Carnacs Folly

Carnac's Folly, by Gilbert
Parker, Entire

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#126 in our series by Gilbert Parker
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Title: Carnac's Folly, Complete
Author: Gilbert Parker
Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6299] [Yes, we are more than

one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 19,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CARNAC'S
FOLLY, BY PARKER, Entire ***

This eBook was produced by David Widger

CARNAC'S FOLLY
By Gilbert Parker

CONTENTS:
BOOK I I. IN THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD II. ELEVEN YEARS
PASS III. CARNAC'S RETURN IV. THE HOUSE ON THE HILL V.
CARNAC AS MANAGER VI. LUKE TARBOE HAS AN OFFER VII.
"AT OUR PRICE" VIII. JOHN GRIER MAKES ANOTHER OFFER
IX. THE PUZZLE X. DENZIL TELLS HIS STORY XI. CARNAC'S
TALK WITH HIS MOTHER XII. CARNAC SAYS GOOD-BYE
BOOK II XIII. CARNAC'S RETURN XIV. THE HOUSE OF THE
THREE TREES XV. CARNAC AND JUNTA XVI. JOHN GRIER
MAKES A JOURNEY XVII. THE READING OF THE WILL
BOOK III XVIII. A GREAT DECISION XIX. CARNAC BECOMES
A CANDIDATE XX. JUNIA AND TARBOE HEAR THE NEWS

XXI. THE SECRET MEETING XXII. POINT TO POINT XXIII. THE
MAN WHO WOULD NOT XXIV. THE BLUE PAPER XXV.
DENZIL TAKES A HAND IN THE GAME XXVI. THE
CHALLENGE XXVII. EXIT XXVIII. A WOMAN WRITES A
LETTER XXIX. CARNAC AND HIS MOTHER XXX. TARBOE
HAS A DREAM XXXI. THIS WAY HOME XXXII. 'HALVES,
PARDNER, HALVES'

BOOK I
CHAPTER I
IN THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD
"Carnac! Carnac! Come and catch me, Carnac!" It was a day of perfect
summer and hope and happiness in the sweet, wild world behind the
near woods and the far circle of sky and pine and hemlock. The voice
that called was young and vibrant, and had in it the simple, true soul of
things. It had the clearness of a bugle-call-ample and full of life and all
life's possibilities. It laughed; it challenged; it decoyed.
Carnac heard the summons and did his best to catch the girl in the
wood by the tumbling stream, where he had for many an hour emptied
out his wayward heart; where he had seen his father's logs and timbers
caught in jams, hunched up on rocky ledges, held by the prong of a
rock, where man's purpose could, apparently, avail so little. Then he
had watched the black-bearded river-drivers with their pike-poles and
their levers loose the key-logs of the bunch, and the tumbling citizens
of the woods and streams toss away down the current to the wider
waters below. He was only a lad of fourteen, and the girl was only eight,
but she--Junia--was as spry and graceful a being as ever woke the
echoes of a forest.
He was only fourteen, but already he had visions and dreamed dreams.
His father--John Grier--was the great lumber-king of Canada, and Junia
was the child of a lawyer who had done little with his life, but had had

great joy of his two daughters, who were dear to him beyond telling.
Carnac was one of Nature's freaks or accidents. He was physically
strong and daring, but, as a boy, mentally he lacked concentration and
decision, though very clever. He was led from thing to thing like a ray
of errant light, and he did not put a hand on himself, as old Denzil, the
partly deformed servant of Junia's home, said of him on occasion; and
Denzil was a man of parts.
Denzil was not far from the two when Junia made her appeal and
challenge. He loved the girl exceedingly, and he loved Carnac little less,
though in a different way. Denzil was French of the French, with habit
of mind and character wholly his own.
Denzil's head was squat upon his shoulders, and his long, handsome
body was also squat, because his legs were as short, proportionately,