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Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 583
Millie Pant
Kanad Ray
Tarun K. Sharma
Sanyog Rawat
Anirban Bandyopadhyay Editors

Soft
Computing:
Theories and
Applications
Proceedings of SoCTA 2016, Volume 1
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing

Volume 583

Series editor
Janusz Kacprzyk, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
e-mail: kacprzyk@ibspan.waw.pl
The series “Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” contains publications on theory,
applications, and design methods of Intelligent Systems and Intelligent Computing. Virtually
all disciplines such as engineering, natural sciences, computer and information science, ICT,
economics, business, e-commerce, environment, healthcare, life science are covered. The list
of topics spans all the areas of modern intelligent systems and computing.
The publications within “Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” are primarily
textbooks and proceedings of important conferences, symposia and congresses. They cover
significant recent developments in the field, both of a foundational and applicable character.
An important characteristic feature of the series is the short publication time and world-wide
distribution. This permits a rapid and broad dissemination of research results.

Advisory Board
Chairman
Nikhil R. Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
e-mail: nikhil@isical.ac.in
Members
Rafael Bello Perez, Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
e-mail: rbellop@uclv.edu.cu
Emilio S. Corchado, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
e-mail: escorchado@usal.es
Hani Hagras, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
e-mail: hani@essex.ac.uk
László T. Kóczy, Széchenyi István University, Győr, Hungary
e-mail: koczy@sze.hu
Vladik Kreinovich, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, USA
e-mail: vladik@utep.edu
Chin-Teng Lin, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
e-mail: ctlin@mail.nctu.edu.tw
Jie Lu, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
e-mail: Jie.Lu@uts.edu.au
Patricia Melin, Tijuana Institute of Technology, Tijuana, Mexico
e-mail: epmelin@hafsamx.org
Nadia Nedjah, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
e-mail: nadia@eng.uerj.br
Ngoc Thanh Nguyen, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland
e-mail: Ngoc-Thanh.Nguyen@pwr.edu.pl
Jun Wang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
e-mail: jwang@mae.cuhk.edu.hk

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11156

Millie Pant Kanad Ray
•

Tarun K. Sharma Sanyog Rawat

•

Anirban Bandyopadhyay
Editors

Soft Computing: Theories

and Applications
Proceedings of SoCTA 2016, Volume 1

123
Editors
Millie Pant Sanyog Rawat
Department of Applied Science Department of Electronics
and Engineering and Communication Engineering
IIT Roorkee SEEC, Manipal University Jaipur
Saharanpur Jaipur, Rajasthan
India India

Kanad Ray Anirban Bandyopadhyay

Department of Physics Surface Characterization Group, NIMS
Amity School of Applied Sciences, Amity Nano Characterization Unit, Advanced Key
University Rajasthan Technologies Division
Jaipur, Rajasthan Tsukuba, Ibaraki
India Japan

Tarun K. Sharma
Department of Computer Science
and Engineering
Amity School of Engineering
and Technology, Amity University
Rajasthan
Jaipur, Rajasthan
India

ISSN 2194-5357 ISSN 2194-5365 (electronic)

Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing
ISBN 978-981-10-5686-4 ISBN 978-981-10-5687-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5687-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017947482

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore
Preface

It is a matter of pride to introduce the first international conference in the series of

“Soft Computing: Theories and Applications (SoCTA)”, which is a joint effort of
researchers from Machine Intelligence Lab, USA, and the researchers and Faculty
members from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee; Amity University
Rajasthan.
The maiden conference took place in the historic city of Jaipur at the campus of
research-driven university, Amity University Rajasthan. The conference stimulated
discussions on various emerging trends, innovation, practices, and applications in
the field of Soft Computing.
This book that we wish to bring forth with great pleasure is an encapsulation of
149 research papers, presented during the three-day international conference. We
hope that the initiative will be found informative and interesting to those who are
keen to learn on technologies that address to the challenges of the exponentially
growing information in the core and allied fields of Soft Computing.
We are thankful to the authors of the research papers for their valuable contri-
bution in the conference and for bringing forth significant research and literature
across the field of Soft Computing.
The editors also express their sincere gratitude to SoCTA 2016 Patron, Plenary
Speakers, Keynote Speakers, Reviewers, Programme Committee Members,
International Advisory Committee and Local Organizing Committee, Sponsors
without whose support the support and quality of the conference could not be
maintained.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Prof. Sanghamitra
Bandyopadhyay, Director, ISI Kolkata, for gracing the occasion as the Chief Guest
for the Inaugural Session and delivering a Plenary talk.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Anuj Saxena, Officer on
Special Duty, Chief Minister’s Advisory Council, Govt. of Rajasthan, for gracing
the occasion as the Chief Guest for the Valedictory Session.
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Nirupam Chakraborti,
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; Prof. Ujjwal Maulik, Jadavpur
University; Prof. Kumkum Garg, Manipal University Jaipur; Dr. Eduardo Lugo,

