, but when heard of at ten o'clock he was but thirteen miles +distant, which would have left an ample margin of time for him to have +ridden to The Hold and carried out his designs. + +The description of Margaret Carne's watch and jewellery had been +circulated by the police throughout England, but so far none of it +appeared to have been offered for sale at any jeweller's or pawnbroker's +in the country. In South Devonshire, people were divided into two +parties on the subject of Ronald Mervyn's guilt or innocence. No one +remained neutral on the subject. Some were absolutely convinced that, in +spite of appearances, he was innocent. Others were equally positive that +he was guilty. The former insisted that the original hypothesis as to +the murder was the correct one, and that it had been committed by some +tramp. As to the impossibility of this man having killed Margaret Carne +in her sleep, they declared that there was nothing in it. Every one knew +that tramps were rough subjects, and this man might be an especially +atrocious one. Anyhow, it was a thousand times more probable that this +was how it came about than that Ronald Mervyn should have murdered his +cousin. + +The other party were ready to admit that it was improbable that a man +should murder his cousin, but they fell back upon the evidence that +showed he and no one else had done it, and also upon the well-known +curse upon Carne's Hold, and the fact that Mervyn on his mother's side +had the Carne blood in his veins. Every one knew, they argued, that mad +people murder their husbands, wives, or children; why, then, not a +cousin? + +There was a similar difference of opinion on the subject among the +little conclave in the snuggery at the "Carne's Arms." + +Jacob Carey and the old clerk were both of opinion that Ronald Mervyn +was guilty, the former basing his opinion solely upon the evidence, and +the latter upon the curse of the Carnes. The landlord maintained a +diplomatic reserve. It was not for him to offend either section of his +customers by taking a decided side. He therefore contented himself by +saying, "There's a great deal in what you say," to every argument +brought forward in the coffee-room, the tap-room, or snuggery. + +The "Carne's Arms" was doing a larger trade than it had ever done +before. There were two detectives staying in the house, and every day +coaches brought loads of visitors from Plymouth; while on Saturday and +Monday hundreds of people tramped over from the railway station, coming +from Plymouth and Exeter to have a view of the house where the tragedy +had taken place. The pressure of business was indeed so great that the +landlord had been obliged to take on two extra hands in the kitchen, and +to hire three girls from the village to attend to the customers in the +coffee-room and tap-room. + +Hiram Powlett was Captain Mervyn's champion in the snuggery. It was true +he had few arguments to adduce in favour of his belief, and he allowed +the smith and Reuben Claphurst to do the greater part of the talking, +while he smoked his pipe silently, always winding up the discussion by +saying: "Well, neighbours, I can't do much in the way of arguing, and I +allow that what you say is right enough, but for all that I believe +Captain Mervyn to be innocent. My daughter Ruth won't hear a word said +as to his being guilty, and I think with her." + +Hiram Powlett and his wife had indeed both done their best to carry out +the doctor's orders that nothing should be said in Ruth's hearing of the +murder. But the girl, as soon as she was sufficiently recovered to talk, +was always asking questions as to whether any further clue had been +discovered as to the murderer, and she was indeed so anxious and urgent +on the matter that the doctor had felt it better to withdraw his +interdict, and to allow her father to tell her any little scraps of +gossip he had picked up. + +"The idea has evidently got possession of her mind, Hiram," the doctor +said. "She was very attached to her mistress, and is no doubt most +anxious that her murderer shall be brought to justice. I have changed my +opinion, and think now that you had better not shirk the subject. She +has been a good deal more feverish again the last day or two. Of course +she must stay here now until after the trial, which will come off in a +fortnight. When that is over, I should strongly recommend you to send +her away from here for a time; it doesn't matter where she goes to, so +that she is away from here. If you have any friends or relations you can +send her to, let her go to them; if not, I will see about some home for +convalescent patients where she would be taken in. There are several of +them about; one at the Isle of Wight, I believe. That would suit her +very well, as the climate is mild. Anyhow, she must not stop here. I +shall be heartily glad myself when the trial is over. Go where I will I +hear nothing else talked about. No one attends to his own business, and +the amount of drunkenness in the place has trebled. If I had my way, I +would have a regulation inflicting a heavy fine upon every one who +after the conclusion of the trial ventured to make any allusion, however +slight, to it. It's disgusting to see the number of people who come here +every day and go up the hill to have a look at the house." + +As the day for the trial approached, Ruth Powlett became more and more +anxious and nervous about it. It kept her awake at nights, and she +brooded on it during the day. For hours she would sit with her eyes +fixed upon the fire without opening her lips, and the doctor became +seriously anxious lest she should be again laid up before it became +necessary to give her evidence. + +There was indeed a terrible fight going on in Ruth's mind. She knew that +Captain Mervyn was innocent; she knew that George Forester was guilty, +and yet the memory of her past life was still so strong in her that she +could not bring herself to denounce him, unless it became absolutely +necessary to do so to save Ronald Mervyn's life. Ronald had insulted and +threatened her mistress, and had not George Forester been beforehand +with him, he might have done her some grievous harm, or he might perhaps +have murdered Lieutenant Gulston, for whom Ruth felt a strong attraction +because she had discerned that Margaret loved him. + +It was right, then, that Ronald Mervyn should suffer, but it was not +right that he should be hung. If he could clear himself without her +being obliged to denounce George Forester, let him do so; but if not, if +he were found guilty, then she had no other course open to her. She must +come forward and produce the knife and describe how she had found it, +and confess why she had so long concealed it. All this would be very +terrible. She pictured to herself the amazement of the court, the +disapproval with which her conduct would be received, the way in which +she would be blamed by all who knew her, the need there would be for +going away from home afterwards and living somewhere where no one would +know her story; but not for this did she ever waver in her +determination. Ronald Mervyn must be saved from hanging, for she would +be as bad as a murderess if she kept silent and suffered him to be +executed for a crime she knew that he had not committed. + +Still she would not do it until the last thing; not till everything else +failed would she denounce George Forester as a murderer. She loved him +no longer; she knew that had he not been interrupted he would perhaps +have killed her. It was partly the thought of their boy-and-girl life, +and of the hours they had spent together by the side of the Dare, that +softened her heart; this and the thought of the misery of the kind old +man, his father. + +"I don't understand Ruth," the doctor said one day to Mrs. Powlett. "She +ought to get better faster than she does. Of course she has had a +terrible shock, and I quite understand its affecting her as it did, just +as she was recovering from her former illness; but she does not mend as +she ought to do. She has lost strength instead of gaining it during the +past week. She is flushed and feverish, and has a hunted look about her +eyes. If I had known nothing of the circumstances of the case I should +have said that she has something on her mind." + +"There is nothing she can have on her mind," Hesba Powlett replied. "You +know we had trouble with her about that good-for-nothing George +Forester?" The doctor nodded. It was pretty well known throughout the +village how matters stood. + +"She gave him up weeks and weeks ago, just at the time he went away, +when he was wanted for the share he had in that poaching business up in +the Carne Woods. She told her father that she saw we had been right, and +would have nothing more to say to him. That was a week or more before +she had that fall on the hill, and I have never heard her mention his +name since. I feel sure that she is not fretting about him. Ruth has +always been a sensible girl, and once she has made up her mind she +wasn't likely to turn back again." + +"No, I should not say that she was fretting on his account, Mrs. +Powlett. Fretting in young women shows itself in lowness of spirits and +general depression and want of tone. In her case it appears to me to be +rather some sort of anxiety, though about what I cannot guess. If it had +been any other girl in the village, I should have had my suspicion that +she had taken a fancy in some way to Ronald Mervyn, and was anxious +about the trial; but of course that is out of the question in Ruth's +case. No doubt she is anxious about the trial, and has a nervous dread +of being obliged to stand up and describe the scene again in a crowded +court, and perhaps be questioned and cross-questioned. It's a trying +thing for any one; still more so, of course, for a girl whose nerves +have been shattered, and who is in a weak and debilitated state of +health. Well, I shall be heartily glad when it's all over, and we settle +down into our ordinary ways." + +"What do you think will be the verdict, sir? Do you think they will find +Captain Mervyn guilty?" + +"I do not like to give an opinion, Mrs. Powlett. It depends so much on +the jury, and on the way the counsel and judge put it, but I hardly +think that the evidence is sufficient to hang a man. There are, of +course, grave grounds for suspicion, but I should doubt whether any jury +would find Mervyn guilty upon them. It would be amply sufficient if it +were merely a case of robbery, but men don't like to find a verdict when +there is a possibility of their finding out too late to save a man's +life that they have been mistaken. At any rate, Mrs. Powlett, do your +best to keep Ruth's thoughts from dwelling on the subject. I wish it was +summer weather, and that she could sit out in the garden. Of course she +is not strong enough to be able to walk, except for a hundred yards or +so, but I would get her to take a little turn, if it's only once round +the garden now and then." + +"I don't think she would walk if she could, sir. When I was speaking the +other day about her getting well enough to go out for walks, she turned +white and shivered, and said she didn't want to go outside the door +again, not for ever so long. That fall she got seems to have changed her +altogether." + +"Well, well, we must get her away, as I said, Mrs. Powlett. She wants +more bracing air than you have got here, and to have the wind either +coming straight off the sea or else to be in some hilly, breezy place." + +"I am sure I don't know how it's to be managed. She can't go by herself, +and I don't see how I am to leave Hiram." + +"You will have to leave Hiram for a day or two, and take her wherever we +fix upon as the best place and settle her there. Hiram will get on very +well without you for a day or two. She is no more fit to travel alone +than a baby. However, I must be off. Keep up her spirits as well as you +can, and don't let her brood over this business." + +At last the day when Ronald Mervyn was to be tried for murder arrived. +The Assizes were at Exeter, and never in the memory of man had there +been such numerous applications to the sheriff and other officials for +seats in the court. The interest in the case had extended far beyond the +limits of Devonshire. The rank in life of the victim and the accused, +the cold-blooded nature of the murder, and the nature of the evidence +rendered the affair a _cause célèbre_, and the _pros_ and _cons_ of the +case were discussed far and wide. + +The story of the curse of Carne's Hold had been given at full length by +the reporters of the local papers and copied by all the journals of the +kingdom, and the fact that madness was hereditary in the family went for +much in the arguments of those who held that Captain Mervyn was guilty. +Had it not been for this, the tide of public feeling would have been +distinctly in favour of the accused. + +By itself, the rest of the evidence was inconclusive. Men who have been +jilted not unfrequently use strong language, and even threats, without +anything coming of it. The fact of the glove having been found where it +was was certainly suspicious, but, after all, that in itself did not +count for much; the glove might have been blown to where it was found, +or a dog might have picked it up and carried it there. A dozen +explanations, all possible even if not probable, could be given for its +presence, and before a man could be found guilty of murder upon +circumstantial evidence, there must be no room whatever left for doubt. +Therefore, the quarrel, the finding of the glove, and even the fact that +Captain Mervyn was unable to prove an _alibi_, would scarcely have +caused public opinion to decide against him had it not been for the fact +of that taint of insanity in his blood. Call a dog mad and you hang him. +Call a man mad and the public will easily credit him with the commission +of the most desperate crimes; therefore, the feeling of the majority of +those who assembled at the Court House at Exeter, was unfavourable to +Ronald Mervyn. + +The attitude of the prisoner did much to dispel this impression; he was +grave, as one might well be with such a charge hanging over him, but +there was nothing moody or sombre, still less wild, in his expression; +he looked calmly round the court, acknowledged the encouraging nods +given him by some of his fellow officers, who had come over to bear +witness on the point of character, and who to a man believed him to be +innocent. Certainly there was nothing to suggest in the slightest degree +the suspicion of madness in his appearance; and many of those who had +before been impressed by the story of the family taint, now veered round +and whispered to their friends that the story of insanity was all +nonsense, and that Ronald Mervyn looked wholly incapable of such a crime +as that of which he was accused. + +Dr. Arrowsmith had brought Ruth over under his personal charge. As she +came out, when he called in his trap to take her to the station, he was +surprised at the change which had taken place since he saw her the +evening before. The anxious and nervous expression of her face was gone, +and she looked calm and composed. There was indeed a certain determined +expression in her face that led the doctor to believe that she had by a +great effort conquered her fear of the ordeal to which she was to be +exposed, and had nerved herself to go through it unflinchingly. As they +journeyed in the train she asked him: + +"Shall we be in the court all the time, doctor?" + +"No, Ruth, I do not think you will be in court. I fancy the witnesses +remain in a room together until they are wanted. I myself shall be in +court, as the solicitor for the defence is a personal friend of mine, +and will give me a place at his table." + +"Do you think, sir, that after I have given my evidence they would let +me stand there until it is done?" + +"I should hardly think so, Ruth, and I am sure it would be a very bad +thing for you." + +"I have a particular reason for wanting to be there, Dr. Arrowsmith, and +to hear it to the end. A most particular reason. I can't tell you what +it is, but I must be there." + +The doctor looked at her in surprise. + +"You think you will not feel the suspense as much if you are in the +court as you would outside Ruth? Is that what you mean?" + +"That's it, partly, sir. Anyhow, I feel that I must be there." + +"Very well, Ruth, if you see it in that way, I will do what I can for +you. I will ask Captain Hendricks to speak to the policemen in the +court, and tell them to let you remain there after you have given your +evidence. There will be a great crowd, you know, and it will be very +close, and altogether I think it is foolish and wrong of you." + +"I am sorry you think so, sir; but I do want to be there, whatever +happens to me afterwards." + +"Of course you can do as you like, Ruth; but the probability is that you +will faint before you have been there five minutes." + +"I will try not to, sir, and I don't think I shall. It is only when I +get a sudden shock that I faint, and I don't think I can get one there." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE VERDICT. + + +The trial of Ronald Mervyn for the murder of Margaret Carne was marked +by none of the unexpected turns or sudden surprises that not +unfrequently give such a dramatic interest to the proceedings. All the +efforts of the police had failed in unearthing any facts that could +throw a new light upon the subject, and the evidence brought forward was +almost identical with that given at the coroner's inquest; the counsel +asked a great many questions, but elicited no new facts of importance; +the only witnesses called for the defence were those as to character, +and one after another the officers of Mervyn's regiment came forward to +testify that he was eminently popular, and that they had never observed +in him any signs of madness. + +They said that at times he got out of spirits, and was in the habit of +withdrawing himself from their society, and that on these occasions he +not infrequently went for long rides, and was absent many hours; he was, +perhaps, what might be called a little queer, but certainly not in the +slightest degree mad. Old servants of the family and many neighbours +gave testimony to the same effect, and Dr. Arrowsmith testified that he +had attended him from childhood, and that he had never seen any signs of +insanity in his words or actions. + +Ruth had escaped the one question which she dreaded, whether she had +seen anything in the room that would afford a clue to the discovery of +the perpetrator of the crime. She had thought this question over a +hundred times, and she had pondered over the answer she should give. She +was firmly resolved not to tell an actual lie, but either to evade the +question by replying that when she recovered her senses she made +straight to the door without looking round; or, if forced to reply +directly, to refuse to answer, whatever the consequences might be. It +was then with a sigh of deep relief that she left the witness-box, and +took up her station at the point to which the policeman made way for +her. As she did so, however, he whispered: + +"I think you had better go out, my girl. I don't think this is a fit +place for you. You look like to drop now;" but she shook her head +silently, and took up her station in the corner, grasping in one hand +something done up in many folds of paper in her pocket. + +The same question had been asked other witnesses by the counsel for the +defence, and he had made a considerable point of the fact that the +constable and Dr. Arrowsmith both testified that the candles were +standing one on each side of the looking-glass, and although the room +had been carefully searched, no half-burnt match had been discovered. In +his address for the defence he had animadverted strongly upon this +point. + +"It was a dark night, gentlemen. A dark night in November. You will +remember we had the evidence that whoever committed this murder must +have moved about the room noiselessly; the evidence shows that the +murderer drew down the clothes so gently and softly that he did not +awaken the sleeper. Now, as intelligent men, you cannot but agree with +me that no man could have made his way about this absolutely dark room +with its tables and its furniture, and carried out this murder in the +way stated, without making some noise; it would be an utter +impossibility. What is the conclusion? He was either provided with a +light, or he was forced to strike a match and light a candle. + +"In the latter case he must have been provided with silent matches, or +the noise would have awakened the sleeper. Of one thing you may be sure, +Captain Mervyn had not provided himself with silent matches; but even +had not the sound of an ordinary match being struck awakened the +sleeper, surely the sudden light would have done so. I ask you from your +own experience whether, however soundly you might be sleeping, the +effect of a candle being lit in your room would not awaken you; +therefore I think it safe to assume that in the first place, because no +match was found, and in the second place, because had a candle been lit +it would assuredly have awakened the sleeper, and we know that she was +not awakened, that no candle was lighted in the room. + +"How then did the assassin manage after entering the room to avoid the +dressing-table, the chairs, and other furniture, and to see to +manipulate the bedclothes so gently that the sleeper was not awakened? +Why, gentlemen, by means of the implement carried by every professional +burglar, I mean, of course, a dark lantern. Opening the shade slightly, +and carefully abstaining from throwing the light towards the bed, the +burglar would make his way towards it, showing sufficient light to carry +out his diabolical purpose, and then opening it freely to examine the +room, open the trinket-box, and carry away the valuables. + +"The counsel for the prosecution, gentlemen, has not even ventured to +suggest that the prisoner, Captain Mervyn, was possessed of such an +article. His course has been traced through every village that he rode, +up to ten o'clock at night, by which time every shop had long been +closed, and had he stopped anywhere to buy such an article we should +surely have heard of it. Therefore, gentlemen, I maintain that even if +this fact stood alone, it ought to convince you of the innocence of the +prisoner. + +"In his reply, the counsel for the prosecution had admitted that some +weight must be attached to this point, but that it was quite possible +that whoever entered the window might have felt on the table until he +found a candlestick, and lit it, stooping down behind the table, or at +the bottom of the bed, and so shading it with his coat that its light +would not fall on the face of the sleeper. As for the point made that no +match had been found, no great weight could be attached to it; the +prisoner might have put it in his pocket or thrown it out of the +window." + +When the defence was concluded, and the counsel for the prosecution rose +to speak, the feeling in the court was still against the prisoner. + +In all that had been said the evidence pointed against him, and him +only, as the author of the crime; no hint of suspicion had been dropped +against any other person; and the manner in which the crime had been +committed indicated strongly that it was the act of a person actuated by +jealousy, or animosity rather than that of a mere burglar. This view of +the case was strongly brought out by the counsel for the prosecution. + +"The theory of the prosecution is," he said, "not that this unfortunate +gentleman, while in the full possession of his senses, slew this lady, +to whom he was nearly related, and for whom he had long cherished a +sincere affection--the character you have heard given him by so many +witnesses would certainly seem to show him to be a man incapable of such +a crime. Our theory is that the latent taint of insanity in his +blood--that insanity which, as you have heard from Dr. Arrowsmith and +other witnesses, is hereditary in his ancestors on his mother's side, +and has, before now, caused calamities, almost if not quite as serious +as this--suddenly flamed out. We believe that, as has been shown by +witnesses, he galloped away many miles over the country, but we believe +that at last, wrought up to the highest pitch of frenzy, he returned, +scaled the wall, opened the window, and murdered Miss Carne. You have +heard that he was subject to moody fits, when he shunned all society; +these fits, these wild rides you have heard of, are symptoms of a +disordered mind. Perhaps had all gone happily with him, the malady would +not have shown itself in a more serious form. + +"Unfortunately, as we know, there was sharp and sudden unhappiness--such +unhappiness as tries the fibre even of the sanest men, and might well +have struck a fatal blow to his mind. It is not because you see him now, +calm and self-possessed, that you are to conclude that this theory is a +mistaken one. Many, even the most dangerous madmen, have long intervals +when, apparently, their sanity is as perfect as that of other people. +Then suddenly, sometimes altogether without warning, a change takes +place, and the quiet and self-possessed man becomes a dangerous +lunatic--perhaps a murderer. + +"Such, gentlemen, is the theory of the prosecution. You will, of course, +weigh it carefully in your minds, and it will be your duty, if you agree +with it, to give expression to your opinion in your verdict." + +The judge summed up the case with great care. After going through the +evidence piecemeal, he told the jury that while the counsel for the +defence had insisted upon the uncertainty of circumstantial evidence, +and the numerous instances of error that had resulted from it, it was +his duty to tell them that in the majority of cases of murder there +could be, from the nature of things, only circumstantial evidence to go +upon, for that men did not commit murder in the open streets in sight of +other people. At the same time, when circumstantial evidence alone was +forthcoming, it was necessary that it should be of the most conclusive +character, and that juries should, before finding a verdict of guilty, +be convinced that the facts showed that it was the prisoner, and he +only, who could have done the deed. + +"It is for you, gentlemen, to decide whether the evidence that has been +submitted to you does prove, absolutely and conclusively to your minds, +that the prisoner must have been the man who murdered Miss Carne. +Counsel on both sides have alluded to the unquestioned fact that madness +is hereditary in the family of the prisoner; whether or not it is +inherited by him, is also for you to decide in considering your verdict. +You will have to conclude first whether the prisoner did or did not +commit this murder. If you believe that he did so, and that while he did +so he was insane, and incapable of governing his actions, your duty will +be to find him not guilty upon the ground of insanity." + +The general tenor of the summing-up certainly showed that in the opinion +of the judge the evidence, although strong, could not be considered as +absolutely conclusive. Still, the bias was not strongly expressed, and +when the jury retired, opinions in court were nearly equally divided as +to what the verdict would be. + +When he left the witness-box, Dr. Arrowsmith made his way to the corner +in which one of the policemen had placed Ruth after giving her evidence. +She had done this with a steadiness and composure that had surprised the +doctor; she had fortunately escaped much questioning, for the counsel +saw how fragile and weak she looked, and as she had but entered the +room, seen her mistress dead, fainted and left again, there was but +little to ask her. The questions put were: "Was the jewellery safe in +the box when she left the room the night before? Did she remember +whether the window was fastened or not?" To this her reply was negative. +Miss Carne had shut it herself when she went up in the afternoon, and +she had not noticed whether it was fastened. "Was the blind a Venetian +or an ordinary roller blind?" + +"A roller blind." + +"Then, if the window opened, it could be pushed aside without noise. Did +you notice whether the candlesticks were standing where you had left +them?" + +"I noticed that they were on the table and in about the same place where +they were standing the night before, but I could not say exactly." + +"I want you to go out, Ruth," Dr. Arrowsmith said, when he reached her +after the jury had retired. "They may be an hour or more before they +make up their minds. You are as white as death, child. Let me lead you +out." + +Ruth shook her head, and murmured, "I must stay." The doctor shrugged +his shoulders and returned to his seat. It was an hour and a half before +the door opened and the foreman of the jury entered. As he was +unaccompanied, it was evident he wanted to ask a question. + +"My lord," he said, "we are unanimous as to one part of the verdict, but +we can't agree about the other." + +"How do you mean, sir?" the judge asked. "I don't want to know what you +are unanimous about, but I don't understand what you mean about being +unanimous about one part of the verdict and not unanimous on the other." + +The foreman hesitated. Then, to the astonishment of the court, the +prisoner broke in in a clear steady voice: + +"I will not accept acquittal, sir, on the ground of insanity. I am not +mad; if I had been the events of the last two months would have driven +me so. I demand that your verdict be guilty or not guilty." + +The judge was too surprised to attempt to check the prisoner when he +first began to speak, and although he attempted to do so before he had +finished, the interruption was ineffectual. + +"Go back, sir," the judge then said to the foreman. "You must be +unanimous as to the whole of your verdict." + +The interruption of the prisoner had enlightened those in court as to +the nature of the foreman's question. Undoubtedly he had divined +rightly. The jury were in favour of the verdict not guilty, but some of +them would have added on the ground of insanity. The interruption, +although irregular, if not unprecedented, had a favourable effect upon +his hearers. The quickness with which the accused had seized the point, +and the steady, resolute voice in which he had spoken, told in his +favour, and many who before, had they been in the jury-box, would have +returned the verdict of not guilty on the ground of insanity, now +doubted whether they would add the concluding words. + +A quarter of an hour later the jury returned. + +"We are now unanimous, my lord. We say that the prisoner at the bar is +not guilty." + +A sound like a sigh of relief went through the court. Then every one got +up, and there was a movement to the doors. The policeman lifted the bar, +and Ronald Mervyn stepped out a free man, and in a moment was surrounded +by a number of his fellow officers, while some of his neighbours also +pressed forward to shake him by the hand. + +"I will shake hands with no man," he said, drawing back; "I will greet +no man so long as this cloud hangs over me--so long as it is unproved +who murdered Margaret Carne." + +"You don't mean it, Mervyn; you will think better of it in a few days," +one of his fellow officers said, as they emerged into the open air. +"What you have gone through has been an awful trial, but now that you +are proved to be innocent you will get over it." + +"I am not proved to be innocent, though I am not proved to be guilty. +They have given me the benefit of the doubt; but to the end of my life +half the world will believe I did it. Do you think I would go through +life to be pointed at as the man who murdered his cousin? I would rather +blow out my brains to-night. No, you will never see me again till the +verdict of guilty has been passed on the wretch who murdered my cousin. +Good-bye. I know that you believe me innocent, but I will not take your +hands now. When you think it over, you will see as well as I do that +you couldn't have a man in the regiment against whom men as he passed +would whisper 'murderer.' God bless you all." And Ronald Mervyn turned +and walked rapidly away. One or two of the officers would have followed +him, but the colonel stopped them. + +"Leave him alone, lads, leave him alone. We should feel as he does were +we in his place. Good Heavens! how he must have suffered. Still, he's +right, and however much we pity him, we cannot think otherwise. At the +present moment it is clear that he could not remain in the regiment." + +As soon as the crowd had turned away, Dr. Arrowsmith made his way to the +point where Ruth had been standing. Somewhat to his surprise he found +her still on her feet. She was leaning back in the corner with her eyes +closed, and the tears streaming down her cheeks. + +"Come, my dear," he said, putting his arm under hers, "let us be moving. +Thank God it has all ended right." + +"Thank God, indeed, doctor," she murmured. "I had hardly hoped it, and +yet I have prayed so much that it might be so." + +The doctor found that though able to stand while supported by the wall, +Ruth was unable to walk. With the aid of a policeman he supported her +from the court, placed her in a vehicle, and took her to an hotel. + +"There, my dear," he said, when Ruth had been assisted up to a bedroom +by two of the maids, "now you go to bed, and lie there till to-morrow +morning. I will have a basin of strong broth sent you up presently. It's +quite out of the question your thinking of going home to-night. I have +several friends in the town, and am glad of the excuse to stay over the +night. I will call for you at ten o'clock in the morning; the train goes +at half-past ten; I will have your breakfast sent up here. I will go +down to the station now. There are lots of people over here from +Carnesford, and I will send a messenger back to your mother, saying that +you have got through it better than I expected, but I wanted you to have +a night's rest, and you will be home in the morning." + +"Thank you, doctor; that is kind of you," Ruth murmured. + +"Help her into bed, girls. She has been ill, and has had a very trying +day. Don't ask her any questions, but just get her into bed as soon as +you can." + +Then the doctor went downstairs, ordered the broth and a glass of sherry +for Ruth, and a bedroom for himself, and then went off to see his +friends. In the morning he was surprised, when Ruth came downstairs, to +see how much better she looked. + +"My prescription has done you good, Ruth. I am glad to see you look +wonderfully better and brighter." + +"I feel so, sir. I went to sleep directly I had taken the broth and wine +you sent me up, and I did not wake till they called me at half-past +eight. I have not slept for an hour together for weeks. I feel as if +there was such a load taken off my mind." + +"Why, Ruth, you didn't know Captain Mervyn to speak to, did you, that +you should feel such an interest in him?" the doctor said, looking at +her sharply. + +"No, sir, I have never once spoken to him that I know of." + +"Then why do you care so much about his being acquitted?" + +"It would have been dreadful if he had been found guilty when he was +innocent all the time." + +"But then no one knew he was innocent for certain," the doctor said. + +"I felt sure he was innocent," Ruth replied. + +"But why did you feel sure, Ruth?" + +"I can't exactly say, sir, but I did feel that he was innocent." + +The doctor looked puzzled, but at this moment the cab arrived at the +station, and the subject was not renewed, but the doctor afterwards +wondered to himself more than once whether Ruth could have any +particular reason for her assurance of Ronald Mervyn's innocence. + +For another ten days the Mervyn trial was the great topic of +conversation throughout the country, and the verdict was canvassed with +almost as much keenness and heat as the crime had been before the trial. +Now that Ronald Mervyn was no longer in hazard of his life, the feeling +of pity which had before told so strongly in his favour was wanting. If +a man so far forgets himself as to use threats to a woman, he must not +be surprised if he gets into trouble. Of course, now the jury had given +a verdict of "Not guilty," there was no more to be said. There was no +doubt he was a very lucky fellow, and the jury had given him the benefit +of the doubt. Still, if he hadn't done it, who had killed Margaret +Carne? + +Such was the general opinion, and although Ronald had still some staunch +adherents in his own neighbourhood, the tide of feeling ran against him. + +Two months after the trial, Mrs. Mervyn died, broken down by grief, and +while this naturally caused a renewal of the talk, it heightened rather +than otherwise the feeling against her son. The general verdict was that +it was his doing; whether he killed Margaret Carne or not, there was no +doubt that he had killed his mother. All this was doubtless unfair, but +it was not unnatural; and only those who believed thoroughly in Ronald's +innocence felt how hard this additional pain must be for him. + +Immediately the funeral was over, the two girls moved away to London, +and the house was advertised to let, but the odour of the recent tragedy +hung over it. No one cared to take a house with which such a story was +connected. A month or two later there was a sale of the furniture; the +house was then shut up and lost to the county. Ten days after the trial +it was announced in _The Gazette_ that Ronald Mervyn had retired from +the service upon sale of his commission. No one had seen him after he +had left the court a free man. His horses were sold a week later, and +his other belongings forwarded from the regiment to an address he gave +in London. His mother and sister had a few days later gone up for a day +to town, and had met him there. He had already written to them that he +intended to go abroad, and they did not seek to combat his resolution. + +"I can never come back, mother, unless this is cleared up. You must feel +as well as I do, that I cannot show my face anywhere. I am surprised +that I have got off myself, and indeed if it were not that I am sure I +never got off my horse that night, I should sometimes suspect that I +must for a time have been really mad and have done what they accuse me +of. I have already sent down a detective to the village. There must be +some clue to all this if one could only hit upon it, but I own that at +present I do not see where it is to be looked for. I do not believe that +it was done by some passing tramp. I agree with every word that was said +at my trial in that respect. + +"Everything points to the fact that she was deliberately murdered, +though who, except myself, could have entertained a feeling of animosity +against Margaret, God only knows. There is one comfort, mother, and only +one," he said with a hard laugh. "I can set our minds at ease on one +point, which I have never felt sure about before, that is, that I have +not inherited the curse of the Carnes. Had I done so, the last two +months would have made a raving lunatic of me, whereas I have never felt +my head cooler and my reason clearer than I have since the day I was +arrested. But you mustn't grieve for me more than you can help, mother; +now that it is over, I feel more for you and the girls than I do for +myself. I have a sort of conviction that somehow, though I don't see +how, the thing will be cleared up some day. Anyhow I mean to go and lead +a rough life somewhere, to keep myself from brooding over it. The weight +will really fall upon you, far more than upon me, and I should strongly +advise you to shut up the house, let it if you can, and either come up +here or settle in some place--either Brighton or Hastings--where this +story will be soon forgotten and no one will associate your names with +this terrible business." + +About that time a stranger arrived at Carnesford. He announced that he +was a carpenter from the North, and that he suffered from weak lungs, +and had been recommended to live down South. After staying for a week at +the "Carne's Arms," he stated that he liked the village so much that he +should settle there if he saw a chance of making a livelihood, and as it +happened that there was no carpenter in the village, the idea was +received with favour, and a week later he was established in a cottage +that happened to be vacant. As he was a man who seemed to have travelled +about England a good deal, and was well spoken and informed, he soon +took a good position in the place, and was even admitted to form one of +the party in the snuggery, where he would talk well upon occasions, but +was specially popular as an excellent listener. + +When spring came there was a fresh sensation. The gardener at The Hold, +in digging up some ground at the edge of the shrubbery, to plant some +rhododendrons there, turned up the missing watch and jewellery of +Margaret Carne. It was all buried together a few inches below the soil, +without any wrapper or covering of any kind. Captain Hendricks arrived +at Carnesford as soon as the news of the discovery reached him. Reginald +Carne was himself away, having been absent ever since the trial took +place. Most of the servants had left at once; the old cook and a niece +of hers alone remaining in charge, and two stablemen from the garden +also staying in the house. + +Nothing came of the discovery; but it, of course, renewed the interest +in the mystery of Margaret Carne's death, and the general opinion was +that it was fortunate indeed for Ronald Mervyn that the discovery had +not been made before his trial, for it completely demolished the theory +that the murder was the work of a burglar. It was possible, of course, +that such a man, knowing the active hue and cry that would be set on +foot, and that it would be dangerous to offer the jewellery for sale, +and still more dangerous to keep it about him, had at once buried it, +intending to go back some day to recover it, for, as Reginald stated at +the trial, the missing jewels were worth fifteen hundred pounds. + +But had they been so hidden they would assuredly have been put in a box +or some sort of cover that would protect them from the damp, and not +have been merely thrust into the ground. Altogether the discovery +greatly heightened, instead of diminishing, the impression that the +murder was an act of revenge and not the outcome of robbery; and the +cloud over Ronald Mervyn became heavier rather than lighter in +consequence. + +Ruth Powlett had gained health and strength rapidly after the verdict +"Not guilty" had been returned against Ronald Mervyn. She was still +grave and quiet, and as she went about her work at home, Hesba would +sometimes tell her that she looked more like a woman of fifty than a +girl of nineteen; but her mind had been lightened from the burden of her +terrible secret, and she felt comparatively happy. She spent much of her +time over at the Foresters', for the old man and his wife were both +ailing, and they knew that there was little chance of their ever seeing +their son again, for the gamekeeper who had been injured in the poaching +affray had since died, and as the evidence given at the inquest all +pointed to the fact that it was George Forester who had struck the blow +that had eventually proved fatal, a verdict of "Wilful murder" had been +returned against him. + +Ruth's conscience was not altogether free as to her conduct in the +matter, and at the time of Mrs. Mervyn's death she suffered much. As for +Ronald Mervyn himself, she had little compassion for him. She would not +have permitted him to be hung; but the disgrace that had fallen upon +him, and the fact that he had been obliged to leave the country, +affected her but little. She had been greatly attached to her mistress, +who had treated her rather as a friend than as a servant; and that he +should have insulted and threatened Margaret was in her eyes an offence +so serious that she considered it richly deserved the punishment that +had befallen him. + +Until she heard of Mrs. Mervyn's death, she had scarcely considered that +the innocent must suffer with the guilty, and after that she felt far +more than she had done before, that she had acted wrongly in keeping the +secret, the more so since the verdict returned against George Forester +in the other case had rendered the concealment to some extent futile. +But, indeed, Forester and his wife did not suffer anything like the pain +and shame from this verdict that they would have done had their son been +proved to have been the murderer of Miss Carne. Public opinion, indeed, +ran against poaching as against drunkenness, or enlisting in the army, +or other wild conduct; but it was not considered as an absolute crime, +nor was the result of a fight, in which a keeper might be killed by a +blow struck in self-defence, regarded as a murder, in whatever point of +view the law might take it. Still Ruth suffered, and at times told +herself bitterly that although she meant to act for the best, she had +done wrongly and wickedly in keeping George Forester's secret. + +Three months later, to the regret of all Carnesford, the carpenter, who, +although not a first-rate hand, had been able to do the work of the +village and neighbourhood, suddenly left. He had, he said, received a +letter telling him he had come into a little property up in the North, +and must return to see after it. So two days later the cottage again +stood vacant, and Carnesford, when it wanted a carpenter's job done, was +obliged to send over to the next village for a man to do it. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ENLISTED. + + +It was in August, 1850. Some newly-arrived emigrants had just landed +from their ship, and were walking through the streets of Cape Town, +watching with great amusement the novel sights, the picturesque groups +of swarthy Malays in huge beehive-shaped hats, with red-and-yellow +bandanas round their necks, and their women in dresses of the most +gorgeous colours. Settlers from inland farms rode at a reckless pace +through the streets, and huge waggons drawn by eight or ten bullocks +came creaking along, often at a trot. One of the party stopped before a +placard. + +"Active young men wanted for the Cape Mounted Rifles. For full +particulars as to service and pay, inquire of the Adjutant at the +Barracks of the Corps." + +"I thought they were recruited in England," he muttered to himself. "I +will go round presently and see about it, but I will look at the papers +first. If there is any trouble on with the natives it would suit me +well, but I certainly will not enlist merely to dawdle about in the +towns. I would rather carry out my idea of buying a farm and going in +for stock-raising." He went into a liquor shop, called for some of the +native wine, and took up a newspaper. It contained numerous letters from +settlers on the frontier, all saying that the attitude of the natives +had changed greatly within the last few weeks, and that all sorts of +alarming rumours were current, and it was feared that in spite of the +solemn treaties they had made two years before, the natives were again +going to take up arms. + +"I think that's good enough," he said to himself. "There are likely to +be stirring times again here. Nothing would suit my case better than an +active life, hard work, and plenty of excitement." + +Having finished his wine, he inquired the way to the barracks of the +detachment of the corps stationed at Cape Town, and being directed to +it, entered the gates. He smiled to himself at his momentary feeling of +surprise at the sentry at the gate neglecting to salute him, and then +inquiring for the orderly room, he went across the little barrack-yard +and entered. The adjutant looked up from the table at which he was +writing. + +"I see a notice that you want men, sir," the new-comer said. + +"Yes, we are raising two fresh troops. What age are you?" + +"Twenty-eight." + +"You have served before, have you not?" the adjutant said, looking at +the well-knit figure standing before him. + +[Illustration: "'_You have served before, have you not?' the Adjutant +said._"] + +"Yes, I have served before." + +"Infantry or cavalry?" + +"The infantry; but I can ride." + +"Have you your papers of discharge?" + +"No." + +"Have you any one to speak to your character?" + +"No one here. I only landed this morning by the _Thalia_, which came in +from England last night." + +"That is awkward," the officer said. "You know that as a rule we only +enlist in England, and only take applicants of good character." + +"I am aware of that, sir; but as just at present you are likely to want +men who can fight, character is not of so much importance." + +The adjutant smiled, and again scrutinised the applicant closely. + +"The man has been an officer," he said to himself. "Well, that is +nothing to me; he has the cut of a soldier all over." + +"Do you know the conditions of service? You provide your own horse and +uniform. Government provides arms. In the event of your not being able +to find your horse and uniform, Government will--as it is anxious to +fill up the ranks as soon as possible--provide them, and stop the money +from your pay." + +"I can provide horse and uniform." + +"Very well, then, I will take you," the officer said. + +"I enlist as Harry Blunt. I may say, sir, that I should feel very +greatly obliged if, as I know my duty, you would post me to a troop +already up the country instead of to one of those you are raising, and +who will have to learn their drill and how to sit a horse before they +can be sent up on active duty." + +"I can do that," the officer said; "it is only yesterday that we called +for recruits, and we have only had two or three applications at present; +there is a draft going on to Port Elizabeth next week, and if I find +that you are, as you say, up in your drill, I will send you up with +them." + +"Thank you, sir, I am very much obliged to you." + +"The major will be here at four o'clock," the adjutant said; "come in at +that time, and you can be attested and sworn in." + +"After all," Ronald Mervyn said to himself, as he strode away, "there's +nothing like soldiering. I know I should have fretted for the old work +if I had settled down on a farm, or even if I had gone in, as I half +thought of doing, for shooting for a year or so before settling down. If +these natives really mean to make trouble, we shall have an exciting +time of it, for the men I have talked with who fought in the last war +here say that they have any amount of pluck, and are enemies not to be +despised. Now I will be off and look for a horse. I'd better not order +my uniform until I am sworn in; the major may, perhaps, refuse me on the +ground of want of character." He went up to two or three young farmers +who were standing talking in the street. + +"I am a stranger, gentlemen, and have just landed. I want to buy a good +horse; can you tell me what is the best way to set about it?" + +"You will have no difficulty about that," one of them replied, "for +there's been a notice up that Government wants to buy horses, and at two +o'clock this afternoon, those who have animals to dispose of fit for +cavalry service are to bring them into the parade ground in front of the +infantry barracks. Government has only asked for fifty horses, and there +will probably be two or three times that number brought in. We have +each brought in a horse or two, but they are rather expensive animals. I +believe the horses are intended for mounts for staff-officers. They want +more bone and strength than is general in the horses here." + +"I don't much mind what I pay," Ronald said, carelessly. "However, +gentlemen, I may see you down there, and if Government does not take +your horses, perhaps I may make a deal with one of you." + +At the appointed hour Ronald strolled down to the parade. There were a +good many officers assembled there, and a large number of young Boer +farmers, each with one or more horses, led by natives. The major and +adjutant of the Cape Mounted Rifles were examining the horses, which +were ridden up and down before them by their owners, the adjutant +himself sometimes mounting and taking them a turn. Presently his eyes +fell upon Ronald, who was closely scrutinising the horses. + +"That is the young fellow I was speaking to you about, major, the man in +the tweed suit examining that horse's mouth." + +"Yes, I have no doubt you are right, Lawson; he has the cut of a +military man all over, and beyond all question a gentleman. Out-ran the +constable at home, I suppose. Well, we will take him anyhow; for rough +work men of that stamp make the very best soldiers. I fancy we have more +than one in our ranks now. No, you need not bring that horse up," he +broke off, addressing the young farmer, whose horse Ronald had just been +examining. "He's got some vice about him, or you would not be offering +him at our prices." + +"He's as good a horse as there is in the colony," the young Dutchman +said; "but I am not offering him at your price. I thought that some +young officer might be inclined to buy him, and I have brought him down +to show. There is no vice about him that I know of, but he has only been +mounted twice, and as he has never been off the farm before he is a bit +fidgety." + +"What do you want for him?" the major asked, examining the horse +closely. + +"I want a hundred and twenty pounds for him." + +"A hundred and twenty fiddlesticks," the major said. "Why, man, there +are not ten horses in the colony worth a hundred and twenty pounds." + +"Perhaps not," the young Dutchman said, coolly, "but this is one of the +ten." + +Several of the other officers now came up and examined the horse, and +they were unanimous in their approval of him. + +"He would be worth three hundred as a hunter at home," one of them +remarked, "but nobody's going to give such a price as that out here, +when you can get a decent runner for twenty; but he is certainly the +handsomest horse I have seen since I have been in the colony, and I have +seen some good ones, too." + +The farmer moved off with the horse. As he left the ground, Ronald again +walked up to him. + +"I like your horse," he said, "and if you will take a hundred pounds for +him, I will give it you." + +"Very well," the Dutchman said, "I will take it, but I wouldn't take a +penny under. Have you the money here?" + +"I have not got it in my pocket," Ronald replied, "but I have letters of +credit on the bank. Walk round with me there, and I will give you the +cash." + +In ten minutes the money was obtained and handed to the farmer, who gave +Ronald a receipt for it. Ronald took the halter from the hands of the +native, and at once led the horse to the stable of the hotel at which +he had already left his luggage. Then he ordered one of the cases to be +opened, and took out a saddle and bridle which he had brought out with +him in view of rough colonial work. + +"I did not expect to be suited so soon," he said to himself, "and +certainly did not expect to find such a mount here. I like him better +than either of my old hunters, and will back him, after a couple of +months' good handling, to win any military steeplechase. That's money +well laid out; when a man may have to ride for his life, money in +horseflesh is a good investment." + +He went down at four o'clock, and was attested and sworn in. + +"I saw you down on the parade ground, Blunt," the adjutant said. "We +have bought a score of horses for the use of recruits. You can have one +of them at the Government price if you choose." + +"I am much obliged to you, sir," Ronald replied, "but I picked one up +myself." + +"He will have to pass inspection, you know, Blunt?" + +"I think he's good enough to pass, sir," Ronald said, quietly. "I am +considered a pretty good judge of a horse." + +"There is the address of a tailor," the adjutant said, handing him a +card; "he has got a supply of the right cloth, and has contracted to +supply uniforms at a very reasonable price. You need not come into +barracks until to-morrow, unless you choose." + +"I thank you, sir. I have a few things to get, and I would rather not +report myself until to-morrow afternoon, if you will give me leave." + +"Very well, then, I will not ration you to-morrow. Report yourself to +Sergeant Menzies any time before nine o'clock in the evening." + +Ronald gave the military salute, turned on his heel, and went out of +the barracks. He went straight to the tailor whose card had been given +to him. "I want to be measured for a uniform for the Mounted Rifles," he +said. "How much do you charge?" + +"We supply tunic, jacket, and two pairs of breeches, and cap, for nine +pounds." + +"When can you let me have them?" + +"In three days." + +"I must have them by to-morrow afternoon, by six o'clock, and I will pay +you two pounds extra to get them done by then. But mind, I want +good-fitting clothes. Do you understand?" + +"You will pay eleven pounds for them