v
vi Preface

Université de Montréal; Prof. Lalit Garg, University of Malta for delivering invited
lectures.
We express our special thanks to Prof. Ajith Abraham, Director, MIR Labs,
USA, for being a General Chair and finding time to come to Jaipur amid his very
busy schedule.
We are grateful to Prof. W. Selvamurthy and Ambassador (Retd.)
R.M. Aggarwal for their benign cooperation and support.
A special mention of thanks is due to our student volunteers for the spirit and
enthusiasm they had shown throughout the duration of the event.
We express special thanks to Springer and its team for the valuable support in
the publication of the proceedings.
With great fervor, we wish to bring together researchers and practitioners in the
field of Soft Computing year after year to explore new avenues in the field.

Saharanpur, India Dr. Millie Pant

Jaipur, India Dr. Kanad Ray
Jaipur, India Dr. Tarun K. Sharma
Jaipur, India Dr. Sanyog Rawat
Tsukuba, Japan Dr. Anirban Bandyopadhyay
Organizing Committee

Patrons-in-Chief

Dr. Ashok K. Chauhan, Founder President, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation

(RBEF)
Dr. Aseem Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University Rajasthan

Patron

Prof. (Dr.) S.K. Dube, Vice Chancellor, AUR

Co-patron

Prof. (Dr.) S.L. Kothari, Pro Vice Chancellor, AUR

General Chair

Prof. (Dr.) Ajith Abraham, Director, MIR Labs, USA

Dr. Millie Pant, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Prof. (Dr.) Kanad Ray, Amity University Rajasthan

vii
viii Organizing Committee

Program Chairs

Dr. Tarun K. Sharma, Amity University Rajasthan

Dr. Sanyog Rawat, Manipal University Jaipur

Organizing Chair

Prof. D.D. Shukla, Amity University Rajasthan

Prof. Jagdish Prasad, Amity University Rajasthan

Finance Chair

Brig. (Retd) S.K. Sareen, Amity University Rajasthan

Mr. Sunil Bhargawa, Amity University Rajasthan

Conference Proceedings and Printing & Publication Chair

Dr. Millie Pant, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Prof. (Dr.) Kanad Ray, Amity University Rajasthan
Dr. Tarun K. Sharma, Amity University Rajasthan
Dr. Sanyog Rawat, Manipal University Jaipur
Dr. Anirban Bandoypadhyay, NIMS, Japan

Best Paper and Best Ph.D. Thesis Chair

Prof. S.C. Sharma, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Prof. K.K. Sharma, MNIT, Jaipur
Dr. Anirban Bandoypadhyay, NIMS, Japan

Technical and Special Sessions Chair

Dr. Musrrat Ali, Glocal University Saharanpur

Dr. Sushil Kumar, Amity University Uttar Pradesh
Organizing Committee ix

Publicity Chair

Dr. Pravesh Kumar, Jaypee University Noida

Mr. Jitendra Rajpurohit, Amity University Rajasthan
Mr. Anil Saroliya, Amity University Rajasthan
Dr. Divya Prakash, Amity University Rajasthan
Mr. Anurag Tripathi, Arya, Jaipur

Registration Chair

Mr. Amit Hirawat, Amity University Rajasthan

Mr. Jitendra Rajpurohit, Amity University Rajasthan

Outcome Committee

Prof. Kanad Ray, Amity University Rajasthan

Dr. Tarun K. Sharma, Amity University Rajasthan
Prof. (Dr.) P.V.S. Raju, Amity University Rajasthan