if I get them ready by six o'clock. +Very well, then, I will try and do them." + +"Of course you can do them, if you choose," Ronald said. "If you get +them cut out and stitched together, I will come in at nine o'clock in +the morning to try them on. Now where can I get jack-boots?" + +"The last shop down the end of this street. Moens is the name. He always +keeps a lot by him, and the Mounted Rifles here mostly deal with him." + +Ronald was fortunate enough to obtain a pair of boots that fitted him +well, and he now strolled back to his hotel. The next morning, after +trying on his uniform, which was of dark green, he went to the stables +and saddled his new purchase. The horse was fidgety and nervous from its +new surroundings, and refused for some time to let him mount; but he +patted and soothed it, and then putting one hand on the saddle, sprang +into it at a bound. He rode at a walk through the streets, and when he +got beyond the limits of the town touched the horse with his spurs. The +animal reared up, lashed out behind once or twice, and then went off at +a gallop. Ronald kept along the road until he was beyond the patches of +land cultivated by the natives. When once in the open country, he left +the road, and allowed the horse to gallop across country until its speed +abated, by which time he was nearly ten miles from Cape Town; then he +turned its head, and at a quiet pace rode back to the town. + +"A month's schooling," he said, "and it will be an almost perfect horse; +its pace is very easy, and there's no doubt about its strength and wind. +You are a beauty, old boy," he went on, as he patted the animal's neck, +"we shall soon be capital friends." + +The uniform was delivered punctually, and after saying good-bye to his +fellow-passengers who were staying at the hotel, Ronald put on his +uniform, filled the valise, he had that afternoon purchased, with a +useful kit, took out an excellent sporting rifle that would carry +Government ammunition, and a brace of revolvers, and, packing up his +other clothes and ordering all the baggage to be put away in a store +until required, he mounted and rode into barracks. + +"Where shall I find Sergeant Menzies?" he asked one of the men at the +guardroom. + +"His quarters are over there, the last door in that corner." + +Ronald rode over to the point indicated, and then dismounted. He entered +the passage. The sergeant's name was written on a piece of paper +fastened on the first door. He came out when Ronald knocked. "I was +ordered by the adjutant to report myself to you, sergeant," Ronald said, +saluting. + +"He told me that a recruit was coming, but how did you get your uniform? +Why, you only enlisted yesterday." + +"I hurried them up a bit," Ronald said. "Where shall I put my horse?" + +The sergeant went into his quarters and came out with a lantern. He +held it up and examined the horse. + +"Well, lad, you have got a bonny beast, a downright beauty. You will +have to get the regulation bridle, and then you will be complete. Let me +look at you." He held up the lantern. "You will do, lad," he said, "if +you make as good a soldier as you look. You only want the sword and belt +to be complete. You will have them served you out in the morning. Now, +come along and I will show you the stable." He made his way to the +stable, where there was a vacant stall, and stood by while Ronald +removed the saddle and bridle and put on the head-stall. "You can take +an armful of hay from that rack yonder. I can't get him a ration of +grain to-night, it's too late." + +"He's just had a good feed," Ronald said, "and will not want any more, +but I may as well give him the hay to amuse himself with. It will +accustom him to his new quarters. What shall I do with my rifle and +pistols?" + +"Bring them with you, lad; but there was no occasion for you to have +brought them. Government finds arms." + +"I happened to have them with me," Ronald said, "and as the rifle +carries Government ammunition, I thought they would let me use it." + +"If it's about the right length I have no doubt they will be glad to do +so, for we have no very great store of arms, and we are not quite so +particular about having everything exactly uniform as they are in a +crack corps at home. As for the pistols, there is no doubt about them, +as being in the holsters they don't show. Several of the men have got +them, and most of the officers. Now, I will take you up to your +quarters." The room to which he led Ronald contained about a dozen men. +Some had already gone to bed, others were rubbing up bits and +accoutrements; one or two were reading. "Here's a new comrade, lads," +the sergeant said; "Blunt's his name. He is a new arrival from home, and +you won't find him a greenhorn, for he has served already." + +Ronald had the knack of making himself at home, and was, before he +turned in an hour later, on terms of good fellowship with his comrades. + +In the morning, after grooming his horse, he went into the barrack-yard, +when the troop formed up for dismounted drill. + +"Will you take your place at once in the ranks?" Sergeant Menzies asked. +"Do you feel equal to it?" + +"Yes; I have not grown rusty," Ronald replied, as he fell in. + +An hour's work sufficed to show Sergeant Menzies, who was drilling the +troop, that the new recruit needed no instructions on that score, and +that he was as perfect in his drill as any one in the troop. + +"Are you as well up in your cavalry drill as in the infantry?" he asked +Ronald as the troop fell out. + +"No," Ronald said, "but when one knows one, he soon gets well at home in +the other. At any rate, for simple work the system is exactly the same, +and I think with two or three drills I shall be able to keep my place." + +After breakfast the troop formed up again in their saddles, and the +officers took their places in the ranks. As the sergeant handed to the +adjutant some returns he had been compiling, the latter asked: + +"By the way, sergeant, did the recruit Blunt join last night?" + +"Yes, sir, and he is in his place now in the rear rank. He was in his +uniform when he came, and I found this morning that he is thoroughly +well up in his drill. A smart soldier all over, I should say. I don't +know that he will do so well mounted, but I don't think you will see him +make many blunders. He is evidently a sharp fellow." + +"He ought not to have taken his place until I had passed his horse, +sergeant. Still I can do that after parade drill is over." + +The adjutant then proceeded to put the troop through a number of easy +movements, such as forming from line to column, and back into line, and +wheeling. There was no room for anything else in the barrack-yard, which +was a small one, as the barracks would only hold a single troop. Before +the movements were completed, the major came out. When the troop was +dismissed Sergeant Menzies brought Ronald up to the two officers. He had +in the morning furnished him with the regulation bridle, belt, and +sword. Ronald drew up his horse at a short distance from the two +officers and saluted. + +"There's no doubt about his horse," the major said, "that is if he is +sound. What a good-looking beast!" + +"That it is, major. By Jove, I believe it's the very animal that young +Boer asked us one hundred and twenty pounds for yesterday; 'pon my word, +I believe it's the same." + +"I believe it is," the major agreed. "What a soldierly-looking young +fellow he is! I thought he was the right stamp yesterday, but I hardly +expected to see him turn out so well at first." + +The two officers walked up to Ronald, examined his horse, saddle, and +uniform. + +"That's not a regulation rifle you have got there," the major said. + +"No, sir, it is one I brought from England with me. I have been +accustomed to its use, and as it is the regulation bore, I thought +perhaps I might carry it." + +"It's a trifle long, isn't it?" the adjutant asked. + +"Yes, sir, it's just two inches too long, but I can have that cut off by +a gunsmith." + +"Very well; if you do that you can carry it," the major said. "Of course +it's much better finished than the regulation one, but not much +different in appearance. Very well, we pass the horse." Ronald saluted +and rode off to the stables. + +"He hasn't come out penniless, anyhow," the major laughed. + +"No, that's quite evident," the adjutant agreed. "I dare say his friends +gave him a hundred or two to start on a farm, and when he decided to +join us he thought he might as well spend it, and have a final piece of +extravagance." + +"I dare say that's it," the major agreed; "anyhow I think we have got +hold of a good recruit this time." + +"I wish they were all like him," the adjutant sighed, thinking of the +trouble he often had with newly-joined recruits. + +"By the way," the major said, "I have got word this morning that the +draft is to be embarked to-morrow instead of next week. They took up a +ship for them yesterday; it seems our men there are worked off their +legs, for the Kaffirs are stealing cattle and horses in all directions, +and the colonists have sent in such a strong letter of complaint to the +Governor that even he thinks the police force on the frontier ought to +be strengthened. Not, of course, that he admits in the slightest that +there is any ground for alarm, or believes for a moment that the Kaffirs +have any evil intentions whatever; still, to reassure the minds of the +settlers, he thinks the troops may as well go forward at once." + +"I wish to goodness," the adjutant said, bitterly, "that Sir Harry Smith +would take a cottage for two or three months close to the frontier; it +would not be long before his eyes were opened a little as to the +character and intentions of the Kaffirs." + +"It would be a good thing," the major agreed, "but I doubt if even that +would do it till he heard the Kaffirs breaking in his doors; then the +enlightenment would come too late to be of any service to the colony. +By-the-bye, the colonel told me yesterday he should send me forward next +week to see after things. He says that of course if there is any serious +trouble he shall go forward himself." + +The following morning the draft of Cape Mounted Rifles embarked on board +a steamer and were taken down to Algoa Bay, and landed at Port +Elizabeth, drenched to the skin by the passage through the tremendous +surf that beats upon the coast, and were marched to some tents which had +been erected for them on a bare sandhill behind the town. + +Ronald Mervyn was amused at the variety of the crowd in the straggling +streets of Port Elizabeth. Boer farmers, Hottentots, Malays, and +Fingoes, with complexions varying through every shade of yellow and +brown up to black; some gaily dressed in light cottons, some wrapped in +a simple cowhide or a dirty blanket, many with but little clothing +beyond their brass and copper ornaments. + +The country round was most monotonous. As far as the eye could see it +was nothing but a succession of bare, sandy flats, and, beyond these, +hills sprinkled with bush and occasional clumps of aloes and elephant +trees. Upon the following morning the troop marched, followed by a +waggon containing their baggage and provisions, drawn by ten oxen. A +little naked boy marched at the head of the oxen as their guide, and +they were driven by a Hottentot, armed with a tremendous whip of immense +length, made of plaited hide fastened to the top of a bamboo pole. After +a fourteen miles' march the troop reached the Zwart Kop river, and, +crossing the ford, encamped among the scattered mimosas and numerous +wait-a-bit thorns. The horses were then knee-haltered, and they and the +oxen were turned out to feed till night. The next day's march was a very +long one, and for the most part across a sandy desert, to the Sunday +River, a sluggish stream in which, as soon as the tents were pitched, +the whole party enjoyed a bath. + +"To-morrow we shall reach the Addoo Bush, Blunt," one of his comrades, +who knew the country well, remarked. "This is near the boundary of what +you may call the Kaffir country, although I don't think they have their +kraals as far south as this, though there was fighting here in the last +war, and may be again." + +"But I thought our territory extended as far as the Kei River?" + +"So it does nominally," the other said. "All the country as far as that +was declared to be forfeited; but in point of fact the Kaffirs remained +in possession of their lands on condition that they declared their +allegiance to the Crown, and that each chief was made responsible for +any cattle or other robberies, the spoor of which could be traced to his +kraal. Of course they agreed to this, as, in fact, they would agree to +anything, resolving, naturally, to break the conditions as soon as it +suited them. Local magistrates and commissioners are scattered about +among them, and there have been a lot of schools and missionary stations +started. They say that they are having great success. Well, we shall see +about that. In the last war the so-called Christian natives were among +the first to turn against us, and I expect it will be the same here, for +it's just the laziest and worst of the natives who pretend to become +Christians. They get patches of land given them, and help in building +their huts, and all sorts of privileges. By about half-a-day's work each +week they can raise enough food to live upon, and all that is really +required of them is to attend services on a Sunday. The business +exactly suits them, but as a rule there are a great many more Hottentots +than Kaffirs among the converts. I can give you a specimen of the sort +of men they are. Not long since a gentleman was coming down with a +waggon and a lot of bullocks from King Williamstown. The drivers all +took it into their head to desert one day--it's a way these fellows +have, one of them thinks he will go, and then the whole lot go, and a +settler wakes up in the morning and finds that there isn't a single hand +left on his place, and he has perhaps four or five hundred cows to be +milked, and twice as many oxen and horses to look after. Well, this +happened within a mile or so of the missionary station, so the gentleman +rode over there and asked if some of the men would go with him down to +Beaufort, a couple of days' march. Nobody would go; he raised his +offers, and at last offered five times the usual rate of pay, but not +one of the lazy brutes would move, and he had at last to drive the whole +lot down himself, with the aid of a native or two he picked up on the +way. However, there has been pretty good order along the frontier for +the last two years, partly due to the chiefs having to pay for all +cattle traced to their kraals, partly to the fact that we have got four +hundred Kaffir police--and an uncommon smart lot of fellows they +are--scattered all along the frontier, instead of being, like us, kept +principally in towns. You see, we are considered more as a military +body. Of course, we have a much easier time of it than if we were +knocking about in small parties among the border settlements; but there +is a lot more excitement in that sort of life, and I hope that if there +is trouble they will send us out to protect the settlements." + +"I hope so," Ronald said, cordially. "Barrack life at a dull little town +is the slowest thing in the world. I would never have enlisted for that +sort of thing." + +"Well, if what the settlers say turns out right, you will have plenty of +excitement, I can tell you. I was in the last war, and I don't know that +I want to go through another, for these beggars fight a great deal too +well for it to be pleasant, I can tell you. The job of carrying +despatches or escorting waggons through a bush where these fellows are +known to be lurking, is about as nasty a one as a man can wish. At any +moment, without the least notice, you may have half-a-dozen assegais +stuck in your body. And they can shoot straight, too; their guns are +long and clumsy, but they carry long distances--quite as far as our +rifles, while, as for the line muskets, they haven't a chance with +them." + +Two more days' marching and the troop arrived at Grahamstown. Here they +encamped near Fort England, where a wing of the 91st Regiment was +quartered, and the next fortnight was spent in constant drills. The +rifles were then ordered forward to King Williamstown, where two days +later they were joined by the infantry. + +Before starting, the adjutant had specially called the attention of +Captain Twentyman, who commanded the troop, to his last joined recruit. + +"You will find that man Blunt, who joined us yesterday, a good soldier, +Twentyman. It may be he has been an officer, and has got into some row +at home and been obliged to leave the service. Of course you noticed his +horse on parade this morning; we have nothing like it in the Corps. The +farmer who owned it offered it to us yesterday afternoon, and wanted a +hundred and twenty pounds for it. He said that both his sire and dam +were English hunters, the sire he had bought from an English officer, +and the grandsire was a thoroughbred horse. The man has a large farm, +about twenty-five miles from Cape Town, and goes in for horse-breeding; +but I have seen nothing before of his as good as that. I expect the +young fellow has spent his last penny in buying it. Of course I don't +know what he will turn out in the way of conduct; but you will find, if +he is all right in that respect, that he will make a first-rate +non-commissioned officer, and mounted as he is, will, at any rate, be a +most useful man for carrying despatches and that sort of thing. I +confess I am very much taken with him. He has a steady, resolute sort of +face; looks pleasant and good-tempered, too. Keep your eye upon him." + +Captain Twentyman had done so during the voyage and on the line of +march, and Ronald's quickness, alacrity, and acquaintance with his duty +convinced him that the adjutant's supposition was a correct one. + +"By Jove, Twentyman," an officer of the 91st said as he was standing +beside him when Ronald rode up and delivered a message, "that fellow of +yours is wonderfully well mounted. He's a fine soldierly-looking fellow, +too, and I don't know why, but his face seems quite familiar to me." + +"I fancy he has been an officer," Captain Twentyman replied, "we have +several in the corps--men who have been obliged for some reason or other +to sell out, and who, finding nothing else to do, have enlisted with us. +You see the pay is a good deal higher than it is in the regular cavalry, +and the men as a whole are a superior class, for you see they find their +own horses and uniforms, so the life is altogether more pleasant than +the regular service for a man of that kind. Almost all the men are of +respectable family." + +"I certainly seem to know his face," said the officer, thoughtfully, +"although where I saw it I have not the least idea. What is his name?" + +"He enlisted as Harry Blunt, but no doubt that's not his real name. +Very few men of his kind, who enlist in the army, do so under their own +names." + +"I don't know any one of that name," the officer said, "but I certainly +fancy I have seen your man before; however, I don't suppose in any case +he would like being recognised; men who are under a cloud don't care +about meeting former acquaintances." + +A week later, to Ronald's great satisfaction, a party of twenty men, of +whom he was one, under Troop-Lieutenant Daniels, were ordered to march +the next morning to the Kabousie River, whence the settlers had written +praying that a force might be sent for their protection, as the Kaffirs +in the neighbourhood were becoming more and more insolent in their +manner. Many of their cattle had been driven off, and they were in daily +expectation of an attack. No waggons accompanied the party, as they +would erect huts if they remained in one place, and would have no +difficulty in obtaining provisions from the farmers. The men chosen for +the service were all in high glee at the prospect of a change from the +dulness of the life at King Williamstown, and were the objects of envy +to their comrades. + +The start was made at daybreak, and after two days' long marching they +reached their destination. The country was a fertile one, the farmhouses +were frequent, most of them embedded in orchards and vineyards, showing +signs of comfort and prosperity. + +"This is the first place that I have seen since I reached the colony," +Ronald said to the trooper riding next to him, "where I should care +about settling." + +"There are a good many similar spots in this part of the country," the +man said, "and I believe the folks here are everywhere doing well, and +would do better if it were not for these native troubles. They suffered +a lot in the last war, and will, of course, bear the brunt of it if the +natives break out again. There are a good many English and Scotch +settlers in this part. There are, of course, some Dutch, but as a rule +they go in more for cattle-farming on a big scale. Besides, they do not +care about English neighbours; they are an unsociable set of brutes, the +Dutch, and keep themselves to themselves as much as possible." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE OUTBREAK. + + +As it was possible that the detachment might remain for some time in +their present quarters, Lieutenant Daniels at once set them to work to +erect a couple of huts, each capable of holding ten men. Several of the +farmers sent two or three of their native labourers to assist in cutting +and bringing to the spot timber for the framework and supplying straw +for thatching the roofs. The operation was not a long one. The walls +were made with wattle plastered with mud, and the work was accomplished +in a couple of days. The men were glad of the shelter, for, although the +heat was very great during the day, the nights were cold and sharp. The +horses were picketed behind the huts; the officer took up his quarters +at a farmhouse a hundred yards away. Once housed, the men had little to +do, for, in the daytime, there was no fear of the Kaffirs coming down on +their plundering expeditions, such attempts being only made at night. +When evening fell, the saddles were placed on the horses, and the men +lay down in their clothes, simply taking off their jackets and +jack-boots, so as to be in readiness to turn out at a moment's alarm. +Sometimes they rode out in small parties patrolling the whole country, +not with any idea of finding cattle-thieves, but merely to give +confidence to settlers, whose Kaffir servants were sure to give +intelligence to their friends in the bush of the presence of the Mounted +Rifles in the neighbourhood. + +When they had been there a fortnight they heard that the Governor had +come to King Williamstown, and had summoned the various chiefs to +assemble there. They had all come with the exception of the paramount +Chief Sandilli, had assured the Governor of their fidelity, sworn +allegiance anew, and ratified it by kissing the stick of peace. The +Governor was so satisfied with their assurances that he issued a reply +to the petitions of the colonists, saying that reports throughout +British Kaffraria were most satisfactory, that the chiefs were +astonished at the sudden arrival of the troops, and that he hoped to +arrest some of the Kaffirs who had spread the alarming reports. The +Governor gave his solemn assurance to those of the settlers who had left +their farms that there was no occasion for alarm. + +A commission, however, appointed by him to investigate the numerous +complaints of the settlers, speedily forwarded to him such alarming +accounts of the critical state of affairs, that he again left for the +frontier, taking with him from Cape Town the 73rd Regiment and a +detachment of artillery. A proclamation was at once issued for the +establishment of a police force, the enrolment of new levies and of a +corps of volunteers for self-defence, so as to leave the whole of the +military at liberty for operations. + +One day, towards the end of November, Ronald and a comrade had ridden +some twelve miles out of the station, when they saw a young lady on +horseback riding towards them. She drew rein when she reached them. + +"We have had fifty cattle driven off in the night," she said, "and some +of the neighbours have followed the trail. I am riding over to report +the fact to your officer." + +"We can report it," Ronald said, "and save you the trouble of riding +further; but if you like we will ride back with you first, and see if we +can be of any service." + +"I am afraid it will be no use," the girl said; "they will be in the +woods before they can be overtaken, and then, you know, there will be +nothing to do but to report where their trail ended and wait for the +chance of getting compensation from the chief." + +By this time they were galloping back with her. The tale was similar to +scores of others they had heard since their arrival in the valley, and +they knew that there was but slight chance of recovering the trail, the +order being stringent that they were on no account to enter the bush. +The cattle, therefore, were as good as lost, for all were well aware +that in the present state of things there was but little prospect of +receiving compensation from the chief. The party found, indeed, upon +their arrival at the farmhouse, which was a large and comfortable one, +and furnished in English style, that the neighbours had returned, having +traced the spoor of the stolen cattle up to the edge of the bush. + +The farmer came out to the door as his daughter rode up. + +"Come in," he said to the troopers, "and have some refreshment. The +rascals have got away again. I expect that they are some of my old +servants, for they knew the trick of the fastenings I have had put to +the gate of the cattle-kraal, which would certainly have puzzled any of +the Kaffirs. Now sit down and make yourselves at home." + +The other settlers were already seated at the table that the Hottentots +or, as they were always called, "tottie" servants, had laid with a +profusion of food. The young lady, still in her blue riding-habit, did +not sit down to the table, but moved about, seeing that the "tottie" +girls attended to the wants of the guests. She was, Ronald thought, +about eighteen years old, and had the graceful, active figure so common +among girls who spend much of their time on horseback. She was +strikingly pretty, and her expression of delicacy and refinement was +unusual among the daughters of the colonial farmers. This he was not +surprised at, when he glanced at her father, who was a fine-looking man, +with a gray moustache. + +"I am always glad to see the uniform again," he said, presently, to +Ronald. "I served myself when I was a young man, and was an ensign in +the Rifles at Waterloo, but I got tired of soldiering in the times of +peace, and came out to the Cape thirty years ago, so you can well +understand that I am fond of a sight of the uniform again, especially +that of your corps, which is nearly the colour of my own. Well, I have +had pretty nearly enough of the Cape, and intend in another year or two +to go back home. I have moved a good many times, as you may imagine, +since I came out, but I don't like running away, and, besides, just at +present I should get nothing for my farm." + +"I can imagine that farms are rather a drug in the market just now," +Ronald replied, "especially those at the edge of the frontier. However, +we must hope that this trouble will blow over, and now that the Governor +is, as I hear, coming round with the 73rd, the Kaffirs may think better +of it." + +"I think they have made up their mind to give us a little trouble," the +settler said. "Their witch-doctor, Umlanjeni, has been stirring them up +with all sorts of predictions, and Sandilli, who no doubt set him to +work, has, we know, been intriguing with the other chiefs. The sudden +disappearance of the Kaffir servants from all the farms of this part of +the country was, of course, in obedience to orders, and is certainly +ominous. They say that there are altogether three thousand muskets, six +million rounds of ball cartridge, and half-a-million assegais in the +hands of the natives. It has been a suicidal business allowing trade in +firearms and ammunition to be carried on with them. I wish that the +talkative fools at Cape Town who manage our affairs were all located +down on the frontier; they might learn some sense then as to the way of +dealing with the natives. But the worst sign of all is that, as I have +heard to-day from some of my Hottentots, the order has been given by +Umlanjeni to slay and eat." + +"To slay and eat!" Ronald repeated in surprise. "What does that mean, +sir?" + +"Ah, that question shows you have not been long in the colony," the +settler said. "You know, the Kaffirs live at ordinary times entirely +upon a vegetable diet, but it is their custom upon the approach of war +to eat meat, believing that flesh gives them courage and ferocity. +However, as it was only three weeks ago that the chiefs all swore to be +peaceable and faithful, I hardly think that there's any danger of an +outbreak for some time to come, perhaps not for some months. You see, it +is just midsummer now, and my crops are nearly fit for cutting. I sent +most of my cattle away a fortnight since, and when I have got my crops +in I shall shut up the house and move into Grahamstown. We have many +friends there, and shall stop there until we see what comes of this +business, and when it is all over I shall dispose of my farm. I do not +think there is any real danger here. We have always been on excellent +terms with the natives, and Anta, who is chief of the tribe in this +part, often comes down here and begs a bottle of Cape smoke or a pound +of tobacco. He has smoked many a pipe in this room, and treacherous as +the people are, I cannot think that he would allow his men to do us any +harm. He generally addresses me as his white brother." + +An active conversation was at the same time going on between the other +guests, who were discussing the farm at which it would be best for +neighbours to assemble in case of attack. The settler, whose name was +Armstrong, had placed Ronald next himself, while his comrade was at the +other end of the table, these being the only seats vacant at the table +when they entered. Ronald and the settler chatted quietly together for +some time. Mary Armstrong, who had taken her place leaning on the back +of her father's chair, when she had seen the guests attended to, +occasionally joined in. + +Mr. Armstrong was pleased with his guest. + +"I hope next time when you ride over in this direction you will call in +again," he said. "I can assure you that we shall be heartily glad to see +you, and, if you can get leave off duty for a night, to put you up. It +is a real pleasure to me to have a chat with some one fresh from +England, and to hear how things look after all these years. Why, I shall +hardly know the country again, cut up as it seems to be with these +railways." + +After the meal was over, Ronald and his friend rode back to their +quarters. + +"That's a nice-looking little girl," the trooper said, as they rode away +from the house; "they say her father is the richest man in these parts, +and that he owns a lot of property at the Cape. If I were him I should +live there instead of in this out-of-the-way place." + +"I suppose he is fond of a country life," Ronald replied, ignoring the +first part of the remark; "I should think that society in Cape Town is +not very interesting." + +"I don't know that," the other replied. "I know that if I had money +enough to settle down there you wouldn't find me many hours knocking +about here as a trooper." + +"It's all a matter of taste," Ronald replied. "When I was at home I +lived in the country and prefer it to town, and like an active life in +the open air better than anything Cape Town could give me." + +"That's a nice young fellow, Mary--that man in the Cape Rifles," Mr. +Armstrong said to his daughter the same evening. "I should say he is +altogether above his position, don't you think so?" + +"I do not know that I thought much about it, father. Yes, I suppose he +wasn't like an ordinary soldier." + +"Not at all, Mary, not at all. I fancy from what I have heard that there +are a good many young men of decent family serving in the corps. It's a +thousand times better for a young fellow who's got neither money nor +interest to come out here than to stay at home breaking his heart in +trying to get something to do. Yes. I should say from his talk, and +especially from the tone of his voice, that he has seen better days. +It's a pity the colony can't afford to keep on foot four or five +regiments of these Mounted Rifles. We should not hear much of native +troubles if they did. The natives are much more afraid of them than of +the soldiers; and no wonder. In the first place they are more accustomed +to the country, and in the second place they are armed with weapons that +will kill at a considerable distance, while Brown Bess is of no use at +over a hundred yards. Well, I hope that young fellow will drop in again; +I should like another chat with him. It's a pleasant change to meet any +one who is willing to talk on some subject other than natives, and +crops, and cattle." + +A week later, Ronald was sent with a despatch to King Williamstown. + +"There will be no answer, Blunt," Lieutenant Daniels said, as he handed +it to him; "at least, no answer of any consequence. So you can stay a +day in the town if you like." + +"Thank you, sir; but as I do not care for towns, I will, if you will +allow me, stop on my way back at Mr. Armstrong's. That is where the +cattle were stolen the other day, and it will not be far out of my way +from King Williamstown. He invited me to stay there for a day if I could +get leave." + +"Certainly, you can do so," the lieutenant said. "You can hear if there +is any news of the Kaffirs stirring in that neighbourhood; they seem to +have been a bit more quiet for the last week or so." + +Two days later Ronald drew rein in front of Mr. Armstrong's house, late +in the afternoon. + +"I have taken you at your word, Mr. Armstrong," he said, as the farmer +came to the door. + +"I am glad to see you," the other said, cordially. "It is not a mere +flying visit, I hope; but you will be able to stay with us till +to-morrow?" + +"Thank you, yes. I am not due at the station till to-morrow evening, and +am my own master till then. I have been carrying a despatch to +Williamstown." + +"We have had some of the Kaffir police here to-day," the farmer said to +him while they were at supper. "What do you think of them?" + +"They seem smart fellows, and well up to their duty. So far as I can see +they are just the sort of men for border police work." + +"Yes," Mr. Armstrong agreed, "on any other border but this. To my mind +they are much too closely related to the fellows in the bush to be +trustworthy. They are all well enough for following up a trail or +arresting a stray thief, and would, I dare say, be quite reliable if +opposed to any tribe to which they were not akin, but I doubt whether +they will stand to us if there is trouble with Sandilli, Macomo, and the +rest of them. You see how powerful the influence of these chiefs is. +When the order came, pretty nearly every Kaffir in this colony left +instantly, many of them leaving considerable arrears of wages behind. If +the tribal tie is so strong that men entirely beyond the reach of their +chief come home the instant they are summoned, how can it be expected +that the Kaffirs in this police force will fight against their own +kindred?" + +"It does not seem reasonable to expect such a thing, certainly," Ronald +agreed. "I cannot think myself why they did not raise the force among +the Fingoes. They are just as fine a race as the Kaffirs, and speak the +same language, and yet they are bitterly hostile to them." + +"Yes, it would have been better," Mr. Armstrong said. "I think that +there was a prejudice against the Fingoes in the first place. They were +not a powerful people like the Gaikas and Galegas and Basutos. A good +many of them had escaped from the chiefs who held them in subjection, +and came in and loafed about the colony. As all Kaffirs are given to +thieving and drunkenness whenever they get the chance, the colonists +looked down upon them more than upon the other natives. Not that there +is any reason for their doing so, except that they saw more of them, for +all the Kaffirs are the same in that respect." + +"Do you think it is safe stopping here, Mr. Armstrong?" Ronald asked. +They had been talking of the various cattle-stealing raids that had +taken place at various points of the frontier. + +"I still think so for the present. By New Year's Day I shall have got my +crops in, and then I will go into town, as I told you I would; but in +the meantime five or six of our nearest neighbours have agreed to move +in here; I have the largest farm hereabout, and we could stand a stout +siege." + +"I am glad to hear that, Mr. Armstrong; the same thing has been done in +a good many places and in that way you should be quite safe. I quite +think the Kaffirs capable of coming down in small parties and attacking +isolated houses, and murdering their occupants; but after their late +protestations of fidelity, I cannot believe that the chiefs would permit +anything like large parties to sally out to make war." + +"That is my idea. But they are treacherous hounds, and there is never +any trusting them." + +"If you can manage to send one of your Fingoes off with news to us, you +may be sure we shall be with you in the shortest possible time, and we +will soon make mincemeat of them." + +"Do not be too sure of that. I don't say in the open they would stand +against a force of cavalry anywhere approaching their own numbers, but I +can tell you that in the bush I consider they are fully a match for our +troops man to man. What chance has a soldier with his clothes and fifty +or sixty pounds weight on his back, who goes crashing along through the +bushes and snapping the twigs with his heavy boots, against a native who +can crawl along stark naked without making the slightest noise, and who +gives the first intimation of his presence by a shot from behind a tree, +or a stab with his spear? When I came out here I had naturally the same +ideas as you have, and scoffed at the notion of naked savages standing +up against a regular soldier, but I can tell you I have changed my +opinion, and if the tribes under Sandilli are really in earnest, I +promise you that you will want five times as many troops as we have got +in the colony to tackle them." + +Two days later a message arrived with orders to Lieutenant Daniels to +rejoin with his detachment at once. On the 16th of December the whole of +the troops in Albany and British Kaffraria were assembled and moved +under the Commander-in-Chief towards the Amatolas, the object being to +overawe the Gaikas without resorting to force, which was to be carefully +avoided. The troops consisted of the 6th, 73rd, and 93rd Regiments and +the Cape Mounted Rifles, altogether about 1,500 strong, with two +divisions of the Kaffir police. The force moved in three columns. The +Governor, who was with the central column, was met by a great number of +the Gaikas chiefs, with about 3,000 of their men, at Fort Cox. They +again expressed their desire for peace, but their bearing and attitude +was not satisfactory. Sandilli and his half-brother, Anta, were declared +by the Governor to be outlawed, and a reward issued for their +apprehension. + +A few days passed without further movement. On the evening of the 23rd, +Sergeant Menzies said to Ronald, whom he met just as he had come out +from Captain Twentyman's, "I have two pieces of news for you, Blunt. In +the first place, as you know, Corporal Hodges has lost his stripes and +has been sent back to the ranks for getting drunk. Captain Twentyman +asked me who I could recommend for the stripes, and I told him I thought +there was no one in the troop who would make a better non-commissioned +officer than you would. He said that you were the man he had his eye +upon. At ordinary times he should not have liked to give you your +corporal's stripes after being such a short time in the corps, but that +in the present state of things it was essential to have the best man who +could be picked out, irrespective of his length of service: besides, as +you have served before it makes it altogether a different thing." + +"I am much obliged to you, sergeant," Ronald answered. "If it hadn't +been for this trouble I should have preferred remaining in the ranks. I +like a trooper's life and do not care about the extra pay one way or the +other. Besides, as a non-commissioned officer one has more +responsibility and less freedom. However, as it is I shall be glad of +the step, for doubtless if there is fighting there will be a lot of +scouting and escort work with very small detachments, and I confess I +would prefer being in command of five or six men on such work as that, +to being under the orders of a man who perhaps wouldn't know as well as +I do what ought to be done. And now what is your next news?" + +"The next is that our troop and B troop are to form part of a column, +five hundred strong, that is to march to-morrow to a place where +Sandilli is supposed to be concealed." + +"Well, we shall see then," Roland said, "whether these fellows mean +business or not." + +"I was talking to the headquarter mess-sergeant. He tells me that the +Governor's cock-sure there will be no fighting, but that Sandilli will +either surrender at once or bolt before we get there." + +"From all I can hear, sergeant, the Governor's opinions are usually +wrong. However, we shall see about it to-morrow, and, at any rate, it's +a good thing to have the question solved one way or the other. Nothing +can be worse for the colonists and every one else than this state of +suspense. The fellows will have to make up their mind one way or the +other now." + +In the morning the detachment, five hundred and eighty strong, under +Colonel Mackinnon, marched from Fort Cox. The Kaffir police led the way, +and were followed by the Cape Mounted Rifles, the infantry forming the +rear. There were a good many natives about, but these shouted friendly +greetings as the column passed, and it proceeded quietly until it +reached the narrow rocky gorge of the Keiskamma, which could only be +traversed in single file. Ronald Mervyn had been placed in orders the +previous evening as corporal, and he was pleased to find by the remarks +of the men that they did not grudge him his promotion, for soldiers are +quick to recognise steadiness and ability, and they had long since +concluded that Harry Blunt, although he never spoke about his military +experiences, had served for some time, thoroughly knew his work, and had +been a non-commissioned officer, if not an officer. + +"I don't like the look of this place at all," he said to Sergeant +Menzies as they halted at the mouth of the gorge. "If I were in command +of the force moving among a population who might any moment show +themselves hostile, I would not advance through this gorge till I had +sent a company of infantry on ahead to skirmish among the bushes, and +find out whether there is any one hidden there. On horseback as we are +we should be almost at their mercy." + +"The Kaffir policemen ahead ought to have done that work," the sergeant +said. "Why, bless you, if there was as much as a fox lurking among the +bushes they could find him." + +"Yes, I have no doubt they could if they wanted to," Ronald agreed, "but +the question is, do they want to? I have no faith whatever in those +Kaffir police. I have been watching them for the last day or two talking +to the Gaikas, and if the natives really mean mischief I would wager the +police join them." + +It was now their turn to enter the gorge, and as they moved along in +single file, Ronald opened one of his holsters and held a revolver ready +in hand, while he narrowly scanned the bushes that came down to the +narrow path along which they were making their way. He drew a deep +breath of relief when he emerged from the pass. As the troop reached the +open ground they formed up and were about to move forward when they +heard a sudden outburst of musketry--at first the deep roar of the long, +heavy guns carried by the natives, and then quickly afterwards the +continuous rattle of the soldiers' muskets. + +A cry of rage broke from the troopers. Captain Twentyman, who was in +command of the squadron, saw that cavalry could be of no use in the +gorge, and that they would only add to the confusion did they try to go +back to assist the infantry. He therefore spread them out in the shape +of a fan in front of the entrance to the gorge, to protect it against +any body of natives who might be approaching. Rifles in hand, and with +eyes straining into the forest ahead of them, the cavalry sat their +horses, anxiously listening to the din behind them. Presently the +infantry began to emerge, and at last the whole of the force was +reunited. It was found that the assistant surgeon and eleven men had +been killed, and two officers and seven privates wounded. They had, +however, beaten off the enemy with considerable loss. + +As it was clear that, now the Kaffirs had broken into open war, it would +be unsafe in the extreme with the force under him to endeavour to +penetrate further, Colonel Mackinnon ordered the column to retire. The +gorge was thoroughly searched by infantry before the movement began, and +it was not until they had found it was completely deserted by the enemy +that the column moved back. They reached camp in the evening, and the +Governor, upon hearing what had taken place, immediately proclaimed +martial law, and ordered a strict inquiry to be made into the conduct of +the Kaffir police. In the morning, however, the encampment of the corps +was found deserted, three hundred and eighty-five men, taking with them +their wives, cattle, and equipments, having deserted to the enemy during +the night. Two strong patrols were sent out to carry the news to the +commanders of the other two columns, and to examine the state of the +country. They came upon a sight that enraged the troops, even more than +the attack upon themselves. A party of the 45th Regiment, consisting of +a sergeant and fourteen privates, escorting waggons from Fort White to +King Williamstown, had been suddenly attacked by the Kaffirs, who had +murdered the whole party. + +Ronald Mervyn did not hear of this unprovoked atrocity at the time. + +At daybreak, six detachments--drawn from the Cape Mounted Rifles, and +each composed of six men and a non-commissioned officer--were ordered to +start at once to various settlements on the border, to warn the +colonists of the outbreak of war. Ronald was placed in the command of +one of these detachments, and was chosen to lead that which was to warn +the settlers on the Kabousie River, as he was acquainted with the +country there. It was hoped that these detachments would arrive in time, +for it was supposed that the attack on the column had been an isolated +affair, the work of the tribe in the immediate neighbourhood. +Circumstances proved, however, that that action was only a part of a +preconcerted plan, for on the following day, which happened to be +Christmas, a simultaneous attack was made upon almost all the border +settlements. + +Some of these were military villages, Government having at the +conclusion of the previous war given grants of land and assistance to +start in their farms to a number of discharged soldiers, upon the +condition of their turning out at any time for the defence of the +country. A number of prosperous little villages had thus sprung up, and +the settlers lived on most friendly terms with the neighbouring Kaffirs, +constantly entertaining them as their guests and employing many of them +on their farms. In a few cases the news of the fight at Keiskamma +arrived in time for the settlers to prepare for defence, but in the +great majority of cases they were taken by surprise and massacred, often +by the very men who had just been sharing their Christmas dinner. Many +of the villages were entirely destroyed, and in some cases not a single +man escaped to tell the tale. + +It needed no orders for the messengers to use speed. Ronald and his men +went at a gallop, only breaking into a slower pace at times to enable +the men to breathe their horses. They had a long ride before them, and +anxious as he was to get on, it was necessary to spare the horses as +much as possible. He arrived at the station his detachment had before +occupied at about one o'clock. The inhabitants were just sitting down to +dinner. A good many Kaffirs were scattered about through the village. +These looked surprised at the arrival of a detachment of cavalry, and +gradually disappeared, supposing that Ronald's party was but the advance +guard of a larger body. As soon as the news spread, the inhabitants +hurried from their houses, men, women, and children, loaded with such +articles they could snatch up in their haste, and all hastened to the +building which they had before decided should be used as a citadel in +case of need. Boys galloped out to the fields to drive the cattle into +the kraal that had been constructed within easy range of the guns of the +defenders of the Fort. Men were placed on sentry, while others brought +in from the houses food, bedding, and clothes, and in a short time the +village was prepared for a defence. + +Ronald made a stay of a few minutes only. A mouthful of food was given +to the horses, as he watched the settlers collecting for defence, and +then, satisfied that they were prepared against surprise here, he rode +on with his men. At the isolated farmhouses he passed, horses were put +into light carts as soon as his news was told. In these women and +children were stowed. A bundle or two of clothes were thrown in, the men +then mounted, and the whole made off at the top of their speed towards +the nearest town. A few of the younger men, and those unencumbered by +women and children, mounted their horses, and taking their arms, joined +Ronald's party. The next village was five miles from the first, and as +they approached they heard piercing screams mingled with yells. Putting +spurs to their horses the little party dashed on. Round each of the five +or six houses in the village were groups of Kaffirs, who were dragging +the inhabitants from the houses and massacring them. One or two shots +were heard as they rode up, showing that some of the men were selling +their lives dearly. With a shout, the little party of horsemen, counting +fifteen men, dashed in upon the Kaffirs. Taken wholly by surprise, the +latter did not see their foes until they were just upon them, and it was +too late to throw their assegais with effect. Pouring in a volley from +their rifles the troop rode in among them, hewing right and left with +their sabres, the sharp cracks of their pistols following in rapid +succession. With yells of dismay the Kaffirs, although numbering upwards +of a hundred, at once fled, making for the forest. The infuriated +troopers and settlers followed them, cutting down or shooting numbers +before they reached the shelter of the trees. In their rage they would +have followed them had not Ronald called them off. + +"It would only be throwing away your lives to enter the wood," he said. +"We should have to dismount, and they could spear us as they chose. +Besides, we have other work to do." + +They rode straight back to the village. More than half of the +inhabitants had been murdered, and the rest were gathered round their +dead friends in attitudes of despair, many of them streaming with blood +from several wounds. + +"Friends," Ronald said, as he rode up, "you must be up and doing. You +must either gather in one house for mutual defence--for we have to ride +on and the natives will return as soon as we leave--or as will be much +wiser, put your horses into light carts, take the bodies of your +friends, some of them may be only stunned by the knobkerries, and drive +for your lives to the town. We will stop another ten minutes. The +natives will not venture out of the woods until we go on." + +Ronald's words roused the unfortunate settlers from their stupor. The +men, aided by the troopers, harnessed the horses to the carts, lifted +the wounded and dead into them, and taking with them a few of their +valuables, drove away, and Ronald rode on with his party. At one or two +houses the attack had not begun, and the settlers at once harnessed up +and drove off. In others the party arrived too late to save, although +they were able to avenge by surprising and cutting up the treacherous +servants who, aided by the Gaikas from the hills, had murdered their +masters, and were engaged in the work of plunder when the troop rode up. +In each case they found that the Fingo servants had shared the fate of +their employers, showing that they had been kept in the dark as to the +deadly intentions of the Kaffirs. + +As he neared the house occupied by his friends, the Armstrongs, Ronald +Mervyn's anxiety heightened. Each scene of massacre had added to his +fears, and he chafed at the comparatively slow rate of speed at which it +was now necessary to go in order to spare the tired horses. Presently he +heard the sound of distant firing in the direction in which he knew the +Armstrong's house was situated. It was a welcome sound, for although it +showed that the party were attacked, it gave hopes that they had not +been entirely taken by surprise, and were still defending themselves. + +"Jones," he said, turning to one of the troopers, "you can't go faster +than you are going, but my horse has plenty in hand. I will ride on with +the burghers at full speed; you keep well together and follow as fast as +you can. If they make a fight of it with us, your coming up suddenly may +cow them and decide the matter." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A SUCCESSFUL DEFENCE. + + +The sounds of firing still continued as Ronald Mervyn, with his party of +burghers, rode at the top of their speed towards Mr. Armstrong's house. +As they neared it a number of Kaffirs were seen gathered round it. As +these perceived the approach of the horsemen there was a movement of +flight, but a chief who was with them, seeing the smallness of the force +approaching, called upon them to stand, and they at once gathered to +meet the advancing horsemen. + +"Halt," Ronald shouted as he pulled up his horse a hundred and fifty +yards from the house, "there are a couple of hundred of them; we shall +be riddled with spears if we charge them, and shall throw away our lives +without being of any assistance to our friends. Dismount, lads, and tie +your horses up to the trees. Don't tie them too firmly, for if they make +a rush we must ride off and then return again. Now each get behind a +tree and open a steady fire upon them. Let each pick out his man and +don't throw away a shot. Don't all fire together. Let the man on the +right fire first, and then the one next to him, and so on, so that two +or three of the right hand men can be loaded again before the last on +the left has emptied his rifle." + +A second or two later the first rifle spoke out and a native fell. Shot +after shot was fired and every bullet told. The two chiefs were among +the first who fell, and their loss to some extent paralysed the advance +of the natives. Some of them ran back to the shelter under the house, +but forty or fifty of them with loud shouting rushed forward. + +"Give them one volley," Ronald shouted, "and then to your horses." + +Every loaded gun was discharged; the men unhitched their horses, sprang +into their saddles, and dashed off. All were accustomed to load on +horseback, and as soon as the cartridges were down and the caps on, +Ronald led them back again. The natives were this time holding the +orchard. Ronald took a sweep as if to cut them off from the house, and, +afraid of being separated, they ran back to rejoin their comrades. A +volley was poured in, and then a charge was made upon them, sword and +pistol in hand. + +For a minute or two there was a sharp fight. Many of the natives were +shot or cut down, while several of the burghers received assegai wounds. + +A large body of natives were running up to the assistance of their +comrades, when the six men of the Mounted Rifles rode up. The advancing +natives paused at the sight of the soldiers, and before they could make +up their minds to advance, the greater portion of those who had occupied +the orchard were killed. + +"Draw off fifty yards," Ronald said, "and reload rifles and pistols." + +This was done, and several steady volleys poured into the Kaffirs. + +"That will do," Ronald said; "they are beginning to slip off. Now we +will charge straight down upon them; I and my troopers will cut our way +through and enter the house. There is fighting going on in there still. +Do you, gentlemen, take our horses as we dismount, and ride off, and +then open fire again on the rascals from a distance. We shall be able to +hold the house if we can once enter." + +The plan was carried out. With a desperate charge they burst through the +natives round the door. Ronald and the troopers sprang to the ground, +and threw the reins of their horses to the colonists who caught them and +rode off again. + +"Close the door behind you," Ronald said, as he sprang forward into the +passage, which was crowded with natives. The troopers followed him, +closing and barring the door behind them. There was a sharp fight in the +passage, but Ronald's two revolvers and the rifles of his men were more +than a match for the natives, and in two or three minutes the last of +them fell. + +"Close and bar all the shutters," Ronald shouted, as he rushed into the +dining-room, over the bodies of eight or ten natives lying inside. + +His appearance was greeted with a hearty cheer, and Mr. Armstrong and +three or four others ran in through the door of an inner room. + +"Thank God we are in time," Ronald said, grasping Mr. Armstrong's hand. + +"Thank God, indeed," the farmer replied. "We have had a hot time for the +last hour." + +"Miss Armstrong is not hurt, I hope?" + +"No, she has escaped without a scratch, and I think that that's more +than any of the rest of us can say." + +"I must see about my men now," Ronald said; "will you get all the +shutters downstairs fastened and barred?" + +Ronald ran out and found that his men had just succeeded in clearing the +house. They had found several Kaffirs upstairs engaged in the work of +plundering. Some of them had been cut down, whilst others had jumped +from the open windows. As soon as the shutters had been fastened, Ronald +and his men took their places at the upper windows and opened fire upon +the natives, who were already drawing off. The fire of the defenders of +the house was aided by that of the burghers, and the retreat of the +natives soon became a flight, many dropping before they were out of +range of the rifles. As soon as the natives were fairly in retreat +Ronald again went downstairs, where he found Mr. Armstrong and the other +defenders of the house engaged attending upon the wounded. Ronald +looked round the room. + +"My daughter is in there," Mr. Armstrong said, pointing to the inner +room. "She has behaved splendidly through it all, but she broke down +when she found that the danger was over. I think you had better leave +her alone for a few minutes." + +"No wonder!" Ronald said, as he looked round the room. Seven or eight +natives lay dead close to the doorway, three or four others in other +parts of the room, three white men and two women also lay dead; and on +the ground lay a table-cloth, broken plates and dishes, and the remains +of a feast. Mr. Armstrong and four other farmers were now engaged in +attending to each other's wounds, and binding them up with bandages made +out of strips of the table-cloth. + +"I was never so pleased in my life," Mr. Armstrong said, "as when I +heard the first sound of your guns. Who you were I could not of course +make out, but I supposed it must be a party from one of the villages +which had got news of the attack on us here." + +"It is partly so, sir," Ronald said. "We have six of our men besides +myself, and fourteen or fifteen burghers joined us as we came along. I +hear them riding up to the door now. I am sorry to say that no more were +to be obtained, for the attack has been general, and I fear that three +parts of the villages along the frontier have been destroyed, and their +inhabitants massacred. Fortunately we arrived in time to save the place +where we were before encamped, and to rescue a few of those at the next +village. But at fully half the farmhouses we passed the work of massacre +had already been carried out." + +The front door was now opened, and the burghers entered. Ronald found +that two of the party had been killed in the charge up to the house, and +that most of them had received more or less serious wounds in the +fight, while three of the Rifles had also been pierced with the +assegais. He himself had been struck by a spear that had glanced off his +ribs, inflicting a nasty flesh wound, while another assegai had laid +open his cheek. Mary Armstrong and two other women now came out from the +inner room and assisted in dressing the wounds, while the men who were +unhurt carried the bodies of the Kaffirs who had fallen in the house +some distance away, while those of the white men and women were placed +side by side in another room. They then got buckets of water and soon +removed the pools of blood from the floor. + +"Now, Mary," Mr. Armstrong said, "will you and your friends get a fresh +table-cloth out, and bring in some cold meat and bread and anything else +that you can lay your hands on, for our brave friends? The rascals can't +have had time to find out our cellar, and though I don't think any of +our party want anything to eat, a draught of spirits and water will be +acceptable all round." + +"Not for those who are wounded, father; tea will be better for them, I +am sure." + +"Perhaps it will, my dear." + +The women were glad of something to do. One of them was the wife of one +of the farmers who had fallen, but she, too, in a dull mechanical +manner, aided Mary Armstrong and the other, and as soon as the place was +made quite tidy, six or seven children, of different ages, were called +out from the inner room. + +Ronald and the troopers did justice to the food, for they had ridden +upwards of sixty miles, and had had nothing to eat save a piece of hard +biscuit before starting. + +"Now," Mr. Armstrong said, when their appetites were appeased, "tell us +by what miracle you arrived here just in time to save us. I thought all +the troops in the colony were somewhere near Fort Cox, at least that was +the news that came to us yesterday." + +"So we were, sir," Ronald said. "A column advanced from there yesterday +morning, and were attacked by the Kaffirs in the gorge of the Keiskamma +and some twenty or thirty killed and wounded. It occurred through the +treachery of the Kaffir police, all of whom deserted last night. Some +parties were sent off the first thing this morning to warn the border +settlements, but I am afraid that very few of them arrived in time. We +shall have terrible tidings, I fear, of this day's work everywhere." + +"You are in command of this party?" + +"Yes; I got my corporal's stripes the day before yesterday, and I was +lucky enough to be chosen to command this detachment, as I knew the +country; and now, sir, how did this business begin here?" + +"We were at dinner," Mr. Armstrong said, "when without the least notice, +just as we had finished, there was a rush through the door. All my +friends had brought their rifles with them, and the instant the Kaffirs +entered we knew what was up. Those who could caught their rifles, others +snatched up table-knives, and the fight began. As you saw, several of +our party were killed at once, but the rest of us made such a good fight +with our clubbed rifles and knives that for the moment we cleared the +room, then two of us held the door while the rest fell back into the +inner room, where, fortunately, all the children were at the time, for +the table was not large enough to hold us all, and they had had their +meal first. + +"Directly those who got in there recapped their rifles--for we found +that our rascally Hottentot servants had removed the caps while we were +at dinner--Thompson and I, who were at the door, fell back. Then, you +see, matters were easy enough. Two of us were posted at the door of the +inner room, and the moment a native showed himself inside the door of +this room he was shot down. Of course we had shut the shutters of the +inner room directly we entered, and one of us kept guard there. I don't +think the Kaffirs would ever have forced their way in; but no doubt, as +soon as they had stripped the house of everything valuable to them, they +would have set it on fire, and then we should have had the choice of +being burnt out here or being speared outside. + +"I need not say that we had all agreed that it was a thousand times +better to die here than to trust ourselves to those fiends, who always +put their prisoners to death with atrocious tortures. Anyhow, my +friends, we owe our lives to you, for sooner or later the end must have +come to us. Now what are you going to do? You do not think of pushing on +any further, I hope." + +"No, I think that would be useless," Ronald said. "The massacre is +apparently universal, and evidently began at the same time all along the +line. We should be too late to warn any one now. Still," he said, rising +suddenly from his seat, "we might not be too late to rescue them. There +may be other parties holding out. I hadn't thought of that, and we had +better push on further." + +"I doubt if our horses can go any further," one of the men said. "Mine +could scarcely carry me for the last five miles." + +"Yes, that is so," Ronald said. "I think my horse is good for another +twenty miles, and the horses of our friends the burghers are quite +fresh, so I will leave you here and ride on with them. You will, of +course, keep a sharp look-out; but I do not think it likely that they +will renew the attack. They must have lost between fifty and sixty men. +I will ride on with the burghers to the last settlement along this line. +It is not, I think, more than twenty miles further. We will sleep there +and return the first thing in the morning. By that time, Mr. Armstrong, +you will, I suppose, be ready to move into town." + +"Yes, I shall be ready by that time," the farmer said. "I sent off four +loads of wheat yesterday morning, and the waggons will be back to-night. +I will pack everything I want to take, and we shall be ready to start by +the time you return. Of course, I shall drive the cattle with us--that +is, if there are any cattle left to drive." + +"I saw them in the kraal behind the house as we rode up," Ronald said. +"I suppose the Kaffirs thought they might as well finish with you first, +and they could then divide the cattle among them at their leisure." + +"Well, that's good news," the settler said. "I made sure they were all +gone. But don't you think you have done enough for to-day?" + +"Yes; don't go any further," Mary Armstrong added. + +"I feel that it is my duty to go, Miss Armstrong. I would much rather +stay, I can assure you, but it's possible some of the garrisons may be +holding out." + +"Yes, we are wrong to ask you to stay," Mr. Armstrong said; "but just +wait a minute, my horses are kraaled with the cattle. I will bring one +round and change the saddles; it will be a pity to founder that splendid +horse of yours. You see he has got a lot of English blood in him, and +can't go on for ever like our Cape horses." + +Five minutes later, mounted on a fresh horse, Ronald started with the +burghers. Every farm they visited exhibited a spectacle of desolation; +many had been forsaken some time previously, but they had been broken +into, and, in many cases, fired. In others, the bodies of the occupants +were beneath the embers of their homes; in a few the settlers had not +been taken unawares, and stains of blood round the buildings showed that +they had sold their lives dearly, and inflicted considerable loss on the +Kaffirs before they had succeeded in bursting open the doors. In one +little cluster of three or four houses, the bodies of men, women, and +children lay scattered about; but one stoutly-built farmhouse, inhabited +by a Boer farmer and six sons, had resisted all the attacks of the +Kaffirs. The natives had drawn off before the arrival of the troops. The +Boer stated that he intended to see it out. + +"Two of my sons," he said, "have already driven off the cattle and +horses. I have got a couple of cows in milk in the shed adjoining the +house, and I shall bring them inside at night. The Kaffirs will never +beat down my shutters or door, and one of us will watch by turns, so +that we will give it them hot if they do venture to come on; but I think +they have had pretty nearly enough of us." + +This was the only house where a successful resistance was made, and on +getting to the last station the party bivouacked near the ruins of the +house, and, placing two men on guard, were soon asleep. They were +undisturbed till morning, and mounting as soon as it was daylight, rode +back to Mr. Armstrong's station. Three waggons had arrived late the +night before, and with the assistance of the troopers were already +loaded with furniture and other effects. + +Two of the burghers offered to assist Mr. Armstrong in driving his +cattle and horses to King Williamstown. The party was accompanied by the +other settlers and their families, several of whom had saved their +waggons and animals, as the Kaffirs had made their first attack upon Mr. +Armstrong, knowing from the Hottentot servants that the settlers from +three or four of the adjoining farms would be gathered there. Their +defeat, therefore, had saved not only Mr. Armstrong's, but the other +farms from pillage. Very warm were the thanks that the settlers, before +starting, bestowed upon Ronald and the troopers, and Ronald, as soon as +the caravan had started, rode somewhat thoughtfully off with his men to +the first place he had visited. + +Here they found that the Kaffirs, after they had left, had made a +determined attack upon the place, but had been beaten off with much loss +after several hours' fighting. The settlers were now, however, occupied +in preparing to leave their farms, as the attack might at any moment be +renewed, and perhaps with overwhelming numbers. The party of mounted +police remained in the village until the following morning, as their +horses, after their heavy work on the previous day, were not fit to take +the long journey back to the camp. On the following morning they saw the +settlers fairly on their way, and then galloped off to rejoin their +corps at Fort Cox. + +As they ascended a piece of rising ground within a mile of the Fort, and +obtained a fair view of it, they reined in their horses simultaneously. +The Fort itself appeared silent and deserted, but at a distance of a few +hundred yards from it they could see a large number of men moving about. + +"Those are not soldiers," Ronald exclaimed, "they must be Kaffirs. By +Jove, the place is absolutely besieged. Look at the puffs of smoke. Yes, +there can be no doubt about it. I expect the column has gone out again, +and the Kaffirs are trying to take it before they return. Well, lads, +it's too late in the afternoon now for us to do anything. We had better +ride back two or three miles and then camp for the night. In the morning +we must try and find out what has taken place, and where the troop have +got to." + +All agreed that this was the best plan, and they accordingly rode +quietly back, as for aught they could tell keen eyes might be upon them. +They did not attempt to halt until it was quite dark, when they turned +off at right angles to their former course, and after riding for about a +mile, encamped in a clump of bushes. They had plenty of cold meat with +them, for the settlers had, before starting, filled their haversacks. +There was, therefore, no occasion to light a fire, which, indeed, they +would in no case have done, as, should a Kaffir catch sight of a light, +he would assuredly bring an overpowering force down upon them. + +"We will have two out on sentry, and relieve guard every hour," Ronald +said, "but we can eat our meal in comfort first. There is no fear of +their coming down upon us at present, at any rate." + +The manner in which he had led them in the attack on the Kaffirs had +greatly impressed the men, and they yielded as ready and willing +obedience, as if their corporal had been an officer. After the meal was +over, Ronald placed a sentry on each side of the bush. + +"I will relieve you at the end of an hour," he said. "Keep your ears +open. I shall go out for a bit and reconnoitre, and mind you don't shoot +me as I come back. I will give a low whistle, like this, when I get near +you. If you hear any one approaching, and he doesn't whistle, challenge, +but don't shout too loud, or you might be heard by any Kaffirs who may +be in search of us. If he don't answer, challenge again, and then step +into the bushes. If he comes on, and you are sure it is a man, fire; but +don't fire if you have the slightest doubt, for it might be a stray +animal, and your rifle might bring the Kaffirs down on us." + +During the greater part of the night, Ronald moved about, keeping about +a hundred yards from the clump, and returning every hour to see the +sentries changed. Towards morning, having heard nothing to lead him to +suppose that there were any Kaffirs in the neighbourhood, he returned to +the bushes, and threw himself down for a couple of hours' sleep. At +daybreak, they were in the saddle again, and approaching as near as they +dared to the Fort, they concealed themselves, and presently succeeded in +capturing a Kaffir woman who was out collecting sticks. One of the troop +knew a little of the language, and from her they learnt that the greater +part of the soldiers had marched away on the previous morning, and also +gathered the direction they had taken. Keeping up a vigilant look-out, +they rode in that direction, and presently met a detachment of the 91st +and their own troop of the Rifles marching back to Fort Cox. + +The force was under the command of Colonel Somerset, the colonel of the +Cape Mounted Rifles. Captain Twentyman, to whom Ronald reported himself, +rode forward at once to the colonel with the news that Fort Cox was +invested by the enemy. Ronald was sent for, and questioned as to the +strength of the Kaffirs. He said that owing to the position from which +he had seen them, he only commanded a view of a portion of the ground. +There appeared to him to be seven or eight hundred men so far as he +could see, but, of course, there might have been double that force on +the other side. + +"Well, I think we ought to push forward at once," the colonel said to +the officer commanding the infantry. "The Governor is in the Fort, and +the force for its defence is a very small one. At any rate we must try +to relieve him." + +The troops were halted for half an hour, and as the news soon spread +that the Kaffirs were beleaguering Fort Cox, and that they would +probably have to fight their way through, they formed up with alacrity +as soon as the order was given. The Cape Mounted Rifles went out in +skirmishing order, ahead of the infantry, keeping a vigilant look-out +for lurking foes. The men had learned from Ronald's party of the +massacre at the border settlements, and were burning with impatience to +get at the enemy. + +After marching two miles, the column came to a spot where a broad belt +of wood extended across the country. As the mounted men approached this, +several assegais were hurled from the bushes. The cavalry replied with +their rifles, and then fell back upon the infantry, who advanced with a +cheer against the wood. Half the cavalry were dismounted, and, handing +their horses to their comrades, advanced on foot. Ronald was one of +those who remained behind. Keeping up a heavy fire at their invisible +foe, the 91st advanced into the wood. The troopers with the horses +listened anxiously to the sound of the fray--the rattle of musketry, the +loud reports of the Kaffir rifles, and their shrill yells, amid which a +British cheer could be occasionally heard. + +"It's hot work in there, corporal," Lieutenant Daniels said. "Too hot to +be pleasant, I should say. Judging by the yelling, the wood must be full +of Kaffirs." + +"I should think so too, sir," Ronald agreed. "I fancy each Kaffir is +capable of doing an immense amount of yelling; but still, as you say, +the wood must be full of them to make such a terrific noise as that." + +A quarter of an hour passed, and then the rifles emerged from the wood. +Those with the horses at once galloped forward to meet them, and soon +all were in the saddle. Ronald heard Captain Twentyman, who had led the +dismounted party, say to the lieutenant: + +"There are too many of them, Daniels; the wood is crowded with them. +Take half the troop and draw off to the right, and I will take the other +half to the left. The 91st will fall back directly. As they come out, +prepare to charge the Kaffirs in flank if they pursue them." + +Now the redcoats began to appear at the edge of the wood. They were in +pairs, and every two men were carrying a wounded comrade. Presently the +main body came out in regular order with their faces to the enemy. With +yells of triumph the Kaffirs poured out from the wood. The rifles +fidgeted in their saddles for the order to charge, but Lieutenant +Daniels had his eye upon the other wing of the troop, and Captain +Twentyman did not give the order to advance until he saw that the +Kaffirs were so far out upon the plain that they could not get back to +the wood before he would be upon them. Then he gave the order to charge, +and as his men got into motion, Lieutenant Daniels gave the same order. +As he saw the cavalry sweeping down, Colonel Somerset gave the word, and +the 91st poured a tremendous volley into the Kaffirs, and a moment later +the two bodies of cavalry swept down on their flank. With a yell of fear +the Kaffirs ran for the wood, but numbers of them were cut down before +they could gain shelter. Then the cavalry fell back and joined the +infantry. It was found there had been a desperate hand-to-hand struggle, +bayonets against assegais. Two officers and twenty privates had been +killed, and a great many of the men wounded. They afterwards learned +that the Kaffir loss in killed had exceeded two hundred. + +The party then fell back and rejoined Colonel Mackinnon. There was now +an anxious consultation, when it was decided that as Fort Cox could +probably resist all attacks of the enemy, it would be better not to +attempt an advance to its relief until a junction had been effected with +the other columns, which were now at a considerable distance away. On +the 31st, the news reached them that that morning the Governor, with a +small body of Cape Mounted Rifles, had made a dash right through the +enemy, and had ridden to King Williamstown, twelve miles away, where he +had at once issued a proclamation calling upon the colonists to rise _en +masse_ to assist the troops to expel the Gaikas from the Amatolas, while +a force of Fingoes was at once ordered to be raised. + +In the meantime, the Kaffirs were plundering and destroying all over the +country. The settlers entirely abandoned their farms; and the roads to +Williamstown, Grahamstown, and Beaufort were blocked with the great +herds of cattle driven in. The news came that the Gaikas had been joined +by the T'Slambies and Tambookies, numbering not less than 15,000 men; +and it was reported that an influential chief--Kairie--who could put +10,000 men in the field, was preparing to make common cause with the +rebels. The Hottentots of the London missionary station at Cat River, +who had for years been fed and clothed by the Government, and put into +free possession of a beautiful and fertile district, joined the Kaffirs, +and took a leading part in their attacks on the settlers. Their example +was speedily followed by the so-called Christian Hottentots at the +missionary settlements of Shiloh and Theopolis. + +Against such overpowering forces as were now leagued against him, the +Governor could do nothing with the small body of troops at his disposal, +and was forced to remain inactive at Williamstown until reinforcements +could arrive. He contented himself, therefore, with throwing supplies +into Forts Cox, White, and Hare, this being accomplished only after +severe contests with the natives. Bodies of Kaffirs had now completely +overrun the colony, rendering even communication between the towns +dangerous in the extreme, unless sent by messengers escorted by +considerable bodies of troops. + +On arriving at King Williamstown, Ronald Mervyn was greatly disappointed +to find that the Armstrongs had gone on to Grahamstown. He found a +letter awaiting him from Mr. Armstrong, saying that he was very sorry to +leave without another opportunity of thanking him for the immense +services he had rendered him, "but," he said, "my daughter, now that it +is all over, is terribly shaken by all she has gone through, and I think +it necessary to get her to a place a little further removed from all +this trouble. I shall probably leave for England before long. I hope to +see you before we go, but, if not, I will write to you, giving you our +address in England, and we shall both be very glad to see you if you +return, as I hope you will, and that before long. We shall never forget +how much we owe you." + +"Perhaps it is better so," Ronald said, as he finished the letter. "It +would only have made it harder for me if I had seen her again. For if +there is one thing more certain than another, it is that I can never ask +any woman to be my wife." + +The Cape Town Rifles were before long joined by two troops from Cape +Town and Elizabeth Town, and were continually employed in escorting +convoys and carrying despatches. A batch of twenty recruits also came up +to fill the vacancies that had already been made by the war, and to +bring the troops engaged up to their full force. One of the four men who +joined Captain Twentyman's troop gave a slight start of surprise as his +eyes fell upon Ronald Mervyn. He looked at him several times, and a +slight smile stole across his face. + +"Who is that corporal?" he asked one of the troopers. + +"Corporal Blunt," the man said; "and a fine fellow he is, too. He led a +small detachment of our men splendidly in an affair down by the Kabousie +River. Why do you ask? Have you ever seen him before?" + +"No," the man said, carelessly; "but he reminded me of some one I knew +at home." + +"He is a first-rate soldier," the man said, "and I expect he will get +the first vacancy among the sergeants. We all think he has been an +officer, though he never talks about it. He's the best-tempered fellow +possible, but you can never get him to talk about the past. However, +that makes no difference to us." + +"Not a bit," the recruit agreed. "I dare say he isn't the only one with +a queer history in the regiment." + +"I didn't say he had a queer history," the man replied, angrily. "He is +as good a comrade, and as good a fellow as one wants to meet; there's +not a man in the troop grudges his being pushed on." + +"I meant no offence," the recruit said. "The man he reminded me of had a +queer history, and I suppose that is what put it into my head." + +"Well, if you don't want your head punched, you had better say nothing +against Blunt," the trooper grumbled, "either in my hearing or out of +it." + +The recruit turned away and occupied himself in grooming his horse. + +"This is a rum start," he said to himself. "Who would have thought of +meeting Captain Mervyn out here? I saw in one of the papers, soon after +I came out, the account of his trial. I wonder how I should have felt if +I had been standing in his place? So he has changed his name. I suppose +he arrived at the Cape when I was up the country, and must have enlisted +at once, for it's nearly three months since I joined the depôt, and a +draft had only sailed the day before. At any rate it's not likely he +will know me; not that he could do me any harm if he did, still it's +always useful to know a man and to know something against him, +especially when he doesn't know you. If I ever get into a row I can put +the screw on nicely." + +As the recruit, who had enlisted in the name of Jim Smith, had expected +would be the case, Ronald Mervyn's eye showed no signs of recognition as +it fell upon his face. He thought the new recruit was a strapping +fellow, and would be a good man to have beside one in a hand-to-hand +fight with the Kaffirs; but beyond this he gave him no further thought. + +A considerable number of the Fingo allies had now arrived at King +Williamstown. They had no idea whatever of discipline, and looked every +bit as wild as their Kaffir foes. But there was no doubt they were ready +to fight, for they were eager to be led against the Kaffirs, who had so +long kept them in slavery. They had been armed with muskets, and each +carried a heavy knobkerrie. At present they had nothing to do but to +sleep and eat, to dance war dances, and to get drunk whenever they could +obtain sufficient money to indulge in that luxury. + +They were accompanied by their wives, who not only waited upon and +cooked for them, but earned money by going out into the woods and +bringing in bundles of faggots. Numbers of Hottentot women were engaged +upon the same work, while the men of the same tribe looked after the +great herds of cattle, furnished drivers for the waggons, helped in the +commissariat stores, and, so far as their lazy nature permitted, made +themselves useful. + +"If I were the General," Ronald said one day to Sergeant Menzies, "I +wouldn't have a Hottentot about the place. I believe that they are all +in league with the enemy. Look how they all went over from the +missionary stations, and the farmers tell me they left in the majority +of cases on the day before the massacre. It's quite evident that the +Kaffirs somehow always get information of our movements. How could they +have laid that ambush for us at Keiskamma River if they had not known +the column was going that way? How was it they were ready to attack the +detachments that went with provisions to the Forts? It could not have +been from their own people, for not a Kaffir has been near us since the +troubles began. I believe it's these hateful little Hottentots." + +"They are hateful," the sergeant said, "whether they are traitors or +not. Except the Bushmen, I do believe that they are the most disgusting +race on the face of the earth, with their stunted bodies and their +yellow faces, and their filthy and disgusting ways. I don't know that I +should turn them out of the camp if I were the General, but I should +certainly order them to be washed. If you get half-a-dozen of them on +the windy side of you, it's enough to make you sick." + +"I wonder the Kaffirs didn't exterminate the little brutes," Ronald +Mervyn said. "I suppose they would have done if it had not been for the +Dutch first and us afterwards. The missionaries made pets of them, and +nice pets they have turned out. It is just the same thing in India. It's +the very dregs of the people the missionaries always pick up with." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +ATTACK ON A WAGGON-TRAIN. + + +"Sergeant Blunt, you will take a detachment of fourteen men, ride down +to Port Elizabeth, and escort some waggons back here. There will be a +party of native levies to come back with you, so that they, with your +party, will make a pretty strong force. The dangerous point is, of +course, the Addoo Bush. It is, I hear, full of these Kaffir villains. +Going down you will pass through it by daylight; and, travelling fast, +there is no fear of their interfering with a party like yours. Coming +back the Fingoes will let you know of any danger, and I should hardly +think that the natives will venture to attack so strong a party; still, +as the waggons will be laden with ammunition, and these fellows always +seem in some way or other to know exactly what is going on, you cannot +be too careful." + +"Very well, sir. I will do my best in the matter." + +An hour later Ronald started with the detachment. They travelled +rapidly, and reached Port Elizabeth on the third day after starting, +without any adventure whatever. The waggons were not ready to start, for +a heavy sea was setting in, and the boats could not continue the work of +unloading the ship that had arrived with the ammunition two days before. +Ronald, after seeing that the horses were well cared for, the rations +served out, and the cooking commenced, strolled down to the beach to +watch the heavy surf breaking on the shore. + +The encampment of the native levies was on the shore, and a white +officer was inspecting their arms when Ronald arrived. He stood for some +time watching the motley group of Fingoes; some of them were in +blankets, others in karosses of cow skin, many with feathers stuck in +their hair, all grinning and highly amused at the efforts of their +officer to get them to stand in regular line, and to hold their muskets +at an even slope on their shoulders. Some of their wives were looking on +and laughing; others were squatting about by the shelters they had +erected, cooking mealies for dinner. The officer, who was quite a young +man, seeing Ronald looking on, said, ruefully: + +"I don't think there is any making soldiers out of these fellows, +sergeant." + +"I don't think they would be any the better for it if you could, sir," +Ronald said. "The fellows will fight after their own fashion, and I do +not think any amount of drill would improve them in the slightest; in +fact, it would only puzzle and confuse them to try to teach them our +discipline. They must skirmish with the Kaffirs in Kaffir fashion. When +it comes to regular fighting, it must be done by the troops. All you can +expect of the native levies is that they shall act as our scouts, find +out where the enemy are hiding, prevent surprises, and pursue them when +we have defeated them." + +"Do they not try to drill them up at the front?" + +"Not at all, sir. It would be quite useless to attempt it. So that they +attend on parade in the right number--and their own head man looks after +that--nothing more is expected of them. They march in a straggling body +anyhow, and when it comes to fighting, they fight in their own way, and +a very useful way it is." + +"Well, I am very glad to hear you say so, sergeant. I have been doing +the best I can to give them some idea of drill; but I have, as you see, +failed altogether. I had no orders except to take command of these +fellows, but I supposed I was expected to drill them to some extent; +still, if you say they have given it up as hopeless in the front, I need +not bother myself about it." + +"I don't think you need, sir. I can assure you that no attempt is made +to drill them in that way at the front." + +The young officer, with an air of relief, at once dismissed the natives +from parade. + +"I am in charge of the party of Rifles going up with you to-morrow, sir, +or at least as soon as the waggons are ready for you." + +"Oh, is it you, sergeant? I heard that a detachment of your corps were +to accompany us. I suppose you have just arrived from King +Williamstown?" + +"I came in about an hour ago, sir, and have just been seeing that the +men were comfortable." + +"Did you meet with any Kaffirs on the way down?" + +"We saw no sign of them. We came through the Addoo Bush, which is the +most dangerous point, at a trot. Not that there was much chance of their +attacking us. The natives seldom attack unless there is something to be +got by it; but we shall have to be careful as we go back. We shall be a +fairly strong party, but others as strong have been attacked; and the +fact of our having ammunition--the thing of all others they want--is, of +course, against us." + +"But how will they know that we are carrying ammunition?" + +"From the Hottentots, who keep them informed of everything," Ronald +said. "At least, we have no doubt whatever that it is the Hottentots. Of +course, the General doesn't think so. If he did, I suppose he would keep +them out of camp; but there is only one opinion in the ranks about it." + +The conversation was interrupted by yells and screams from the natives, +and a general rush down to the beach. + +"There is something the matter," the young officer exclaimed; and he and +Ronald ran down to the edge of the water. + +They soon saw what was the occasion of the alarm among the natives. Some +of the women and boys had been down at the edge of the surf, collecting +bits of wood, as they were thrown up, for their fires. A boy of some +fourteen years of age had seen a larger piece than usual approaching the +shore, and just as a wave had borne it in, he made a dash into the +water, eager to be the first to capture the prize. Ignorant, however, of +the force of the water, he had been instantly swept off his feet by the +back rush of the wave. The next roller had carried him some little +distance up, and then borne him out again, and he was now in the midst +of the surf. He could swim a little, but was helpless in the midst of +such a sea as this. The natives on the beach were in a state of the +wildest excitement; the women filled the air with their shrill screams, +the men shouted and gesticulated. + +"Nothing can save him," the officer said, shaking his head. Ronald +looked round; there was no rope lying anywhere on the shore. + +"There's just a chance, I think," he said, throwing off his belt, tunic, +and boots. "Make these fellows join hand in hand, sir; I will swim out +to him--he's nearly gone now--and bring him in. We shall be rolled over +and over, but if the line of men can grab us and prevent the +under-current from carrying us out again, it will be all right." + +The officer was about to remonstrate, but Ronald, seizing the moment +when a wave had just swept back, rushed in, sprang head foremost into +the great wall of approaching water, and in half a minute later appeared +some distance out. A few vigorous strokes took him to the side of the +drowning boy, whom he seized by his shoulders; then he looked towards +the shore. The young officer, unable to obtain a hearing from the +excited Fingoes, was using his cane vigorously on their shoulders, and +presently succeeded in getting them to form a line, holding each other +by the hands. He took his place at their head, and then waved his hand +to Ronald as a sign that he was ready. + +Good swimmer as he was, the latter could not have kept much longer +afloat in such a sea; and was obliged to continue to swim from shore to +prevent himself from being cast up by each wave which swept under him +like a racehorse, covering him and his now insensible burden. The moment +he saw that the line was formed he pulled the boy to him and grasped him +tightly; then he laid himself broadside to the sea, and the next roller +swept him along with resistless force on to the beach. He was rolled +over and over like a straw, and just as he felt that the impetus had +abated, and he was again beginning to move seaward, an arm seized him. + +For a few seconds the strain was tremendous, and he thought he would be +torn from the friendly grasp; then the pressure of the water diminished +and he felt himself dragged along, and a few seconds later was beyond +the reach of the water. He was soon up on his feet, feeling bruised, +shaken, and giddy; the natives, who had yelled with joy as they dragged +him from the water, now burst into wailings as they saw that the boy +was, as they thought, dead. + +"Carry him straight up to the fires," Ronald said as soon as he +recovered his shaken faculties. + +The order was at once obeyed. As soon as he was laid down, Ronald seized +the blanket from one of the men's shoulders, and set the natives to rub +the boy's limbs and body vigorously; then he rolled him in two or three +other blankets, and telling the men to keep on rubbing the feet, began +to carry out the established method for restoring respiration, by +drawing the boy's arms above his head, and then bringing them down and +pressing them against his ribs. In a few minutes there was a faint sigh, +a little later on an attempt to cough, and then the boy got rid of a +quantity of sea water. + +"He will do now," Ronald said. "Keep on rubbing him, and he will be all +right in a quarter of an hour." As Ronald rose to his feet a woman threw +herself down on her knees beside him, and seizing his hand pressed it to +her forehead, pouring out a torrent of words wholly beyond his +comprehension, for although he had by this time acquired some slight +acquaintance with the language, he was unable to follow it when spoken +so volubly. He had no doubt whatever that the woman was the boy's +mother, and that she was thanking him for having preserved his life. Not +less excited was a native who stood beside him. + +"This is their head man," the officer interpreted; "he is the boy's +father, and says that his life is now yours, and that he is ready to +give it at any time. This is a very gallant business, sergeant, and I +wish I had the pluck to have done it myself. I shall, of course, send in +a report about your conduct. Now come to my tent. I can let you have a +shirt and pair of trousers while yours are being dried." + +"Thank you, sir; they will dry of themselves in a very few minutes. I +feel cooler and more comfortable than I have done for a long time; ten +minutes under this blazing sun will dry them thoroughly." + +It was another two days before the sea subsided sufficiently for the +surf-boats to bring the ammunition to shore, and during that time the +chief's wife came several times up to the barracks, each time bringing a +fowl as a present to Ronald. + +"What does that woman mean, sergeant?" one of the men asked on the +occasion of her second visit. "Has she fallen in love with you? She +takes a practical way of showing her affection. I shouldn't mind if two +or three of them were to fall in love with me on the same terms." + +Ronald laughed. + +"No, her son got into the water yesterday, and I picked him out, and +this is her way of showing her gratitude." + +"I wonder where she got the fowls from," the trooper said. "I haven't +seen one for sale in the town anywhere." + +"She stole them, of course," another trooper put in, "or at least if she +didn't steal them herself she got some of the others to do it for her. +The natives are all thieves, man, woman, and child; they are regularly +trained to it. Sometimes fathers will lay wagers with each other as to +the cleverness of their children; each one backs his boy to steal +something out of the other's hut first, and in spite of the sharp watch +you may be sure they keep up, it is very seldom the youngsters fail in +carrying off something unobserved. It's a disgrace in a native's eyes to +be caught thieving; but there's no disgrace whatever, rather the +contrary, in the act itself. There's only one thing that they are as +clever at as thieving, and that is lying. The calmness with which a +native will tell a good circumstantial lie is enough to take one's +breath away." + +Ronald knew enough of the natives to feel that it was probable enough +that the fowls were stolen; but his sense of morality was not +sufficiently keen for him to hurt the woman's feelings by rejecting her +offerings. + +"The Kaffirs have proved themselves such an ungrateful set of +scoundrels," he argued to himself, "that it is refreshing to see an +exception for once." + +As soon as the ammunition was on shore it was loaded into three waggons, +and on the following morning the party started. It was slow work, after +the rapid pace at which Ronald and his men had come down from King +Williamstown, and the halting-places were the same as those at which the +troop had encamped on its march up the country five months before. + +The greatest caution was observed in their passage through the great +Addoo Bush, for although this was so far from the main stronghold of the +natives, it was known that there were numbers of Kaffirs hiding there, +and several mail carriers had been murdered and waggons attacked. The +party, however, were too strong to be molested, and passed through +without adventure. The same vigilance was observed when crossing over +the sandy flats, and when they passed through Assegai Bush. Once +through this, the road was clear to Grahamstown. Here they halted for a +day, and then started on the road leading through Peddie to King +Williamstown. After a march of fifteen miles they halted at the edge of +a wide-spreading bush. They had heard at Grahamstown that a large body +of Kaffirs were reported to be lying there, and as it was late in the +afternoon when they approached it, Ronald advised the young officer in +command of the Fingoes to camp outside and pass through it by daylight. + +[Illustration: "_The greatest caution was observed in their passage +through the great Addoo Bush._"] + +"There is no making a rush," he said; "we must move slowly on account of +the waggons, and there will be no evading the Kaffirs. I do not think +there is much chance of their attacking such a strong party as we are; +but if we are attacked, we can beat them off a great deal better in the +daylight than at night; in the darkness we lose all the advantage of our +better weapons. Besides, these fellows can see a great deal better than +we can in the dark." + +They started as soon as it was light. The Fingoes, who were a hundred +strong, were to skirmish along the road ahead and in the wood on each +flank of the waggons, round which the detachment of Rifles were to keep +in a close body, the Fingo women and children walking just ahead of the +bullocks. Scarcely a word was spoken after they entered the forest. The +waggons creaked and groaned, and the sound of the sharp cracks of the +drivers' whips alone broke the silence. The Rifles rode with their arms +in readiness for instant use, while the Fingoes flitted in and out among +the trees like dark shadows. Their blankets and karosses had been handed +to the women to carry, and they had oiled their bodies until they shone +again, a step always taken by the natives when engaged in expeditions in +the bush, with the view of giving more suppleness to the limbs, and also +of enabling them to glide through the thorny thickets without being +severely scratched. + +They had got about half-way through the bush without anything being seen +of the lurking enemy, when a sudden outburst of firing, mingled with +yells and shouts, was heard about a quarter of a mile ahead. + +"The scoundrels are attacking a convoy coming down," Ronald exclaimed. + +"Shall we push on to their aid, sergeant?" the young officer, who was +riding next to Ronald, asked. + +"I cannot leave the waggons," Ronald said; "but if you would take your +men on, sir, we will be up as soon as we can." + +The officer shouted to his Fingoes, and at a run the natives dashed +forward to the scene of the conflict, while Ronald urged the drivers, +and his men pricked the bullocks with their swords until they broke into +a lumbering trot. + +In a few minutes they arrived on the scene of action. A number of +waggons were standing in the road, and round them a fight was going on +between the Fingoes and greatly superior numbers of Kaffirs. Ronald gave +the word, and his men charged down into the middle of the fight. The +Kaffirs did not await their onslaught, but glided away among the trees, +the Fingoes following in hot pursuit until recalled by their officer, +who feared that their foes might turn upon them when beyond the reach of +the rifles of the troopers. + +Ronald saw at once as he rode up that although the Fingoes had arrived +in time to save the waggons, they had come too late to be of service to +the majority of the defenders. Some half-dozen men, gathered in a body, +were still on their feet, but a score of others lay dead or desperately +wounded by the side of the waggons. As soon as the Fingoes returned and +reported the Kaffirs in full flight, Ronald and the troops dismounted to +see what aid they could render. He went up to the group of white men, +most of whom were wounded. + +"This is a bad job," one of them said; "but we thought that as there +were about thirty of us, the Kaffirs wouldn't venture to attack us. We +were all on the alert, but they sprang so suddenly out of the bushes +that half of us were speared before we had time to draw a trigger. + +"What had we better do, sir--go on or go back?" This question was +addressed to the young officer. + +"I should think that now you have got so far you had better go on," he +said. "The Kaffirs are not likely to return for some little time. I will +give you half my Fingoes to escort you on through the wood. Don't you +think that will be the best plan, sergeant?" + +"I think so, sir. I will let you have half my men to go back with them. +The rest of us had better stay here until they return. But, first of +all, we will see to these poor fellows. They may not be all dead." + +Most of them, however, were found to be so, the Kaffirs having sprung +upon them and cut their throats as soon as they had fallen. Two of them +who had fallen near the group which had maintained the resistance were, +however, found to be still living, and these were lifted into the +waggons. Just as the party were going to move on towards the coast, a +groan was heard among the bushes by the side of the road. Ronald and two +of the troopers at once proceeded to the spot. + +"Good Heavens!" the former exclaimed, as he leaned over the man who was +lying there, "it is Mr. Armstrong." + +He was lifted up and carried into the road. An assegai had passed +through both legs, and another had transfixed his body near the right +shoulder. The point projected some inches through the back, the shaft +having broken off as he fell. Ronald seized the stump of the spear, and +with the greatest difficulty drew it out from the wound. + +"Cut his things off," he said to the troopers, "and tear up something +and lightly bandage the wound. I am afraid it is a fatal one." Then he +hurried off to the men. + +"Were there not some women in the waggons?" he asked. + +"Yes, there were three of them," the man said; "a girl and two women. +The women were the wives of two of the men who have been killed. The +girl was the daughter of another. I suppose the natives must have +carried them off, for I see no signs of them." + +Ronald uttered an exclamation of horror; he knew the terrible fate of +women who fell into the hands of the Kaffirs. He returned to the +officer. + +"What is it, sergeant?" he asked. "Any fresh misfortune?" + +"A young lady, sir, daughter of that poor fellow we have just picked up, +and two other women, have been carried off by the natives." + +"Good Heavens!" the young man said, "this is dreadful; they had a +thousand times better have been shot with their friends. What's to be +done, sergeant?" + +"I don't know," Ronald said, "I can't think yet. At any rate, instead of +waiting till the party with these waggons come back, I will push +straight on out of the wood, and will then send the rest of my men back +at full gallop to meet you, then you can all come on together. I think +you said you would take command of the party going back with the +waggons." + +The two trains were at once set in motion. Ronald's party met with no +further interruption until they were clear of the bush. As soon as he +was well away from it, he sent back the Rifles to join the other party, +and return with them through the forest. He went on for half a mile +further, then halted the waggons and dismounted. + +Mr. Armstrong had been placed in one of the waggons going up the +country, as they were nearer to a town that way than to Port Elizabeth; +besides, Ronald knew that if he recovered consciousness, he would for +many reasons prefer being up the country. Ronald walked up and down, +restless and excited, meditating what step he had best take, for he was +determined that in some way or other he would attempt to rescue Mary +Armstrong from the hands of the natives. Presently the head man of the +Fingoes came up to him, and said, in a mixture of English and his own +tongue: + +"My white friend is troubled; can Kreta help him?" + +"I am troubled, terribly troubled, Kreta. One of the white ladies who +has been carried off by the Kaffirs is a friend of mine. I must get her +out of their hands." + +Kreta looked grave. + +"Hard thing that, sir. If go into bush get chopped to pieces." + +"I must risk that," Ronald said; "I am going to try and save her, +whether it costs me my life or not." + +"Kreta will go with his white friend," the chief said; "white man no +good by himself." + +"Would you, Kreta?" Ronald asked, eagerly. "But no, I have no right to +take you into such danger as that. You have a wife and child; I have no +one to depend upon me." + +"Kreta would not have a child if it had not been for his white friend," +Kreta said; "if he goes, Kreta will go with him, and will take some of +his men." + +"You are a good fellow, Kreta," Ronald said, shaking the chief heartily +by the hand. "Now, what's the best way of setting about it?" + +The Fingo thought for some little time, and then asked: + +"Is the white woman young and pretty?" + +"Yes," Ronald replied, rather surprised at the question. + +"Then I think she's safe for a little while. If she old and ugly they +torture her and kill her quick; if she pretty and young, most likely +they send her as present to their big chief; perhaps Macomo, or +Sandilli, or Kreli, or one of the other great chiefs, whichever tribe +they belong to. Can't do nothing to-day; might crawl into the wood; but +if find her how can get her out? That's not possible. The best thing +will be this: I will send two of my young men into the bush to try and +find out what they do with her, and where they are going to take her. +Then at night we try to cut them off as they go across the country. If +we no meet them we go straight to Amatolas to find out the kraal to +which they take her, and then see how to get her off." + +"How many men will you take, Kreta?" + +"Five men," the chief said, holding up one hand; "five enough to creep +and crawl. No use to try force; too many Kaffirs. Five men might do; +five hundred no good." + +"I think you are right, chief. It must be done by craft if at all." + +"Then I will send off my two young men at once," the chief said. "They +go a long way round, and enter bush on the other side; then creep +through the bush and hear Kaffir talk. If Kaffir sees them they think +they their own people; but mustn't talk; if they do, Kaffirs notice +difference of tongue. One, two words no noticed, but if talk much find +out directly." + +"Then there's nothing for me to do to-night," Ronald said. + +The chief shook his head. "No good till quite dark." + +"In that case I will go on with the convoy as far as Bushman's River, +where we halt to-night." + +"Very well," the chief said. "We go on with you there, and then come +back here and meet the young men, who will tell us what they have found +out." + +The chief went away, and Ronald saw him speaking to some of his men. +Then two young fellows of about twenty years old laid aside their +blankets, put them and their guns into one of the waggons, and then, +after five minutes' conversation with their chief, who was evidently +giving them minute instructions, went off at a slinging trot across the +country. + +In less than an hour the party that was escorting the settlers' waggons +through the bush, and the mounted men who had gone to meet them, +returned together, having seen no sign of the enemy. The waggons were +set in motion, and the march continued. Ronald Mervyn rode up to the +officer of the native levy. + +"I am going, sir, to make what may seem a most extraordinary request, +and indeed it is one that is, I think, out of your power to grant; but, +if you give your approval, it will to some extent lessen my +responsibility." + +"What is it, sergeant?" the young officer asked, in some surprise. + +"I want when we arrive at the halting-place to hand over the command of +my detachment to the corporal, and for you to let me go away on my own +affairs. I want you also to allow your head man, Kreta, and five of his +men, leave of absence." + +The young officer was astonished. "Of course I am in command of the +convoy, and so have authority over you so long as you are with me; but +as you received orders direct from your own officers to take your +detachment down to the coast, and return with the waggons, I am sure +that I have no power to grant you leave to go away." + +"No, sir, that's just what I thought; but at the same time, if you +report that, although you were unable to grant me leave, you approved of +my absence, it will make it much easier for me. Not that it makes any +difference, sir, because I admit frankly that I should go in any case. +It is probable that I may be reduced to the ranks; but I don't think +that, under the circumstances, they will punish me any more severely +than that." + +"But what are the circumstances, sergeant? I can scarcely imagine any +circumstance that could make me approve of your intention to leave your +command on a march like this." + +"I was just going to tell you them, sir, but I may say that I do not +think it at all probable that there will be any further attack on the +convoy. There is no more large bush to pass between this and +Williamstown, and so far as we have heard, no attempt has been made +further on the road to stop convoys. That poor fellow who is lying +wounded in the waggon is a Mr. Armstrong. He was an officer in the +service when he was a young man, and fought, he told me, at Waterloo. +His place is near the spot where I was quartered for two months just +before the outbreak, and he showed me great kindness, and treated me as +a friend. Well, sir, one of the three women who were, as you heard, +carried off in the waggons, was Mr. Armstrong's daughter. Now, sir, you +know what her fate will be in the hands of those savages: dishonour, +torture, and death. I am going to save her if I can. I don't know +whether I shall succeed; most likely I shall not. My life is of no great +consequence to me, and has so far been a failure; but I want to try and +rescue her whether it costs me my life or not. Kreta has offered to +accompany me with five of his men. Alone, I should certainly fail, but +with his aid there is a chance of my succeeding." + +"By Jove, you are a brave fellow, sergeant," the young officer said, +"and I honour you for the determination you have formed," and waiving +military etiquette, he shook Ronald warmly by the hand. "Assuredly I +will, so far as is in my power, give you leave to go, and will take good +care that in case you fail, your conduct in thus risking your life shall +be appreciated. How do you mean to set about it?" + +Ronald gave him a sketch of the plan that had been determined upon by +himself and Kreta. + +"Well, I think you have a chance at any rate," the officer said, when he +concluded. "Of course the risk of detection in the midst of the Kaffirs +will be tremendous, but still there seems just a chance of your escape. +In any case no one can possibly disapprove of your endeavour to save +this young lady from the awful fate that will certainly be hers unless +you can rescue her. Poor girl! Even though I don't know her, it makes my +blood run cold to think of an English lady in the hands of those +savages. If I were not in command of the convoy, I would gladly go with +you and take my chance." + +As soon as the encampment was reached, Kreta came up to Ronald. + +"Must change clothes," he said, "and go as Kaffir." Ronald nodded his +head, as he had already decided that this step was absolutely necessary. + +"Must paint black," the chief went on; "how do that?" + +"The only way I can see is to powder some burnt wood and mix it with a +little oil." + +"Yes, that do," the chief said. + +"I will be with you in five minutes. I must hand over the command to the +corporal." + +"Corporal James," he said, when he went up to him, "I hand over the +command of this detachment to you. You are, of course, to keep by the +waggons and protect them to King Williamstown." + +"But where are you going, sergeant?" the corporal asked, in surprise. + +"I have arranged with Mr. Nolan to go away on detached duty for two or +three days. I am going to try to get the unfortunate women who were +carried off this morning out of the hands of the Kaffirs." The corporal +looked at him as if he had doubts as to his sanity. + +"I may not succeed," Ronald went on, "but I am going to try. At any +rate, I hand over the command to you. I quite understand that Mr. Nolan +cannot give me leave, and that I run the risk of punishment for leaving +the convoy; but I have made up my mind to risk that." + +"Well, of course you know best, sergeant; but it seems to me that, +punishment or no punishment, there is not much chance of your rejoining +the corps; it is just throwing away your life going among them savages." + +"I don't think it is as bad as that," Ronald said, "although of course +there is a risk of it. At any rate, corporal, you can take the convoy +safely into King Williamstown. That's your part of the business." + +Ronald then returned to the encampment of the native levies. A number of +sticks were charred and then scraped. There was no oil to be found, but +as a substitute the charcoal was mixed with a little cart-grease. Ronald +then stripped, and was smeared all over with the ointment, which was +then rubbed into him. Some more powdered charcoal was then sprinkled +over him, and this also rubbed until he was a shiny black, the operation +affording great amusement to the Fingoes. Then a sort of petticoat, +consisting of strips of hide reaching half-way down to the knee and sewn +to a leathern belt, was put round his waist, and his toilet was +complete. + +Nothing could be done as to his hair, which was already cut quite short +to prevent its forming a receptacle for dust. The Kaffirs have, as a +rule, scarcely any hair on their heads, and nothing could have made +Ronald's head resemble theirs. As, however, the disguise was only meant +to pass at night, this did not matter. When all was done, the Fingoes +applauded by clapping their hands and performing a wild dance round +Ronald, while the women, who now crowded up, shrieked with laughter. + +The chief walked gravely round him two or three times, and then +pronounced that he would pass muster. A bandolier for cartridges, of +native make, was slung over his shoulder, and with a rifle in one hand +and a spear in the other, and two or three necklaces of brass beads +round his neck, Ronald would, at a short distance, pass muster as a +Kaffir warrior. In order to test his appearance, he strolled across to +where Mr. Nolan was inspecting the serving out of rations. + +"What do you want?" the officer asked. "The allowance for all the men +has been served out already; if you haven't got yours you must speak to +Kreta about it. I can't go into the question with each of you." + +"Then you think I shall do very well, Mr. Nolan?" + +The officer started. + +"Good Heavens, sergeant, is it you? I had not the slightest conception +of it. You are certainly admirably disguised, and, except for your hair, +you might walk through the streets of Cape Town without any one +suspecting you; but you will never be able to get through the woods +barefooted." + +"I have been thinking of that myself," Ronald said, "and the only thing +I can see is to get them to make me a sort of sandal. Of course it +wouldn't do in the daytime, but at night it would not be observed, +unless I were to go close to a fire or light of some sort." + +"Yes, that would be the best plan," the officer agreed. "I dare say the +women can manufacture you something in that way. There is the hide of +that bullock we killed yesterday, in the front waggon; it was a black +one." + +Ronald cut off a portion of the hide, and went across to the natives and +explained to them what he wanted. Putting his foot on the hide, a piece +was cut off large enough to form the sole of the foot and come up about +an inch all round; holes were made in this, and it was laced on to the +foot with thin strips of hide. The hair was, of course, outside, and +Ronald found it by no means uncomfortable. + +"You ride horse," the chief said, "back to bush. I take one fellow with +me to bring him back." + +Ronald was pleased at the suggestion, for he was by no means sure how he +should feel after a walk of ten miles in his new foot-gear. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +IN THE AMATOLAS. + + +The corporal had already spread the news among the men of Ronald's +intended enterprise, and they gave him a hearty cheer as he rode off. +Mr. Nolan had advised him to keep the native who was going to fetch his +horse back. + +"You won't want to walk into King Williamstown in that guise," he said; +"therefore you had best put your uniform into the valise, and tell the +man to meet you at any point you like--I should say the nearer to the +bush the better; for if you succeed in getting the young lady out of +these rascals' clutches you may be pursued, and, if your horse is +handy, may succeed in getting her away, when you would otherwise be soon +overtaken." + +Ronald thankfully accepted the suggestion, for he saw that it might +indeed be of vital importance to him to have his horse ready at hand. + +With a last wave of his hand he rode off, the chief and his six +companions trotting alongside. + +The sun had set an hour when they reached the spot at which the chief +had directed his two followers to meet him. They had not yet arrived. + +"Do you think they will be sure to be able to find the place?" Ronald +asked the chief. + +"A Fingo never loses his way," the chief replied. "Find his way in dark, +all same as day." + +In spite of the chief's assurance, Ronald was fidgety and anxious. He +wrapped a blanket round him, and walked restlessly up and down. It was +nearly an hour before the chief, who, with his companions, had thrown +himself down and lighted a pipe, which passed from hand to hand, said +suddenly: + +"One man come!" + +Ronald listened intently, but could hear nothing. A moment later a dark +figure came up. + +Kreta at once questioned him, and a long conversation took place between +them. + +"What is he saying, chief? What is he saying?" Ronald broke in +impatiently several times; but it was not until the man had finished +that the chief translated. + +"White girl alive, incos, the other two women alive, but not live long, +torture them bad. Going to take girl to Macomo." + +"Thank God for that," Ronald exclaimed, fervently, for he had all day +been tormented with the fear that Mary Armstrong might have met with her +fate directly she was carried away. + +"Where are they going to take her?" + +"A lot of them go off to-night; go straight to Amatolas; take her with +them." + +"How many, Kreta; will there be any chance of attacking them on the +way?" + +The chief asked a question of his messenger. + +"Heaps of them," he said to Ronald, for the natives are incapable of +counting beyond very low figures. "Too many; no chance to attack them; +must follow behind. They show us the way." + +"But how do we know whereabouts they will come out of the wood, Kreta? +It's miles long; while we are watching at one place, they may be off in +another." + +"That's so, incos; no use to watch the wood. We must go on to the Great +Fish River. Only two places where they can ford it--Double Drift and +Cornetjies Drift, one hour's walk apart. Put half one place, half the +other; then when they pass, follow after and send messengers to fetch up +others." + +"That will do very well, chief; that's a capital idea of yours. You are +sure that there's no other way they can go?" + +"Heaps of ways," the chief said, "but those shortest ways--sure to go +short ways, so as to pass over ground quickly." + +"What are they going back for?" + +"No bullock in bush, incos, eaten up all the things round, want to go +home to kraals; besides hear that many white soldiers come over sea to +go to Amatolas to fight." + +"How far is it to these fords?" + +"Three hours' march. We start now. Kaffirs set out soon. Get on horse +again." + +Ronald was not sorry to do so, for he felt that in the dark he should +run a considerable risk of laming himself against stones or stumps, and +in any case he would scratch himself very severely with the thorns. + +"Tell me, chief," he said, when they had started, "how did your +messenger learn this, and what has become of your other man?" + +"Not know about other man," the chief said. "Perhaps they caught him and +killed him; perhaps he is hiding among them and dare not venture out. +This man tell he go into forest and creep and crawl for a long time, +then at last he saw some Kaffirs come along; he followed them, and at +last they came to place in the bush where there was a heap of their +fellows. They were all gathered round something, and he heard women +crying very loud. Presently some of the men went away and he could see +what it was--two white women tied to trees. The Kaffirs had stripped +them and cut their flesh in many places. They die very soon, perhaps +to-night or to-morrow morning. Then he crawl up and lay in the bushes, +very close, and listen to talk. He heard that to-night heap party go +away to Amatolas and take white woman as present for Macomo; then other +Kaffirs come and lie down all about, and he did not dare move out till +the light go away. Then he crawl through the bushes a good piece; then +he got up and ran to bring the news." + +"He has done very well," Ronald said; "tell him he shall be well +rewarded. Now I think he might as well go to the camp and tell the +officer there from me that two of the white women have been killed; but +that the other has been taken away, as I hoped she would be, and that I +am going after her." + +"Message no use," the chief said, after a moment's thought; "better take +him with us, may be useful by-and-by; may want to send to settlement." + +"Perhaps it would be as well," Ronald agreed; "and the message is of no +real importance." + +After three hours' fast travelling--the natives going at a run, in spite +of the darkness of the night, and Ronald leaving the reins loose, and +trusting to his horse to feel his way--they came to the river; after +making a narrow examination of the bank, the chief pronounced the ford +to be a quarter of a mile lower down, and in a few minutes they came +upon the spot where a road crossed the river. + +"I think this way they are most likely to take," the chief said, when +they had crossed the stream. "Country more broken this way, and further +from towns, not so much chance of meeting soldiers. You and I and four +men will stay here; three men go on to other ford, then if they cross +there, send one man to tell us; the other two follow them, and see which +way they go." + +"Do you know the Amatolas at all, chief?" + +"Not know him, incos; never been there; travel all about these parts in +last war, but never go up to Amatolas." + +"Then, of course, you do not know at all where Macomo's kraal is?" + +"Not know him at all. We follow men, sure enough we get there." + +The three men had not started above five minutes, when the chief said in +a low tone: + +"They are coming," and gave an order to one of his men, who at once set +off at the top of his speed to overtake the others and bring them back. + +It was nearly ten minutes before Ronald could hear the slightest sound, +then he became conscious of a low murmur of voices in the air, and a +minute or two later there was a splashing of water at the ford, fifty +yards from the spot where they had lain down under a bush. One of the +natives had, at Kreta's orders, taken the horse away, the chief telling +him to go half a mile off, as were it to paw the ground suddenly, or +make any noise, the attention of the Kaffirs, if within hearing, would +be instantly drawn to it. + +Dark as the night was, the figures of those crossing the water could be +dimly made out, and Ronald judged there must be fully three hundred of +them. After the first few had passed they came along in such a close +body that he was unable to make out whether there was a female among +them. The numbers of the Kaffirs sufficed to show him there was no +chance whatever of effecting a rescue of Mary Armstrong while surrounded +by so large a body. + +As soon as all had crossed, two of the Fingoes followed close upon their +traces, five minutes afterwards another started, and scarcely had he +gone when the three men who had been sent to the other ford returned +with the messenger who had recalled them. They left at short intervals +after each other, and then Ronald mounted his horse, which had now been +fetched up, and followed with Kreta. + +"There is no fear of our missing them, chief?" + +"No fear of that, incos; that star over there shines over the Amatolas, +they go straight for it; besides, the two men behind them can hear them +talking. If they turn off one come back to tell us." + +But they did not turn off, but kept on for hours in a straight +undeviating line, travelling at a fast walk. Roland Mervyn kept +wondering how Mary Armstrong was bearing up. She was a strong active +girl, accustomed to plenty of exercise, and at ordinary times could +doubtless have walked a long distance; but the events of the day, the +sudden attack upon the waggons, her capture by the Kaffirs, her +uncertainty as to the fate of her father, the harrowing tortures of her +companions, which she had probably been compelled to witness, and the +hopelessness of her own fate, might well have broken her down. He was +sure that the Kaffirs would compel her to walk as long as she could drag +her limbs along, but as she was destined as a present to their chief, +they might, when she could go no further, carry her. + +He groaned at his helplessness to aid her, and had he not had a perfect +faith in the cunning of his companions, and in their ability to follow +her up wherever she was taken, he would have been inclined to take the +mad step of charging right in among the Kaffirs, upon the one chance of +snatching her up and carrying her off from among them. + +Roland Mervyn, of the Cape Rifles, was a very different man from Captain +Mervyn, of the Borderers. The terrible event that had caused him to +throw up his commission and leave the country had in other respects been +of great advantage. He had for years been haunted by the fear of +madness, and whenever he felt low and out of spirits this fear of +insanity had almost overpowered him. The trial had cured him of this; he +had convinced himself that had he inherited the slightest taint of the +curse of the Carnes, he would have gone mad while he was awaiting his +trial; that he had kept his head perfect under such circumstances seemed +to him an absolute proof that he was as sane as other men, and +henceforth he banished the fear that had so long haunted him. + +It was in truth that fear which had held him back so long from entering +into a formal engagement with his cousin Margaret. He looked upon it as +an absolutely settled thing that they would be married some day, but had +almost unconsciously shrunk from making that day a definite one; and +although for the moment he had burst into a fit of wild anger at being +as he considered thrown aside, he had since acknowledged to himself that +Margaret's decision had been a wise one, and that it was better that +they two should not have wedded. + +He had always been blessed with good spirits, except at the times when +the fit of depression seized him; but since he had been at the Cape, and +been on active duty, these had entirely passed away, and his unvarying +good temper under all circumstances had often been the subject of remark +among his comrades. + +As he rode along that night he acknowledged, what he had never before +admitted to himself, that he loved Mary Armstrong. The admission was a +bitter rather than a pleasant one. + +"I shall never marry now," he had said to his mother, at his last +interview with her. "No wife or child of mine shall ever hear it +whispered that her husband or father was a murderer. Unless this cloud +is some day lifted--and how it can be, Heaven only knows--I must go +through the world alone," and so he thought still. It might be that as +Harry Blunt he might settle down in the Colony and never be recognised; +but he would always have the fear that at any moment some officer he had +known, some man of his regiment, some emigrant from his own county, +might recognise him, and that the news would be passed round that Harry +Blunt was the Captain Mervyn who escaped, only from want of legal proof, +from being hung as the murderer of his cousin. + +"I didn't think I was such a fool," he muttered to himself, "as to be +caught by a pretty face. However, it will make no difference. She will +never know it. If her father recovers, which is doubtful, she will go +back with him to the old country. If not, she will go back alone, for +without friends or relatives she cannot stay here, and she will never +dream that the sergeant of the Cape Rifles, who had the luck twice to +save her life--that is, if I do save it--was fool enough to fall in love +with her." + +An hour before morning one of the Fingoes came back from the front with +the news that the Kaffirs had turned off into a kloof, and were going to +halt there. The party soon collected, and retired to a clump of trees a +mile back. One of them was ordered to act as sentry near the kloof, and +bring back word at once should any movement take place. The rest of the +party, upon reaching the shelter of the trees, threw themselves upon the +ground, and were soon fast asleep; even Ronald, anxious as he was, +remaining awake but a few minutes after the others. + +The sun was high before they awoke. As they were eating their breakfast +the sentry returned, and another was despatched to take his place. The +man reported that he had seen nothing of the main body of Kaffirs, but +that four of them were placed on the watch near the kloof. Kreta led +Ronald to the edge of the wood, and pointing to a jagged range of hills +in the distance said, "Amatolas." + +"How far are they away, Kreta?" + +"Six hours' fast walking," the chief said. "They get to foot of hills +to-night. If Macomo's kraal anywhere this side, they may get there. If +not, they wait and rest a bit, and then go on. No need travel fast when +get to hills; they know very well no white soldier there." + +"What had we better do, do you think?" + +"They have plenty of men always on look-out, sure to be some on hills. I +will send two men after these fellows, and they creep and crawl through +the bushes, find out the way and bring news to me; then when they come +back we will start." + +"But we must be there in the evening," Ronald said; "we must be there, +chief; do you hear?" + +"Yes, incos, but it seems to me that it do no good to throw our lives +away. If you say go, Kreta will go too, but if we killed, girl will be +killed too, and no good that, that Kreta can see; if we go in daytime we +killed, sure enough. Not possible to get into Amatolas without being +seen; all grass and smooth land at foot of hill. On hill some places +trees, there we manage very well; some open spaces, there they see us." + +"I don't wish to throw our lives away, chief; if I wanted to throw my +own away, I have no right to sacrifice yours and your men's; but scouts +on the look out would surely take us at a distance for a party of their +own men returning from some plundering expedition, probably as part of +the party ahead, who had hung back for some purpose on the road." + +"Great many kraals, great many people in Amatolas," the chief said; +"sure to meet some one. They begin to ask questions, and see very soon +we not Kaffirs, see directly you not Kaffir; might pass at night very +well, but no pass in day. But perhaps we have time, incos. Chiefs wander +about, hold council and meet each other; perhaps Macomo not at home, +very likely he away when they get there." + +"Pray God it may be so," Ronald said, despairingly. "It seems the only +hope we have. Well, Kreta, I put myself in your hands. You know much +more about it than I do. As you say, we shall do no good to Miss +Armstrong by throwing away our lives, therefore, I put aside my own +plans and trust to you." + +"I no say we can save her, incos, but if we can we will. You make sure +of that." + +The next night took them to the foot of the hills, and when the Kaffirs +halted, the chief ordered two of his men to make a circuit, climb the +hill, and conceal themselves in the bush before morning broke, so that +when the Kaffirs moved on they could at once follow them without having +to cross in daylight the grassy slopes of the foot hills. Minute +instructions were given to both to follow close behind the Kaffir party, +the order being that if either of them could pounce upon a solitary +native, he was to stun him with his knobkerry, and force him when he +recovered to give information as to the distance, direction, and road to +Macomo's kraal, and that he was then to be assegaid at once. Feeling +that Ronald might not altogether approve of this last item, for he was +aware that the white men had what he considered a silly objection to +unnecessary bloodshed, Kreta, whilst telling Ronald the rest of the +instructions he had given to the spies, did not think it necessary to +detail this portion of them. + +"Where shall we stay till morning?" Ronald inquired of him; "the country +seems perfectly flat and unbroken, their look-out will see us a long way +off." + +"Yes, incos, we lie down in little bush behind there. We send horse back +to first wood and tell man to bring him every night to bottom of the +hill, or if he sees us from a distance coming down the hill with Kaffirs +after us, to come to meet us. We lie down till morning. Then when they +go on, we go on too, little time afterwards, as you said, and follow as +far as first wood; look-out think we belong to big party; then we hide +there till one of my men come back. I told them we should be somewhere +in wood, and he is to make signals as he walks along. We will push on as +far as we can, so that we don't come upon kraals." + +"That will do very well indeed," Ronald said, "for every inch that we +can get nearer to Macomo's kraal is so much gained." + +He removed the pistols from his holsters, and fastened them to his belt, +putting them so far back that they were completely hidden by the blanket +he wore over his shoulders, and then went with the party some little +distance back, and lay down till morning. Almost as soon as it was +daybreak, the Fingo who was on the watch announced that the Kaffirs were +moving, and the little party at once followed. The Kaffirs had +disappeared among the woods, high up on the hill side, when they began +to ascend the grassy slope. They had no doubt that they were observed by +the Kaffir watchmen, but they proceeded boldly, feeling sure it would be +supposed that they belonged to the party ahead of them. + +The path through the forest was a narrow one, and they moved along in +single file. One of the party went fifty yards ahead, walking +cautiously, and listening intently for suspicious sounds; the rest +proceeded noiselessly, prepared to bound into the forest directly the +man ahead gave the signal that any one was approaching. For upwards of a +mile they kept their way, the ground rising continually; then they +reached a spot where a deep valley fell away at their feet. It divided +into several branches, and wreaths of smoke could be seen curling up +through the trees at a number of points. Similar indications of kraals +could be seen everywhere upon the hill side, and Kreta shook his head +and said: + +"No can go further. Heaps of Kaffir all about. Must wait now." + +Even Ronald, anxious as he was to go on, felt that it would be risking +too much to proceed. The kraals were so numerous that as soon as they +got into the valley they would be sure to run into one, and, moreover, +the path would fork into many branches, and it would be impossible for +them to say which of these the party ahead had taken. + +They turned aside into the wood for some little distance and lay down, +one being left on the watch in the bush close to the path. The hours +passed slowly while they waited the return of one of the scouts, who had +been ordered to follow close upon the footsteps of the Kaffirs to +Macomo's kraal. It was three o'clock before the look-out by the path +returned, accompanied by one of them. + +He said a few words to the chief, and although Ronald could not +understand him he saw by the expression of Kreta's face that the news +was satisfactory. + +"Girl got to Macomo's kraal," the chief said. "Macomo not there. Gone to +Sandilli. May come back to-night. Most likely get drunk and not come +back till to-morrow. Macomo drink very much." + +"All the better," Ronald said. "Thank God we have got a few hours before +us." + +The man gave a narration of his proceedings to Kreta, who translated +them to Ronald. + +Directly the Kaffirs had passed the point where he and his comrade were +hidden, they came out of the bush and followed closely behind them, +sometimes dropping behind a little so as to be quite out of sight if any +of them should look round, and then going on faster until they could get +a glimpse of them, so as to be sure that they were going in the right +direction. They had passed through several kraals. Before they came to +each of these the men had waited a little, and had then gone on at a +run, as if anxious to catch up the main body. They had thus avoided +questioning. + +Three hours' walking took them to Macomo's kraal, and they had hung +about there until they found out that Macomo was away, having gone off +early to pay a visit to Sandilli. Kreta did not translate his followers' +description of the manner in which this information had been obtained, +and Ronald, supposing they had gathered it from listening to the +Kaffirs, asked no questions. As soon as they had learned what they +wanted to know, one of them had remained in hiding near the village, and +the other had returned with the news. He had been nearly twice as long +coming back as he was going, as this time he had been obliged to make a +circuit so as to pass round each of the kraals, and so to avoid being +questioned. + +"Did he see the young lady?" Ronald asked; "and how was she looking?" + +Yes, he had seen her as they passed his ambush the first thing in the +morning. She looked very white and tired, but she was walking. She was +not bound in any way. That was all he could tell him. + +"How soon can we go on, chief?" Ronald asked, impatiently. "You see, it +is three hours' marching even if we go straight through." + +"Can go now," the chief said. "Now we know where Macomo's kraal is we +can go straight through the bush." + +They went back to the path. The Fingo pointed to the exact position +among the hills where Macomo's kraal was. There were two intermediate +ridges to be crossed, but Ronald did not doubt the Fingo's power to +follow a nearly direct line to the spot. + +"Now," the chief said, "you follow close behind me. Keep your eyes +always on ground. Do not look at trees or rocks, or anything, but tread +in my footsteps. Remember if you tread on a twig, or make the least +sound, perhaps some one notice it. We may be noticed anyhow. Fellows +upon the watch may see us moving through the trees overhead, but must +risk that; but only don't make noise." + +Ronald promised to obey the chief's instructions, and the party, again +leaving the path, took their way through the trees straight down into +the valley. At times they came to such precipitous places that they were +forced to make detours to get down them. One of the men now went ahead, +the rest following at such a distance that they could just keep him in +sight through the trees. From time to time he changed his course, as he +heard noises or the sound of voices that told him he was approaching a +kraal. At times they came across patches of open ground. When it was +impossible to avoid these they made no attempt to cross them rapidly, as +they knew that the sharp eyes of the sentries on the hill top could look +down upon them. They, therefore, walked at a quiet pace, talking and +gesticulating to each other as they went, so that they might be taken +for a party going from one kraal to another. + +It was eight o'clock in the evening, and the sun had set some time, when +they approached the kraal of Macomo. + +It was a good-sized village, and differed little from the ordinary +Kaffir kraals except that two or three of the huts were large and +beehive-shaped. There was a good deal of noise going on in the village; +great fires were burning, and round these numbers of the Kaffirs were +dancing, representing by their action the conflict in which they had +been engaged, and the slaughter of their enemies. The women were +standing round, keeping up a monotonous song, to the rhythm of which the +men were dancing. + +As they approached within a hundred yards of the edge of the clearing +round the village, a sharp hiss was heard among the bushes. Kreta at +once left the path, the others following him. They were at once joined +by the other scouts. + +"What is the news?" + +"The white woman is still in the woman's hut next to that of Macomo." + +"Are there any guards at the door?" Ronald asked. The chief put the +question. + +"No, no guards have been placed there. There are many women in the hut. +There was no fear of her escape. Besides, if she got out, where could +she go to?" + +"Well, now, incos, what are we to do?" the chief asked. "We have brought +you here, and now we are ready to die if you tell us. What you think we +do next?" + +"Wait a bit, Kreta, I must think it over." + +Indeed, Ronald had been thinking all day. He had considered it probable +that Mary Armstrong would be placed in the hut of one of the chief's +wives. The first question was how to communicate with her. It was almost +certain that either some of the women would sit up all night, or that +sentries would be placed at the door. Probably the former. The Kaffirs +had made a long journey, and had now doubtless been gorging themselves +with meat. They would be disinclined to watch, and would consider their +responsibility at an end when they had handed her over to the women. It +was almost certain that Mary herself would be asleep after her fatigue +of the last three days; even the prospect of the terrible fate before +her would scarce suffice to keep her awake. + +"Do you think two women will sit up with her all night?" + +"Two or three of them, sure," Kreta replied. + +"My plan is this, Kreta; it may not succeed, but I can think of no +other. In the first place, I will go into the kraal. I will wait until +there is no one near the door, then I will stoop and say in a loud +voice, so that she may hear, that she is to keep awake at night. +Macomo's women are none of them likely to understand English, and before +they run out to see what it is, I shall be gone. If they tell the men +they have heard a strange voice speaking unknown words, they will be +laughed at, or at most a search will be made through the kraal, and of +course nothing will be found. Then, to-night, chief, when everything is +still, I propose that three of you shall crawl with me into the kraal. +When we get to the door of the hut, you will draw aside the hide that +will be hanging over it and peep in. If only two women are sitting by +the fire in the centre, two of you will crawl in as noiselessly as +possible. I know that you can crawl so that the sharpest ear cannot hear +you. Of course, if there are three, three of you will go in; if two, two +only. You will crawl up behind the women, suddenly seize them by the +throat and gag and bind them. Then you will beckon to the young lady to +follow you. She will know from my warning that you are friends. If she +has a light dress on, throw a dark blanket round her, for many of the +Kaffirs will go on feasting all night, and might see her in the light of +the fire. Then I will hurry her away, and your men follow us so as to +stop the Kaffirs a moment and give us time to get into the bushes if we +are seen." + +"Kreta will go himself," the chief said, "with two of his young men. Do +you not think, incos, that there is danger in your calling out?" + +"Not much danger, I think, Kreta. They will not dream of a white man +being here, in the heart of the Amatolas. I think there is less danger +in it than that the girl might cry out if she was roused from her sleep +by men whom she did not know. She might think that it was Macomo come +home." + +Kreta agreed in this opinion. + +"I will go down at once," Ronald said; "they're making such a noise that +it is unlikely any one outside the hut would hear me, however loud I +spoke, while if I waited until it got quieter, I might be heard. Take my +rifle, Kreta, and one of the pistols; I want to carry nothing extra with +me, in case I have to make a sudden bolt for it." + +Mary Armstrong was lying apparently unnoticed by the wall of the hut, +while a dozen women were chattering round the fire in the centre. +Suddenly she started; for from the door, which was but three feet high, +there came a loud, clear voice, "Mary Armstrong, do not sleep to-night. +Rescue is at hand." + +The women started to their feet with a cry of alarm at these mysterious +sounds, and stood gazing at the entrance; then there was a clamour of +tongues, and presently one of them, older than the rest, walked to the +entrance and looked out. + +"There is no one here," she said, looking round, and the greater part of +the women at once rushed out. Their conduct convinced Mary Armstrong +that she was not in a dream, as she at first thought, but had really +heard the words. Who could have spoken them, or what rescue could reach +her? This she could not imagine; but she had sufficient self-possession +to resume her reclining position, from which she had half risen, and to +close her eyes as if sound asleep. A minute later, one of the women +appeared with a blazing brand, and held it close to her eyes. + +"The girl is asleep," she said in Kaffir, which Mary understood +perfectly; "what can have been the words we heard?" + +"It must have been an evil spirit," another woman said; "who else can +have spoken in an unknown tongue to us?" + +There was a good deal of hubbub in the kraal when the women told their +story; some of the men took up their weapons and searched the village +and the surrounding bushes, but the greater portion altogether +disbelieved the story. Whoever heard of a spirit talking in an unknown +tongue to a lot of women? If he had wanted to say anything to them, he +would have spoken so that they could understand. It must have been some +man who had drunk too much, and who bellowed in at the door to startle +them; and so gradually the din subsided, the men returned to the dance, +and the women to their huts. + +Had Mary Armstrong been in spirits to enjoy it, she would have been +amused at the various propositions started by the women to account for +the voice they had heard; not one of them approached the truth, for it +did not occur to them as even possible that a white man should have +penetrated the Amatolas to Macomo's kraal. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE RESCUE. + + +Ronald, with Kreta and two of his men, now crept down to the very edge +of the bushes at a spot where they could command a view of the entrance +to the hut. For a long time female figures came in and out, and it was +not until long past midnight that they saw the last female figure +disappear inside and the skin drawn across the entrance. + +"How long shall we give them, Kreta?" + +"In an hour Kreta will go see," the chief said; "but better give two +hours for all to be fast asleep." + +In about an hour Ronald, who had been half lying on the ground with his +head on his hands, looked round and found that the chief had stolen +away. He sat up and watched the hut intently. The fires were burning low +now, although many of the Kaffirs were sitting round them; but there was +still light enough for him, looking intently, to see a figure moving +along. Once or twice he fancied he saw a dark shadow on the ground close +to the hut, but he was not sure, and was still gazing intently when +there was a touch on his shoulder, and, looking round, he saw the chief +beside him. + +"Two women watch," he said, "others all quiet. Give a little time +longer, to make sure that all are asleep, then we go on." + +It seemed to Ronald fully two hours, although it was less than one, +before Kreta again touched him. + +"Time to go, incos," he said. "You go down with me to the hut, but not +quite close. Kreta bring girl to you. You better not go. Kreta walk more +quietly than white man. Noise spoil everything, get all of us killed." + +Ronald gave his consent, though reluctantly, but he felt it was right +that the Fingo, who was risking his life for his sake, should carry out +his plans in his own way. Kreta ordered one of his men to rejoin his +companions, and with the other advanced towards the village. + +When within forty yards of the hut, he touched Ronald and whispered to +him to remain there. Then he and his companion lay down on the ground, +and, without the slightest sound that Ronald could detect, disappeared +in the darkness, while Ronald stood with his revolver in his hand, +ready at any moment to spring forward and throw himself upon the +Kaffirs. + +Mary Armstrong lay awake, with every faculty upon the stretch. Where the +succour was to come from, or how, she could not imagine; but it was +evident, at least, that some white man was here, and was working for +her. She listened intently to every sound, with her eyes wide open, +staring at the two women, who were cooking mealies in the fire, and +keeping up a low, murmured talk. She had not even a hope that they would +sleep. She knew that the natives constantly sit up talking and feasting +until daylight is close at hand; and as they had extra motives for +vigilance, she was sure that they would keep awake. + +Suddenly, so suddenly that she scarcely knew what had happened, the two +women disappeared from her sight. A hand had grasped each tightly by the +throat, another hand seized the hair, and, with a sharp jerk, pulled the +head on one side, breaking the neck in a moment--a common mode among the +Kaffirs of putting any one to death. The whole thing did not occupy a +moment, and as the women disappeared from her sight, two natives rose to +their feet and looked round. Convinced that this was the succour +promised her, she sat up. One of the natives put his finger upon his +lips to indicate the necessity of silence, and beckoned for her to rise +and come to him. When she did so he wrapped her in a dark blanket and +led her to the door. He pushed aside the hanging and went out. + +Mary followed close behind him. He now put the blanket over her head and +lifted her in his arms. A momentary dread seized her lest this might be +an emissary of some other chief, who had sent him to carry off Macomo's +new captive, but the thought of the English words reassured her; and, at +any rate, even if it were so, her position could not possibly be worse +than on the return of Macomo the next morning. She was carried a short +distance, then she heard her bearer say in English: "Come along; I take +her a bit further. Too close to Kaffir still." She was carried on for +some distance. Then there was a stop, and she was placed on her feet; +the blanket was removed from her head, and a moment later a dark figure +seized her hand. + +"Thank God, we have got you out, Miss Armstrong." + +The revulsion of feeling at hearing her own tongue was so great that she +was not capable of speaking, and she would have fallen had she not been +clasped in the arms of the person who addressed her. Her surprise at +feeling that the arms that encircled her were bare, roused her. + +"Who are you, sir?" she asked, trembling. + +"I am Sergeant Blunt, Miss Armstrong. No wonder you did not know me. I +am got up in native fashion. You can trust yourself with me, you know." + +"Oh, yes, yes," the girl sobbed. "I know I can, you saved my life once +before. How did you come here? And, oh, can you tell me any news about +my father?" + +"He is hurt, Miss Armstrong, but I have every hope that he will recover. +Now you must be strong, for we must be miles from here before morning. +Can you walk?" + +"Oh yes, I can walk any distance," the girl said. "Yesterday it seemed +to me that I could not walk an inch further were it to save my life, and +they had to carry me the last mile or two, but now I feel strong enough +to walk miles." + +"She can walk at present, chief," Ronald said, "let us go forward at +once." + +They were now on the pathway leading down to the kraal. The chief took +the lead, telling Mary Armstrong to take hold of his blanket and follow +close behind him, while Ronald followed on her heels, the other Fingoes +keeping in the rear. The darkness beneath the trees was dense, and it +was some time before Ronald could make out even the outline of the +figures before him. Before approaching a kraal a halt was always made, +and one of the Fingoes went on ahead to see if the fires were out and +all natives inside their huts. Several times, although all the human +beings were asleep, the scout returned, saying that they could not pass +through the kraal, for the dogs had scented him and growled fiercely, +and would set up such a barking when the party passed as to bring all +the village out to see what was the matter. + +Then long detours, that would have been difficult through the thick bush +in daylight, but at night were almost impossible, had to be made. Each +time that this had to be done, Kreta lifted Mary Armstrong and carried +her, and she had now become so exhausted that she was unable even to +protest. Ronald would have carried her himself, but he felt that it +would be worse than useless to attempt to do so. Though unencumbered, he +had the greatest difficulty in making his way through the bushes, which +scratched and tore his flesh terribly; but the chief seemed to be +possessed of the eyes of a bat, and glided through them, scarcely moving +a twig as he passed. After going on for upwards of three hours, the +chief stopped. + +"It will be getting light soon. We must hide her now. Cannot get further +until to-morrow night." + +Although Ronald Mervyn, struggling along in the darkness, had not +noticed it, the party had for the last hour turned off from the line +they had before been following. They stopped by a little stream, running +down the valley. Here a native refilled the gourds, and Mary Armstrong +felt better after a drink of water. + +"I think," Ronald said to her, "that if you were to bathe your face and +hands it would refresh you. There is a rock here just at the edge of +the stream, I am sure your feet must be sore and blistered. It will be +half an hour before there is a gleam of light, and I should recommend +you to take off your shoes and stockings and paddle your feet in the +water." + +"That would be refreshing," the girl said. "My feet are aching +dreadfully. Now please tell me all that has happened, and how you came +to be here." + +Sitting beside her, Ronald told her what had been done from the time +when his party arrived and beat off the natives attacking the waggons. + +"How can I thank you enough?" she said, when he had finished. "To think +that you have done all this for me." + +"Never mind about thanks, Miss Armstrong; we are not out of the wood +yet, our dangers are only half over, and if it were not that I trust to +the cunning of our good friend Kreta and his Fingoes I should have very +little hope of getting out of this mess. I think it is just beginning to +get light, for I can make out the outlines of the trunks of the trees, +which is more than I could do before. I will go and ask Kreta what he is +going to do, and by the time I come back perhaps you had better get your +shoes on again, and be ready for a start. I don't suppose we shall go +far, but no doubt he will find some sort of hiding-place." Kreta, in +fact, was just giving instructions to his men. + +"We are going out to find some good place to hide away in to-day," he +said. "In the morning they search all about the woods. We must get into +shelter before it light enough for the men on hill tops to see down +through trees. You stop here quiet. In half an hour we come back again. +There is plenty time; they no find out yet that woman gone." + +In a few minutes Mary Armstrong joined Ronald. + +"How do you feel now?" he asked. + +"All the fresher and better for the wash," she said; "but I really don't +think I could walk very far, my feet are very much blistered. I don't +see why they should be so bad; we have only gone about twenty-four miles +each day, and I always considered that I could walk twenty miles without +difficulty." + +"It makes all the difference how you walk, Miss Armstrong. No doubt, if +you had been in good spirits, and with a pleasant party, you could have +walked fifty miles in two days, although that is certainly a long +distance for a woman; but depressed and almost despairing, as you were, +it told upon you generally, and doubtless you rather dragged your feet +along than walked." + +"I don't want to think about it," the girl said, with a shudder. "It +seems to have been an awful dream. Some day I will tell you about it; +but I cannot now." + +"Here are some mealies and some cold meat. We each brought a week's +supply with us when we left the waggons. I am sure that you will be all +the better for eating something." + +"I do feel very hungry, now I think of it," the girl assented; "I have +hardly eaten a mouthful since that morning." + +"I am hungry myself," Ronald said "I was too anxious yesterday to do +justice to my food." + +"I feel very much better now," the girl said when she had finished. "I +believe I was faint from want of food before, although I did not think +of it. I am sure I could go on walking now. It was not the pain that +stopped me, but simply because I didn't feel as if I could lift my foot +from the ground. And there is one thing I want to say: I wish you would +not call me Miss Armstrong, it seems so formal and stiff, when you are +running such terrible risks to save me. Please call me Mary, and I will +call you Harry. I think I heard you tell my father your name was Harry +Blunt." + +"That is the name I enlisted under, it is not my own name; men very +seldom enlist under their own names." + +"Why not?" she asked in surprise. + +"Partly, I suppose, because a good many of us get into scrapes before we +enlist, and don't care for our friends to be able to trace us." + +"I am sure you never got into a scrape," the girl said, looking up into +Ronald's face. + +"I got into a very bad scrape," Ronald answered, "a scrape that has +spoilt my whole life; but we will not talk about that. But I would +rather, if you don't mind, that you should call me by my own name now we +are together. If we get out of this I shall be Sergeant Blunt again, but +I should like you to call me Ronald now." + +"Ronald," the girl said, "that sounds Scottish." + +"I am not Scotch, nor so far as I know is there any Scotch blood in my +veins, but the name has been in the family a good many years; how it got +there I do not know." + +"I almost wish it was dark again," the girl said, with a little laugh; +"in the dark you seem to me the Sergeant Blunt who came just in time to +save us that day the farm was attacked; but now I can see you I cannot +recognise you at all; even your eyes look quite different in that black +skin." + +"I flatter myself that my get up is very good," Ronald laughed. "I have +had some difficulty in keeping up the colour. Each day before starting +we have gone to our fires and got fresh charcoal and mixed it with some +grease we brought with us and rubbed it in afresh." + +"Your hair is your weak point, Ronald; but, of course, no European could +make his hair like a native's. Still, as it is cut so close, it would +not be noticed a little way off." + +Two or three of the Fingoes had by this time returned, and in a few +minutes all had gathered at the spot. Kreta listened to the reports of +each of his men, and they held a short consultation. Then he came up to +Ronald. + +"One of my men has found a place that will do well," he said. "It is +time we were going." + +One of the Fingoes now took the lead; the others followed. A quarter of +an hour's walk up the hill, which grew steeper and steeper every step, +brought them to a spot where some masses of rock had fallen from above. +They were half covered with the thick growth of brushwood. The native +pushed one of the bushes aside, and showed a sort of cave formed by a +great slab of rock that had fallen over the others. Kreta uttered an +expression of approval. Two of the natives crept in with their assegais +in their hands. In two or three minutes one of them returned with the +bodies of two puff adders they had killed. These were dropped in among +some rocks. + +"You can go in now," Kreta said. "There are no more of them." + +Ronald crawled in first, and helped Mary Armstrong in after him; the +natives followed. Kreta came in last, carefully examining the bush +before he did so, to see that no twig was broken or disarranged. He +managed as he entered to place two or three rocks over the entrance. + +"Good place," he said, looking round as he joined the others. It was +indeed of ample size to contain the party, and was some four feet in +height. Light came in in several places between the rocks on which the +upper slab rested. + +"It could not be better, Kreta, even if it had been made on purpose. It +was lucky indeed your fellow found it." + +"We found two or three others," the chief said, "but this best." + +"It is lucky those men came in first and found the snakes," Mary +Armstrong said, "for we have not got here the stuff we always use in the +colony as an antidote, and their bite is almost always fatal unless that +can be used in time." Ronald was aware of this, and had, indeed, during +the night's march, had snakes constantly in his mind, for he knew that +they abounded in the hills. + +One of the Fingoes had taken his station at the entrance, having moved +one of the stones the chief had placed there, so that he could sit with +his head out of the opening. Half an hour after they had entered the +cave he turned round and spoke to the chief. + +"The Kaffirs are hunting," Kreta said. Listening at the opening they +could hear distant shouts. These were answered from many points, some of +them comparatively close. + +"The news is being passed from kraal to kraal," Ronald said; "they will +be up like a swarm of bees now, but search as they will they are not +likely to find us here. Do you think they will trace us at all, chief?" + +"They will find where we stopped close to kraal," Kreta said; "the dead +leaves were stirred by our feet; after that not find, too many people +gone along path; ground very hard; may find, sometime, mark of the white +woman's shoe; but we leave path many times, and after I carry no find at +all. Mountains very big, much bush; never find here." + +The chief now told his follower to replace the stone and join the +others, and ordered all to be silent. Sitting with his ear at one of the +openings he listened to the sounds in the woods; once or twice he +whispered that Kaffirs were passing close, searching among the bushes; +and one party came so near that their words could be plainly heard in +the cave. They were discussing the manner in which the fugitive had +escaped, and were unanimous in the belief that she had been carried off +by the followers of some other chief, for that an enemy should have +penetrated into the heart of the Amatolas did not strike them as +possible. + +The argument was only as to which of the other chiefs would have +ventured to rob Macomo, and the opinion inclined to the fact that it +must have been Sandilli himself, who would doubtless have heard, from +the messenger sent over on the previous afternoon to inform Macomo, of +the return of the band with a pretty young white woman as a captive. +Macomo had of course been drunk, and Sandilli might have determined to +have the prize carried off for himself. + +Mary Armstrong shuddered as she listened to the talk, but when they had +gone on Kreta said: + +"Good thing the Kaffirs have that thought, not search so much here. +Search in Sandilli's country. Perhaps make great quarrel between Macomo +and Sandilli. Good thing that." + +As the day went on the spirits of the Fingoes rose, and in low tones +they expressed their delight at having outwitted the Kaffirs. + +No footsteps had been heard in their neighbourhood for some time, and +they felt sure that the search had been abandoned in that quarter. +Towards sunset all ate a hearty meal, and as soon as it became dark the +stones at the entrance were removed and the party crept out. Mary +Armstrong had slept the greater part of the day, and Ronald and the +Fingoes had also passed a portion of their time in sleep. They started, +therefore, refreshed and strong. + +It took them many hours of patient work before they arrived at the edge +of the forest on the last swell of the Amatolas. They had been obliged +to make many detours to avoid kraals, and to surmount the precipices +that often barred their way. They had started about eight in the +evening, and it was, as they knew from the stars, fully three o'clock +in the morning when they emerged from the forest. + +Mary Armstrong had kept on well with the rest; her feet were extremely +painful, but she was now strong and hopeful, and no word of complaint +escaped her. Ronald and the chief kept by her side, helping her up or +down difficult places, and assisting her to pass through the thorny +bushes, which caught her dress, and would have rendered it almost +impossible for her to get through unaided. Once out of the bush, the +party hurried down the grassy slope, and then kept on a mile further. +The chief now gave a loud call. It was answered faintly from the +distance; in five minutes the sound of a horse's hoofs were heard, and +in a short time the Fingo who had been left in charge of it, galloped up +with Ronald's horse. Mary Armstrong was sitting on the ground, for she +was now so utterly exhausted she could no longer keep her feet, and had, +since they left the bush, been supported and half carried by Ronald and +Kreta. She made an effort to rise as the horse came up. + +"Please wait a moment; I will not be above two minutes," Ronald said; +"but I really cannot ride into Williamstown like this." + +He unstrapped his valise, took the jack-boots that were hanging from the +saddle, and moved away in the darkness. In two or three minutes he +returned in his uniform. + +"I feel a civilised being again," he said, laughing; "a handful of sand +at the first stream we come to will get most of this black off my face. +I have left my blanket as a legacy to any Kaffir who may light upon it. +Now I will shift the saddle a few inches further back. I think you had +better ride before me, for you are completely worn out, and I can hold +you there better than you could hold yourself if you were to sit behind +me." He strapped on his valise, shifted his saddle, lifted Mary up, and +sprang up behind her. + +"Are you comfortable?" he asked. + +"Quite comfortable," she said, a little shyly, and then they started. +The light was just beginning to break in the east as they rode out from +the clump of trees. They were not out of danger yet, for parties of +Kaffirs might be met with at any time until they arrived within musket +shot of King Williamstown. The Fingoes ran at a pace that kept the horse +at a sharp trot. It was very pleasant to Ronald Mervyn to feel Mary +Armstrong in his arms, and to know, as he did, how safe and confident +she felt there; but he did not press her more closely than was necessary +to enable her to retain her seat, or permit himself to speak in a softer +or tenderer tone than usual. + +"If we should come across any of these scoundrels, Mary," he said, +presently, "do you take the reins. Do you think you can sit steady +without my holding you firmly?" + +"Yes," the girl said, "if I put one foot on yours I could certainly hold +on. I could twist one of my hands in the horse's mane." + +"Can you use a pistol?" + +"Of course I can," she replied. "I was as good a shot as my father." + +"That is all right, then. I will give you one of my pistols; then I can +hold you with my right arm, for the horse may plunge if a spear strikes +him. I will use my pistol in my left hand. I will see that no one +catches the bridle on that side; do you attend to the right. I hope it +won't come to that, still there's never any saying, and we shall have +one or two nasty places to pass through on our way down. We have the +advantage that should there be any Kaffirs there they will not be +keeping a watch this way, and we may hope to get pretty well through +them before they see us." + +"Will you promise me one thing, Ronald?" she asked. "Will you shoot me +if you find that we cannot get past?" + +Ronald nodded. + +"I am not at all afraid of death," she said; "death would be nothing to +that. I would rather die a thousand times than fall into the hands of +the Kaffirs again." + +"I promise you, Mary, my last shot but one shall be for you, my last for +myself; but if I am struck off the horse by a bullet or assegai you must +trust to your own pistol." + +"I will do that, Ronald; I have been perfectly happy since you took me +out of the hut, and have not seemed to feel any fear of being +recaptured, for I felt that if they overtook us I could always escape +so. On the way there, if I could have got hold of an assegai I should +have stabbed myself." + +"Thank God you didn't," said Ronald, earnestly, "though I could not have +blamed you." + +They paused at the entrance to each kloof through which they had to +pass, and the Fingoes went cautiously ahead searching through the +bushes. It was not until he heard their call on the other side that +Ronald galloped after them. + +"I begin to hope that we shall get through now," Ronald said, after +emerging from one of these kloofs; "we have only one more bad place to +pass, but, of course, the danger is greatest there, as from that the +Kaffirs will probably be watching against any advance of the troops from +the town." + +The Fingoes were evidently of the same opinion, for as they approached +it Kreta stopped to speak to Ronald. + +"Kaffir sure to be here," he said, "but me and my men can creep through; +but we must not call to you, incos; the Kaffirs would hear us and be on +the watch. Safest plan for us to go through first, not go along paths, +but through bush; then for you to gallop straight through; even if they +close to path, you get past before they time to stop you. I think that +best way." + +"I think so too, Kreta. If they hear the horse's hoofs coming from +behind they will suppose it is a mounted messenger from the hills. +Anyhow, I think that a dash for it is our best chance." + +"I think so, incos. I think you get through safe if go fast." + +"How long will you be getting through, Kreta?" + +"Quarter of an hour," the chief said; "must go slow. Your ride four, +five minutes." + +Kreta stood thoughtfully for a minute or two. + +"Me don't like it, incos. Me tell you what we do. We keep over to left, +and then when we get just through the bush we fire our guns. Then the +Kaffirs very much surprised and all run that way, and you ride straight +through." + +"But they might overtake you, Kreta." + +"They no overtake," the chief said, confidently. "We run fast and get +good start. Williamstown only one hour's walk; run less than half hour. +They no catch us." + +When the Fingoes had been gone about ten minutes, Ronald, assured that +the Kaffirs would be gathered at the far side of the kloof, went forward +at a walk. Presently he heard six shots fired in rapid succession. This +was followed by an outburst of yells and cries in front, and he set +spurs to his horse and dashed forward at a gallop. He was nearly through +the kloof when a body of Kaffirs, who were running through the wood from +the right, burst suddenly from the bushes into the path. So astonished +were they at seeing a white man within a few yards of them that for a +moment they did not think of using their weapons, and Ronald dashed +through them, scattering them to right and left. But others sprang from +the bushes. Ronald shot down two men who sprang at the horse's bridle, +and he heard Mary Armstrong's pistol on the other side. He had drawn his +sword before setting off at a gallop. "Hold tight, Mary," he said, as he +relaxed his hold of her and cut down a native who was springing upon him +from the bushes. Another fell from a bullet from her pistol, and then he +was through them. "Stoop down, Mary," he said, pressing her forward on +the horse's neck and bending down over her. He felt his horse give a +sudden spring, and knew that it was hit with an assegai; while almost at +the same instant he felt a sensation as of a hot iron running from his +belt to his shoulder, as a spear ripped up cloth and flesh and then +glanced along over him. + +A moment later and they were out of the kloof, and riding at full speed +across the open. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the Kaffirs gave +up pursuit after following for a hundred yards. Over on the left he +heard dropping shots, and presently caught a glimpse in that direction +of the Fingoes running in a close body, pursued at the distance of a +hundred yards or so by a large number of Kaffirs. But others had heard +the sound of firing, for in a minute or two he saw a body of horsemen +riding at full speed from Williamstown in the direction of the firing. +He at once checked the speed of his horse. + +"We are safe now, Mary; that is a troop of our corps. Are you hit?" + +"No, I am not touched. Are you hurt, Ronald? I thought I felt you +start." + +"I have got a bit of a scratch on the back, but it's nothing serious. I +will get off in a moment, Mary; the horse has an assegai in his +quarters, and I must get it out." + +"Take me down, too, please; I feel giddy now it is all over." + +Ronald lifted her down, and then pulled the assegai from the horse's +back. + +"I don't think much harm is done," he said; "a fortnight in the stable +and he will be all right again." + +"You are bleeding dreadfully," the girl exclaimed, as she caught sight +of his back. "It's a terrible wound to look at." + +"Then it looks worse than it is," he laughed. "The spear only glanced +along on the ribs. It's lucky I was stooping so much. After going +through what we have we may think ourselves well off indeed that we have +escaped with such a scratch as this between us." + +"It's not a scratch at all," the girl said, indignantly; "it's a very +deep bad cut." + +"Perhaps it is a bad cut," Ronald smiled, "but a cut is of no +consequence one way or the other. Now let us join the others. Ah, here +they come, with Kreta showing them the way." + +The troopers had chased the Kaffirs back to the bush, and, led by the +Fingo, were now coming up at a gallop to the spot where Ronald and Mary +Armstrong were standing by the horse. + +"Ah, it is you, sergeant," Lieutenant Daniels exclaimed, for it was a +portion of Ronald's own troop that had ridden up. "I never expected to +see you again, for we heard the day before yesterday from the officer +who came in with the ammunition waggons that you had gone off to try to +rescue three ladies who had been carried off by the Kaffirs. It was a +mad business, but you have partly succeeded, I am glad to see," and he +lifted his cap to Mary Armstrong. + +"Partly, sir," Ronald said. "The wretches killed the other two the day +they carried them off. This is Miss Armstrong. I think you stopped at +her father's house one day when we were out on the Kabousie." + +"Yes, of course," the lieutenant said, alighting. "Excuse me for not +recognising you, Miss Armstrong; but, in fact----" + +"In fact, I look very pale, and ragged, and tattered." + +"I am not surprised at that, Miss Armstrong. You must have gone through +a terrible time, and I heartily congratulate Sergeant Blunt on the +success of his gallant attempt to rescue you." + +"Have you heard from my father? How is he?" + +"Your father, Miss Armstrong! I have heard nothing about him since I +heard from Sergeant Blunt that you had all got safely away after that +attack." + +"He was in the waggon, sir," Ronald explained; "he was hurt in the fight +with the Kaffirs, and Mr. Nolan brought him back in the waggons." + +"Oh, I heard he had brought a wounded man with him; but I did not hear +the name. Nolan said he had been badly wounded, but the surgeon told me +he thought he might get round. I have no doubt that the sight of Miss +Armstrong will do him good." + +"Perhaps, sir," Ronald said, faintly, "you will let one of the troop +ride on with Miss Armstrong at once. I think I must wait for a bit." + +"Why, what is it, sergeant?" the lieutenant asked, catching him by the +arm, for he saw that he was on the point of falling. "You are wounded, I +see; and here am I talking about other things and not thinking of you." + +Two of the troop leapt from their horses and laid Ronald down, for he +had fainted, overcome partly by the pain and loss of blood, but more by +the sudden termination of the heavy strain of the last four days. + +"It is only a flesh wound, Miss Armstrong. There is no occasion for +fear. He has fainted from loss of blood, and I have no doubt but he will +soon be all right again. Johnson, hand your horse over to Miss +Armstrong, and do you, Williams, ride over with her to the hospital. We +will have Sergeant Blunt in the hospital half an hour after you get +there, Miss Armstrong." + +"It seems very unkind to leave him," the girl said, "after all he has +done for me." + +"He will understand it, my dear young lady, and you can see him in the +hospital directly you get there." + +Mary reluctantly allowed herself to be lifted into the saddle, and rode +off with the trooper. + +"Now take his jacket and shirt off," the lieutenant said, "it's a nasty +rip that he has got. I suppose he was leaning forward in the saddle when +the spear touched him. It's lucky it glanced up instead of going through +him." + +The soldiers removed Ronald's coat. There was no shirt underneath, for +he had not waited to put one on when he mounted. The troopers had heard +from their comrades, on the return of the escort, that the sergeant had, +before starting, got himself up as a native; and they were not therefore +surprised, as they otherwise would have been, at his black skin. + +"Put your hand into the left holster of my saddle," the lieutenant said. +"You will find two or three bandages and some lint there; they are +things that come in handy for this work. Lay the lint in the gash. +That's right. Press it down a little, and put some more in. Now lift him +up a bit, while I pass these bandages round his body. There; I think he +will do now; but there's no doubt it is a nasty wound. It has cut right +through the muscles of the back. Now turn him over, and give me my flask +from the holster." + +Some brandy and water was poured between Ronald's lips, and he soon +opened his eyes. + +"Don't move, sergeant, or you will set your wound off bleeding again. We +will soon get you comfortably into hospital. Ah, that is the very thing; +good men," he broke off, as Kreta and the Fingoes brought up a litter +which they had been busy in constructing. "Miss Armstrong has ridden on +to the hospital to see her father. She wanted to stop, but I sent her +on, so that we could bandage you comfortably." + +"I think I can sit a horse now," Ronald said, trying to rise. + +"I don't know whether you can or not, sergeant; but you are not going to +try. Now, lads, lift him on to the litter." + +Kreta and the two troopers lifted him carefully on to the litter; then +four of the Fingoes raised it to their shoulders. Another took Ronald's +horse, which now limped stiffly, and led it along behind the litter; and +with the troop bringing up the rear, the party started for King +Williamstown. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +RONALD IS OFFERED A COMMISSION. + + +As soon as Mary Armstrong reached the hospital, the trooper who had +accompanied her took her to the surgeon's quarters. The officer, on +hearing that a lady wished to speak to him, at once came out. + +"I am Mary Armstrong," the girl said as she slipped down from the horse. +"I think my father is here, wounded. He came up in the waggons the day +before yesterday, I believe." + +"Oh yes, he is here, Miss Armstrong. I had him put in one of the +officers' wards that is otherwise empty at present." + +"How is he, doctor?" + +"Well, I am sorry to say that just at present he is very ill. The wounds +are not, I hope, likely to prove fatal, though undoubtedly they are very +serious; but he is in a state of high fever--in fact, he is delirious, +principally, I think, owing to his anxiety about you, at least so I +gathered from the officer who brought him in, for he was already +delirious when he arrived here." + +"I can go to him, I hope?" + +"Certainly you can, Miss Armstrong. Your presence is likely to soothe +him. The ward will be entirely at your disposal. I congratulate you most +heartily upon getting out of the hands of the Kaffirs. Mr. Nolan told us +of the gallant attempt which a sergeant of the Cape Mounted Rifles was +going to make to rescue you; but I don't think that any one thought he +had the shadow of a chance of success." + +"He succeeded, doctor, as you see; but he was wounded to-day just as we +were in sight of the town. They are bringing him here. Will you kindly +let me know when he comes in and how he is?" + +"I will let you know at once, Miss Armstrong; and now I will take you to +your father." + +One of the hospital orderlies was standing by the bedside of Mr. +Armstrong as his daughter and the surgeon entered. The patient was +talking loudly. + +"I tell you I will go. They have carried off Mary. I saw them do it and +could not help her, but I will go now." + +Mary walked to the bedside and bent down and kissed her father. + +"I am here, father, by your side. I have got away from them, and here I +am to nurse you." + +The patient ceased talking and a quieter expression came over his face. +Mary took his hand in hers and quietly stroked it. + +"That's right, Mary," he murmured; "are the bars of the cattle kraal up? +See that all the shutters are closed, we cannot be too careful, you +know." + +"I will see to it all, father," she said, cheerfully; "now try to go to +sleep." + +A few more words passed from the wounded man's lips, and then he lay +quiet with closed eyes. + +"That is excellent, Miss Armstrong," the surgeon said; "the +consciousness that you are with him has, you see, soothed him at once. +If he moves, get him to drink a little of this lemonade, and I will send +you in some medicine for him shortly." + +"How are the wounds, doctor?" + +"Oh, I think the wounds will do," the surgeon replied; "so far as I can +tell, the assegai has just missed the top of the lung by a hair's +breadth. Two inches lower and it would have been fatal. As for the +wounds in the legs, I don't anticipate much trouble with them. They have +missed both bones and arteries and are really nothing but flesh wounds, +and after the active, healthy life your father has been living, I do not +think we need be uneasy about them." + +In half an hour the surgeon looked in again. + +"Sergeant Blunt has arrived," he said. "You can set your mind at ease +about him; it is a nasty gash, but of no real importance whatever. I +have drawn the edges together and sewn them up; he is quite in good +spirits, and laughed and said that a wound in the back could scarcely be +called an honourable scar. I can assure you that in ten days or so he +will be about again." + +"Would you mind telling him," Mary asked, "that I would come to see him +at once, but my father is holding my hand so tight that I could not draw +it away without rousing him?" + +"I will tell him," the surgeon said. "Oh, here is the orderly with your +medicine as well as your father's." + +The orderly brought in a tray with a bowl of beef tea and a glass of +wine. "You will take both these, if you please, Miss Armstrong, and I +will have the other bed placed by the side of your father, so that you +can lie down with him holding your hand. You are looking terribly pale +and tired, and I do not want you on my hands too." + +The tray was placed upon the table within Mary's reach, and the surgeon +stood by and saw that she drank the wine and beef tea. He and the +orderly then moved the other couch to the side of Mr. Armstrong's bed, +and arranged it so that Mary could lie down with her hand still in her +father's. + +"Now," he said, "I recommend you to go off to sleep soon. I am happy to +say that your father is sleeping naturally, and it may be hours before +he wakes. When he does so, he will be sure to move and wake you, and the +sight of you will, if he is sensible, as I expect he will be, go a long +way towards his cure." + +Captain Twentyman, when he returned in the afternoon from a +reconnaissance that he had been making with a portion of the troop, +called at once to see Ronald, but was told that he was sound asleep, and +so left word that he would come again in the morning. + +The news of Sergeant Blunt's desperate attempt to rescue three white +women who had been carried off by the Kaffirs had, when reported by +Lieutenant Nolan, been the subject of much talk in the camp. Every one +admitted that it was a breach of discipline thus to leave the party of +which he was in command when upon special service, but no one seriously +blamed him for this. Admiration for the daring action and regret for the +loss of so brave a soldier, for none thought that there was the +slightest chance of ever seeing him again, overpowered all other +feelings. Mr. Nolan stated that the sergeant had told him that one of +the three women was the daughter of the wounded man he had brought in +with him, and that he had known her and her father before, and it was +generally agreed that there must have been something more than mere +acquaintance in the case to induce the sergeant to undertake such a +desperate enterprise. Great interest was therefore excited when, upon +the return of Lieutenant Daniels' party, it became known that he had +fallen in with Sergeant Blunt and a young lady, and that the sergeant +was severely wounded. All sorts of questions were asked the lieutenant. + +"Ten to one she's pretty, Daniels," a young subaltern said. + +"She is pretty, Mellor," another broke in; "I caught a glimpse of her, +and she is as pretty a girl as I have seen in the colony, though, of +course, she is looking utterly worn out." + +"He is a gentleman," another officer, who had just come up, said. "I +have been talking to Nolan, and he tells me that Sergeant Blunt spoke of +her as a lady, and said that her father had served in the army and +fought as a young ensign at Waterloo." + +"Mr. Armstrong is a gentleman," Lieutenant Daniels said. "He had a farm +on the Kabousie River, that is where Blunt got to know him. He had the +reputation of being a wealthy man. Blunt was in command of a party who +came up and saved them when they were attacked by the Kaffirs on +Christmas Day. So this is the second time he has rescued the young +lady." + +"I hope Mr. Armstrong isn't going to be a stern father, and spoil the +whole romance of the business," young Mellor laughed. "One of your +troopers, Daniels, however brave a fellow, can hardly be considered as a +good match for an heiress." + +"Blunt is as much a gentleman as I am," Lieutenant Daniels said, +quietly. "I know nothing whatever of his history or what his real name +is, for I expect that Blunt is only a _nom-de-guerre_, but I do know +that he is a gentleman, and I am sure he has served as an officer. More +than that I do not want to know, unless he chooses to tell me himself. I +suppose he got into some scrape or other at home; but I wouldn't mind +making a heavy bet that, whatever it was, it was nothing dishonourable." + +"But how did he get her away from the Kaffirs? It seems almost an +impossibility. I asked the head man of the Fingoes, who was with him," +another said, "but he had already got three parts drunk, so I did not +get much out of him; but as far as I could make out, they carried her +off from Macomo's kraal in the heart of the Amatolas." + +"Oh, come now, that seems altogether absurd," two or three of the +officers standing round laughed, and Mellor said, "Orpheus going down to +fetch Eurydice back from Hades would have had an easy task of it in +comparison." + +"I am glad to see that you have not forgotten your classical learning, +Mellor," one of the older officers said, "but certainly, of the two, I +would rather undertake the task of Orpheus, who was pretty decently +treated after all, than go to Macomo's kraal to fetch back a lady-love. +Well, I suppose we shall hear about it to-morrow, but I can hardly +believe this story to be true. The natives are such liars there's no +believing what they say." + +The next morning, after breakfast, Captain Twentyman and Lieutenant +Daniels walked across to the hospital. They first saw the surgeon. + +"Well, doctor, how is my sergeant?" + +"On the high way to recovery," the surgeon said, cheerfully. "Of course, +the wound will be a fortnight, perhaps three weeks, before it is healed +up sufficiently for him to return to duty, but otherwise there is +nothing the matter with him. A long night's rest has pulled him round +completely. He is a little weak from loss of blood; but there is no harm +in that. There is, I think, no fear whatever of fever or other +complications. It is simply a question of the wound healing up." + +"And the colonist--Armstrong his name is, I think, whose daughter was +carried away--how is he going on?" + +"Much better. His daughter's presence at once calmed his delirium, and +this morning, when he woke after a good night's sleep, he was conscious, +and will now, I think, do well. He is very weak, but that does not +matter, and he is perfectly content, lying there holding his daughter's +hand. He has asked no questions as to how she got back again, and, of +course, I have told her not to allude to the subject, and to check him +at once if he does so. The poor girl looks all the better for her +night's rest. She was a wan-looking creature when she arrived yesterday +morning, but is fifty per cent. better already, and with another day or +two's rest, and the comfort of seeing her father going on well, she will +soon get her colour and tone back again." + +"I suppose we can go up and see Blunt, and hear about his adventures?" + +"Oh, yes, talking will do him no harm. I will come with you, for I was +too busy this morning, when I went my rounds, to have any conversation +with him except as to his wound." + +"My inquiries are partly personal and partly official," Captain +Twentyman said. "Colonel Somerset asked me this morning to see Blunt, +and gather any information as to the Kaffirs' positions that might be +useful. I went yesterday evening to question the Fingo head man who went +with him, but he and all his men were as drunk as pigs. I hear that when +they first arrived they said they had carried the girl off from Macomo's +kraal, but of course there must be some mistake; they never could have +ventured into the heart of the Amatolas and come out alive." + +The three officers proceeded together to the ward in which Ronald was +lying. + +"Well, sergeant, how do you feel yourself?" Captain Twentyman asked. + +"Oh, I am all right, sir," Ronald answered cheerfully. "My back smarts a +bit, of course, but that is nothing. I hope I shall be in the saddle +again before long--at any rate before the advance is made." + +"I hope so, Blunt. And now, if you feel up to telling it, I want to hear +about your adventure. Colonel Somerset asked me to inquire, as it will +throw some light on the numbers and position of the Kaffirs; besides, +the whole camp is wanting to know how you succeeded in getting Miss +Armstrong out of the hands of the Kaffirs. I can assure you that there +is nothing else talked about." + +"There is nothing much to talk about, as far as I am concerned, sir," +Ronald said. "It was the Fingoes' doing altogether, and they could have +managed as well, indeed better, without me." + +"Except that they would not have done it, unless you had been with +them." + +"No, perhaps not," Ronald admitted. "I was lucky enough down at Port +Elizabeth to fish out the son of Kreta, the head man of the party, who +had been washed off his feet in the surf; and it was out of gratitude +for that that he followed me." + +"Yes, we heard about that business from Mr. Nolan, and although you +speak lightly of it, it was, he tells us, a very gallant affair indeed. +But now as to this other matter." + +"In the first place, Captain Twentyman, I admit that going off as I did +was a great breach of duty. I can only say that I shall be willing, +cheerfully, to submit to any penalty the colonel may think fit to +inflict. I had no right whatever to leave my detachment on what was +really private business; but even if I had been certain that I should +have been shot as a deserter on my return to the regiment, I should not +have hesitated in acting as I did." + +"We all understand your feelings, Blunt," Captain Twentyman said, +kindly, "and you have no need to make yourself uneasy on that score. To +punish a man for acting as you have done would be as bad as the sea +story of the captain who flogged a seaman, who jumped overboard to save +a comrade, for leaving the ship without orders. Now for your story: all +we have heard is that your Fingo says you carried off the young lady +from Macomo's kraal, but, of course, that is not believed." + +"It is quite true, nevertheless," Ronald said. "Well, this is how it +was, sir," and he gave a full account of the whole adventure. + +"Well, I congratulate you most heartily," Captain Twentyman said when he +finished; "it is really a wonderful adventure--a most gallant business +indeed, and the whole corps, officers and men, will be proud of it." + +"I should be glad, sir, if there could be some reward given to Kreta and +his men; as you will have seen from my story, any credit that there is +in the matter is certainly their due." + +"I will see to that," the officer replied. "The Fingo desires are, +happily, easily satisfied; a good rifle, a few cows, and a barrel of +whisky make up his ideal of happiness. I think I can promise you they +shall have all these." + +In the afternoon, Mr. Armstrong again dropped off to a quiet sleep. This +time he was not holding his daughter's hand, and as soon as she saw that +he was fairly off she stole out of the room, and finding the surgeon, +asked if he would take her up to the ward where Sergeant Blunt was +lying. + +"Yes, I shall be happy to take you up at once, Miss Armstrong. +Everything is tidy just at present, for I have had a message from +Colonel Somerset that he and the General are coming round the wards. I +don't suppose they will be here for half an hour, so you can come up at +once." + +The sick men in the wards were surprised when the surgeon entered, +accompanied by a young lady. She passed shyly along between the rows of +beds until she reached that of Ronald. She put her hand in his, but for +a moment was unable to speak. Ronald saw her agitation, and said +cheerfully: "I am heartily glad, Miss Armstrong, to hear from the doctor +such a good account of your father. As for me, I shall not be in his +hands many days. I told you it was a mere scratch, and I believe that a +good-sized piece of sticking-plaster was all that was wanted." + +"You haven't thought me unkind for not coming to see you before, I +hope," the girl said; "but I have not been able till now to leave my +father's room for a moment." + +"I quite understood that, Miss Armstrong, and indeed there was no +occasion for you to come to me at all. It would have been quite time +enough when I was up and about again. I only wish that it was likely +that Mr. Armstrong would be on his feet as soon as I shall." + +"Oh, he is going on very well," Mary said. "I consider that you have +saved his life as well as mine. I feel sure it is only having me with +him again that has made such a change in him as has taken place since +yesterday. The doctor says so, too. I have not told him yet how it has +all come about, but I hope ere very long he may be able to thank you for +both of us." + +"You thanked me more than enough yesterday, Miss Armstrong, and I am not +going to listen to any more of it. As far as I can see, you could not +have done me any greater service than by giving me the opportunity you +have. Every one seems disposed to take quite a ridiculous view of the +matter, and I may look forward to getting a troop-sergeantship when +there is a vacancy." + +The girl shook her head. She was too much in earnest even to pretend to +take a light view of the matter. Just at that moment there was a +trampling of horses outside, and the sharp sound of the sentries +presenting arms. + +"Here is the General," Ronald said, with a smile, "and although I don't +wish to hurry you away, Miss Armstrong, I think you had better go back +to your father. I don't know whether the Chief would approve of lady +visitors in the hospital." + +"Good-bye," the girl said, giving him her hand. "You won't let me thank +you, but you know." + +"I know," Ronald replied. "Good-bye" + +She looked round for the surgeon, who had, after taking her up to +Ronald, moved away for a short distance, but he was gone, having hurried +off to meet the General below, and with a last nod to Ronald, she left +the ward. She passed out through the door into the courtyard just as the +group of officers were entering. + +"That is Miss Armstrong," the surgeon said, as she passed out. + +"What, the girl who was rescued?" Colonel Somerset said; "a very pretty, +ladylike-looking young woman. I am not surprised, now that I see her, at +this desperate exploit of my sergeant." + +"No, indeed," the General said, smiling. "It's curious, colonel, what +men will do for a pretty face. Those other two poor creatures who were +carried off were both murdered, and I don't suppose their deaths have +greatly distressed this young fellow one way or the other. No doubt he +would have been glad to rescue them; but I imagine that their deaths +have not in any way caused him to regard his mission as a failure. I +suppose that it's human nature, colonel." + +Colonel Somerset laughed. + +"You and I would have seen the matter in the same light when we were +youngsters, General." + +The officers went through the wards, stopping several times to speak a +few words to the patients. + +"So this is the deserter," Colonel Somerset said, with some assumed +sternness, as they stopped by Ronald's bedside. "Well, sir, we have had +a good many of those black rascals desert from our ranks, but you are +the first white soldier who has deserted since the war began. Of course, +you expect a drumhead court-martial and shooting as soon as the doctor +lets you out of his hands." + +Ronald saw that the old colonel was not in earnest. + +"It was very bad, colonel," he said, "and I can only throw myself on +your mercy." + +"You have done well, my lad--very well," the colonel said, laying his +hand on his shoulder. "There are some occasions when even military laws +give place to questions of humanity, and this was essentially one of +them. You are a fine fellow, sir; and I am proud that you belong to my +corps." + +The General, who had stopped behind speaking to another patient, now +came up. + +"You have done a very gallant action, Sergeant Blunt," he said. "Captain +Twentyman has reported the circumstances to me; but when you are out of +hospital you must come to head-quarters and tell me your own story. Will +you see to this, Colonel Somerset?" + +"Certainly, sir. I will send him over, or rather bring him over to you, +as soon as he's about, for I should like to hear the whole story also." + +In ten days Ronald Mervyn was on his feet again, although not yet fit +for duty; the wound had healed rapidly, but the surgeon said it would be +at least another fortnight before he would be fit for active service. As +soon as he was able to go out and sit on the benches in the hospital +yard, many of his comrades came to see him, and there was a warmth and +earnestness in their congratulations which showed that short as his time +had been in the corps, he was thoroughly popular with them. Sergeant +Menzies was particularly hearty in his greeting. + +"I knew you were the right sort, Harry Blunt, as soon as I set eyes upon +you," he said; "but I did not expect you were going to cut us all out so +soon." + +"How is my horse, sergeant?" + +"Oh, he's none the worse for it, I think. He has been taking walking +exercise, and his stiffness is wearing off fast. I think he misses you +very much, and he wouldn't take his food the first day or two. He has +got over it now, but I know he longs to hear your voice again." + +Sometimes, too, Mary Armstrong would come out and sit for a time with +Ronald. Her father was progressing favourably, and though still +extremely weak, was in a fair way towards recovery. + +"Will you come in to see father?" Mary said one morning; "he knows all +about it now; but it was only when he came round just now that the +doctor gave leave for him to see you." + +"I shall be very glad to see him," Ronald said, rising. "I own that when +I saw him last I entertained very slight hopes I should ever meet him +alive again." + +"He is still very weak," the girl said, "and the doctor says he is not +to be allowed to talk much." + +"I will only pay a short visit, but it will be a great pleasure to me to +see him; I have always felt his kindness to me." + +"Father is kind to every one," the girl said, simply. "In this instance +his kindness has been returned a hundred-fold." + +By this time they had reached the door of the ward. + +"Here is Mr. Blunt come to see you, father. Now you know what the doctor +said; you are not to excite yourself, and not to talk too much, and if +you are not good, I shall take him away." + +"I am glad to see you are better, Mr. Armstrong," Ronald said, as he +went up to the bed, and took the thin hand in his own. + +"God bless you, my boy," the wounded man replied; "it is to you I owe my +recovery, for had you not brought Mary back to me, I should be a dead +man now, and would have been glad of it." + +"I am very glad, Mr. Armstrong, to have been able to be of service to +your daughter and to you; but do not let us talk about it now; I am sure +that you cannot do so without agitating yourself, and the great point at +present with us all is for you to be up and about again. Do your wounds +hurt you much?" + +"Not much; and yours, Blunt?" + +"Oh, mine is a mere nothing," Ronald said, cheerfully, "it's healing up +fast, and except when I forget all about it, and move sharply, I +scarcely feel it. I feel something like the proverbial man who swallowed +the poker, and have to keep myself as stiff as if I were on inspection. +This ward is nice and cool, much cooler than they are upstairs. Of +course the verandah outside shades you. You will find it very pleasant +there when you are strong enough to get up. I am afraid that by that +time I shall be off, for the troops are all on their march up from the +coast, and in another ten days we expect to begin operations in +earnest." + +"I don't think the doctor ought to let you go," Mary Armstrong said. +"You have done quite your share, I am sure." + +"I hope my share in finishing up with these scoundrels will be a good +deal larger yet," Ronald laughed. "My share has principally been +creeping and hiding, except just in that last brush, and there, if I +mistake not, your share was as large as mine. I only fired three shots, +and I think I heard your pistol go four times." + +"Yes, it is dreadful to think of now," the girl said; "but somehow it +didn't seem so at the time. I feel shocked now when I recall it." + +"There's nothing to be shocked at, Miss Armstrong; it was our lives or +theirs; and if your hand had not been steady, and your aim true, we +should neither of us be here talking over the matter now. But I think my +visit has been long enough. I will come in again, Mr. Armstrong, +to-morrow, and I hope each day to find you more and more able to take +your share in the talk." + +In another ten days Ronald rejoined his troop, and the next day received +an order to be ready at four o'clock to accompany Colonel Somerset to +the General's. + +"Now, sergeant, take a seat," the General said, "and tell me the full +story of your adventures." + +Ronald again repeated his story. When he had done, the General remarked: + +"Your report more than bears out what I heard from Captain Twentyman. I +have already talked the matter over with Colonel Somerset, and as we +consider that such an action should be signally rewarded, Colonel +Somerset will at once apply for a commission for you in your own corps, +or if you would prefer it, I will apply for a commission for you in one +of the line regiments. I may say that the application under such +circumstances would certainly be acceded to." + +"I am deeply obliged to you for your kindness, sir, and to you, Colonel +Somerset; but I regret to say that, with all respect, I must decline +both offers." + +"Decline a commission!" the General said in surprise. "Why, I should +have thought that it was just the thing that you would have liked--a +dashing young fellow like you, and on the eve of serious operations. I +can hardly understand you." + +Ronald was silent for a moment. + +"My reason for declining it, sir, is a purely personal one. Nothing +would have given me greater pleasure than a commission so bestowed, but +there are circumstances that absolutely prevent my mingling in the +society of gentlemen. The name I go by is not my true one, and over my +own name there is so terrible a shadow resting that so long as it is +there--and I have little hope of its ever being cleared off--I must +remain as I am." + +Both officers remained silent a moment. + +"You are sure you are not exaggerating the case, Blunt?" Colonel +Somerset said after a pause. "I cannot believe that this cloud of which +you speak can have arisen from any act of yours, and it would be a pity +indeed were you to allow any family matter to weigh upon you thus." + +Ronald shook his head. "It is a matter in which I am personally +concerned, sir, and I do not in any way exaggerate it. I repeat, I must +remain in my present position." + +"If it must be so, it must," the General said, "though I am heartily +sorry. At least you will have the satisfaction of seeing your name in +General Orders this evening for an act of distinguished bravery." + +"Thank you, sir," and Ronald, seeing the conversation was at an end, +saluted to the two officers, went out, and rode back to his quarters. + +The town was full of troops now, for the regiments that had been +despatched from England had nearly all arrived upon the spot, and the +operations against the Kaffirs in the Amatolas were to begin at once. +Some of the troops, including two squadrons of the Rifles, were to march +next morning. + +Ronald went about his duties till evening, and then turned out to walk +to the hospital. As he passed through the streets, he saw a group round +one of the Rifles, who had just come out from a drinking shop, and was +engaged in a fierce altercation with a Fingo. The man was evidently the +worse for liquor, and Ronald went up to him and put his hand on his +shoulder. + +"You had better go off to the barracks at once," he said, sharply; "you +will be getting into trouble if you stay here." + +The man turned savagely round. + +"Oh, it's you, Sergeant Blunt? Hadn't you better attend to your own +business? I am not committing any crime here. I haven't been murdering +women, or anything of that sort." + +Ronald started back as if struck. The significance of the tone in which +the man spoke showed him that these were no random words, but a shaft +deliberately aimed. In a moment he was cool again. + +"If you do not return to the barracks at once," he said, sternly, "I +will fetch a corporal's guard and put you in the cells." + +The man hesitated a moment, and then muttering to himself, reeled off +towards the barracks. Had the blow come a month before, Ronald Mervyn +would have felt it more, for absorbed in his active work, on horseback +the greater portion of his time, the remembrance of the past had become +blunted, and the present had occupied all his thoughts. It was only +occasionally that he had looked back to the days when he was Captain +Mervyn, of the Borderers. But from the hour he had brought Mary +Armstrong safely back to her father, the past had been constantly in his +mind because it clashed with the present. + +Before, Ronald Mervyn and Harry Blunt had almost seemed to be two +existences, unconnected with each other; now, the fact of their +identity had been constantly in his thoughts. The question he had been +asking himself over and over again was whether there could be a +permanent separation between them, whether he could hope to get rid of +his connection with Ronald Mervyn, and to continue to the end of the +chapter as Harry Blunt. He had told himself long before that he could +not do so, that sooner or later he should certainly be recognised; and +although he had tried to believe that he could pass through life without +meeting any one familiar with his face, he had been obliged to admit +that this was next to impossible. + +Had he been merely a country gentleman, known only to the people within +a limited range of distance, it would have been different; but an +officer who has served ten years in the army has innumerable +acquaintances. Every move he makes brings him in contact with men of +other regiments, and his circle goes on constantly widening until it +embraces no small portion of the officers of the army. Then every +soldier who had passed through his regiment while he had been in it +would know his face; and, go where he would, he knew that he would be +running constant risks of detection. More than one of the regiments that +had now arrived at King Williamstown had been quartered with him at one +station or another, and there were a score of men who would recognise +him instantly did he come among them in the dress of an officer. This +unexpected recognition, therefore, by a trooper in his own corps, did +not come upon him with so sudden a shock as it would have done a month +previously. + +"I knew it must come," he said to himself bitterly "and that it might +come at any moment. Still it is a shock. Who is this man, I wonder? It +seemed to me, when he first came up, that I had some faint remembrance +of his face, though where, I have not the least idea. It was not in the +regiment, for he knows nothing of drill or military habits. Of course, +if he had been a deserter, he would have pretended ignorance, but one +can always tell by little things whether a man has served, and I am sure +that this fellow has not. I suppose he comes from somewhere down home. + +"Well, it can't be helped. Fortunately, I have won a good name before +this discovery is made, and am likely to reap the benefit of what doubt +there may be. When a man shows that he has a fair amount of pluck, his +comrades are slow to credit him with bad qualities. On the whole, +perhaps it is well that it should have come on this evening of all when +I had quite made up my mind as to my course, for it strengthens me in my +decision as to what I ought to do. It is hard to throw away happiness, +but this shows how rightly I decided. Nothing will shake me now. Poor +little girl! it is hard for her, harder by far than for me. However, it +is best that she should know it now, than learn it when too late." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A PARTING. + + +The sun had already set an hour when Ronald Mervyn reached the hospital, +but the moon had just risen, and the stars were shining brilliantly. + +Mary Armstrong met him at the door. + +"I saw you coming," she said, "and father advised me to come out for a +little turn, it is such a beautiful evening." + +"I am glad you have come out, Mary; I wanted to speak to you." + +Mary Armstrong's colour heightened a little. It was the first time he +had called her by her Christian name since that ride through the +Kaffirs. She thought she knew what he wanted to speak to her about, and +she well knew what she should say. + +"Mary," Ronald went on, "you know the story of the poor wretch who was +devoured by thirst, and yet could not reach the cup of water that was +just beyond his grasp?" + +"I know," Mary said. + +"Well, I am just in that position. I am so placed by an inscrutable +Fate, that I cannot stretch out my hand to grasp the cup of water." + +The girl was silent for a time. + +"I will not pretend that I do not understand you, Ronald. Why cannot you +grasp the cup of water?" + +"Because, as I said, dear, there is a fate against me; because I can +never marry; because I must go through the world alone. I told you that +the name I bear is not my own. I have been obliged to change it, because +my own name is disgraced; because, were I to name it, there is not a man +here of those who just at present are praising and making much of me, +who would not shrink from my side." + +"No, Ronald, no; it cannot be." + +"It is true, dear; my name has been associated with the foulest of +crimes. I have been tried for murdering a woman, and that woman a near +relative. I was acquitted, it is true: but simply because the evidence +did not amount to what the law required. But in the sight of the world I +went out guilty." + +"Oh, how could they think so?" Mary said, bursting into tears; "how +could they have thought, Ronald, those who knew you, that you could do +this?" + +"Many did believe it," Ronald said, "and the evidence was so strong that +I almost believed it myself. However, thus it is. I am a marked man and +an outcast, and must remain alone for all my life, unless God in His +mercy should clear this thing up." + +"Not alone, Ronald, not alone," the girl cried "there, you make me say +it." + +"You mean you would stand by my side, Mary? Thank you, my love, but I +could not accept the sacrifice. I can bear my own lot, but I could not +see the woman I loved pointed at as the wife of a murderer." + +"But no one would know," Mary began. + +"They would know, dear. I refused a commission the General offered me +to-day, because were I to appear as an officer there are a score of men +in this expedition who would know me at once; but even under my present +name and my present dress I cannot escape. Only this evening, as I came +here, I was taunted by a drunken soldier, who must have known me, as a +murderer of women. Good Heavens! do you think I would let any woman +share that? Did I go to some out-of-the-way part of the world, I might +escape for years; but at last the blow would come. Had it not been for +the time we passed together when death might at any moment have come to +us both, had it not been that I held you in my arms during that ride, I +should never have told you this, Mary, for you would have gone away to +England and lived your life unhurt; but after that I could not but +speak. You must have felt that I loved you, and had I not spoken, what +would you have thought of me?" + +"I should have thought, Ronald," she said, quietly, "that you had a +foolish idea that because my father had money, while you were but a +trooper, you ought not to speak; and I think that I should have summoned +up courage to speak first, for I knew you loved me, just as certainly as +I know that I shall love you always." + +"I hope not, Mary," Ronald said, gravely; "it would add to the pain of +my life to know that I had spoilt yours." + +"It will not spoil mine, Ronald; it is good to know that one is loved by +a true man, and that one loves him, even if we can never come together. +I would rather be single for your sake, dear, than marry any other man +in the world. Won't you tell me about it all? I should like to know." + +"You have a right to know, Mary, if you wish it;" and drawing her to a +seat, Ronald told her the story of the Curse of the Carnes, of the wild +blood that flowed in his veins, of his half-engagement to his cousin, +and of the circumstances of her death. Only once she stopped him. + +"Did you love her very much, Ronald?" + +"No, dear; I can say so honestly now. No doubt I thought I loved her, +though I had been involuntarily putting off becoming formally engaged to +her; but I know now, indeed I knew long ago, that my passion when she +threw me off was rather an outburst of disappointment, and perhaps of +jealousy, that another should have stepped in when I thought myself so +sure, than of real regret. I had cared for Margaret in a way, but now +that I know what real love is, I know it was but as a cousin that I +loved her." + +Then he went on to tell her the proofs against himself; how that the +words he had spoken had come up against him; how he had failed +altogether to account for his doings at the hour at which she was +murdered; how his glove had borne evidence against him. + +"Is that all, Ronald?" + +"Not quite all, dear. I saw in an English paper only a few days ago that +the matter had come up again. Margaret's watch and jewels were found in +the garden, just hidden in the ground, evidently not by a thief who +intended to come again and fetch them, but simply concealed by some one +who had taken them and did not want them. If those things had been +found before my trial, Mary, I should assuredly have been hung, for they +disposed of the only alternative that seemed possible, namely, that she +had been murdered by a midnight burglar for the sake of her valuables." + +Mary sat in silence for a few minutes, and then asked one or two +questions with reference to the story. + +"And you have no idea yourself, Ronald, not even the slightest +suspicion, against any one?" + +"Not the slightest," he said; "the whole thing is to me as profound a +mystery as ever." + +"Of course, from what you tell me, Ronald, the evidence against you was +stronger than against any one else, and yet I cannot think how any one +who knew you could have believed it." + +"I hope that those who knew me best did not believe it, Mary. A few of +my neighbours and many of my brother officers had faith in my innocence; +but, you see, those in the county who knew the story of our family were +naturally set against me. I had the mad blood of the Carnes in my veins; +the Carnes had committed two murders in their frenzy, and it did not +seem to them so strange that I should do the same. I may tell you, dear, +that this trial through which I have passed has not been altogether +without good. The family history had weighed on my mind from the time I +was a child, and at times I used to wonder whether I had madness in my +blood, and the fear grew upon me and embittered my life. Since that +trial it has gone for ever. I know that if I had had the slightest touch +of insanity in my veins I must have gone mad in that awful time; and +much as I have suffered from the cloud that rested on me, I am sure I +have been a far brighter and happier man since." + +A pressure of the hand which he was holding in his expressed the +sympathy that she did not speak. + +"What time do you march to-morrow, Ronald?" + +"At eight, dear." + +"Could you come round first?" + +"I could, Mary; but I would rather say good-bye now." + +"You must say good-bye now, Ronald, and again in the morning. Why I ask +you is because I want to tell my father. You don't mind that, do you? He +must know there is something, because he spoke to-day as if he would +wish it to be as I hoped, and I should like him to know how it is with +us. You do not mind, do you?" + +"Not at all," Ronald said. "I would rather that he did know." + +"Then I will tell him now," the girl said. "I should like to talk it +over with him," and she rose. Ronald rose too. + +"Good-bye, Mary." + +"Not like that, Ronald," and she threw her arms round his neck. +"Good-bye, my dear, my dear. I will always be true to you to the end of +my life. And hope always. I cannot believe that you would have saved me +almost by a miracle, if it had not been meant we should one day be happy +together. God bless you and keep you." + +There was a long kiss, and then Mary Armstrong turned and ran back to +the hospital. + +Father and daughter talked together for hours after Mary's return. The +disappointment to Mr. Armstrong was almost as keen as to Mary herself. +He had from the first been greatly taken by Harry Blunt, and had +encouraged his coming to the house. That he was a gentleman he was sure, +and he thought he knew enough of character to be convinced that whatever +scrape had driven him to enlist as a trooper, it was not a disgraceful +one. + +"If Mary fancies this young fellow, she shall have him," he had said to +himself. "I have money enough for us both, and what good is it to me +except to see her settled happily in life?" + +After the attack upon his house, when he was rescued by the party led by +Ronald, he thought still more of the matter, for some subtle change in +his daughter's manner convinced him that her heart had been touched. He +had fretted over the fact that after this Ronald's duty had kept him +from seeing them, and when at last he started on his journey down to the +coast he made up his mind, that if when they reached England he could +ascertain for certain Mary's wishes on the subject, he would himself +write a cautious letter to him, putting it that after the service he had +rendered in saving his life and that of his daughter, he did not like +the thought of his remaining as a trooper at the Cape, and that if he +liked to come home he would start him in any sort of business he liked, +adding, perhaps, that he had special reasons for wishing him to return. + +After Ronald's rescue of his daughter, Mr. Armstrong regarded it as a +certainty that his wish would be realised. He was a little surprised +that the young sergeant had not spoken out, and it was with a view to +give him an opportunity that he had suggested that Mary should go out +for a stroll on the last evening. He had felt assured that they would +come in hand in hand, and had anticipated with lively pleasure the +prospect of paying his debt of gratitude to the young man. It was with +surprise, disappointment, and regret that he listened to Mary's story. + +"It is a monstrous thing," he said, when she had finished. "Most +monstrous; but don't cry, my dear, it will all come right presently. +These things always work round in time." + +"But how is it to come right, father? He says that he himself has not +the slightest suspicion who did it." + +"Whether he has or not makes no difference," Mr. Armstrong said, +decidedly. "It is quite certain, by what you say, this poor lady did not +kill herself. In that case, who did it? We must make it our business to +find out who it was. You don't suppose I am going to have your life +spoiled in such a fashion as