Web Administrator

Mr. Chitreshh Banerjee, Amity University Rajasthan

Reporting

Dr. Ratnadeep Roy, Amity University Rajasthan

Ms. Pooja Parnami, Amity University Rajasthan

Hospitality Chair

Mr. Vikas Chauhan, Amity University Rajasthan

Ms. Preeti Gupta, Amity University Rajasthan
Dr. Divya Prakash, Amity University Rajasthan
x Organizing Committee

Mr. Jitendra Rajpurohit, Amity University Rajasthan

Mr. Amit Chaurasia, Amity University Rajasthan
Mr. Deepak Panwar, Amity University Rajasthan

Local Organizing Committee

Prof. Upendra Mishra, Amity University Rajasthan

Dr. Swapnesh Taterth, Amity University Rajasthan
Ms. Parul Pathak, JECRC Jaipur
Mr. Anurag Tripathi, Arya, Jaipur
Mr. Ashwani Yadav, Amity University Rajasthan
Ms. Vaishali Yadav, Amity University Rajasthan
Ms. Bhawana Sharma, Amity University Rajasthan
Ms. Pallavi Sharma, Amity University Rajasthan
Mr. Abhay Sharma, Amity University Rajasthan
Dr. Irshad Ansari, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Mr. Bilal, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Mr. Nathan Singh, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Mr. Sunil K. Jauhar, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Ms. Meenu Singh, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Mr. Het, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

International Advisory Board

Aboul Ella Hassanien, University of Cairo, Egypt

Adel Alimi, University of Sfax, Tunisia
Aditya Ghose, University of Wollongong, Australia
André Ponce de Leon F de Carvalho, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Ashley Paupiah, Amity Mauritius
Bruno Apolloni, University of Milano, Italy
Francesco Marcelloni, University of Pisa, Italy
Francisco Herrera, University of Granada, Spain
Imre J. Rudas, Obuda University, Hungary
Javier Montero, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
Jun Wang, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Naren Sukurdeep, Amity Mauritius
Mo Jamshidi, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
Sang-Yong Han, Chung-Ang University, Korea
Sebastián Ventura, University of Cordoba, Spain
Organizing Committee xi

Sebastian Basterrech, Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic

Witold Pedrycz, University of Alberta, Canada

National Advisory Committee

Ankush Mittal, Dehradun

Aruna Tiwari, IIT Indore
Ashish Verma, IIT Guwahati
Ashok Deshpande, Pune
Ashok Kumar Singh, DST, New Delhi
B.K. Das, Delhi University, India
C. Thangaraj, IIT Roorkee, India
D. Gnanaraj Thomas, Madras Christian College, Chennai
D. Nagesh Kumar, IISc., Bangalore
Debasish Ghose, IISc., Bangalore
Deepti, AHEC, IIT Roorkee
Dharmdutt, Saharanpur Campus, IIT Roorkee
Ghanshyam Singh Thakur, MANET Bhopal
Himani Gupta, IIFT, Delhi
Kanti S. Swarup, IIT Chennai
M.P. Biswal, IIT Kharagpur
Manoj Kumar Tiwari, IIT Kharagpur
N.R. Pal, ISI, Kolkata
Nirupam Chakraborti, IIT Kharagpur
P.C. Jha, Delhi University
Pankaj Gupta, Delhi University
Punam Bedi, University of Delhi
Raju George, (IIST), Trivandrum
Rama Mehta, NIH IIT Roorkee
Rama Sushil, Dehradun
Ravindra Gudi, IIT Bombay
Steven Fernendes, Sahyadri College of Engineering & Management, Mangaluru,
Karnataka
Contents