this. Talk about remaining single all your +life, I won't have it; the thing must be set straight." + +"It's very easy to say 'must,' father," Mary said, almost smiling at his +earnestness, "but how is it to be set straight?" + +"Why, by our finding out all about it, of course, Mary. Directly I get +well enough to move--and the doctor said this morning that in a +fortnight I can be taken down to the coast--we will follow out our +original plan of going back to England. Then we will go down to this +place you speak of--Carnesworth, or whatever it is, and take a place +there or near there; there are always places to be had. It makes no +difference to us where we go, for I don't suppose I shall find many +people alive I knew in England. We will take some little place, and get +to know the people and talk to them. Don't tell me about not finding +out; of course we shall be able to find out if it has been done by any +one down there; and as you say that the burglar or tramp theory is quite +disproved by the finding of these trinkets, it must be somebody in the +neighbourhood. I know what these dunderheaded police are. Not one in ten +of them can put two and two together. The fellows at once jumped to the +conclusion that Mervyn was guilty, and never inquired further." + +"He says he had a detective down, father, for some weeks before the +trial, and that one has been remaining there until quite lately." + +"I don't think much of detectives," Mr. Armstrong said; "but of course, +Mary, if you throw cold water on the scheme and don't fancy it, there's +an end of it." + +"No, no, father, you know I don't mean that, only I was frightened +because you seemed to think it so certain we should succeed. There is +nothing I should like better; it will matter nothing to me if we are +years about it so that we can but clear him at last." + +"I have no notion of spending years, my dear. Before now I have proved +myself a pretty good hand at tracking the spoor of Kaffirs, and it's +hard if I can't pick up this trail somehow." + +"We will do it between us, father," Mary said, catching his confidence +and enthusiasm, and kissing him as he sat propped up with pillows. "Oh, +you have made me so happy. Everything seemed so dark and hopeless +before, and now we shall be working for him." + +"And for yourself too, Miss Mary; don't pretend you have no personal +interest in the matter." + +And so, just as the clock struck twelve, Mary Armstrong lay down on her +bed in the little ante-room next to her father's, feeling infinitely +happier and more hopeful than she could have thought possible when she +parted from Ronald Mervyn three hours before. Ronald himself was +surprised at the brightness with which she met him, when at six o'clock +he alighted from his horse at the hospital. "Come in, Ronald," she said, +"we were talking--father and I--for hours last night, and we have quite +decided what we are going to do." + +"So you have come to say good-bye, Mervyn--for, of course, you are +Mervyn to us," Mr. Armstrong said, as he entered the room, "Well, my +lad, it's a bad business that my little girl was telling me about last +night, and has knocked over my castles very effectually, for I own to +you that I have been building. I knew you were fond of my girl; you +never would have done for her what you did unless you had been, and I +was quite sure that she was fond of you; how could she help it? And I +had been fancying as soon as this war was over--for, of course, you +could not leave now--you would be coming home, and I should be having +you both with me in some snug little place there. However, lad, that's +over for the present; but not for always, I hope. All this has not +changed my opinion of the affair. The fact that you have suffered +horribly and unjustly is nothing against you personally; and, indeed, +you will make Mary a better husband for having gone through such a trial +than you would have done had not this come upon you." + +"I am sure I should," Ronald said, quietly; "I think I could make her +happy, but I fear I shall never have a chance. She has told you what I +said last night. I have been awake all the night thinking it over, and I +am sure I have decided rightly. My disgrace is hard enough to bear +alone; I will never share it with her." + +"I think you are right, Mervyn--at least for the present. If, say in +five years hence, you are both of the same mind towards each other, as I +do not doubt you will be," he added, in reply to the look of perfect +confidence that passed between his daughter and Ronald, "we will talk +the matter over again. Five years is a long time, and old stories fade +out of people's remembrance. In five years, then, one may discuss it +again; but I don't mean Mary to wait five years if I can help it, and +she has no inclination to wait five years either, have you, child?" Mary +shook her head. "So I will tell you what we have resolved upon, for we +have made up our minds about it. In the first place somebody murdered +this cousin of yours; that's quite clear, isn't it?" + +"That is quite clear," Ronald replied. "It is absolutely certain that it +was not a suicide." + +"In the next place, from what she says, it is quite clear also that this +was not done by an ordinary burglar. The circumstances of her death, and +the discovery that her watch and jewels were hastily thrust into the +ground and left there to spoil, pretty well shows that." + +"I think so," Ronald said. "I am convinced that whoever did it, the +murder was a deliberate one, and not the work of thieves." + +"Then it is evident that it was the work of some one in the +neighbourhood, of some one who either had a personal hatred of your +cousin, or who wished to injure you." + +"To injure me," Ronald repeated in surprise. "I never thought of it in +that way. Why to injure me?" + +"I say to injure you, because it seems to me that there was a deliberate +attempt to fix the guilt upon you. Some one must have put your glove +where it was found, for it appears, from what you told Mary, that you +certainly could not have dropped it there." + +"It might seem so," Ronald said, thoughtfully, "and yet I cannot believe +it; in fact, I had, so far as I know, no quarrel with any one in the +neighbourhood. I had been away on service for years, and so had nothing +to do with the working of the estate, indeed I never had an angry word +with any man upon it." + +"Never discharged any grooms, or any one of that sort?" + +"Well, I did discharge the groom after I got back," Ronald replied, "and +the coachman too, for I found, upon looking into the accounts, that they +had been swindling my mother right and left; but that can surely have +nothing to do with it. The glove alone would have been nothing, had it +not been for my previous quarrel with my cousin--which no one outside +the house can have known of--and that unfortunate ride of mine." + +"Well, that may or may not be," Mr. Armstrong said; "anyhow, we have it +that the murder must have been committed by some one in the +neighbourhood, who had a grudge against your cousin or against +yourself. Now, the detective you have had down there, my daughter tells +me, has altogether failed in finding the clue; but, after all, that +shows that he is a fool rather than that there is no clue to be found. +Now, what Mary and I have settled upon is this: directly we get back we +shall take a pretty little cottage, if we can get one, down at the +village." + +"What, at Carnesford?" + +"Yes, Carnesford. We shall be two simple colonists, who have made enough +money to live upon, and have fixed upon the place accidentally. Then we +shall both set to work to get to the bottom of this affair. We know it +is to be done if we can but get hold of the right way, and Mary and I +flatter ourselves that between us we shall do it. Now that's our plan. +It's no use your saying yes or no, because that's what we have fixed +upon." + +"It's very good of you, sir----" Mervyn began. + +"It's not good at all," Mr. Armstrong interrupted. "Mary wants to get +married, and I want her to get married, and so we have nothing to do but +to set about the right way of bringing it about. And now, my boy, I know +we must not keep you. God bless you, and bring you safely through this +war, and I tell you it will be a more troublesome one than your people +think. You will write often, and Mary will let you know regularly how we +are getting on." + +He held out his hand to Mervyn, who grasped it silently, held Mary to +him in a close embrace for a minute, and then galloped away to take his +place in the ranks of his corps. + +The troop to which Ronald belonged was not, he found, intended to start +at once to the front, but was to serve as an escort to Colonel Somerset, +who had now been appointed as Brigadier-General in command of a column +that was to start from Grahamstown. At eight o'clock they started, and +arrived late in the afternoon at that place, where they found the 74th +Highlanders, who had just marched up from Port Elizabeth. They had +prepared for active service by laying aside their bonnets and plaids, +adopting a short dark canvas blouse and fixing broad leather peaks to +their forage caps. On the following morning the 74th, a troop of +Colonial Horse, the Cape Rifles, and some native levies, marched to +attack the Hottentots on the station of the London Missionary Society. +Joined by a body of Kaffirs, these pampered converts had in cold blood +murdered the Fingoes at the station, and were now holding it in force. + +After a march of twenty miles across the plain, the troops reached the +edge of the Kat River, where the main body halted for a couple of hours, +the advance guard having in the course of the day had a skirmish with +the natives and captured several waggons. One officer of the native +levies had been killed, and two others wounded. A further march of five +miles was made before morning, and then the troops halted in order to +advance under cover of night against the position of the enemy, twelve +miles distant. At half-past one in the morning the Infantry advanced, +the Cavalry following two hours later. The road was a most difficult +one, full of deep holes and innumerable ant-hills; and after passing +through a narrow defile, thickly strewn with loose stones and large +rocks, over which in the darkness men stumbled and fell continually, the +Cavalry overtook the Infantry at the ford of the Kareiga River, and went +on ahead. In the darkness several companies of the Infantry lost their +way, and daylight was breaking before the force was collected and in +readiness for the assault. + +The huts occupied by the enemy stood on one side of a grassy plain, +three-quarters of a mile in diameter, and surrounded by a deep belt of +forest. The Fingo levies were sent round through the bush to the rear of +the huts, and the Cavalry and Infantry then advanced to the attack. The +enemy skirmished on the plain, but the Cavalry dashed down upon them and +drove them into a wooded ravine, from which they kept up a fire for some +time, until silenced by two or three volleys from the Infantry. The main +body of the rebels was drawn up in front of their huts, and as soon as +the troops approached, and the Cavalry charged them, they took to +flight. A volley from the Fingoes in the bush killed several of them; +the rest, however, succeeded in gaining the forest. The village was then +burnt, and 650 cattle and some horses and goats, all stolen from +neighbouring settlers, were recovered. + +The column then marched back to their bivouac of the night before, and +the following day returned to Grahamstown. There was no halt here, for +the next morning they marched to join the column from King Williamstown. +The road led through the Ecca Pass, where constant attacks had been made +by natives upon waggons and convoys going down the road; but without +opposition they crossed the Koonap River, and at the end of two days' +march encamped on a ridge where the Amatola range could be seen, and +finally joined the column composed of the 91st Regiment and the rest of +the Cape Mounted Rifles, encamped near Fort Hare. + +Two days later, the whole force, amounting to 2,000 men, advanced to the +base of the Amatolas and encamped on the plains at a short distance from +the hills. The attack was made in two columns; the 74th, a portion of +the native levies, and of the Mounted Rifles, were to attack a +formidable position in front, while the 91st were to march round, and, +driving the enemy before them, to effect a junction at the end of the +day with the others. The Cavalry could take no part in the attack of the +strong position held by the Kaffirs, which was a line of perpendicular +cliffs, the only approach to which was up the smooth grassy incline that +touched the summit of the cliff at one point only. The 74th moved +directly to the attack, the native levies skirmishing on both flanks. +The enemy, who could be seen in large numbers on the height, waited +until the Highlanders were well within range before they opened fire. + +The Cavalry below watched the progress of the troops with anxiety. They +replied with steady volleys to the incessant firing of the enemy, +advancing steadily up the slope, but occasionally leaving a wounded man +behind them. Two companies went ahead in skirmishing order, and climbing +from rock to rock, exchanged shots with the enemy as they went. They +succeeded in winning a foothold at the top of the cliff and drove off +the defenders, who took refuge in a thick forest a few hundred yards in +the rear. + +As soon as the rest of the regiment had got up, they advanced against +the wood, from which the enemy kept up a constant fire, and pouring in +steady volleys, entered the forest and drove the enemy before them foot +by foot, until the Kaffirs retreated into a thick bush absolutely +impenetrable to the soldiers. On emerging from the forest the troops +were joined by the other column, which had driven the enemy from their +position on the Victoria heights, and had burned two of their villages. +While the fighting was going on between the first division and the +enemy, the second division had been engaged in another portion of the +hills, and had penetrated some distance. Skirmishing went on during the +rest of the day, but at nightfall the troops returned to the camp that +they had left in the morning. The Kaffirs had suffered considerable loss +during the day, two of their leading chiefs being amongst the slain, and +Sandilli himself narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. + +The Cape Mounted Rifles attached to the 74th had taken no part in the +affair, for the ground had been altogether impracticable for cavalry. + +The troops, when they returned, were utterly exhausted with the +fatigues that they had undergone, but were well satisfied with the +events of the day. + +"It is well enough for a beginning," Ronald said to Sergeant Menzies; +"but what is it? These hills extend twenty or thirty miles either way, +at the very least--twice as far, for anything I know. They contain +scores of kraals--I don't suppose I am far out when I say hundreds. We +have burnt three or four, have marched a mile or two into the woods, +have killed, perhaps, a hundred Kaffirs at the outside, and have lost in +killed and wounded about fifty of our own men. I suppose, altogether, +there are fifteen or twenty thousand Kaffirs there. They have no end of +places where our fellows can't possibly penetrate. There's no holding a +position when we have taken it. The columns may toil on through the +woods, skirmishing all the way, but they only hold the ground they stand +on. Why, sergeant, it will take a dozen expeditions, each made with a +force three or four times larger than we have now, before we can produce +much effect on the Amatolas." + +"I am afraid it will, Blunt," the sergeant said, "before we break down +the rebellion. There is one thing--they say that the Kaffirs have got +twenty or thirty thousand cattle among the hills. If we can drive them +off, we shall do more good than by killing Kaffirs. The chiefs care but +little how much their followers are shot down, but they do care mightily +for the loss of their wealth. Cattle are the one valuable possession of +the Kaffirs. Shooting men has very little effect on those who are not +shot; as for driving them out of one part of the country, it makes no +difference to them one way or another; they can put up their kraals +anywhere. The one point on which you can hit them is their cattle. A +chief's consequence depends on the number of bullocks he owns. A young +Kaffir cannot marry unless he has cattle to buy a wife with. Putting +aside their arms and their trumpery necklaces and bracelets, cattle are +the sole valuables of the Kaffirs. You will see, if we can capture their +cattle, we shall put an end to the war; but no amount of marching and +fighting will make any great impression upon them." + +The prognostications of the two soldiers proved correct; it was only +after six invasions of the Amatolas by very much larger forces, after +hard fighting, in which the troops did not always have the best of it, +after very heavy losses, and after capturing some 14,000 cattle, that +the conquest of the Amatolas was finally achieved. + +So far, Ronald had heard nothing more as to the discovery of his +identity by one of the men of his troop. He thought that the man could +not have mentioned it to any one else, for he felt sure that had it +become generally known he must have heard of it. He would have noticed +some change in the manner of the men, and it would certainly have come +to the ears of Menzies or one of the other non-commissioned officers, +who would, of course, come to him to inquire whether there was any truth +in the report; besides, the man must have known him from the time he +joined the troop, and could have mentioned it before if he had wanted to +do so. Ronald supposed, then, that he had kept silence either because he +thought that by originating the report to the disadvantage of a popular +man in the corps he might, though it proved to be true, be regarded with +general hostility, or, that the man might intend to keep his secret, +thinking that some day or other he might make it useful to him. No doubt +he never would have said what he did had he not been excited by liquor. + +Ronald hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry that the secret was still +kept. It would, he felt sure, come out sooner or later, and in some +respects he would rather have an end of the suspense, and face it at +once. His position was a strong one, his officers were all markedly kind +to him, and his expedition into the Amatolas had rendered him the most +popular man in the corps among his comrades. The fact, too, as told by +Colonel Somerset to his officers, and as picked up by the men from their +talk, that he had refused a commission, added to his popularity; the men +were glad to think that their comrade preferred being one of them to +becoming an officer, and that the brave deed they were all proud of had +not been done to win promotion, but simply to save women in distress. + +There had been sly laughter among the men when their comrades told them +how pretty was the girl Ronald had brought back; and there had been keen +wagering in the regiment that there would be a wedding before they +marched, or at any rate that they should hear there would be one on +their return from the war. The one contingency had not occurred. The +other it seemed was not to take place, for in answer to a question as to +how the wounded colonist was going on, Ronald had said carelessly that +he was mending fast, and would be well enough to be taken down to the +coast in a fortnight, and that the doctor thought by the time he reached +England he would be completely set up again. So the bets were paid, but +the men wondered that their sergeant had not made a better use of his +opportunities, for all agreed that a girl could hardly refuse a man who +had done so much for her, even if her father were a wealthy colonist, +and he only a trooper in the Mounted Rifles. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +SEARCHING FOR A CLUE. + + +The landlord of the "Carne's Arms" was somewhat puzzled by a stranger +who had just been dropped at his door by the coach from Plymouth. He did +not look like either a fisherman or an artist, or even a wandering +tourist. His clothes were somewhat rough, and the landlord would have +taken him for a farmer, but what could any strange farmer be stopping at +Carnesford for? There were no farms vacant in the neighbourhood, nor any +likely to be, so far as the landlord knew; besides, the few words his +guest had spoken as he entered had no touch of the Devonshire dialect. +While he was standing at the door, turning the matter over in his +mind--for he rather prided himself upon his ability to decide upon the +calling and object of his guests, and was annoyed by his failure to do +so in the present instance--the man he was thinking of came out of the +coffee-room and placed himself beside him. + +"Well, landlord, this is a pretty village of yours; they told me in +Plymouth it was as pretty a place as any about, and I see they were +right." + +"Yes, most folks think it's pretty," the landlord said, "although I am +so accustomed to it myself I don't see a great deal in it." + +"Yes, custom is everything. I have been accustomed for a great many +years to see nothing much but plains, with clumps of bush here and +there, and occasionally a herd of deer walking across it. I have been +farming down at the Cape, and so, you see, a quiet, pretty place like +this is very pleasant to me." + +"I should think it is quiet enough farming there," the landlord said. "I +have heard from folk who have been out in some of those parts that you +often haven't a neighbour nearer than four miles away." + +"That's true enough, landlord, but the life is not always quiet for all +that. It's not quiet, for instance, when you hear the yell of a hundred +or so savages outside your windows, or see a party driving half your +cattle away into the bush." + +"No, I shouldn't call that quiet; and that is what you have been doing?" + +"Yes, I was in the disturbed part when the Kaffirs rose. Most of our +neighbours were killed, and we had a hard time of it, but some mounted +police came up just in time. I have had trouble three or four times +before, and it's no use going on for years rearing cattle if they are to +be all swept away by the natives, and you are running the risk of +getting your throat cut in the bargain; so, after this last affair, I +locked up my farmhouse, drove off what cattle I had got left, and sold +them for what I could get for them, and here I am." + +"Yes, here you are," repeated the landlord; "and what next?" + +"The ship touched at Plymouth, and I thought I might as well get out +there as anywhere else. Well, there is too much noise and bustle at +Plymouth. I haven't been used to it, and so now I am just looking for a +little place to suit me. I have been up to Tavistock, and then some one +said that Carnesford was a pretty village. I said I would look at +Carnesford, and so you see here I am." + +"What sort of a place are you looking for?" the landlord asked, looking +at his visitor closely, and mentally appraising his worth. + +"Oh, quite a little place, I should say about twenty pounds a year. I +suppose one could get a girl to help from the village, and could live +for another eighty. That's about what I could afford." + +"Oh, yes, I should say you could do that," said the landlord, +thoughtfully, "but I don't know that there is any such place to let +anywhere about here. There is a nice cottage at the other end of the +village just empty. It's got a good garden, and is rather away from the +rest of the houses; but the rent is only half-a-crown a week. That +wouldn't do for you." + +"Well, I wanted something better than that; but still I might have a +look at it. Of course if I took it I should want to stay, and I might as +well spend a little money in doing it up to my fancy as in paying +higher rent. By the way, my name is Armstrong. Perhaps you wouldn't mind +putting on your hat and showing me this place you speak of. We have been +used to roughing it, and don't want anything fine." + +The cottage was certainly large and roomy, and stood in a pretty garden. +But its appearance was not prepossessing, for it differed from most of +the other little houses in the village inasmuch as it was not, like +them, half hidden by roses and creepers climbing over it. + +"Yes, it's rough, decidedly rough," Mr. Armstrong said, "still there is +a pretty view down the valley. Now I should save nearly fourteen pounds +in rent by taking this instead of a twenty pound a year house; and if +one were to put up a verandah round it, touch up the windows somehow, +and put pretty paper on the walls, I should say that at the end of two +years it would stand me in just the same. That and plenty of roses and +things would make it a pretty little place. Who is the landlord?" + +"The landlord is Mr. Carne, up at The Hold; that's the big house on the +hill. But he is away at present. Mr. Kirkland, a lawyer at Plymouth, is +his agent, and sees to the letting of his houses and that sort of thing. +His clerk comes over once a month to collect the rents. I expect you +would have to go to him even if Mr. Carne was at home. Squire was never +much down in the village in the best of times, and we have hardly seen +his face since his sister's death." + +"Yes, they were telling us about that affair at Plymouth," the colonist +said, quietly. "It was a bad business. Well, have you got some pretty +sociable sort of fellows in the village? I like a chat as well as any +man, and I should want some one to talk to." + +"Well, I don't know that they would be your sort," the landlord said, +doubtfully. "There's the clergyman--and the doctor----" + +"Oh, no. I don't want to have to do with clergymen and doctors--we +colonists are pretty rough and ready fellows, and it's no odds to us +what a man is. A man stops at your door, and in he comes, and he is +welcome--though he is only a shepherd on the look-out for work; +sometimes one of the Kaffir chiefs with nothing on but a blanket and a +leather apron, will stalk in and squat down and make himself at home. +Oh, no. It's tradesmen I mean, and perhaps the small farmers round." + +"Well, we are pretty well off for that, Mr. Armstrong. There is Hiram +Powlett, the miller, and Jacob Carey, the blacksmith--they drop in +pretty regular every evening and smoke a pipe with me, in what I call my +snuggery; and there's old Reuben Claphurst--he was the clerk at one +time, and is a wonderful chap for knowing the history of every family +for miles round; and there's some of the farmers often come in for a +glass--if you are not too proud for that sort of company." + +"Proud! Bless your heart, what is there to be proud about; ain't I been +working as a farmer for years and years with no one to talk to but my +own hands?--I mean my own men. No, that's just the thing to suit me; +anyhow, I think I will try the experiment. If at the end of a couple of +years I don't like it, why, there is no harm done." + +"Well, I am sure we shall be all glad to have you here, Mr. Armstrong; +we like getting some one from outside, it freshens our ideas up a bit +and does us good. We are cheerful enough in summer with the artists that +come here sketching, and with the gentlemen who sometimes come to fish; +but the rest of the year I don't often have a stranger at the 'Carne's +Arms.'" + +Two days later Mr. Armstrong returned to Carnesford with a builder from +Plymouth. The following day, five or six workmen appeared, and in a +fortnight a considerable transformation had been made in the cottage. A +verandah was run round the front and two sides. Some rustic woodwork +appeared round the windows, and the interior of the house was +transformed with fresh paper and paint. Nothing could be done in the way +of roses and creepers, as these could not be moved at that time of year, +for it was now just midsummer. + +The day after the workmen went out, a waggon load of furniture, simple +and substantial, arrived, and on the following day the coach brought +down the new tenants. A girl had already been engaged in the village to +act as servant. Miss Armstrong was quietly and plainly dressed, and +might, by her attire, be taken for the daughter of a small farmer, and +the opinion in the village, as the newcomers walked through on their way +to the cottage, was distinctly favourable. In a very short time Mr. +Armstrong became quite a popular character in Carnesford, and soon was +on speaking terms with most of the people. He won the mothers' hearts by +patting the heads of the little girls, and praising their looks. He had +a habit of carrying sweets in his pockets, and distributing them freely +among the children, and he would lounge for hours at the smith's door, +listening to the gossip that went on, for in Carnesford, as elsewhere, +the forge was the recognised meeting-place of those who had nothing to +do. He was considered a wonderful acquisition by the frequenters of the +snuggery at the "Carne's Arms," and his stories of life at the Cape gave +an added interest to their meetings. Hearing from Hiram Powlett that he +had a wife and daughter, he asked him to get them, as a matter of +kindness, to visit his daughter; and within a fortnight of his arrival, +he and Mary went to tea to the Mill. + +Several times the conversation in the snuggery turned upon the murder at +The Hold. In no case did the new-comer lead up to it, but it cropped up +as the subject which the people of Carnesford were never weary of +discussing. He ventured no opinions and asked no questions upon the +first few occasions when the subject was being discussed, but smoked his +pipe in silence, listening to the conversation. + +"It seems strange to me," he said at last, "that you in this village +should never have had a suspicion of any one except this Captain Mervyn; +I understand that you, Mr. Claphurst, and you, Mr. Carey, have never +thought of any one else; but Mr. Powlett--he always says he is sure it +isn't him. But if it wasn't him, Mr. Powlett, who do you think it was?" + +"Ah, that is more than I can tell," Hiram replied. "I have thought, and +I have thought, till my head went round, but I can't see who it can have +been." + +"Miss Carne seems to have had no enemies?" + +"No, not one--not as I ever heard of. She was wonderful popular in the +village, she was; and as for the Squire, except about poaching, he never +quarrelled with any one." + +"Had he trouble with poachers, then?" + +"Well, not often; but last year, before that affair, there was a bad lot +about. They were from Dareport--that's two miles away, down at the mouth +of the river--with one or two chaps from this village, so it was said. +About a fortnight--it may be three weeks--before Miss Carne was killed, +there was a fight up in the woods between them and the gamekeepers. One +of the keepers got stabbed, but he didn't die until some time +afterwards; but the jury brought it in wilful murder all the same. It +didn't matter much what verdict they brought in, 'cause the man as the +evidence went against had left the country--at least, he hadn't been +seen hereabouts." + +"And a good job too, Hiram--a good job too," Jacob Carey put in. + +"Yes," Hiram said, "I admit it; it was a good job as he was gone--a good +job for us all. He would never have done any good here, anyway; and the +best job as ever he did for himself, as I know of, was when he took +himself off." + +There was a general chorus of assent. + +"What was the man's name?" Mr. Armstrong asked, carelessly. + +"His name was George Forester," Jacob Carey said. + +As they were going out from the snuggery that evening, the landlord made +a sign to Mr. Armstrong that he wanted to speak to him. He accordingly +lingered until the other men had left. + +"Oh, I thought I would just tell you, Mr. Armstrong, seeing that your +daughter and you have been to the Mill, it's just as well not to talk +about the poaching and George Forester before Ruth Powlett. You see, +it's rather a sore subject with her. She was engaged to that George +Forester, and a lot of trouble it gave her father and mother. Well, I +expect she must have seen now that she had a lucky escape. Still, a girl +don't like a man as she has liked being spoken against, so I thought +that I would say a word to you." + +"Thank you; that's very friendly of you. Yes, you may be sure that I +won't introduce the subject. I am very glad you told me, or I might have +blundered upon it and hurt the girl's feelings. She doesn't look very +strong, either. She has a nervous look about her, I think." + +"She used to be very different, but she had a great shock. She was the +first, you know, to go into Miss Carne's room and find her dead. She was +her maid before that, and she was ill for weeks after. It came on the +top of an illness, too. She fell down on the hill coming home from +church, and they found her lying insensible there, and she was very +bad--had the doctor there every day. Then came this other affair, and I +dare say this business of George Forester's helped too. Anyhow, she was +very bad, and the doctor thought at one time that she wouldn't get over +it." + +Mr. Armstrong walked home thoughtfully. + +"Well, father, what is your news?" Mary Armstrong said, as he entered. +"I can see you have heard something more than usual." + +"Well, my dear, I don't know that it's anything, but at the same time it +certainly is new, and gives us something to follow up. It seems that +there was a fellow named George Forester living somewhere about here, +and he was engaged to your friend, Ruth Powlett, but her father and +mother disapproved of it highly. They say he was a bad lot; he got mixed +up with a gang of poachers, and some little time before this murder, +about three weeks before, they had a fight with Mr. Carne's keepers; one +of the keepers was mortally wounded, it was said by this George +Forester. The man lived for some time, but at last died of the wound, +and the jury brought in a verdict of wilful murder against George +Forester, who had been missing from the time of the fight." + +"Yes, father, but that seems no great clue." + +"Perhaps not, Mary, but it shows at least that there was one fellow +about here who may be considered to have had a quarrel with the Carnes, +and who was a thoroughly bad character, and who--and this is of +importance--was engaged, with or without her parents' consent, to Miss +Carne's own maid." + +Mary gave a little gasp of excitement. + +"Now it seems, further," her father went on, "that some time between +this poaching affray and the murder--I could not inquire closely into +dates--Ruth Powlett was found insensible on the road going up the hill, +and was very ill for some days; she said she had had a fall, and of +course she may have had, although it is not often young women fall down +so heavily as to stun themselves. But it may of course have been +something else." + +"What else, father?" + +"Well, it is possible she may have met this lover of hers, and that they +may have had a quarrel. Probably she knew he had been engaged in this +poaching affair, and may have told him that she would have nothing more +to do with him, and he may have knocked her down. Of course, this is all +mere supposition, but it is only by supposition that we can grope our +way along. It seems she was well enough anyhow to go up to her place +again at The Hold, for she was the first to discover the murder, and the +shock was so great that she was ill for weeks, in fact in great danger; +they say she has been greatly changed ever since. I don't know whether +anything can be made of that, my dear." + +"I don't know. I don't see what, father," Mary said, after thinking for +some time, "unless she is fancying since that it was this man who did +it. Of course, anyhow, it would be a fearful shock for a girl to find +her mistress lying murdered, and perhaps it may be nothing more than +that." + +"No doubt, it may be nothing more than that, Mary; but it's the other +side of the case we have to look at. Let us piece the things together. +Here we have four or five facts, all of which may tell. Here is a bad +character in the village; that is one point. This man had a poaching +affray with Mr. Carne's keepers; he killed, or at any rate the coroner's +jury found that he killed, one of the keepers. He is engaged to Miss +Carne's own maid. This maid is just after this poaching business found +insensible in the wood, and tells rather an improbable story as to how +it came about. She is the first to enter her mistress's room, and then +she has a serious illness. Of course, any girl would be shocked and +frightened and upset, but it is not so often that a serious illness +would be the result. And lastly, she has been changed ever since. She +has, as you remarked to me the other day, an absent, preoccupied sort of +way about her. Taken altogether, these things certainly do amount to +something." + +"I think so too, father; I think so too," Mary Armstrong said, walking +up and down the little room in her excitement. "I do think there may be +something in it; and you see, father, after this poaching business, the +man wanted to get away, and he may have been in want of money, and so +have thought of taking Miss Carne's watch and jewels to raise money to +take him abroad." + +"So he might, my dear. That is certainly a feasible explanation, but +unfortunately, instead of taking them away, you see he buried them." + +"Yes, father, but he only just pushed them into the ground, the report +said; because on reading through the old files of the newspapers the +other day I particularly noticed that. Well, father, you see, perhaps +just as he was leaving the house a dog may have barked, or something may +have given him a scare, and he may just have hidden them in the ground, +intending to come for them next day; and then, what with the excitement +and the police here, and the search that was being made, he could get no +opportunity of getting them up again, and being afraid of being arrested +himself for his share in the poaching affray, he dared not hang about +here any longer, but probably went down to Plymouth and got on board +ship there. Of course, all this is nothing more than supposition, still +it really does not seem improbable, father. There is only one difficulty +that I can see. Why should he have killed Miss Carne, because the +doctors say that she was certainly asleep?" + +"We cannot tell, dear. She may have moved a little. He may have thought +that she would wake, and that he had better make sure. He was a +desperate man, and there is no saying what a desperate man will do. +Anyhow, Mary, this is a clue, and a distinct one, and we must follow it +up. It may lead us wrong in the end, but we shall not be losing time by +following it, for I shall keep my ears open, and may find some other and +altogether different track." + +"How had we better follow it?" Mary asked, after having sat silent for +some minutes. "This Forester is gone, and we have no idea where. I think +the only person likely to be able to help us is Ruth Powlett." + +"Exactly so, my dear." + +"And she would not be likely to speak. If she knows anything she would +have said it at the trial had she not wished to shield this man, whom +she may love in spite of his wickedness." + +"Quite so, my dear; and besides," and he smiled, "young women in love +are not disposed to believe in their lovers' guilt." + +"How can you say so, father?" Mary said, indignantly; "you would not +compare----" + +"No, no, Mary; I would not compare the two men; but I think you will +admit that even had the evidence against Ronald Mervyn been ten times as +conclusive as it was, you would still have maintained his innocence +against all the world." + +"Of course I should, father." + +"Quite so, my dear; that is what I am saying; however, if our +supposition is correct in this case, the girl does believe him to be +guilty, but she wishes to shield him, either because she loves him still +or has loved him. It is astonishing how women will cling to men even +when they know them to be villains. I think, dear, that the best way of +proceeding will be for you to endeavour to find out from Ruth Powlett +what she knows. Of course it will be a gradual matter, and you can only +do it when she has got to know and like you thoroughly." + +"But, father," Mary said, hesitating, "will it not be a treacherous +thing for me to become friends with her for the purpose of gaining her +secret?" + +"It depends how you gain it, Mary. Certainly it would be so were you to +get it surreptitiously. That is not the way I should propose. If this +girl has really any proof or anything like strong evidence that the +murder was committed by this man Forester, she is acting wrongly and +cruelly to another to allow the guilt to fall upon him. In time, when +you get intimate with her, intimate enough to introduce the subject, +your course would be to impress this upon her so strongly as to induce +her to make an open confession. Of course you would point out to her +that this could now in no way injure the man who is her lover, as he has +gone no one knows where, and will certainly never return to this +country, as upon his appearance he would at once be arrested and tried +on the charge of killing the gamekeeper. All this would be perfectly +open and above-board. Then, Mary, you could, if you deemed it expedient, +own your own strong interest in the matter. There would be nothing +treacherous in this, dear. You simply urge her to do an act of justice. +Of course it will be painful for her to do so, after concealing it so +long. Still, I should think from the little I have seen of her that she +is a conscientious girl, and is, I doubt not, already sorely troubled in +her mind over the matter." + +"Yes, father, I agree with you. There would be nothing treacherous in +that. I have simply to try to get her to make a confession of anything +she may know in the matter. I quite agree with you in all you have said +about the man, but I do not see how Ruth Powlett can know anything for +certain, whatever she may suspect; for if she was, as you say, +dangerously ill for a long time after the murder, she cannot very well +have seen the man, who would be sure to have quitted the country at +once." + +"I am afraid that that is so, Mary. Still, we must hope for the best, +and if she cannot give us absolute evidence herself, what she says may +at least put us in the right track for obtaining it. Even if no legal +evidence can be obtained, we might get enough clues, with what we have +already, to convince the world that whereas hitherto there seemed no +alternative open as to Mervyn's guilt, there was in fact another against +whom there is at any rate a certain amount of proof, and whose character +is as bad as that of Captain Mervyn is good. This would in itself be a +great step. Mervyn has been acquitted, but as no one else is shown to +have been connected with it in any way, people are compelled, in spite +of his previous character, in spite of his acquittal, in spite in fact +even of probability, to consider him guilty. Once shown that there is at +least reasonable ground for suspicion against another, and the opinion, +at any rate of all who know Mervyn, would at once veer round." + +"Very well, father; now you have done your part of the work by finding +out the clue, I will do mine by following it up. Fortunately, Ruth +Powlett is a very superior sort of girl to any one in the village, and I +can make friends with her heartily and without pretence. I should have +found it very hard if she had been a rough sort of girl, but she +expresses herself just as well as I do, and seems very gentle and nice. +One can see that even that sharp-voiced stepmother of hers is very fond +of her, and she is the apple of the miller's eye. But you must not be +impatient, father; two girls can't become great friends all at once." + +"I think, on the whole, Miss Armstrong," her father said, "you are quite +as likely to become impatient as I am, seeing that it is your business +much more than mine." + +"Well, you may be sure I shall not lose more time than I can help, +father." Mary Armstrong laughed. "You don't know how joyous I feel +to-night, I have always been hopeful, but it did seem so vague before. +Now that we have got what we think to be a clue, and can set to work at +once, I feel ever so much nearer to seeing Ronald again." + +The consequence of this conversation was that Mary Armstrong went very +frequently down to the mill, and induced Ruth Powlett, sometimes, to +come up and sit with her. + +"I am very glad, Mr. Armstrong," Hiram Powlett said, one evening, when +they happened to be the first two to arrive in the snuggery, "that my +Ruth seems to take to your daughter. It's a real comfort to Hesba and +me. You would have thought that she would have taken to some of the +girls she went to school with, but she hasn't. I suppose she is too +quiet for them, and they are too noisy for her. Anyhow, until now, she +has never had a friend, and I think it will do her a world of good. It's +bad for a girl to be alone, and especially a girl like Ruth. I don't +mind telling you, Mr. Armstrong, that Hesba and I have an idea that she +has got something on her mind, she has been so changed altogether since +Miss Carne's murder. I might have thought that she had fretted about +that scamp Forester going away, for at one time the girl was very fond +of him, but before it happened she told me that she had found out he +would never make her a good husband, and would break it off altogether +with him; so you see I don't think his going away had anything to do +with it. Once or twice I thought she was going to say something +particular to me, but she has never said it, and she sits there and +broods and broods till it makes my heart ache to see her. Now she has +got your daughter to be friends with, perhaps she may shake it off." + +"I hope she may, Mr. Powlett. It's a bad thing for a girl to mope. I +know Mary likes your daughter very much; perhaps, if she has anything on +her mind, she will tell Mary one of these days. You see, when girls get +to be friends, they open their hearts to each other as they won't do to +any one else." + +"I don't see what she can have on her mind," the miller said, shaking +his head. "It may only be a fancy of mine. Hesba and I have talked it +over a score of times." + +"Very likely it's nothing, after all," Mr. Armstrong said. "Girls get +strange fancies into their heads, and make mountains out of molehills. +It may be nothing, after all; still, perhaps she would be all the better +for the telling of it." + +Hiram Powlett shook his head decidedly. "Ruth isn't a girl to have +fancies. If she is fretting, she is fretting over something serious. I +don't know why I am talking so to you, Mr. Armstrong, for I have never +spoken to any one else about it; but your daughter seems to have taken +so kindly to Ruth that it seems natural for me to speak to you." + +"I am glad you have done so, Mr. Powlett, and I hope that good may come +from our talk." + +It was not until a fortnight after this chat that Mary had anything to +communicate to her father, for she found that whenever she turned the +conversation upon the topic of the murder of Miss Carne, Ruth evidently +shrank so much from it that she was obliged to change the subject. + +"To-day, father, I took the bull by the horns. Ruth had been sitting +there for some time working without saying a word, when I asked her +suddenly, as if it was what I had been thinking over while we were +silent: 'What is your opinion, Ruth? Do you think that Captain Mervyn +really murdered his cousin?' She turned pale. She has never much colour, +you know, but she went as white as a sheet, and then said, 'I am quite +sure that he did not do it, but I don't like talking about it.' 'No, of +course not,' I said. 'I can quite understand that after the terrible +shock you had. Still, it is awful to think that this Captain Mervyn +should have been driven away from his home and made an outcast of if he +is innocent.' 'It serves him right,' Ruth said, passionately. 'How dare +he insult and threaten my dear Miss Margaret? Nothing is too bad for +him.' 'I can't quite agree with you there,' I said. 'No doubt he +deserved to be punished, and he must have been punished by being tried +for his cousin's murder; but to think of a man spending all his life, +branded unjustly with the crime of murder, is something too terrible to +think of.' 'I dare say he is doing very well,' she said, after a pause. +'Doing well,' I said, 'doing well! What can you be thinking of, Ruth? +What sort of doing well can there be for a man who knows that at any +moment he may be recognised, that his story may be whispered about, and +that his neighbours may shrink away from him; that his wife, if he ever +marries, may come to believe that her husband is a murderer, that his +children may bear the curse of Cain upon them? It is too terrible to +think of. If Captain Mervyn is guilty, he ought to have been hung; if he +is innocent, he is one of the most unfortunate men in the world.' Ruth +didn't say anything, but she was so terribly white that I thought she +was going to faint. She tried to get up, but I could see she couldn't, +and I ran and got her a glass of water. Her hand shook so that she could +hardly hold it to her lips. After she drank some she sat for a minute or +two quiet, then she murmured something about a sudden faintness, and +that she would go home. I persuaded her to stay a few minutes longer. At +last she got up. 'I am subject to fainting fits,' she said; 'it is very +silly, but I cannot help it. Yes, perhaps what you say about Captain +Mervyn is right, but I never quite saw it so before. Good-bye,' and then +she went off, though I could see she was scarcely able to walk +steadily. Oh, father, I feel quite sure that she knows something; that +she can prove that Ronald is innocent if she chooses; and I think that +sooner or later she will choose. First of all she was so decided in her +assertion that Ronald was innocent; she did not say 'I think,' or 'I +believe,' she said 'I am quite sure.' She would never have said that +unless she knew something quite positive. Then the way that she burst +out that it served him right, seems to me, and I have been thinking +about it ever since she went away an hour ago, as if she had been trying +to convince herself that it was right that he should suffer, and to +soothe her own conscience for not saying what would prove him innocent." + +"It looks like it, Mary; it certainly looks like it. We are on the right +trail, my girl, I am sure. That was a very heavy blow you struck her +to-day, and she evidently felt it so. Two or three more such blows, and +the victory will be won. I have no doubt now that Ruth Powlett somehow +holds the key of this strange mystery in her hand, and I think that what +you have said to her to-day will go a long way towards inducing her to +unlock it. Forester was the murderer of Miss Carne, I have not a shadow +of doubt, though how she knows it for certain is more than I can even +guess." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +RUTH POWLETT CONFESSES. + + +Upon the morning after the conversation with his daughter, Mr. Armstrong +had just started on his way up the village when he met Hiram Powlett. + +"I was just coming to see you, Mr. Armstrong, if you can spare a +minute." + +"I can spare an hour--I can spare the whole morning, Mr. Powlett. I have +ceased to be a working bee, and my time is at your disposal." + +"Well, I thought I would just step over and speak to you," Hiram began, +in a slow, puzzled sort of a way. "You know what I was telling you the +other day about my girl?" + +"Yes; I remember very well." + +"You don't know, Mr. Armstrong, whether she has said anything to your +daughter?" + +"No; at least not so far as I have heard of. Mary said that they were +talking together, and something was said about Miss Carne's murder; that +your daughter turned very pale, and that she thought she was going to +faint." + +"That's it; that's it," Hiram said, stroking his chin, thoughtfully, +"that murder is at the bottom of it. Hesba thinks it must be that any +talk about it brings the scene back to her; but it does not seem to me +that that accounts for it at all, and I would give a lot to know what is +on the girl's mind. She came in yesterday afternoon as white as a sheet, +and fainted right off at the door. I shouldn't think so much of that, +because she has often fainted since her illness, but that wasn't all. +When her mother got her round she went upstairs to her room, and didn't +come down again. There is not much in that, you would say; after a girl +has fainted she likes to lie quiet a bit; but she didn't lie quiet. We +could hear her walking up and down the room for hours, and Hesba stole +up several times to her door and said she was sobbing enough to break +her heart. She is going about the house again this morning, but that +white and still that it is cruel to look at her. So I thought after +breakfast that I would put on my hat and come and have a talk with you, +seeing that you were good enough to be interested in her. You will say +it's a rum thing for a father to come and talk about his daughter to a +man he hasn't known more than two months. I feel that myself, but there +is no one in the village I should like to open my mind to about Ruth, +and seeing that you are father of a girl about the same age, and that I +feel you are a true sort of a man, I come to you. It isn't as if I +thought that my Ruth could have done anything wrong. If I did, I would +cut my tongue out before I would speak a word. But I know my Ruth. She +has always been a good girl: not one of your light sort, but earnest and +steady. Whatever is wrong, it's not wrong with her. I believe she has +got some secret or other that is just wearing her out, and if we can't +get to the bottom of it I don't believe Ruth will see Christmas," and +Hiram Powlett wiped his eyes violently. + +"Believe me, I will do my best to find it out if there is such a secret, +Mr. Powlett. I feel sure from what I have seen of your daughter, that if +a wrong has been done of any kind it is not by her. I agree with you +that she has a secret, and that that secret is wearing her out. I may +say that my daughter is of the same opinion. I believe that there is a +struggle going on in her mind on the subject, and that if she is to have +peace, and as you say health, she must unburden her mind. However, Mr. +Powlett, my advice in the matter is, leave her alone. Do not press her +in any way. I think that what you said to me before is likely to be +verified, and that if she unburdens herself it will be to Mary; and you +may be sure whatever is the nature of the secret, my daughter will keep +it inviolate, unless it is Ruth's own wish that it should be told to +others." + +"Thankee, Mr. Armstrong, thankee kindly; I feel more hopeful now. I have +been worrying and fretting over this for months, till I can scarce look +after my work, and often catch myself going on drawing at my pipe when +it's gone out and got cold. But I think it's coming on; I think that +crying last night meant something, one way or the other. Well, we shall +see; we shall see. I will be off back again to my work now; I feel all +the better for having had this talk with you. Hesba's a good woman, and +she is fond of the child; but she is what she calls practical--she looks +at things hard, and straight, and sensible, and naturally she don't +quite enter into my feelings about Ruth, though she is fond of her too. +Well, good morning, Mr. Armstrong; you have done me good, and I do hope +it will turn out as you say, and that we shall get to know what is +Ruth's trouble." + +An hour later, Mary Armstrong went down to the mill to inquire after +Ruth. She found her quiet and pale. + +"I am glad you have come in, Miss Armstrong," Hesba said, "our Ruth +wants cheering up a bit. She had a faint yesterday when she got back +from your place, and she is never fit for anything after that except +just to sit in her chair and look in the fire. I tell her she would be +better if she would rouse herself." + +"But one cannot always rouse oneself, Mrs. Powlett," Mary said; "and I +am sure Ruth does not look equal to talking now. However, she shall sit +still, and I will tell her a story. I have never told you yet that I was +once carried off by the Kaffirs, and that worse than death would have +befallen me, and that I should have been afterwards tortured and killed, +if I had not been rescued by a brave man." + +"Lawk-a-mussy, Miss Armstrong, why you make my flesh creep at the +thought of such a thing? And you say it all happened to you? Why, now, +to look at you, I should have thought you could hardly have known what +trouble meant, you always seem so bright and happy; that's what Ruth has +said, again and again." + +"You shall judge for yourself, Mrs. Powlett, if you can find time to +sit down and listen, as well as Ruth." + +"I can find time for that," Hesba said, "though it isn't often as I sits +down till the tea is cleared away and Hiram has lit his pipe." + +Mary sat down facing the fire, with Ruth in an arm-chair on one side of +her, and Mrs. Powlett stiff and upright on a hard settle on the other. +Then she began to tell the story, first saying a few words to let her +hearers know of the fate of women who fell into the hands of the +Kaffirs. Then she began with the story of her journey down from King +Williamstown, the sudden attack by natives, and how after seeing her +father fall she was carried off. Then she told, what she had never told +before, of the hideous tortures of the other two women, part of which +she was compelled to witness, and how she was told that she was to be +preserved as a present to Macomo. Then she described the dreary journey. +"I had only one hope," she said, "and it was so faint that it could not +be called a hope; but there was one man in the colony who somehow I felt +sure would, if he knew of my danger, try to rescue me. He had once +before come to our aid when our house was attacked by Kaffirs, and in a +few minutes our fate would have been sealed had he not arrived. But for +aught I knew he was a hundred miles away, and what could he do against +the three hundred natives who were with me? Still, I had a little ray of +hope, the faintest, tiniest ray, until we entered the Amatolas----they +are strong steep hills covered with forest and bush, and are the +stronghold of the Kaffirs, and I knew that there were about twenty +thousand natives gathered there. Then I hoped no longer. I felt that my +fate was sealed, and my only wish and my only longing was to obtain a +knife or a spear, and to kill myself." + +Then Mary described the journey through the forest to the kraal, the +long hours she had sat waiting for her fate with every movement watched +by the Kaffir women, and her sensations when she heard the message in +English. Then she described her rescue from the kraal, her flight +through the woods, her concealment in the cave, her escape from the +Amatolas, the ride with the trooper holding her on his saddle, and the +final dash through the Kaffirs. + +Her hearers had thrown in many interjections of horror and pity, loud on +the part of Hesba, mere murmurs on that of Ruth, who had taken Mary's +hand in hers, but the sympathetic pressure told more than words. + +"And you shot four of them, Miss Armstrong!" Hesba ejaculated, in +wide-eyed astonishment. "To think that a young girl like you should have +the death of four men on her hands! I don't say as it's unchristian, +because Christians are not forbidden to fight for their lives, but it +does seem downright awful!" + +"It has never troubled me for a single moment," Mary said. "They tried +to kill me, and I killed them. That is the light I saw it in, and so +would you if you had been living in the colony." + +"But you have not finished your story," Ruth said, earnestly. "Surely +that is not the end of it!" + +"No; my father recovered from his wound, and so did the soldier who +saved me, and as soon as my father was able to travel, he and I went +down to the coast and came home." + +"That cannot be all," Ruth whispered; "there must be something more to +tell, Mary." + +"I will tell you another time, Ruth," Mary said, in equally low tones, +and then rising, put on her hat again, said good-bye, and went out. + +"Did you ever, Ruth?" Hesba Powlett exclaimed as the door closed. "I +never did hear such a story in all my life. And to think of her shooting +four men! It quite made my flesh creep; didn't it yours?" + +"There were other parts of the story that made my flesh creep a great +deal more, mother." + +"Yes, it was terrible! And she didn't say a single word in praise of +what the soldier had done for her. Now that seems to me downright +ungrateful, and not at all what I should have thought of Miss +Armstrong." + +"I suppose she thought, mother, that there was no occasion to express +her opinion of his bravery or to mention her gratitude. The whole story +seemed to me a cry of praise and a hymn of gratitude." + +"Lord, Ruth, what fancies you do take in your head, to be sure! I never +did hear such expressions!" + +Two days passed without Ruth going up to the Armstrongs'; on the third +day Mary again went down. + +"Well, Ruth, as you have not been to see me, I have come to see you +again." + +"I was coming up this afternoon. If you don't mind, I will go back with +you now, instead of your staying here. We are quieter there, you know. +Somehow, one cannot think or talk when people come in and out of the +room every two or three minutes." + +"I quite agree with you, Ruth, and, if you don't mind my saying so, I +would very much rather have you all to myself." + +The two girls accordingly went back to the cottage. Mary, who was rather +an industrious needlewoman, brought out a basket of work. Ruth, who for +a long time had scarcely taken up a needle, sat with her hands before +her. + +When two people intend to have a serious conversation with each other, +they generally steer wide of the subject at first, and the present was +no exception. + +"I think it would be better for you, Ruth, to occupy yourself with work +a little, as I do." + +"I used to be fond of work," Ruth replied, "but I don't seem to be able +to give my attention to it now. I begin, and before I have done twenty +stitches, somehow or other my thoughts seem to go away, and by the end +of the morning the first twenty stitches are all I have done." + +"But you oughtn't to think so much, Ruth. It is bad for any one to be +always thinking." + +"Yes, but I can't help it. I have so much to think about, and it gets +worse instead of better. Now, after what you said to me the other night, +I don't know what to do. It seemed right before. I did not think I was +doing much harm in keeping silence; now I see I have been, oh, so +wrong!" and she twined her fingers in and out as if suffering bodily +pain. + +"My poor Ruth!" Mary said, coming over to her and kneeling down by her +side. "I think I know what is troubling you." + +The girl shook her head. + +"Yes, dear, I am almost sure you have known something all along that +would have proved Captain Mervyn was innocent, and you have not said +it." + +Ruth Powlett did not speak for a minute or two, then she said, slowly: + +"I do not know how you have guessed it, Mary. No one else even seems to +have thought of it. But, yes, that is it, and I do so want some one to +advise me what to do. I see now I have been very wicked. For a long time +I have been fighting against myself. I have tried so hard to persuade +myself that I had not done much harm, because Captain Mervyn was +acquitted. I have really known that I was wrong, but I never thought how +wrong until you spoke to me." + +"Wait, Ruth," Mary said; "before you tell me your secret I must tell you +mine. It would not be fair for you to tell me without knowing that. You +remember the story I was telling you about my being carried off?" + +A fresh interest came into Ruth's face. + +"Yes," she said, "and you promised you would tell me the rest another +time. I thought you meant, of course, you would tell me that when this +war out there is over, you would some day marry the soldier who has done +so much for you." + +"I was going to tell you, Ruth, why I am not going to marry him." + +"Oh, I thought you would be sure to," Ruth said in a tone of deep +disappointment. "It seemed to me that it was sure to be so. I thought a +man would never have risked so much for a woman unless he loved her." + +"He did love me, Ruth, and I loved him. I don't think I made any secret +of it. Somehow it seemed to me that he had a right to me, and I was +surprised when the time went on and he didn't ask me. When the last day +came before he was to march away to fight again, I think that if he had +not spoken I should have done so. Do not think me unmaidenly, Ruth, but +he was only a sergeant and I was a rich girl, for my father is a great +deal better off than he seems to be, and I thought that perhaps some +foolish sort of pride held him back, for I was quite sure that he loved +me. But he spoke first. He told me that he loved me, but could never ask +me to be his wife; that he could never marry, but he must go through the +world alone to the end of his life." + +"Oh, Mary, how terrible!" Ruth said, pitifully, "how terrible! Was he +married before, then?" + +"No, Ruth, it was worse than that; there was a great shadow over his +life; he had been tried for murder, and though he had been acquitted, +the stigma was still upon him. Go where he would he might be recognised +and pointed out as a murderer; therefore, unless the truth was some day +known and his name cleared, no woman could ever be his wife." + +Ruth had given a little gasp as Mary Armstrong began, then she sat rigid +and immovable. + +"It was Captain Mervyn," she said, at last, in a low whisper. + +"Yes, Ruth. Sergeant Blunt was Captain Mervyn; he had changed his name, +and gone out there to hide himself, but even there he had already been +recognised; and, as he said--for I pleaded hard, Ruth, to be allowed to +share his exile--go where he would, bury himself in what out-of-the-way +corner he might, sooner or later some one would know him, and this story +would rise up against him, and, much as he loved me--all the more, +perhaps, because he loved me so much--he would never suffer me to be +pointed at as the wife of a murderer." + +"You shall not be," Ruth said, more firmly than she had before spoken. +"You shall not be, Mary. I can clear him, and I will." + +It was Mary Armstrong's turn to break down now. The goal had been +reached, Ronald Mervyn would be cleared; and she threw her arms round +Ruth and burst into a passion of tears. It was some time before the +girls were sufficiently composed to renew the conversation. + +"First of all, I must tell you, Mary," Ruth began, "that you may not +think me more wicked than I am, that I would never have let Captain +Mervyn suffer the penalty of another's crime. Against the wish, almost +in the face of the orders of the doctor, I remained in court all through +the trial, holding in my hand the proof of Captain Mervyn's innocence, +and had the verdict been 'guilty' I was ready to rush forward and prove +that he was innocent. I do not think that all that you suffered when you +were in the hands of the Kaffirs was worse than I suffered then. I saw +before me the uproar in court: the eyes that would be all fixed upon me; +the way that the judge and the counsel would blame me for having so long +kept silence; the reproach that I should meet with when I returned +home; the shame of my dear old father; the way in which every soul in +the village would turn against me; but I would have dared it all rather +than that one man should suffer for the sin of another. And now, having +told you this first, so that you should not think too hardly of me, I +will tell you all." + +Then Ruth told her of her girlish love for George Forester; how she had +clung to him through evil report, and in spite of the wishes of her +father and mother, but how at last the incident of the affray with the +gamekeepers had opened her eyes to the fact that he was altogether +reckless and wild, and that she could never trust her happiness to him. +She told how Margaret Carne had spoken to her about it, and how she had +promised she would give him up; then she told of that meeting on the +road on the way to church; his passionate anger against herself; the +threats he had uttered against Miss Carne for her interference, and the +way in which he had assaulted her. + +"I firmly believe," Ruth said, "he would have murdered me had he not +heard people coming along the road." Then she told how she found the +open knife stained with blood at Margaret Carne's bedside, and how she +had hidden it. "I did not do it because I loved him still, Mary," she +said. "My love seemed to have been killed. I had given him up before, +and the attack he made upon me had shown me clearly how violent he was, +and what an escape I had had; but I had loved him as a boy, and it was +the remembrance of my girlish love, and not any love I then had, that +sealed my lips; but even this would not have silenced me, I think, had +it not been for the sake of his father. The old man had always been +very, very kind to me, and the disgrace of his son being found guilty of +this crime would have killed him. I can say, honestly, it was this that +chiefly influenced me in deciding to shield him. As to Captain Mervyn, +I was, as I told you, determined that though I would keep silent if he +were acquitted, I would save him if he were found guilty. I never +thought for a moment that acquittal would not clear him. It seemed to me +that the trouble that had fallen on him was thoroughly deserved for the +way in which he had spoken to Miss Carne; but I thought when he was +acquitted he would take his place in his regiment again, and be none the +worse for what had happened. It was only when I found that he had left +the regiment, and when Mrs. Mervyn and her daughters shut up the house +and went to live far away, that I began to trouble much. I saw now how +wicked I had been, though I would never quite own it even to myself. I +would have told then, but I did not know who to tell it to, or what good +it could do if told. Mr. Forester was dead now, and the truth could not +hurt him. George Forester had gone away, and would never come back; you +know they found a verdict of wilful murder against him for killing the +keeper. Somehow it seemed too late either to do good or harm. Every one +had gone. Why should I say anything, and bring grief and trouble on my +father and mother, and make the whole valley despise me? It has been +dreadful," she said, wanly. "You cannot tell how dreadful. Ever since +you came here and tried to make a friend of me, I have been fighting a +battle with myself. It was not right that you should like me--it was not +right that any one should like me--and I felt at last that I must tell +you; you first, and then every one. Now after what you have told me it +will not be so hard. Of course I shall suffer, and my father will +suffer; but it will do good and make you and Captain Mervyn happy for +the truth to be known, and so I shall be able to brave it all much +better than I should otherwise have done. Who shall I go to first?" + +"I cannot tell you, Ruth. I must speak to my father, and he will think +it over, and perhaps he will write and ask Ronald how he would like it +done. There is no great hurry, for he cannot come home anyhow till the +war is finished, and it may last for months yet." + +"Well, I am ready to go anywhere and to tell every one when you like," +Ruth said. "Do not look so pitiful, Mary. I am sure I shall be much +happier, whatever happens, even if they put me in prison, now that I +have made up my mind to do what is right." + +"There is no fear of that, I think, Ruth. They never asked you whether +you had found anything; and though you certainly hid the truth, you did +not absolutely give false evidence." + +"It was all wrong and wicked," Ruth said, "and it will be quite right if +they punish me; but that would be nothing to what I have suffered +lately. I should feel happier in prison with this weight off my mind. +But can you forgive me, Mary? Can you forgive me causing such misery to +Captain Mervyn, and such unhappiness to you?" + +"You need not be afraid about that," Mary said, laying her hand +assuringly on Ruth's shoulder. "Why, child, you have been a benefactor +to us both! If you had told all about it at first, Ronald would never +have gone out to the Cape; father and I would have been killed in the +first attack; and if we had not been, I should have been tortured to +death in the Amatolas; and, last of all, we should never have seen and +loved each other. Whatever troubles you may have to bear, do not reckon +Ronald's displeasure and mine among them. I shall have cause to thank +you all the days of my life, and I hope Ronald will have cause to do so +too. Kiss me, Ruth; you have made me the happiest woman in the world, +and I would give a great deal to be able to set this right without your +having to put yourself forward in it." + +Ruth was crying now, but they were not tears of unhappiness. They talked +for some time longer, sitting hand in hand; and then, as Mr. Armstrong's +step was heard coming up to the cottage, Ruth seized her hat and shawl. + +"I dare not see him," she said; "he may not look at it as you do." + +"Yes, he will," Mary said. "You don't know my father; he is one of the +tenderest hearted of men." But Ruth darted out just as the door opened. + +"What is it?" Mr. Armstrong asked in surprise. "Ruth Powlett nearly +knocked me down in the passage, and rushed off without even the ordinary +decency of apologising." + +"Ruth has told me everything, father. We can clear Ronald Mervyn as soon +as we like." And Mary Armstrong threw her arms round her father's neck. + +"I thank God for that, Mary. I felt it would come sooner or later, but I +had hardly hoped that it would come so soon. I am thankful, indeed, my +child; how did it all come about?" + +Mary repeated the story Ruth Powlett told her. + +"Yes, there's no doubt about it this time," her father said. "As you +say, there could be no mistake about the knife, because she had given it +to him herself, and had had his initials engraved upon it at Plymouth. I +don't think any reasonable man could have a doubt that the scoundrel did +it; and now, my dear, what is to be done next?" + +"Ah, that is for you to decide. I think Ronald ought to be consulted." + +"Oh, you think that?" Mr. Armstrong said, quickly. "You think he knows a +great deal better what ought to be done than I do?" + +"No, I don't exactly mean that, father; but I think one would like to +know how he would wish it to be done before we do anything. There is no +particular hurry, you know, when he once knows that it is all going to +be set right." + +"No, beyond the fact that he would naturally like to get rid of this +thing hanging over him as soon as he can. Now, my idea is that the girl +ought to go at once to a magistrate and make an affidavit, and hand over +this knife to him. I don't know how the matter is to be re-opened, +because Ronald Mervyn has been acquitted, and the other man is goodness +knows where." + +"Well, father, there will be time enough to think over it, but I do +think we had better tell Ronald first." + +"Very well, my dear, as you generally have your own way, I suppose we +shall finally settle on that, whether we agree now or three days hence. +By the way, I have got a letter in my pocket for you from him. The Cape +mail touched at Plymouth yesterday." + +"Why did you not tell me of it before, father?" the girl said, +reproachfully. + +"Well, my dear, your news is so infinitely more important, that I own I +forgot all about the letter. Besides, as this is the fourth that you +have had since you have been here, it is not of such extreme +importance." + +But Mary was reading the letter and paid no attention to what her father +was saying. Presently she gave a sudden exclamation. + +"What is it, my dear; has he changed his mind and married a Kaffir +woman? If so, we need not trouble any more about the affair." + +"No, papa; it is serious--quite serious." + +"Well, my dear, that would be serious; at least I should have thought +you would consider it so." + +"No, father; but really this is extraordinary. What do you think he +says?" + +"It is of no use my thinking about it, Mary," Mr. Armstrong said, +resignedly, "especially as I suppose you are going to tell me. I have +made one suggestion, and it seems that it is incorrect." + +"This is what he says, father: 'You know that I told you a trooper in my +company recognised me. I fancied I knew the man's face, but could not +recall where I had seen it. The other day it suddenly flashed upon me; +he is the son of a little farmer upon my cousin's estate, a man by the +name of Forester. I often saw him when he was a young fellow, for I was +fond of fishing, and I can remember him as a boy who was generally +fishing down in the mill-stream. I fancy he rather went to grief +afterwards, and have some idea he was mixed up in a poaching business in +the Carne woods. So I think he must have left the country about that +time. Curious, isn't it, his running against me here? However, it cannot +be helped. I suppose it will all come out, sooner or later, for he has +been in the guardroom several times for drunkenness, and one of these +times he will be sure to blurt it out.'" + +"Isn't that extraordinary, father?" + +"It is certainly an extraordinary coincidence, Mary, that these two +men--the murderer of Miss Carne and the man who has suffered for that +murder should be out there together. This complicates matters a good +deal." + +"It does, father. There can be no doubt of what is to be done now." + +"Well, now I quite come round on your side, Mary; nothing should be done +until Mervyn knows all about it, and can let us know what his views are. +I should not think that he could have this man arrested out there merely +on his unsupported accusation, and I should imagine that he will want an +official copy of Ruth Powlett's affidavit, and perhaps a warrant sent +out from England, before he can get him arrested. Anyhow, we must go +cautiously to work. When Ruth Powlett speaks, it will make a great stir +here, and this Forester may have some correspondent here who would write +and tell him what has happened, and then he might make a bolt of it +before Ronald can get the law at work and lay hold of him." + +"I should rather hope, for Ruth's sake, that he would do so, father. +She is ready to make her confession and to bear all the talk it will +make and the blame that will fall upon her; but it would be a great +trial to her to have the man she once loved brought over and hung upon +her evidence." + +"So it would, Mary, so it would; but, on the other hand, it can be only +by his trial and execution that Mervyn's innocence can be absolutely +proved to the satisfaction of every one. It is a grave question +altogether, Mary, and at any rate we will wait. Tell Mervyn he has all +the facts before him, and must decide what is to be done. Besides, my +dear, I think it will be only fair that Ruth should know that we are in +a position to lay hands on this Forester before she makes the +confession." + +"I think so too, father. Yes, she certainly ought to be told; but I am +sure that now she has made up her mind to confess she will not draw +back. Still, of course, it would be very painful for her. We need not +tell her at present; I will write a long letter to Ronald and tell him +all the ins and outs of it, and then we can wait quietly until we hear +from him." + +"You need not have said that you will write a long letter, Mary," Mr. +Armstrong said, drily, "considering that each time the mail has gone out +I have seen nothing of you for twenty-four hours previously, and that I +have reason to believe that an extra mail cart has had each time to be +put on to carry the correspondence." + +"It's all very well to laugh, father," Mary said, a little indignantly, +"but you know that he is having fights almost every day with the +Kaffirs, and only has our letters to look forward to, telling him how we +are getting on and----and----" + +"And how we love him, Mary, and how we dream of him, etc., etc." + +Mary laughed. + +"Never mind what I put in my letters, father, as long as he is satisfied +with them." + +"I don't, my dear. My only fear is that he will come back wearing +spectacles, for I should say that it would ruin any human eyes to have +to wade through the reams of feminine handwriting you send to him. If he +is the sensible fellow I give him credit for, he only reads the first +three words, which are, I suppose, 'my darling Ronald' and the last +four, which I also suppose are 'your ever loving Mary.'" + +The colour flooded Mary Armstrong's cheeks. + +"You have no right even to guess at my letters, father, and I have no +doubt that whether they are long or short, he reads them through a dozen +times." + +"Poor fellow, poor fellow!" Mr. Armstrong said, pityingly. +"Nevertheless, my dear, important as all these matters are, I do not +know why I should be compelled to fast. I came in an hour ago, expecting +to find tea ready, and there are no signs of it visible. I shall have to +follow the example of the villagers when their wives fail to get their +meals ready, and go down to the 'Carne's Arms' for it." + +"You shall have it in five minutes, father," Mary Armstrong said, +running out. "Men are so dreadfully material that whatever happens their +appetite must be attended to just as usual." + +And so three days afterwards a full account of all that Ruth Powlett had +said, and of the circumstances of the case, was despatched to "Sergeant +Blunt, Cape Mounted Rifles, Kaffirland." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +GEORGE FORESTER'S DEATH. + + +Ronald Mervyn led so active a life for some months after the departure +of Mr. Armstrong and his daughter, that he had little time to spend in +thought, and it was only by seizing odd minutes between intervals of +work that he could manage to send home a budget at all proportionate in +size to that which he regularly received. When the courier came up with +the English mails there had been stern fighting, for although the +British force was raised by the arrival of reinforcements from India and +England to over 5,000 men, with several batteries of artillery, it was +with the greatest difficulty that it gradually won its way into the +Kaffir stronghold. Several times the troops were so hardly pressed by +the enemy that they could scarcely claim a victory, and a large number +of officers and men fell. The Cape Mounted Rifles formed part of every +expedition into the Amatolas, and had their full share of fighting. +Ronald had several times distinguished himself, especially in the fight +in the Water Kloof Valley, when Colonel Fordyce, of the 74th, and Carey +and Gordon, two officers of the same regiment, were killed, together +with several of their men, while attacking the enemy in the bush. He was +aware now that his secret was known to the men. He had fancied that +searching and inquisitive glances were directed towards him, and that +there was a change in the demeanour of certain men of his troop, these +being without exception the idlest and worst soldiers. It was Sergeant +Menzies who first spoke to him on the subject. It was after a hard day's +march when, having picketed their horses and eaten their hastily cooked +rations, the two non-commissioned officers lit their pipes and sat down +together at a short distance from the fire. + +"I have been wanting to speak to you, lad, for the last day or two. +There is a story gaining ground through the troop that, whether it is +true or whether it is false, you ought to know." + +"I guessed as much, Menzies," Ronald said. "I think I know what the +story is, and who is the man who has spread it. It is that I bore +another name in England." + +"Yes, that's partly it, lad. I hear that you are rightly Captain +Mervyn." + +"Yes, that's it, Menzies, and that I was tried and acquitted for murder +in England." + +"That's the story, my lad. Of course, it makes no difference to us who +you are, or what they say you have done. We who know you would not +believe you to have committed a murder, much less the murder of a woman, +if all the juries in the world had said you had. Still I thought I would +let you know that the story is going about, so that you might not be +taken aback if you heard it suddenly. Of course, it's no disgrace to be +tried for murder if you are found innocent; it only shows that some +fools have made a mistake, and been proved to be wrong. Still, as it has +been talked about, you ought to know it. There is a lot of feeling in +the regiment about it now, and the fellow who told the story has had a +rough time of it, and there's many a one would put a bullet into him if +he had the chance. What they say is, whether you are Captain Mervyn or +not is nothing to anybody but yourself. If you were tried and acquitted +for this affair it ought to have dropped and nothing more been said +about it, and they hold that anyhow a man belonging to the corps ought +to have held his tongue about anything he knew against another who is +such a credit to us." + +"The man might have held his tongue, perhaps," Ronald said, quietly; +"but I never expected that he would do so. The fellow comes from my +neighbourhood, and bore a bad character. A man who has shot a gamekeeper +would be pretty sure to tell anything he knew to the disadvantage of any +one of superior rank to himself. Well, sergeant, you can only tell any +one who asks you about it that you have questioned me, and that I +admitted at once that the story was true--that I was Captain Mervyn, and +that I was tried for murder and acquitted. Some day I hope my innocence +may be more thoroughly proved than it was on the day I was acquitted. I +daresay he has told the whole of the facts, and I admit them freely." + +"Well, lad, I am glad you have spoken. Of course it will make no +difference, except perhaps to a few men who would be better out of the +corps than in it; and they know too well what the temper of the men is +to venture to show it. I can understand now why you didn't take a +commission. I have often wondered over it, for it seemed to me that it +was just the thing you would have liked. But I see that till this thing +was cleared up you naturally wouldn't like it. Well, I am heartily sorry +for the business, if you don't mind my saying so. I have always been +sure you were an officer before you joined us, and wondered how it was +that you left the army. You must have had a sore time of it. I am sorry +for you from my heart." + +Ronald sat quiet for some time thinking after Sergeant Menzies left him, +then rose and walked towards the fire where the officers were sitting. + +"Can I speak with you a few minutes, Captain Twentyman?" he said. The +officer at once rose. + +"Anything wrong in the troop, sergeant?" + +"No, sir; there is nothing the matter with the troop, it is some +business of my own. May I ask if you have heard anything about me, +Captain Twentyman?" + +"Heard anything! In what way do you mean, sergeant?" + +"Well, sir, as to my private history." + +"No," the officer said, somewhat puzzled. + +"Well, sir, the thing has got about among the men. There is one of them +knew me at home, and he has told the others. Now that it is known to the +men, sooner or later it will be known to the officers, and therefore I +thought it better to come and tell you myself, as captain of my troop." + +"It can be nothing discreditable, I am quite sure, sergeant," the +officer said, kindly. + +"Well, sir, it is discreditable; that is to say, I lie under a heavy +charge, from which I am unable to clear myself. I have been tried for it +and found not guilty, but I am sure that if I had been before a Scotch +jury the verdict would have been not proven, and I left the court +acquitted indeed, but a disgraced and ruined man." + +"What was the charge?" + +"The charge was murder," Ronald said, quietly. Captain Twentyman +started, but replied: + +"Ridiculous. No one who knew you could have thought you guilty for a +moment." + +"I think that none who knew me intimately believed in my guilt, but I am +sure that most people who did not so know me believed me guilty. I +daresay you saw the case in the papers. My real name, Captain Twentyman, +is Ronald Mervyn, and I was captain in the Borderers. I was tried for +the murder of my cousin, Margaret Carne." + +"Good Heavens! Is it possible?" Captain Twentyman exclaimed. "Of course +I remember the case perfectly. We saw it in the English papers somewhere +about a year ago, and it was a general matter of conversation, owing, of +course, to your being in the army. I didn't know what to think of it +then, but now I know you, the idea of your murdering a woman seems +perfectly ridiculous. Well, is there anything you would wish me to do!" + +"No, sir; I only thought you ought to be told. I leave it with you to +mention it to others or not. Perhaps you will think it best to say +nothing until the story gets about. Then you can say you are aware of +it." + +"Yes, I think that would be the best," Captain Twentyman said, after +thinking it over. "I remember that I thought when I read the account of +that trial that you were either one of the most lucky or one of the most +unfortunate men in the world. I see now that it was the latter." + +A few days later, an hour or two before the column was about to march, +a flag hoisted at the post-office tent told the camp that the mail had +arrived, and orderlies from each corps at once hurried there. As they +brought the bags out they were emptied on the ground. Some of the +sergeants set to work to sort the letters, while the officers stood +round and picked out their own as they lay on the grass. + +"Here, Blunt, here's one for you," Sergeant Menzies said, when Ronald +came up. + +Ronald took the letter, and sauntering away a short distance, threw +himself on the ground and opened it. After reading the first line or two +he leaped to his feet again, and took a few steps up and down, with his +breath coming fast, and his hands twitching. Then he stood suddenly +still, took off his cap, bent his head, put his hand over his eyes, and +stood for a few minutes without moving. When he put his cap on again his +face was wet with tears, his hands were trembling so that when he took +the letter again he could scarce read it. A sudden exclamation broke +from him as he came upon the name of Forester. The letter was so long +that the trumpets were sounding by the time he had finished. He folded +it and put it in his tunic, and then strode back with head erect to the +spot where the men of his troop were saddling their horses. As he passed +on among them a sudden impulse seized him, and he stopped before one of +the men and touched him on the shoulder. + +"You villain," he said, "you have been accusing me of murder. You are a +murderer yourself." + +The man's face paled suddenly. + +"I know you, George Forester," Ronald went on, "and I know that you are +guilty. You have to thank the woman who once loved you that I do not at +once hand you over to the provost-marshal to be sent to England for +trial, but for her sake I will let you escape. Make a confession and +sign it, and then go your way where you will, and no search shall be +made for you; if you do not, to-morrow you shall be in the hands of the +police." + +"There is no evidence against me more than against another," the man +said, sullenly. + +"No evidence, you villain?" Ronald said. "Your knife--the knife with +your initials on it--covered with blood, was found by the body." + +The man staggered as if struck. + +"I knew I had lost it," he said, as if to himself, "but I didn't know I +dropped it there." + +At this moment the bugle sounded. + +"I will give you until to-morrow morning to think about it," and Ronald +ran off to mount his horse, which he had saddled before going for his +letter. + +Sergeant Menzies caught sight of his comrade's face as he sprang into +the saddle. + +"Eh, man," he said, "what's come to you? You have good news, haven't +you, of some kind? Your face is transfigured, man!" + +"The best," Ronald said, holding out his hand to his comrade. "I am +proved to be innocent." + +Menzies gave him a firm grip of the hand, and then each took his place +in the ranks. There was desperate fighting that day with the Kaffirs. +The Cape Mounted Rifles, while scouting ahead of the infantry in the +bush, were suddenly attacked by an immense body of Kaffirs. Muskets +cracked, and assegais flew in showers. Several of the men dropped, and +discharging their rifles, the troopers fell back towards the infantry. +As they retreated, Ronald looked back. One of the men of his troop, +whose horse had been shot under him, had been overtaken by the enemy, +and was surrounded by a score of Kaffirs. His cap was off, and Ronald +caught sight of his face. He gave a shout, and in an instant had turned +his horse and dashed towards the group. + +"Come back, man, come back!" Captain Twentyman shouted. "It's madness!" + +But Ronald did not hear him. The man whose confession could alone +absolutely clear him was in the hands of the Kaffirs, and must be saved +at any cost. A moment later he was in the midst of the natives, emptying +his revolvers among them. Forester had sunk on one knee as Ronald, +having emptied one of his revolvers, hurled it in the face of a Kaffir; +leaning over, he caught Forester by the collar, and, with a mighty +effort, lifted and threw him across the saddle in front of him, then +bending over him, he spurred his horse through the natives. Just at this +moment Captain Twentyman and a score of the men rode up at full speed, +drove the Kaffirs back for an instant, and enabled Ronald to rejoin his +lines. Three assegais had struck him, and he reeled in the saddle as, +amidst the cheers of his companions, he rode up. + +"One of you take the wounded man in front of you," Lieutenant Daniels +said, "and carry him to the rear. Thompson, do you jump up behind +Sergeant Blunt, and support him. There is no time to be lost. Quick, +man, these fellows are coming on like furies." + +The exchange was made in half a minute; one of the men took George +Forester before him, another sprang up behind Ronald and held him in his +saddle with one hand, while he took the reins in the other. Then they +rode fast to the rear, just as the leading battalion of infantry came up +at a run and opened fire on the Kaffirs, who, with wild yells, were +pressing on the rear of the cavalry. + +When Ronald recovered his senses he was lying in the ambulance waggon, +and the surgeon was dressing his wounds. + +"That's right, sergeant," he said, cheeringly, "I think you will do. You +have three nasty wounds, but by good luck I don't think any of them are +vital." + +"How is Forester?" Ronald asked. + +"Forester?" the surgeon repeated in surprise, "Whom do you mean, +Blunt?" + +"I mean Jim Smith, sir; his real name was Forester." + +"There is nothing to be done for him," the surgeon said. "Nothing can +save him; he is riddled with spears." + +"Is he conscious?" Ronald asked. + +"No, not at present." + +"Will he become conscious before he dies, sir?" + +"I don't know," the surgeon replied, somewhat puzzled at Ronald's +question. "He may be, but I cannot say." + +"It is everything to me, sir," Ronald said. "I have been accused of a +great crime of which he is the author. He can clear me if he will. All +my future life depends upon his speaking." + +"Then I hope he may be able to speak, Blunt, but at present I can't say +whether he will recover consciousness or not. He is in the waggon here, +and I will let you know directly if there is any change." + +Ronald lay quiet, listening to the firing that gradually became more +distant, showing that the infantry were driving the Kaffirs back into +the bush. Wounded men were brought in fast, and the surgeon and his +assistant were fully occupied. The waggon was halted now, and at +Ronald's request the stretchers upon which he and Forester were lying +were taken out and laid on the grass under the shade of a tree. + +Towards evening, the surgeon, having finished his pressing work, came to +them. He felt George Forester's pulse. + +"He is sinking fast," he said, in reply to Ronald's anxious look. "But I +will see what I can do." + +He poured some brandy between George Forester's lips, and held a bottle +of ammonia to his nose. Presently there was a deep sigh, and then +Forester opened his eyes. For a minute he looked round vaguely, and then +his eye fell upon Ronald. + +"So you got me out of the hands of the Kaffirs, Captain Mervyn," he +said, in a faint voice. "I caught sight of you among them as I went +down. I know they have done for me, but I would rather be buried whole +than hacked into pieces." + +"I did my best for you, Forester," Mervyn said. "I am sorry I was not up +a minute sooner. Now, Forester, you see I have been hit pretty hard, +too; will you do one thing for me? I want you to confess about what I +was speaking to you: it will make all the difference to other people." + +"I may as well tell the truth as not," Forester said; "though I don't +see how it makes much difference." + +"Doctor," Ronald said, "could you kindly send and ask Captain Twentyman +and Lieutenant Daniels to come here at once? I want them to hear." + +George Forester's eyes were closed, and he was breathing faintly when +the two officers, who had ridden up a few minutes before with their +corps, came up to the spot. + +The surgeon again gave the wounded man some strong cordial. + +"Will you write down what he says?" Ronald asked Captain Twentyman. + +The latter took out a note-book and pencil. + +"I make this confession," Forester said, faintly, "at the request of +Captain Mervyn, who risked his life in getting me out from among the +Kaffirs. My real name is George Forester, and at home I live near +Carnesford, in Devonshire. I was one night poaching in Mr. Carne's +woods, with some men from Dareport, when we came upon the keepers. There +was a fight. One of the keepers knocked my gun out of my hand, and as he +raised his stick to knock me on the head, I whipped out my knife, opened +it, and stuck it into him. I didn't mean to kill him, it was just done +in a moment; but he died from it. We ran away. Afterwards I found +that I had lost my knife. I suppose I dropped it. That's all I have to +say." + +"Not all, Forester, not all," said Ronald, who had listened with +impatience to the slowly-uttered words of the wounded man; "not all. It +isn't that, but about the murder of Miss Carne I want you to tell." + +"The murder of Miss Carne," George Forester repeated, slowly. "I know +nothing about that. She made Ruth break it off with me, and I nearly +killed Ruth, and would have killed her if I had had the chance, but I +never had. I was glad when I heard she was killed, but I don't know who +did it." + +"But your knife was found by her body," Ronald said. "You must have done +it, Forester." + +"Murdered Miss Carne!" the man said, half raising himself on his elbow +in surprise. "Never. I swear I had nothing to do with it." + +A rush of blood poured from his mouth, for one of the spears had pierced +his lung, and a moment later George Forester fell back dead. The +disappointment and revulsion of feeling were too great for Ronald +Mervyn, and he fainted. When he recovered, the surgeon was leaning over +him. + +[Illustration: _George Forester's death._] + +"You mustn't talk, lad; you must keep yourself quite quiet, or we shall +have fever setting in, and all sorts of trouble." + +Ronald closed his eyes, and lay back quietly. How could this be? He +thought of Mary Armstrong's letter, of the chain of proofs that had +accumulated against George Forester. They seemed absolutely convincing, +and yet there was no doubting the ring of truth in the last words of the +dying man. His surprise at the accusation was genuine; his assertion of +his innocence absolutely convincing; he had no motive for lying; he was +dying, and he knew it. Besides, the thing had come so suddenly upon him +there could have been no time for him to frame a lie, even if he had +been in a mental condition to do so. Whoever killed Margaret Carne, +Ronald Mervyn was at once convinced that it was not George Forester. +There he lay, thinking for hours over the disappointment that the news +would be to Mary Armstrong, and how it seemed more unlikely than ever +that the mystery would ever be cleared up now. Gradually his thoughts +became more vague, until at last he fell asleep. + +Upon the following day the wounded were sent down under an escort to +King Williamstown, and there for a month Ronald Mervyn lay in hospital. +He had written a few lines to Mary Armstrong, saying that he had been +wounded, but not dangerously, and that she need not be anxious about him +any more, for the Kaffirs were now almost driven from their last +stronghold, and that the fighting would almost certainly be over before +he was fit to mount his horse again. "George Forester is dead," he said. +"He was mortally wounded when fighting bravely against the Kaffirs. I +fear, dear, that your ideas about him were mistaken, and that he, like +myself, has been the victim of circumstantial evidence; but I will tell +you more about this when I write to you next." + +While lying there, Ronald thought over the evidence that had been +collected against George Forester, and debated with himself whether it +should be published, as Mary had proposed. It would, doubtless, be +accepted by the world as proof of Forester's guilt and of his own +innocence; and even the fact that the man, when dying, had denied it, +would weigh for very little with the public, for men proved indisputably +to be guilty often go to the scaffold asserting their innocence to the +last. But would it be right to throw this crime upon the dead man when +he was sure that he was innocent? For Ronald did not doubt for a moment +the truth of the denial. Had he a right, even for the sake of Mary's +happiness and his own, to charge the memory of the dead man with the +burden of this foul crime? Ronald felt that it could not be. The +temptation was strong, but he fought long against it, and at last his +mind was made up. + +"No," he said at last, "I will not do it. George Forester was no doubt a +bad man, but he was not so bad as this. It would be worse to charge his +memory with it than to accuse him if he were alive. In the one case he +might clear himself; in the other he cannot. I cannot clear my name by +fouling that of a dead man." + +And so Ronald at last sat down to write a long letter to Mary Armstrong, +telling her the whole circumstances; the joy with which he received her +news; his conversation with George Forester, which seemed wholly to +confirm her views; the pang of agony he had felt when he saw the man who +he believed could alone clear him, in the hands of the Kaffirs, and his +desperate charge to rescue him; and then he gave the words of the +confession, and expressed his absolute conviction that the dying man had +spoken the truth, and that he was really innocent of Margaret Carne's +murder. + +He then discussed the question of still publishing Ruth Powlett's +statement, giving first the cause of George Forester's enmity against +Margaret Carne, and the threat he had uttered, and then the discovery of +the knife. + +"I fear you will be ashamed of me, Mary, when I tell you that, for a +time, I almost yielded to the temptation of clearing myself at his +expense. But you must make allowance for the strength of the temptation: +on the one side was the thought of my honour restored, and of you won; +on the other, the thought that, now George Forester was dead, this could +not harm him. But, of course, I finally put the temptation aside; honour +purchased at the expense of a dead man's reputation would be dishonour +indeed. Now I can face disgrace, because I know I am innocent. I could +not bear honour when I knew that I had done a dishonourable action; and +I know that I should utterly forfeit your love and esteem did I do so. I +can look you straight in the face now; I could never look you straight +in the face then. Do not grieve too much over the disappointment. We are +now only as we were when I said good-bye to you. I had no hope then that +you would ever succeed in clearing me, and I have no hope now. I have +not got up my strength again yet, and am therefore perhaps just at +present a little more disposed to repine over the disappointment than I +ought to do; but this will wear off when I get in the saddle again. +There will, I think, be no more fighting--at any rate with the Sandilli +Kaffirs--for we hear this morning that they have sent in to beg for +peace, and I am certain we shall be glad enough to grant it, for we have +not much to boast about in the campaign. Of course they will have to pay +a very heavy fine in cattle, and will have to move across to the other +side of the Kei. Equally of course there will be trouble again with them +after a time, when the memory of their losses has somewhat abated. I +fancy a portion of our force will march against the Basutos, whose +attitude has lately been very hostile; but now that the Gaikas have +given in, and we are free to use our whole force against them, it is +scarcely probable they will venture to try conclusions with us. If they +settle down peaceably I shall probably apply for my discharge, and +perhaps go in for farming, or carry out my first idea of joining a party +of traders going up the country, and getting some shooting among the big +game. + +"I know that, disappointed as you will be with the news contained in +this letter, it will be a pleasure to you to tell the girl you have made +your friend, that after all the man she once loved is innocent of this +terrible crime. She must have suffered horribly while she was hiding +what she thought was the most important part of the evidence; now she +will see that she has really done no harm; and as you seem to be really +fond of her, it will, I am sure, be a great pleasure to you to be able +to restore her peace of mind in both these respects. I should think now +that you and your father will not remain any longer at Carnesford, where +neither of you has any fitting society of any sort, but will go and +settle somewhere in your proper position. I would much rather that you +did, for now it seems absolutely certain that nothing further is to be +learned, it would trouble me to think of you wasting your lives at +Carnesford. + +"You said in your last letter that the discovery you had made had +brought you four years nearer to happiness, but I have never said a word +to admit that I should change my mind at the end of the five years that +your father spoke of. Still, I don't know, Mary. I think my position is +stronger by a great deal than it was six months ago. I told my captain +who I was, and all the other officers now know. Most of them came up and +spoke very kindly to me before I started on my way down here, and I am +sure that when I leave the corps they will give me a testimonial, saying +that they are convinced by my behaviour while in the corps that I could +not have been guilty of this crime. I own that I myself am less +sensitive on the subject than I was. One has no time to be morbid while +leading such a life as I have been for the last nine months. +Perhaps----but I will not say any more now. But I think somehow, that, +at the end of the five years, I shall leave the decision in your hands. +It has taken me two or three days to write this letter, for I am not +strong enough to stick to it for more than half an hour at a time; but +as the post goes out this afternoon I must close it now. We have been +expecting a mail from England for some days. It is considerably +overdue, and I need not say how I am longing for another letter from +you. I hear the regiment will be back from the front to-night; men and +horses want a few days' rest before starting on this long march to +Basutoland. I shall be very glad to see them back again. Of course, the +invalids who, like myself, are somewhat pulled down by their wounds, are +disgusted at being kept here. The weather is frightfully hot, and even +in our shirt sleeves we shall be hardly able to enjoy Christmas day." + +The Cape Rifles arrived at King Williamstown an hour after the post had +left, and in the evening the colonel and several of the officers paid a +visit to the hospital to see how their wounded were getting on. Ronald, +who was sitting reading by his bedside, and the other invalids who were +strong enough to be on their feet, at once got up and stood at +attention. Stopping and speaking a few words to each of the men of his +own corps, the colonel came on. "Mervyn," he said, as he and the +officers came up to Ronald, "I want to shake your hand. I have heard +your story from Captain Twentyman, and I wish to tell you, in my own +name and in that of the other officers of the regiment, that we are sure +you have been the victim of some horrible mistake. All of us are +absolutely convinced that a man who has shown such extreme gallantry as +you have, and whose conduct has been so excellent from the day he +joined, is wholly incapable of such a crime as that with which you were +charged. You were, of course, acquitted, but at the same time I think +that it cannot but be a satisfaction for you to know that you have won +the esteem of your officers and your comrades, and that in their eyes +you are free from the slightest taint of that black business. Give me +your hand." + +Ronald was unable to speak; the colonel and all the officers shook him +by the hand, and the former said: "I must have another long talk with +you when we get back from the Basuto business. I have mentioned you very +strongly in regimental orders upon two occasions for extreme gallantry, +and I cannot but think that it would do you some good in the eyes of the +public were a letter signed by me to appear in the English papers, +saying that the Sergeant Blunt of my regiment, who has so signally +distinguished himself, is really Captain Mervyn, who in my opinion and +that of my officers is a cruelly injured man. But we can talk over that +when I see you again." + +After the officer left the room, Ronald Mervyn sat for some time with +his face buried in his hands. The colonel's words had greatly moved him. +Surely such a letter as that which Colonel Somerset had proposed to +write would do much to clear him. He should never think of taking his +own name again or re-entering any society in which he would be likely to +be recognised, but with such a testimonial as that in his favour he +might hope in some quiet place to live down the past, and should he +again be recognised, could still hold up his head with such an +honourable record as this to produce in his favour. Then his thoughts +went back to England. What would Mary and her father say when they read +such a letter in the paper? It would be no proof of his innocence, yet +he felt sure that Mary would insist upon regarding it as such, and would +hold that he had no right to keep her waiting for another four years. +Indeed he acknowledged to himself that if she did so he would have no +right to refuse any longer to permit her to be mistress of her own +fate. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE FIRE AT CARNE'S HOLD. + + +Things went on quietly with Mr. Armstrong and his daughter after the +latter had despatched her letter, saying that Ruth Powlett was ready to +confess the truth respecting George Forester. The excitement of +following up the clue was over, and there was nothing to do until they +heard from Ronald as to how he wished them to proceed. So one morning +Mr. Armstrong came down and told Mary to pack up at once and start with +him at twelve o'clock for London. "We are getting like two owls, and +must wake ourselves up a bit." Mary ran down to the mill to say good-bye +to Ruth, and tell her that she and her father had to go to London for a +short time. They were ready by the time named, for there was little +packing to do, and at twelve o'clock the trap from the "Carne's Arms" +came up to the door, and took them to the station. A month was spent in +London, sight-seeing. By the end of that time both had had enough of +theatres and exhibitions, and returned to Carnesford. + +"Well, what is the news, neighbours?" Mr. Armstrong asked, as he entered +the snuggery on the evening of his return. + +"There is not much news here," Jacob Carey said; "there never is much +news to speak of in Carnesford; but they say things are not going on +well up at The Hold." + +"In what way, Mr. Carey?" + +"Well, for some time there has been a talk that the Squire was getting +strange in his ways. He was never bright and cheerful like Miss +Margaret, but always seemed to be a-thinking, and as often as not when +he rode through here, would take no more notice of you when he passed +than if you hadn't been there. He was always wonderful fond of books +they say, and when a man takes to books, I don't think he is much good +for anything else; but ever since Miss Margaret's death, he has been +queerer than before, and they said he had a way of walking about the +house all hours of the night. So it went on until just lately. Now it +seems he is worse than ever. They can hear him talking to himself, and +laughing in a way as would make you creep. Folks say as the curse of the +Carnes has fallen on him bad, and that he is as mad as his grandfather +was. The women have all left except the old cook, who has got a girl to +stay with her. They lock the door at night, and they have got the men +from the stable to sleep in the house unknown to the master. One day +last week, when Mr. Carne was out for the day, old Hester came down and +saw the parson, and he sent for Dr. Arrowsmith, and they had a quiet +talk over it. You see it is a mighty awkward thing to meddle with. Mr. +Carne has got no relations so far as is known, except Mrs. Mervyn's +daughters, who are away living, I hear, at Hastings, and Captain Mervyn, +who is God knows where. Of course, he is the heir, if the Squire doesn't +marry and have children, and if he were here it would be his business to +interfere and have the Squire looked after or shut up if needs be; but +there don't seem any one to take the matter up now. The doctor told +Hester that he could do nothing without being called in and seeing for +himself that Mr. Carne was out of his mind. The parson said the only +thing she could do was to go to Mr. Volkes, the magistrate, and tell him +she thought there was danger of murder if something wasn't done. Hester +has got plenty of courage, and said she didn't think there was any +danger to her, 'cause the Squire had known her from the time he had +known anything." + +"I don't know," Mr. Armstrong said. "Mad people are often more dangerous +to those they care for than to strangers. Really, this is very serious, +for from what you have told me, the madness of the Carnes is always of a +dangerous kind. One thing is quite evident--Captain Mervyn ought to come +back at once. There have been tragedies enough at Carne's Hold without +another." + +"Ay, and there will be," put in Reuben Claphurst, "as long as Carne's +Hold stands; the curse of the Spanish woman rests upon it." + +"What you say is right enough, Mr. Armstrong," Hiram Powlett agreed. "No +doubt the Miss Mervyns know where their brother is, and could let him +know; but would he come back again? I have always said as how we should +never see Captain Mervyn back again in these parts until the matter of +Miss Carne's death was cleared up." + +Mr. Armstrong sat looking at the fire. "He must be got back," he said. +"If what you say is true, and Mr. Carne's going off his head, he must be +got back." + +Hiram Powlett shook his head. + +"He must come back," Mr. Armstrong repeated; "it's his duty, pleasant or +unpleasant. It may be that he is on his way home now; but if not, it +would hasten him. You look surprised, and no wonder; but I may now tell +you, what I haven't thought it necessary to mention to you before--mind, +you must promise to keep it to yourselves--I met Captain Mervyn out at +the Cape, and made his acquaintance there. He was passing under another +name, but we got to be friends, and he told me his story. I have written +to him once or twice since, and I will write to him now and tell him +that if he hasn't already started for home, it's his duty to do so. I +suppose it was partly his talking to me about this place that made me +come here to see it at first, and then I took to it." + +The surprise of the others at finding that Mr. Armstrong knew Ronald +was very great. "I wonder you didn't mention it before," Jacob Carey +said, giving voice to the common feeling. "We have talked about him so +often, and you never said a word to let us know you had met him." + +"No, and never should have said a word but for this. You will understand +that Captain Mervyn wouldn't want where he was living made a matter of +talk; and though when he told me the story he did not know I was coming +to Carnesford, and so didn't ask me not to mention it, I consider I was +bound to him to say nothing about it. But now that I know he is urgently +required here, I don't see there's occasion any longer to make a secret +of the fact that he is out in South Africa." + +"Yes, I understand, Mr. Armstrong," Hiram Powlett agreed. "Naturally, +when he told you about himself, he did not ask it to be kept a secret, +because he did not know you would meet any one that knowed him. But when +you did meet such, you thought that it was right to say nothing about +it, and I agree with you; but of course this matter of the Squire going +queer in his mind makes all the difference, and I think, as you says, +Captain Mervyn ought to be fetched home. When he has seen the Squire is +properly taken care of, he can go away where he likes." + +"That is so," Jacob Carey agreed. "Mervyn ought to know what is doing +here, and if you can write and tell him that he is wanted you will be +doing a good turn for the Squire as well as for him. And how was the +captain looking, Mr. Armstrong?" + +"He was looking very well when I first knew him," Mr. Armstrong replied; +"but when I saw him last he had got hurt in a brush with the natives but +it was nothing serious, and he was getting over it." + +"The same set as attacked your farm, Mr. Armstrong, as you was telling +us about?" + +"I don't suppose it was the same party, because there were thousands of +them scattered all over the colony, burning and plundering. Captain +Mervyn had a narrow escape from them, and was lucky in getting out of it +as well as he did." + +"They said he was a good fighter," Jacob Carey put in. "The papers said +as he had done some hard fighting with them Afghans, and got praised by +his general." + +"Yes, he's a fine fellow," Mr. Armstrong said, "and, I should say, as +brave as a lion." + +"No signs of the curse working in him?" Hiram Powlett asked, touching +his forehead. "They made a lot of it at the trial about his being +related to the Carnes, and about his being low in spirits sometimes; but +I have seen him scores of times ride through the village when he was a +young chap, and he always looked merry and good-tempered." + +"No," Mr. Armstrong said, emphatically, "Ronald Mervyn's brain is as +healthy and clear as that of any man in England. I am quite sure there +is not the slightest touch of the family malady in him." + +"Maybe not, maybe not," Reuben Claphurst said; "the curse is on The +Hold, and he has nothing to do with The Hold yet. If anything happens to +the Squire, and he comes to be its master, you will see it begin to +work, if not in him, in his children." + +"God forbid!" Mr. Armstrong said, so earnestly that his hearers were +almost startled. "I don't much believe in curses, Mr. Claphurst, though, +of course, I believe in insanity being in some instances hereditary; +but, at the same time, if I were Ronald Mervyn and I inherited Carne's +Hold, I would pull the place down stone by stone, and not leave a +vestige of it standing. Why, to live in a house like that, in which so +many tragedies have taken place, is enough in itself to turn a sane man +into madness." + +"That's just how I should feel," Hiram Powlett said. "Now a stranger who +looked at The Hold would say what a pleasant, open-looking house it was; +but when you took him inside, and told him what had happened there, it +would be enough to give him the creeps. I believe it was being up there +that was the beginning of my daughter's changing so. I never made a +worse job of a thing than I did when I got her up there as Miss Carne's +maid, and yet it was all for her good. And now, neighbours, it's my time +to be off. It's a quarter to nine and that is five minutes later than +usual." + +Mr. Armstrong and Mary sat talking until nearly eleven about what he had +heard about Mr. Carne. She had not been gone upstairs a minute when she +ran down again from her bedroom, which was at the back of the house. + +"Father, there is a light in the sky up at the top of the hill, just +where Carne's Hold lies. I went to the window to draw down the blinds +and it caught my eye at once." + +Mr. Armstrong ran out into the road. + +As Mary had said, there was a glare of light over the trees on the hill, +rising and falling. "Sure enough it's a fire at The Hold," he said, as +he ran in and caught up his hat. Then he hurried down the village, +knocking at each door and shouting, "There is a fire at The Hold!" + +Just as he reached the other end a man on horseback dashed down the +hill, shouting "Fire!" It was one of the grooms at The Hold. + +"Is it at the house?" Mr. Armstrong asked, as he drew up for a moment at +the inn. + +"Yes, it's bursting out from the lower windows; it has got a big hold. I +am going to the station, to telegraph to Plymouth and Exeter for +engines." + +"How about those in the house?" Mr. Armstrong asked. + +"Some of them got out by the back way, and we got some of them out by +ladders. The others are seeing to that. They sent me off at once." + +A minute or two later, men came clattering down the quiet street at a +run, and some of them overtook Mr. Armstrong as he hurried up the hill. + +"Is that you, Mr. Armstrong?" a voice asked behind him. + +"Yes, it's me, Carey." + +"I thought it was," the smith said. "I caught sight of your figure +against the light up there in front. I couldn't help thinking, when you +shouted at my door that there was a fire at The Hold, what we were +talking about this evening, and your saying that if the place was yours +you would pull it down stone by stone. But perhaps we may save it yet. +We shall have a couple of score of men there in a few minutes." + +"I fancy there is not much chance of that, Carey. I spoke to the groom +as he rode through, and he tells me that the fire when he came away was +bursting from several of the lower windows; so it has got a good hold, +and they are not likely to have much water handy." + +"No, that's true enough. There's a big well a hundred feet deep in the +stable-yard, and a force pump, which takes two men to work. It supplied +the house as well as the stables. That's the only water there will be, +and that won't be much good," he added, as, on emerging from the wood, +they suddenly caught sight of the house. + +From the whole of the lower windows in front the flames were bursting +out. + +"It's travelled fast," the smith said. "The dining-room and drawing-room +and library are all on fire." + +"Yes, that's curious, too," Mr. Armstrong remarked. "One would have +thought it would have mounted up to the next floor long before it +travelled so far along on a level. Ah, it's going up to the floor above +now." + +As he spoke a spout of light flame suddenly appeared through the window +over the front door. + +"That's the staircase window, I suppose." + +Two or three minutes' running took them up on to the lawn. + +"I will go and lend a hand at those pumps," Jacob Carey said. + +"It's not the slightest use," Mr. Armstrong replied. "You might as well +try to blow out that fire with your breath as to put it out by throwing +a few pails of water on it. Let us see that every one is out first; +that's the main matter." + +They joined a group of men and women, who were standing looking at the +flames: they were the two women, the groom and gardener, and four or +five men who had already come up from the village. + +The gardener was speaking. + +"It's no use to work at the pumps; there are only four or five pails. If +it was only at one end we might prevent its spreading, but it's got hold +all over." + +"I can't make it out," the groom said. "One of the horses was sick, and +I was down there giving him hot fomentations with my mate. I had been +there perhaps an hour when I saw a light coming out of the drawing-room +window, and I ran up shouting; and then I saw there was a light in the +dining-room and library too. Then I ran round to the back of the house, +and the housekeeper's room there was alight, too. I run in at the +kitchen door and upstairs, and woke the gardeners and got them out. The +place was so full of smoke, it was as much as we could do to get +downstairs. Then we got a long ladder, and put it against Mrs. Wilson's +window, and got her and the girl down. Then we came round this side, and +I got up and broke a pane in Mr. Carne's window and shouted. I could not +make him hear, so I broke another pane and unfastened the window and +lifted it, and went in. I thought he must have been stifled in bed, for +the smoke was as thick as possible, and I had to crawl to the bed. Well, +master wasn't there. I felt about to see if he was on the floor, but I +could find nothing of him; the door was open, and I expect he must have +been woke up by the smoke, and went out to see what was the matter, and +perhaps got choked by it. I know I was nearly choked myself by the time +I got my head out of the window again." + +"He may have got to the upper storey," Jacob Carey said. "We had best +keep a look-out round the house, so as to be ready to put the ladder up +at once if we see him. There is nothing else to do, is there, Mr. +Armstrong? You are accustomed to all sorts of troubles, and may know +best what we ought to do." + +"I can't think of anything," Mr. Armstrong replied. "No, if he's not in +his own room it seems hopeless to search for him. You see the flames +have broken out from several windows of the first floor. My own idea is, +from what you say as to the fire having spread into all the rooms on the +ground floor when you discovered it, that the poor gentleman must have +set fire to the house himself in half-a-dozen places, and as likely as +not may have been suffocated almost at once." + +"I shouldn't wonder if that was it," the smith said. "It's not natural +that the fire should have spread all over the lower part of the house in +such a short time. You know what we were saying this evening. It's just +the sort of trick for a madman to play." + +The smith was interrupted by a sudden exclamation from those standing +round, followed by a shout of "There he is!" A dormer window on the roof +of the oldest part of the house opened, and a figure stepped out on to a +low parapet that ran round the house. + +"All right, sir, all right," Jacob Carey shouted out at the top of his +voice; "we will have a ladder for you in no time," and he and a score of +men ran to fetch the long ladder that was leaning against the side of +the house. + +It was soon lowered, brought round, and placed against the parapet close +to where Reginald Carne was standing. + +"Now then, sir," Jacob Carey shouted again, "it's all right. You can +come down safe enough." + +But Mr. Carne paid no attention to the shout; he was pacing up and down +along the parapet and was tossing his arms about in a strange manner. +Suddenly he turned, seized the ladder, and pushed it violently sideways +along the parapet. Those below vainly tried to keep it steady. + +"Look out!" the smith shouted, "leave go and clear out, or he will have +it down on you." + +The men holding the ladder dashed away from the foot, and the ladder +fell with a crash upon the ground, while a peal of wild laughter broke +out from above. + +"The Squire has gone clean mad," Jacob Carey said to Mr. Armstrong, as +he joined him; "either the fire has driven him mad, or, what is more +likely, he went mad first and then lit the fire. However, we must save +him if we can." + +"Look there, Carey, if we lifted the ladder and put it up between that +chimney and the window next to it, he can't slide it either one way or +another, as he did before; and he certainly could not throw it +backwards, if we plant the foot well away from the house." + +"That's right enough," the smith agreed, "but if he won't come down, he +won't." + +"We must go up and make him, Carey. If you and I and a couple of strong +men go up together, we ought to be able to master him. Of course, we +must take up rope with us, and bind him and then lower him down the +ladder." + +"We might do that," the smith said; "but supposing the ladder catches +fire?" + +"The fire won't touch it at that point, Carey. You see, it will go up +just between the rows of windows." + +"So it will; anyhow, we might take up a long rope, if they have got one, +so as to lower ourselves down if the ladder does catch fire." + +He spoke to one of the grooms. "Have you got plenty of rope?" + +"Plenty," the man said. "I will fetch you a couple of long coils from +the stables. Here, one of you, come along with me." + +"Now we will get the ladder up," Mr. Armstrong said. + +With the aid of a dozen men--for the whole village was now upon the +spot--the ladder was again lifted, and dropped so that the upper end +fell between a chimney and a dormer window. Reginald Carne again +attempted to cast it down, but a number of men hung on to the lower part +of the ladder, and he was unable to lift it far enough to get it out of +the niche into which it had fallen. Then he turned round and shook his +fist at the crowd. Something flashed in the light of the flames, and +half-a-dozen voices exclaimed: "He has got a knife." At this moment the +clergyman and doctor arrived together on the scene. + +"What is to be done, doctor?" Jacob Carey asked. "I don't mind going up, +with some others to back me, to have a tussle with him on the roof; but +he would knife us one by one as we got up to the parapet, and, though I +don't think as I am a coward, I don't care about chucking away my life, +which is of use to my wife and children, to save that of a madman whose +life ain't of no use to hisself or any one else." + +"No, I don't see why you should, Carey," the doctor said; "the best plan +will be to keep away from the ladder for the present. Perhaps, when he +thinks you are not going to make the attempt, he will move away, and +then we can get up there before he sees us. I will go first because he +knows me, and my influence may quiet him, but we had better arm +ourselves with sticks so as to knock that knife out of his hand." + +Reginald Carne stood guarding the ladder for a few minutes. By this time +the whole of the first floor was in a blaze, the flames rushing out with +fury from every window. Seeing that he did not move, the doctor said at +last: + +"Well, we must risk it. Give me a stick, Carey, and we will make a try, +anyhow." + +"You can't go now," Mr. Armstrong said, suddenly; "look, the ladder is +alight." + +This was indeed the case. The flames had not absolutely touched it, but +the heat was so great that it had been slowly charring, and a light +flame had now suddenly appeared, and in a moment ten or twelve feet of +the ladder were on fire. + +"It is of no use," the doctor said, dropping the stick that Jacob Carey +had just cut for him in the shrubbery; "we can do nothing for him now." + +There was scarcely a word spoken among the little crowd of spectators on +the lawn. Every moment was adding to their number as Mr. Volkes, the +magistrate, and several other gentlemen rode up on horseback, and men +came up from all the farmhouses and cottages within a circle of a couple +of miles. All sorts of suggestions were made, but only to be rejected. + +"It is one thing to save a man who wants to be saved," the doctor said, +"but quite another thing to save one who is determined not to be saved." +This was in answer to a proposal to fasten a stone on to a light line +and throw it up on to the roof. "The man is evidently as mad as a March +hare." + +There could be no doubt of that. Reginald Carne, seeing that his +assailants, as he considered them, could not get at him, was making +gestures of triumph and derision at them. Now from the second floor +windows, the flames began to spurt out, the glass clattering down on to +the gravel below. + +"Oh, father, what a pitiful sight!" + +Mr. Armstrong turned. "What on earth brings you here, Mary? Run away, +child. This is a dreadful business, and it will be haunting you." + +"I have seen more shocking things, father," she said, quietly. "Why did +you not bring me up with you at first? I ran upstairs to get my hat and +shawl, and when I came back you were gone. Of course, I came up at once, +just as every one else in the village has done, only I would not come +and bother you when I thought you were going to do something. But +there's nothing to be done now but wait. This must surely be the end of +the curse of Carne's Hold, father?" + +"It ought to be, my dear. Yes, let us earnestly hope that it all +terminates here, for your sake and every one else's. Mervyn will be +master of Carne's Hold now." + +"Not of Carne's Hold, thank God!" the girl said with a shudder. "There +will be nothing left of Carne's Hold to-morrow but a heap of ruins. The +place will be destroyed before he becomes its master. It all ends +together, The Hold and the direct line of the Carnes." + +"Let us turn and walk away, Mary. This is too dreadful." + +"I can't," and Mary shook her head. "I wish I could, father, but it has +a sort of horrible fascination. Look at all these upturned faces; it is +the same with them all. You can see that there is not one who would not +go if he could." + +The doctor again went forward towards the house. + +"Carne, my dear fellow," he shouted, "jump off at the end of the house +into the shrubs on the beds there, it's your only chance." + +Again the mocking laugh was heard above the roar of the fire. The flames +were breaking out through the roof now in several places. + +"It will not be long before the roof falls through," Mr. Armstrong said. +"Come away, Mary. I will not let you stay here any longer." Putting his +arms round his daughter, he led her away. She had not gone ten steps +when there was a tremendous crash. She looked back; the roof was gone +and a volcano of flame and sparks was rising from the shell of the +house. Against these the figure of the madman stood out black and clear. +Then a sudden puff of wind whirled the flames round him. He staggered, +made a half step backwards, and fell, while a cry went up from the +crowd. + +"It's all over, dear," Mr. Armstrong said, releasing his hold of his +daughter; and then with Jacob Carey and three or four other men, he ran +forward to the house, lifted the body of Reginald Carne and carried it +beyond danger of a falling wall. + +Dr. Arrowsmith, the clergyman, and several of the neighbours at once +hurried to the spot. + +"He is not dead," Jacob Carey said, as they came up, "he groaned when we +lifted him; he fell on to one of the little flower beds between the +windows." + +"No, his heart is beating," the doctor said, as he knelt beside him and +felt his pulse, "but I fear he must have sustained fatal injuries." He +took out a flask that he had, thinking that a cordial might be required, +slipped into his pocket just before starting for the scene of the fire, +and poured a few drops of spirit between Reginald Carne's lips. + +There was a faint groan, and a minute later he opened his eyes. He +looked round in a bewildered way, but when his eyes fell on the burning +house, a look of satisfaction passed over his face. + +"I have done it," he said. "I have broken the curse of Carne's Hold." + +The doctor stood up for a moment and said to one of the grooms standing +close by: "Get a stable door off its hinges and bring it here; we will +carry him into the gardener's cottage." + +As soon as Reginald Carne was taken away, Mr. Armstrong and his daughter +returned to the village. A few of the villagers followed their example; +but for most of them the fascination of watching the flames that were +leaping far above the shell of the house was too great to be resisted, +and it was not until the day dawned and the flames smouldered to a deep, +quiet glow, that the crowd began to disperse. + +"It has been a terrible scene," Mary said, as she walked with her father +down the hill. + +"A terrible scene, child, and it would have been just as well if you had +stayed at home and slept comfortably. If I had thought that you were +going to be so foolish, I would not have gone myself." + +"You know very well, father, you could not have helped yourself. You +could not have sat quietly in our cottage with the flames dancing up +above the tree tops there, if you had tried ever so much. Well, somehow +I am glad that The Hold is destroyed; but of course I am sorry for Mr. +Carne's death, for I suppose he will die." + +"I don't think you need be sorry, Mary. Far better to die even like that +than to live till old age within the walls of a madhouse." + +"Yes; but it was not the death, it was the horror of it." + +"There was no horror in his case, my dear. He felt nothing but a wild +joy in the mischief he had done. I do not suppose that he had a shadow +of fear of death. He exulted both in the destruction of his house and in +our inability to get at him. I really do not think he is to be pitied, +although it was a terrible sight to see him. No doubt he was carrying +out a long-cherished idea. A thing of this sort does not develop all at +once. He may for years have been brooding over this unhappy taint of +insanity in his blood, and have persuaded himself that with the +destruction of the house, what the people here foolishly call the curse +of the Carnes would be at an end." + +"But surely you don't believe anything about the curse, father?" + +"Not much, Mary; the curse was not upon the house, but in the insanity +that the Spanish ancestors of the Carnes introduced into the family. +Still I don't know, although you may think me weak-minded, that I can +assert conscientiously that I do not believe there is anything in the +curse itself. One has heard of such things, and certainly the history of +the Carnes would almost seem to justify the belief. Ronald and his two +sisters are, it seems, the last of those who have the Carnes' blood in +their veins, and his misfortunes and their unhappiness do not seem to +have anything whatever to do with the question of insanity. At any rate, +dear, I, like you, am glad that The Hold is destroyed. I must own I +should not have liked the thought of your ever becoming its mistress, +and indeed I have more than once thought that before I handed you over +to Ronald, whenever that event might take place, I should insist on his +making me a promise that should he survive his cousin and come into the +Carnes' estates, he would never take you to live there. Well, this will +be a new incident for you to write to him about. You ought to feel +thankful for that; for you would otherwise have found it very difficult +to fill your letters till you hear from him what course he is going to +adopt regarding this business of Ruth Powlett and Forester." + +Mary smiled quietly to herself under cover of the darkness, for indeed +she found by no means the difficulty her father supposed in filling her +letters. "It is nearly four o'clock," she said, as she entered the house +and struck a light. "It is hardly worth while going to bed, father." + +"All right, my dear, you can please yourself. Now it is all over I +acknowledge I feel both cold and sleepy, and you will see nothing more +of me until between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning." + +"Oh, if you go to bed of course I shall not stop up by myself," Mary +said; "but I am convinced that I shall not close an eye." + +"And I am equally convinced, Mary, that in a little over half an hour +you will be sound asleep;" and in the morning Mary acknowledged that his +anticipation had been verified. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +CLEARED AT LAST. + + +Reginald Carne was laid down on the table in the gardener's cottage. The +doctor could now examine him, and whispered to the clergyman that both +his legs were broken, and that he had no doubt whatever he had received +terrible internal injuries. "I don't think he will live till morning." + +Presently there was a knock at the door. "Can I come in?" Mr. Volkes +asked, when the doctor opened it. "I have known the poor fellow from the +time he was a child. Is he sensible?" + +"He is sensible in a way," the doctor said. "That is, I believe he knows +perfectly well what we are saying, but he has several times laughed that +strange, cunning laugh that is almost peculiar to the insane." + +"Well, at any rate, I will speak to him," said Mr. Volkes. + +"Do you know me, Reginald?" he went on in a clear voice as he came up to +the side of the table. + +Reginald Carne nodded, and again a low mocking laugh came from his lips. +"You thought you were very clever, Volkes, mighty clever; but I tricked +you." + +"You tricked me, did you?" the magistrate said, cheerfully. "How did you +trick me?" + +"You thought, and they all thought, the dull-headed fools, that Ronald +Mervyn killed Margaret. Ho! ho! I cheated you all nicely." + +A glance of surprise passed between his listeners. Mr. Volkes signed to +the others not to speak, and then went on: + +"So he did, Reginald, so he did--though we couldn't prove it; you did +not trick us there." + +"I did," Reginald Carne said, angrily. "I killed her myself." + +[Illustration: "'_I did,' Reginald Carne said, angrily--'I killed her +myself._'"] + +An exclamation of horror broke from the three listeners. Mr. Volkes was +the first to recover himself. + +"Nonsense, Reginald, you are dreaming." + +"I am not," he said, vehemently. "I had thought it all out over and over +again. I was always thinking of it. I wanted to put an end to this +curse. It's been going on too long, and it troubled me. I had made up my +mind to kill her long before; but I might not have done it when I did if +I had not heard Ronald threatening her, and another man heard it too. +This was a grand opportunity, you see. It was as much as I could do to +sit quietly at dinner with that naval fellow, and to know that it was +all right. It was glorious, for it would be killing two birds with one +stone. I wanted to get rid of Ronald as much as I did of her, so that +the curse might come to an end, and now it was all so easy. I had only +to drop the glove he had left behind him on the grass close below her +window, and after that quarrel he would be suspected and hung. Nothing +could have worked better for me; and then, too, I thought it would +puzzle them to give them another scent to work on. There was another man +had a grudge against Margaret; that was Forester, the poacher. I had +picked up his knife in the wood just where he had killed my keeper, and +afterwards I heard him telling his sweetheart, who was Margaret's maid, +that he would kill Margaret for persuading her to give him up; so I +dropped the knife by the side of the bed, and I thought that one or +other of them would be sure to be hung; but somehow that didn't come +right. I believe the girl hid the knife, only I didn't dare question her +about it. But that didn't matter; the fellow would be hung one way or +the other for killing my keeper. But the other was a glorious thing, and +I chuckled over it. It was hard to look calm and grave when I was giving +evidence against Ronald, and when all the fools were thinking that he +did it, when it was me all the time. Didn't I do it cleverly, Volkes? I +hid her things where the gardener was sure to find them the first time +he dug up the bed. They let Ronald off, but he will not come back again, +and I don't suppose he will ever marry; so there is an end of the curse +as far as he's concerned. Then I waited a bit, but the devil was always +at my elbow, telling me to finish the good work, and last night I did +it. I put the candle to the curtains in all the rooms downstairs, and +stood and watched them blaze up until it got too hot to stay any longer. +It was a grand sight, and I could hear the Spanish woman laughing and +shouting. She has had her way with us for a long time, but now it's all +over; the curse of the Carnes is played out. There, didn't I cheat you +nicely, Volkes, you and all the others? You never suspected me, not one +of you. I used to keep grave all day, but at night when I was in my +room alone I laughed for hours to think of all the dogs on the wrong +scent." + +His three listeners looked at each other silently. + +"It was a grand thing to put an end to the curse," Reginald Carne +rambled on. "It was no pain to her; and if she had lived, the trouble +would have come upon her children." + +"You know that you are hurt beyond chance of recovery, Carne," the +magistrate said, gravely. "It is a terrible story that you have told us. +I think that you ought to put it down on paper, so that other people may +know how it was done; because, you see, at present, an innocent man is +suspected." + +"What do I care? That is nothing to me one way or the other. I am glad I +have succeeded in frightening Ronald Mervyn away, and I hope he will +never come back again. You don't suppose I am going to help to bring him +home!" + +Mr. Volkes saw that he had made a mistake. "Yes, I quite understand you +don't want him back," he said, soothingly. "I thought, perhaps, that you +would like people to know how you had sacrificed yourself to put an end +to the curse, and how cleverly you had managed to deceive every one. +People would never believe us if we were to tell them. They would say +either that you did not know what you were talking about, or that it was +empty boasting on your part." + +"They may think what they like," he said, sullenly; "it is nothing to me +what they think." + +There was a change in the tone of his voice that caused the doctor to +put his hand on his wrist again. + +"Let me give you a few drops more of brandy, Carne." + +"No, I will not," the dying man said. "I suppose you want to keep me +alive to get some more out of me, but you won't. I won't speak again." + +The others held a whispered conversation in the corner. + +"He is going fast," the doctor said. "It is a marvel that his voice is +as strong as it is. He certainly won't live till morning. It is likely +he may die within an hour." + +"I will ask him another question or two," Mr. Volkes said. "If we could +but get something to corroborate his story, it would be invaluable." + +But Reginald Carne spoke no more. + +He heard what was said to him, for he laughed the same malicious laugh +that had thrilled the crowd as he stood on the parapet, but it was low +and feeble now. In hopes that he might yet change his mind, Mr. Volkes +and the clergyman remained with Dr. Arrowsmith for another hour. At the +end of that time Reginald Carne startled them by speaking again, clearly +and distinctly: + +"I tell you it's all over, you witch; you have done us harm enough, but +I have beaten you. It was you against me, and I have won. There is +nothing more for you to do here, and you can go to your place. Carne's +Hold is down, and the curse is broken." + +As he ceased speaking the doctor moved quietly up to the side of the +stretcher, put his finger on his wrist, and stood there for a minute, +then he bent down and listened. + +"He is gone," he said, "the poor fellow is dead." The three gentlemen +went outside the cottage; some of the people were standing near waiting +for news of Reginald Carne's state. "Mr. Carne has just died," the +doctor said, as he went up to them. "Will one of you find Mrs. Wilson +and tell her to bring another woman with her and see to him? In the +morning I will make arrangements to have him taken down to the village." + +"What do you think we had better do about this, Dr. Arrowsmith?" Mr. +Volkes asked as he rejoined them. "Do you believe this story?" + +"Unquestionably I do," the doctor replied. "I believe every word of it." + +"But the man was mad, doctor." + +"Yes, he was mad and has been so for a long time in my opinion, but that +makes no difference whatever in my confidence that he was speaking +truly. Confessions of this kind from a madman are generally true; their +cunning is prodigious, and as long as they wish to conceal a fact it is +next to impossible to get it from them; but when, as in the present +case, they are proud of their cleverness and of the success with which +they have fooled other people, they will tell everything. You see their +ideas of right and wrong are entirely upset; the real lunatic is +unconscious of having committed a crime, and is inclined even to glory +in it." + +"I wish we could have got him to sign," the magistrate said. + +"I am sure he could not have held the pen," Dr. Arrowsmith replied. "I +will certify to that effect, and as we three all heard the confession, I +think that if you draw it out and we sign it as witnesses, it will have +just as good an effect as if he had written it himself." + +"There was one part, doctor, that surprised me even more than the +rest--that was the part relating to the man Forester. I don't believe a +soul suspected him of being in any way connected with the crime. At +least we heard nothing of a knife being found, nor, of course, of the +quarrel between Forester and the girl; Ruth Powlett, was it not?" + +"No; that is all new to us," the doctor said. + +"I think the best way would be to see her in the morning. She may not +like to confess that she concealed the knife, if she did so. Of course, +if she does, it will be an invaluable confirmation of his story, and +will show conclusively that his confession was not a mere delusion of a +madman's brain." + +"Yes, indeed," the doctor agreed, "that would clench the matter +altogether, and I am almost certain you will find that what he has said +is true. The girl was in my hands a short time before Miss Carne's +death. They said she had had a fall, but to my mind it seemed more like +a severe mental shock. Then after Miss Carne's death she was very ill +again, and there was something about her that puzzled me a good deal. +For instance, she insisted upon remaining in court until the verdict was +given, and that at a time when she was so ill she could scarcely stand. +She was so obstinate over the matter that it completely puzzled me; but +if what Carne said was true, and she had the knowledge of something that +would have gone very far to prove Ronald Mervyn's innocence, the matter +is explained. The only difficulty before us is to get her to speak, +because, of course, she cannot do so without laying herself open to a +charge--I don't mean a criminal charge, but a moral one--of having +suppressed evidence in a manner that concerned a man's life. I think the +best plan will be for us to meet at your house, Mr. Volkes, at eleven +o'clock to-morrow. I will go into the village before that, and will +bring Ruth Powlett up in my gig, and if you will allow me I will do the +talking to her. I have had her a good deal in my hands for the last +year, and I think she has confidence in me, and will perhaps answer me +more freely than she would you as a magistrate." + +"Very likely she would, doctor. Let the arrangement stand as you +propose." + +The next morning, at half-past ten, Dr. Arrowsmith drove up in his gig +to the mill. Ruth came to the door. + +"Ruth," he said, "I want you to put on your bonnet and shawl and let me +drive you a short distance. I have something particular that I want to +talk to you about, and want to have you to myself for a bit." + +A good deal surprised, Ruth went into the house and reappeared in two or +three minutes warmly wrapped up. + +"That's right," the doctor said; "jump in." + +Ruth Powlett was the first to speak. + +"I suppose it is true, sir, that poor Mr. Carne is dead?" + +"Yes, he died at two o'clock. Ruth, I have a curious thing to tell you +about him; but I will wait until we get through the village; I have no +doubt that it will surprise you as much as it surprised me." + +Ruth said nothing until they had crossed the bridge over the Dare. + +"What is it?" she asked at last. + +"Well, Ruth, at present it is only known to Mr. Vickery, Mr. Volkes, and +myself, and, whatever happens, I want you to say nothing about it until +I give you leave. Now, Ruth, I have some sort of idea that what I am +going to tell you will relieve your mind of a burden." + +Ruth turned pale. + +"Relieve my mind, sir!" she repeated. + +"Yes, Ruth; I may be wrong, and if I am I can only say beforehand that I +am sorry; but I have an idea that you suspect, and have for a long time +suspected, that George Forester murdered Miss Carne." + +Ruth did not speak, but looking down, the doctor saw by the pallor of +her cheeks and the expression of her face that his supposition was +correct. + +"I think, Ruth, that has been your idea. If so, I can relieve your mind. +Mr. Carne before his death confessed that he murdered his sister." Ruth +gave a start and a cry. She reeled in her seat, and would have fallen +had not the doctor thrown his arm round her. "Steady, my child, steady," +he said; "this is a surprise to you, I have no doubt, and, whatever it +is to others, probably a joyful one." + +Ruth broke into a violent fit of sobbing. The doctor did not attempt to +check her, but when she gradually recovered he said, "That is strange +news, is it not, Ruth?" + +"But did he mean it, sir?" she asked. "Did he know what he was saying +when he said so?" + +"He knew perfectly well, Ruth; he told us a long story, but I will not +tell you what it is now. We shall be at Mr. Volkes's in a minute, and we +shall find Mr. Vickery there, and I want you to tell us what you know +about it before you hear what Mr. Carne's story was. I do hope that you +will tell us everything you know. Only in that way can we clear Captain +Mervyn." + +"I will tell you everything I know, sir," Ruth said, quietly; "I told +Miss Armstrong five weeks ago, and was only waiting till she heard from +some one she has written to before telling it to every one." + +The gig now drew up at the door of the magistrate's house, and Dr. +Arrowsmith led Ruth into the sitting-room, where Mr. Volkes and the +clergyman were awaiting her. + +"Sit down here, Ruth," the doctor said, handing her a chair. "Now, +gentlemen, I may tell you first that I have told Miss Powlett that Mr. +Carne has confessed that he killed his sister. I have not told her a +single word more. It was, of course, of the highest importance that she +should not know the nature of his story before telling you her own. She +has expressed her willingness to tell you all she knows. Now, Miss +Powlett, will you please begin in your own way." + +Quietly and steadily Ruth Powlett told her story, beginning with the +conversation that she had had with Margaret Carne relative to her +breaking off the engagement; she described her interview with George +Forester, his threats against Miss Carne and his attack on herself; and +then told how she had found his knife by the bedside on the morning of +the murder. She said she knew now that she had done very wrong to +conceal it, but that she had done it for the sake of George Forester's +father. Lastly, she told how she had gone to the trial taking the knife +with her, firmly resolved that in case a verdict of guilty should be +returned against Captain Mervyn, she would come forward, produce the +knife, and tell all that she knew. + +Her three hearers exchanged many looks of satisfaction as she went on. + +When she had finished, Mr. Volkes said: "We are very much obliged to you +for your story, Miss Powlett. Happily it agrees precisely with that told +us by Mr. Carne. It seems that he was in the wood and overheard your +quarrel with Forester, and the threats against Miss Carne suggested to +him the idea of throwing the blame upon Forester, and to do this he +placed the knife that he had found on the scene of the poaching affray a +short time before, in his sister's room. After this confirmation given +by your story, there can be no doubt at all that Mr. Carne's confession +was genuine, and that it will completely clear Captain Mervyn of the +suspicion of having caused his cousin's death. We shall be obliged, I am +afraid, to make your story public also, in order to confirm his +statement. This will naturally cause you much pain and some +unpleasantness, and I hope you will accept that as the inevitable +consequence of the course--which you yourself see has been a very +mistaken one--you pursued in this affair." + +"I am prepared for that, sir," Ruth said, quietly; "I had already told +Miss Armstrong about it, and was ready to come here to tell you the +story even when I thought that by so doing I should have to denounce +George Forester as a murderer. I am so rejoiced that he is now proved to +be innocent, I can very well bear what may be said about me." + +"But why not have come and told me at once when you made up your mind to +do so?" Mr. Volkes asked. "Why delay it?" + +"I was waiting, sir; I was waiting--but----" and she paused, "that +secret is not my own; but I think, sir, that if you will go to Mr. +Armstrong, he will be able to tell you something you will be glad to +know." + +"Who is Mr. Armstrong?" Mr. Volkes asked, in some surprise. + +"He is a gentleman who has been living in the village for the last four +or five months, sir. I do not think there can be any harm in my telling +you that he knows where Captain Mervyn is to be found." + +"That is the very information we want at present. We must get Ronald +Mervyn back among us as soon as we can; he has indeed been very hardly +treated in the matter. I think, Miss Powlett, we will get you to put +your story into the form of a sworn information. We may as well draw it +up at once, and that will save you the trouble of coming up here again." + +This was accordingly done, and Ruth Powlett walked back to the village, +leaving Mr. Volkes and the two other gentlemen to draw up a formal +report of the confession made by Reginald Carne. + +Ruth Powlett went straight to the cottage occupied by the Armstrongs. + +"What is your news, Ruth?" Mary said, as she entered. "I can see by your +face that you have something important to tell us." + +"I have, indeed," Ruth replied. "I have just been up to Mr. Volkes, the +magistrate, and have told him all I knew." + +"What induced you to do that, Ruth?" Mary asked, in surprise. "I thought +you had quite settled to say nothing about it until we heard from +Captain Mervyn." + +"They knew all about it before I told them, and only sent for me to +confirm the story. Mr. Carne, before he died last night, made a full +confession before Mr. Volkes, Dr. Arrowsmith, and Mr. Vickery. It was he +who in his madness killed his sister, and who placed George Forester's +knife by the bedside, and Captain Mervyn's glove on the grass, to throw +suspicion on them. Captain Mervyn and George Forester are both +innocent." + +The news was so sudden and unexpected that it was some time before Mary +Armstrong could sufficiently recover herself to ask questions. The news +that Ronald was proved to be innocent was not so startling as it would +have been had she not previously believed that they were already in a +position to clear him; but the knowledge that his innocence would now be +publicly proclaimed in a day or two, filled her with happiness. She was +glad, too, for Ruth's sake that George Forester had not committed this +terrible crime; and yet there was a slight feeling of disappointment +that she herself had had no hand in clearing her lover, and that this +had come about in an entirely different way to what she had expected. + +Mr. Volkes and the clergyman called that afternoon, and had a long talk +with Mr. Armstrong, and the following day a thrill of excitement was +caused throughout the country by the publication in the papers of the +confession of Reginald Carne. Dr. Arrowsmith certified that, although +Reginald Carne was unquestionably insane, and probably had been so for +some years, he had no hesitation in saying that he was perfectly +conscious at the time he made the confession, and that the statement +might be believed as implicitly as if made by a wholly sane man. In +addition to this certificate and the confession, the three gentlemen +signed a joint declaration to the effect that the narrative was +absolutely confirmed by other facts, especially by the statement made by +Miss Powlett, without her being in any way aware of the confession of +Reginald Carne. This, they pointed out, fully confirmed his story on all +points, and could leave no shadow of doubt in the minds of any one that +Reginald Carne had, under the influence of madness, taken his sister's +life, and had then, with the cunning so commonly present in insanity, +thrown suspicion upon two wholly innocent persons. + +The newspapers, commenting on the story, remarked strongly upon the +cruel injustice that had been inflicted upon Captain Mervyn, and +expressed the hope that he would soon return to take his place again in +the county, uniting in his person the estate of the Mervyns and the +Carnes. There were some expressions of strong reprobation at the +concealment by Ruth Powlett of the knife she had found in Miss Carne's +room. One of the papers, however, admitted that "Perhaps altogether it +is fortunate now that the girl concealed them. Had the facts now +published in her statement been given, they would at once have convinced +every one that Captain Mervyn did not commit the crime with which he was +charged, but at the same time they might have brought another innocent +man to the scaffold. Upon the whole, then, although her conduct in +concealing this important news is most reprehensible, it must be +admitted that, in the interests of justice, it is fortunate she kept +silent." + +The sensation caused in Carnesford by the publication of this news was +tremendous. Fortunately, Ruth Powlett was not there to become the centre +of talk, for she had that morning been carried off by Mr. Armstrong and +Mary to stay with them for a while in London. The cottage was shut up, +and upon the following day a cart arrived from Plymouth to carry off the +furniture, which had been only hired by the month. The evening before +leaving, Mr. Armstrong had intercepted Hiram Powlett on his way to the +snuggery, and taking him up to the cottage, where Ruth was spending the +evening with Mary, informed him on the way of the strange discovery that +had been made, and Ruth's share in it. + +"I trust, Mr. Powlett," he said, "that you will not be angry with your +daughter. She was placed in a terrible position, having the option of +either denouncing as a murderer a man she had loved, or permitting +another to lie under the imputation of guilt. And you must remember that +she was prepared to come forward at the trial and tell the truth about +the matter had Captain Mervyn been found guilty. No doubt she acted +wrongly; but she has suffered terribly, and I think that as my daughter +has forgiven her for allowing Captain Mervyn to suffer for her silence, +you may also do so." + +Hiram Powlett had uttered many expressions of surprise and concern as he +listened to the story. It seemed to him very terrible that his girl +should have all the time been keeping a secret of such vital importance. +He now said in a tone of surprise: + +"I don't understand you, Mr. Armstrong, about your daughter. What has +Miss Mary to do with forgiving? How has she been injured?" + +"I don't know that upon the whole she has been injured," Mr. Armstrong +said. "At least, I am sure she does not consider so. Still, I think she +has something to forgive, for the fact is she is engaged to be married +to Captain Mervyn, and would have been his wife a year ago had he not +been resolved never to marry so long as this cloud remained over him." + +Hiram Powlett was so greatly surprised at this news that his thoughts +were for a moment diverted from Ruth's misdemeanours. Captain Mervyn, +the owner of the Hall, and now of the Carne estate also, was a very +great man in the eyes of the people of Carnesford, and the news that he +was engaged to be married to the girl who was a friend of his +daughter's, and who had several times taken tea at the mill, was almost +bewildering to him. + +"I dare say you are surprised," Mr. Armstrong said, quietly, "but you +see we are not exactly what we appear. We came here somewhat under false +colours, to try and find out about this murder, and in the hope we might +discover some proofs of Captain Mervyn's innocence. Now we have been +successful we shall go up to London and there await Captain Mervyn's +return. I have been talking it over with my daughter, and if you and +Mrs. Powlett offer no opposition, we propose to take Ruth away to stay +with us for two or three months. It will be pleasant for all parties. +Your girl and mine are fond of each other, and Ruth will be a nice +companion for Mary. The change will do your daughter good. She has for a +long time been suffering greatly, and fresh scenes and objects of +interest will take her mind off the past, and lastly, by the time she +returns here, the gossip and talk that will arise when all this is +known, will have died away." + +"It is very good of you to think of it, Mr. Armstrong," Hiram Powlett +said, "and it will be a fine thing for Ruth. Of course, she has been +wrong, very wrong; but she must have suffered very much all these +months. I told you I thought she had something on her mind, but I never +thought it was like this. Well, well, I shan't say anything to her. I +never was good at scolding her when she was a child, and I think she has +been severely punished for this already." + +"I think so too," Mr. Armstrong agreed; "and now let us go in. I told +her that I should speak to you this evening, and she must be waiting +anxiously for you." + +When they entered, Ruth rose timidly. + +"Oh! father"--she began. + +"There, don't say any more about it, Ruth," Hiram interrupted, taking +her tenderly in his arms. "My poor girl, you have had a hard time of it. +Why didn't you tell me all at first?" + +"I could not, father," she sobbed. "You know--you know--how you were set +against him." + +"Well, that is so, Ruth, and I should have been still more set against +him if I had known the rights of that fall of yours upon the hill; but +there, we won't say anything more about it. You have been punished for +your fault, child, and I hope that when you come back again to us from +the jaunt that Mr. Armstrong is going to be good enough to take you, +you will be just as you were before all this trouble came upon you." + +And so the next morning Mr. Armstrong, his daughter, and Ruth went up to +London. + +Two months later, Mary received Ronald's letter, telling of George +Forester's death, and of his own disappointment at finding his hopes of +clearing himself dashed to the ground. Mary broke the news of Forester's +death to Ruth; she received it quietly. + +"I am sorry," she said, "but he has been nothing to me for a long time +now, and he could never have been anything to me again. I am sorry," she +repeated, wiping her eyes, "that the boy I played with is gone, but for +the man, I think it is, perhaps, better so. He died fighting bravely, +and as a soldier should. I fear he would never have made a good man had +he lived." + +A month later, Ronald himself returned. The war was virtually over when +he received the letters from Mary Armstrong and Mr. Volkes, telling him +that he was cleared at last, and he had no trouble in obtaining his +discharge at once. He received the heartiest congratulations from his +former officers, and a perfect ovation from the men, as he said good-bye +to them. At Plymouth he received letters telling him where Mary and her +father were staying in London, and on landing he at once proceeded to +town by train, after telegraphing to his sisters to meet him there. + +A fortnight later a quiet wedding took place, Ronald's sisters and Ruth +Powlett acting as bridesmaids, an honour that, when Ruth returned home +immediately after the ceremony, effectually silenced the tongues of the +village gossips. Ronald Mervyn and his wife went for a month's tour on +the Continent, Mr. Armstrong joining them in Paris a few days after the +marriage; while the Miss Mervyns went down to Devonshire to prepare the +Hall for the reception of its owner. Colonel Somerset had not forgotten +his promise, and two or three days after Ronald's return, the letter +stating how Captain Mervyn had distinguished himself during the Kaffir +War under the name of Sergeant Blunt went the round of the papers. + +The skeleton walls of Carne's Hold were at once pulled down, the garden +was rooted up, and the whole site planted with trees, and this was by +Ronald's orders carried out so expeditiously that when he returned with +his bride all trace of The Hold had vanished. + +Never in the memory of South Devonshire had there been such rejoicings +as those that greeted Ronald Mervyn and his wife on their return home. +The tenantry of his two estates, now joined, all assembled at the +station, and scarce a man from Carnesford was absent. Triumphal arches +had been erected, and the gentry for many miles round drove in to +receive them, as an expression at once of their satisfaction that Ronald +Mervyn had been cleared from the cloud that hung over him, and, to some +extent, of their regret that they should ever for a moment have believed +him guilty. + +Reuben Claphurst's prediction was verified. With the destruction of +Carne's Hold the curse of the Spanish lady ceased to work, and no trace +of the family scourge has ever shown itself in the blood of the somewhat +numerous family of Ronald Mervyn. The tragic story is now almost +forgotten, and it is only among the inhabitants of the village at the +foot of the hill that the story of the curse of Carne's Hold is +sometimes related. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Curse of Carne's Hold, by G. A. 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