Modified Critical Path and Top-Level Attributes (MCPTL)-Based

Task Scheduling Algorithm in Parallel Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ranjit Rajak, Diwakar Shukla and Abdul Alim
Critical Path Problem for Scheduling Using Genetic Algorithm . . . . . . . 15
Harsh Bhasin and Nandeesh Gupta
A Robust Digital Image Watermarking Algorithm Using DWT
and SVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Bandana Yadav, Ashish Kumar and Yogendera Kumar
A Novel and Secure Multiparty Key Exchange Scheme Using
Trilinear Pairing Map Based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography . . . . . . . . 37
Manoj Kumar and Pratik Gupta
A Comparative Analysis of Various Vulnerabilities Occur
in Google Chrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Saloni Manhas and Swapnesh Taterh
Secure Framework for Data Security in Cloud Computing . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Nishit Mishra, Tarun Kumar Sharma, Varun Sharma and Vrince Vimal
An Improved Spider Monkey Optimization Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Viren Swami, Sandeep Kumar and Sanjay Jain
Neural Network-Based Prediction of Productivity Parameters . . . . . . . . 83
Jayant P. Giri, Pallavi J. Giri and Rajkumar Chadge
Rigorous Data Analysis and Performance Evaluation of Indian
Classical Raga Using RapidMiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Akhilesh K. Sharma and Prakash Ramani
EPQ Model with Product Stewardship Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Pratiksha Saxena, Chaman Singh and Kamna Sharma

xiii
xiv Contents

New Arithmetic Operations in Inverse of Triskaidecagonal

Fuzzy Number Using Alpha Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
A. Rajkumar and D. Helen
New Arithmetic Operations of Triskaidecagonal Fuzzy Number
Using Alpha Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
A. Rajkumar and D. Helen
Loss and Cost Minimization with Enhancement of Voltage Profile
of Distribution Systems Using a Modified Differential Evolution
Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
S. Mandal, K.K. Mandal and B. Tudu
Performance Analysis of Two Multi-antennas Relays Cooperation
with Hybrid Relaying Scheme in the Absence of Direct Link for
Cooperative Wireless Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Sunil Pattepu
The Use of Soft Computing Technique of Decision Tree in Selection
of Appropriate Statistical Test For Hypothesis Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Munish Sabharwal
Integration of GIS, Spatial Data Mining, and Fuzzy Logic
for Agricultural Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Mainaz Faridi, Seema Verma and Saurabh Mukherjee
Hybrid Micro-Generation Scheme Suitable for Wide Speed Range
and Grid Isolated Remote Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Radhey Shyam Meena, Mukesh Kumar Lodha, A.S. Parira
and Nitin Gupta
A Model Framework for Enhancing Document Clustering
Through Side Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Kajal R. Motwani and B.D. Jitkar
Patient-Specific Modeling for Pattern Identification in Clinical
Events Using Data Mining Models and Evolutionary Computing . . . . . . 209
Sourabh Yadav and Anil Saroliya
Centric-Oriented Novel Image Watermarking Technique
Based on DWT and SVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Somanshi Ojha, Abhay Sharma and Rekha Chaturvedi
Is Open-Source Software Valuable for Software Defect Prediction
of Proprietary Software and Vice Versa? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Misha Kakkar, Sarika Jain, Abhay Bansal and P.S. Grover
ANN-Based Modeling for Flood Routing Through Gated Spillways . . . . 237
Pallavi J. Giri and A.R. Gajbhiye
Contents xv

Teaching–Learning-Based Optimization on Hadoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

S.M. Jagdeo, A.J. Umbarkar and P.D. Sheth
Design and Analysis of Broadband Microstrip Antenna
Using LTCC for Wireless Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Parul Pathak (Rawat) and P.K. Singhal
An OTSU-Discrete Wavelet Transform Based Secure
Watermark Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Devendra Somwanshi, Mahima Asthana and Archika Agarwal
Analysis and Parameter Estimation of Microstrip Circular
Patch Antennas Using Artificial Neural Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Monika Srivastava, Savita Saini and Anita Thakur
Identification of Top-Ranked Features Using Consensus Affinity
of State-of-the-Art Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Barnali Sahu, Satchidananda Dehuri and Alok Kumar Jagadev
Soil Temperature Influencing Evaporation Estimation Using
Data-Driven Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Narhari D. Chaudhari, Neha N. Chaudhari, Ankush R. Pendhari
and Milind M. Thombre
Vibrational Frequencies of Parallelogram Plate with Circular
Variations in Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Amit Sharma
Impact of Dense Network in MANET Routing Protocols AODV
and DSDV Comparative Analysis Through NS3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Girish Paliwal and Swapnesh Taterh
Design and Development of Intelligent AGV Using Computer
Vision and Artificial Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Saurin Sheth, Anand Ajmera, Arpit Sharma, Shivang Patel
and Chintan Kathrecha
Study and Comparative Analysis of Various Image Spamming
Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Jasvinder Kumar, Swapnesh Taterh and Deepali Kamnthania
DTN-Enabled Routing Protocols and Their Potential Influence
on Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Vijander Singh and G.L. Saini
Evaluation of a Thermal Image for Pedestrian Modeling
Using the Least-Action Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
S. Mejia, J.E. Lugo, R. Doti and J. Faubert
xvi Contents

On Comparing Performance of Conventional Fuzzy System

with Recurrent Fuzzy System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Anuli Dass and Smriti Srivastava
Analytical Study of Intruder Detection System in Big Data
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Ahmed Faud Aldubai, Vikas T. Humbe and Santosh S. Chowhan
Effect of Intrinsic Parameters on Dynamics of STN Model
in Parkinson Disease: A Sensitivity-Based Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Jyotsna Singh, Phool Singh and Vikas Malik
Emotion Recognition via EEG Using Neural Network Classifier . . . . . . . 429
Rashima Mahajan
Trust-Enhanced Multi-criteria Recommender System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Arpit Goswami, Pragya Dwivedi and Vibhor Kant
Application of PSO Clustering for Selection of Chemical
Interface Materials for Sensor Array Electronic Nose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
T. Sonamani Singh and R.D.S. Yadava
Reliability Assessment of Object-Oriented Software System
Using Multi-Criteria Analysis Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
Chahat Sharma and Sanjay Kumar Dubey
An Extensive Survey on Energy Optimization Techniques
Based on Simultaneous Wireless Data and Energy Transfer
to Wireless Sensor Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Ankit Gambhir and Rajeev Arya
Panorama Generation Using Feature-Based Mosaicing
and Modified Graph-Cut Blending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
Achala Pandey and Umesh C. Pati
Design of Semantic Data Model for Agriculture Domain:
An Indian Prospective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
Poonam Jatwani and Pradeep Tomar
Taguchi-Fuzzy Inference System (TFIS) to Optimize Process
Parameters for Turning AISI 4340 Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Prashant D. Kamble, Atul C. Waghmare, Ramesh D. Askhedkar
and Shilpa B. Sahare
Application of Fuzzy Multi-criteria Approach to Assess
the Water Quality of River Ganges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
R. Srinivas and Ajit Pratap Singh
Contents xvii

Hodgkin–Huxley Model Revisited to Incorporate the Physical

Parameters Affected by Anesthesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
Suman Bhatia, Phool Singh and Prabha Sharma
Symmetric Wavelet Analysis Toward MRI Image Compression . . . . . . . 533
E. Soni and R. Mahajan
RBFNN Equalizer Using Shuffled Frog-Leaping Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . 549
Padma Charan Sahu, Sunita Panda, Siba Prasada Panigrahi
and K. Rarvathi
Efficient Multiprocessor Scheduling Using Water
Cycle Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Sasmita Kumari Nayak, Sasmita Kumari Padhy
and Chandra Sekhar Panda
Equalizer Modeling Using FFA Trained Neural Networks . . . . . . . . . . . 569
Pradyumna Mohapatra, Sunita Panda and Siba Prasada Panigrahi
Quantum Particle Swarm Optimization Tuned Artificial Neural
Network Equalizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
Gyanesh Das, Sunita Panda and Sasmita Kumari Padhy
Complexity Analysis of Multiuser Detection Schemes Based
on Sphere Decoder for MIMO Wireless Communication System . . . . . . 587
Sakar Gupta and Sunita Gupta
Question Classification Using a Knowledge-Based Semantic Kernel . . . . 599
Mudasir Mohd and Rana Hashmy
Integrating Six-Sigma and Theory of Constraint for Manufacturing
Process: A Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Chiranjib Bhowmik, Sachin Gangwar and Amitava Ray
SumItUp: A Hybrid Single-Document Text Summarizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
Iram Khurshid Bhat, Mudasir Mohd and Rana Hashmy
A Novel Locally and Globally Tuned Biogeography-based
Optimization Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635
Parimal Kumar Giri, Sagar S. De and Satchidananda Dehuri
Improved Meta-Heuristic Technique for Test Case Prioritization . . . . . . 647
Deepak Panwar, Pradeep Tomar, Harshvardhan Harsh
and Mohammad Husnain Siddique
Modified Gbest Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
Pawan Bhambu, Sangeeta Sharma and Sandeep Kumar
Mathematical Study of Queue System with Impatient Customers
Under Fuzzy Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679
Reeta Bhardwaj, T.P. Singh and Vijay Kumar
xviii Contents

Multi-item Fixed Charged Solid Shipment Problem

with Type-2 Fuzzy Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689
Dhiman Dutta and Mausumi Sen
Capturing Performance Requirements of Real-Time Systems
Using UML/MARTE Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703
Disha Khakhar and Ashalatha Nayak
On the Security of Certificateless Aggregate Signature Scheme
in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
Pankaj Kumar and Vishnu Sharma
Fuzzy Transportation Problem with Generalized
Triangular-Trapezoidal Fuzzy Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723
Rajesh Kumar Saini, Atul Sangal and Om Prakash
Review Study of Navigation Systems for Indian Regional
Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735
Kanta Prasad Sharma and Ramesh C. Poonia
Adaptation of Binary Pigeon-Inspired Algorithm for Solving
Multidimensional Knapsack Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743
Asaju La’aro Bolaji, Balogun Sulaiman Babatunde
and Peter Bamidele Shola
Performance Evaluation and Statistical Analysis of AUR-Chord
Algorithm with Default Working of Structured P2P Overlay
Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753
Anil Saroliya, Upendra Mishra and Ajay Rana
Multiscale LMMSE-Based Statistical Estimation
for Image Denoising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761
Rajesh Kumar Gupta, Milind Anand and Anita Bai
Coarse-to-Fine Registration of Remote Sensing Optical Images
Using SIFT and SPSA Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 771
Sourabh Paul and Umesh C. Pati
Review on Human Activity Recognition Using Soft Computing . . . . . . . 783
Rashim Bhardwaj, Kirti Dang, Subhash Chand Gupta and Sushil Kumar
Solving Sudoku Puzzles Using Evolutionary Techniques—A
Systematic Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791
Deepti Bala Mishra, Rajashree Mishra, Kedar Nath Das
and Arup Abhinna Acharya
Energy-Efficient Straight Robotic Assembly Line Using
Metaheuristic Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803
Janardhanan Mukund Nilakantan, S.G. Ponnambalam and Peter Nielsen
Contents xix

Soft Computing of Credit Risk of Bond Portfolios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815

Ravindran Ramasamy, Bavani Chandra Kumar and Siti Balqis Mohd Saldi
A Decision Model to Predict Clinical Stage of Bladder Cancer . . . . . . . . 829
Archana Purwar, Sandeep Kumar Singh and Pawan Kesarwani
Dynamic 9  9 Substitution-Boxes Using Chaos-Based Heuristic
Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839
Musheer Ahmad, Farooq Seeru, Ahmed Masihuddin Siddiqi
and Sarfaraz Masood
Opposition-Based Learning Embedded Shuffled Frog-Leaping
Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
Tarun Kumar Sharma and Millie Pant
Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863
About the Editors

Dr. Millie Pant is an associate professor in the Department of Paper Technology,

Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) in India. A well-known
figure in the field of swarm intelligence and evolutionary algorithms, she has
published several research papers in respected national and international journals.

Dr. Kanad Ray is a professor of Physics at the Department of Physics at the

Amity School of Applied Sciences, Amity University Rajasthan (AUR), Jaipur. In
an academic career spanning over 19 years, he has published and presented research
papers in several national and international journals and conferences in India and
abroad. He has authored a book on the Electromagnetic Field Theory. Dr. Ray’s
current research areas of interest include cognition, communication, electromag-
netic field theory, antenna and wave propagation, microwave, computational
biology, and applied physics.

Dr. Tarun K. Sharma has a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence as well as MCA and
MBA degrees and is currently associated with the Amity University Rajasthan
(AUR) in Jaipur. His research interests encompass swarm intelligence,
nature-inspired algorithms, and their applications in software engineering, inven-
tory systems, and image processing. He has published more than 60 research papers
in international journals and conferences. He has over 13 years of teaching expe-
rience and has also been involved in organizing international conferences. He is a
certified internal auditor and a member of the Machine Intelligence Research
(MIR) Labs, WA, USA and Soft Computing Research Society, India.

Dr. Sanyog Rawat is presently associated with the Department of Electronics and
Communication Engineering, SEEC, Manipal University Jaipur, Jaipur, India. He
holds a B.E. in Electronics and Communication, an M.Tech. in Microwave
Engineering and Ph.D. in Planar Antennas. Dr. Rawat has been involved in orga-
nizing various workshops on “LabVIEW” and antenna designs and simulations
using FEKO. He has taught various subjects, including electrical science, circuits

xxi
xxii About the Editors

and system, communication system, microprocessor systems, microwave devices,

antenna theory and design, advanced microwave engineering and digital circuits.

Dr. Anirban Bandyopadhyay is a Senior Scientist in the National Institute for

Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Japan. Ph.D. from Indian Association for the
Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata 2005, on supramolecular electronics.
During 2005–2008, he was selected as Independent Researcher, ICYS Research
Fellow in the International Center for Young Scientists (ICYS), NIMS, Japan, he
worked on brain-like bio-processor building. In 2007, he started as permanent
Scientist in NIMS, working on the cavity resonator model of human brain and
brain-like organic jelly. During 2013–2014, he was a visiting professor in
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He has received many honors
such as Hitachi Science and Technology award 2010, Inamori Foundation award
2011–2012, Kurata Foundation Award, Inamori Foundation Fellow (2011–), Sewa
Society International member, Japan, etc.
Geometric phase space model of a human brain argues to replace Turing tape
with a fractome tape and built a new geometric-musical language which is made to
operate that tape. Built prime metric has to replace space–time metric. Designed and
built multiple machines and technologies include: (1) angstrom probe for neuron
signals, (2) dielectric imaging of neuron firing, (3) single protein and its complex
structure’s resonant imaging, and (4) fourth circuit element Hinductor. A new
frequency fractal model is built to represent biological machines. His group has
designed and synthesized several forms of organic brain jelly (programmable
matter) that learns, programs, and solves problems by itself for futuristic robots
during 2000–2014, also several software simulators that write complex codes by
itself.
Modified Critical Path and Top-Level
Attributes (MCPTL)-Based Task
Scheduling Algorithm in Parallel
Computing

Ranjit Rajak, Diwakar Shukla and Abdul Alim

Abstract The parallel processing provides speedup to the computational tasks

usually not solved efficiently by a sequential machine. It is basically, a transfor-
mation of an application program into task graph where tasks of the graph are
allocated to the available processors. In this paper, we have proposed a new task
scheduling algorithm which is a modified version of Critical Path and Top-Level
Attributes-based Scheduling (CPTL) algorithm. This new algorithm is known as
MCPTL algorithm. The proposed algorithm excludes the communication time
between the tasks during allocations onto the processors. The MCPTL algorithm
gives minimum scheduling length as compared the CPTL algorithm and also per-
formance study is done with heuristic algorithms which is based on performance
metrics, Scheduling Length Ratio (SLR), Speedup (SP), Efficiency (EFF), Load
Balancing (LB), and Cost (C).

Keyword Task scheduling
Parallel computing
Scheduling length

DAG Speedup

1 Introduction

Parallel computing is defined as a collection of processing elements (PE), where

each one is connected with each other through a high-speed interconnection
network.

R. Rajak (&)
D. Shukla
A. Alim

Department of Computer Science & Applications,
Dr. Harisingh Gour Central University, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India
e-mail: ranjit.jnu@gmail.com
D. Shukla
e-mail: diwakarshukla@rediffmail.com
A. Alim
e-mail: abdulaleem1990@gmail.com

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 1

M. Pant et al. (eds.), Soft Computing: Theories and Applications,
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 583,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5687-1_1
2 R. Rajak et al.

It is a platform where one can solve many scientific computation problems

relating to bioinformatics, data mining, astronomy, and industries. These problems
have a large number of tasks where each task interacts and communicate with each
other. Task scheduling problem in parallel computing environment considered as
NP-hard [1]. It is also known as a task scheduling optimization problem, which can
fit in many fields [2] like economics, project management, production management,
etc.
Task scheduling is a process to map the tasks onto the available processors so
that it consumes minimum parallel execution time or scheduling length. There are a
number of task scheduling algorithms have been developed to solve this problem.
Each algorithm has own advantages and disadvantages. But the primary objective
of each is same, i.e., to minimize scheduling length.
There are a number of characteristics [3] for classifying the task scheduling like
finite number of tasks, precedence constraint between the tasks, the number of
homogenous processors, their connectivity etc.
Generally, there are two types of task scheduling: static and dynamic. In static
task scheduling, the number of tasks, their precedence constraint, the number of
finite processors, and their connectivity are known in advanced or known at
compilation time. There are two primary objectives [4] of the static task scheduling:
to minimize parallel execution time of the task graph and communication time
between the tasks. It is also known as deterministic scheduling.
In case of dynamic task scheduling, the information is not known in advance and
is known at the time of execution. The goal [4] is to maximize processor utilization.
It is also known as nondeterministic scheduling. We have considered that the tasks
to be non-preemptive.
In parallel computing, the processors are either homogeneous or heterogeneous
in nature. The homogeneous processors are those operating at equal speed; while
heterogeneous processors operate at varying speed. In this paper, we have con-
sidered homogenous processors.
The task scheduling of an application program is generally represented by
Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). Figure 1 showing the mapping of an application
program into task scheduling in a multiprocessor system. An application program is
decomposed into a number of subtasks, and these subtasks are represented by a
DAG, later, they are allocated to the number processors with hold precedence
constraint between tasks.
This paper presents a new task scheduling algorithm which is based on two
priority attributes: critical path and top-level (t-level). The suggested MCPTL
algorithm does not use communication time, while allocating tasks to the available
processors.
The proposed algorithm gives minimum parallel execution time, i.e., scheduling
length. The content herein incorporates two DAG models for comparison of pro-
posed algorithm and heuristic algorithms.
Modified Critical Path and Top-Level Attributes … 3

Subtask Decomposition Task Scheduling

Processor 1
Subtask
Subtask

Subtask Subtask
Subtask Subtask
Application
program
Processor 3
Processor 2
Subtask Subtask Subtask Subtask

Fig. 1 Mapping application program to task scheduling [5]

2 Model of Task scheduling

A task scheduling environment consists of Application Model, System Model,

DAG Attributes, and Objective Function.

2.1 Application Model

The task scheduling is represented using Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), which is a
weighted graph defined as G1 = (V, E, Ce, Ev) where V is a collection of the n tasks,
and V= {T1, T2, T3, …, Tn}. E is a collection of edges, Ce is the communication time
between two dependent tasks Ti and Tj. That is., Ce(Ti, Tj). Ev is the execution time
of each task Ti denoted as Ev (Ti).
The DAG also consists of an entry and an exit tasks. The entry task Tentry is the
first task denoted as having no predecessor task. Similarly, an exit task Texit is the
final task of the DAG and have no any successor tasks.
The DAG model of an application program is in Fig. 2.

2.2 System Model

Consider a parallel computing machine consisting of Np number of homogenous

processors fully connected. It is defined by G2= (P, L) where P is a set of identical
processors. That is, P= {P1, P2, P3, …, Np} and L is a set of communication links
between the processors in full duplex mode (Fig. 3).
Here, we have not considered the communication time during the allocations of
the tasks on the processors.
4 R. Rajak et al.

T1 Entry task (Tentry)

2 Execution Time (Ev)
5
4 Communication Time (Ce)

T2 T3
3 4
4 3
3
T5
2
T4
4 2 5
5

T6 Exit Task (Texit)

3

Fig. 2 DAG Model with 6 tasks [6]

Fig. 3 Fully connected

homogeneous processors [10] P1

P2 P3

2.3 DAG Scheduling Attributes

The section contains some existing scheduling attributes, which will be used in
proposed scheduling algorithm. It is necessary to discuss here for DAG scheduling.
These are Critical Path, T-level, Earliest Start Time, and Earliest Finished Time.
Critical Path (CP) [5, 7] is the longest path from an entry task (Tentry) to an exit
task (Texit). It includes execution time of the tasks and communication time between
the tasks. It is defined as follows:

CP ¼ max fLengthðPathÞg
path2G1

X X  
LengthðPathÞ ¼ Ev ðTi Þ þ Ce eij
Ti 2V e2E
Modified Critical Path and Top-Level Attributes … 5

T-level [8] is the longest path from an entry task (Tentry) to task Ti and it excludes
the execution time of Ti. It is defined recursively as
( )
0  if Ti ¼ Tentry

T-levelðTi Þ ¼ max T-level(Tj Þ þ Ev ðTj Þ þ Ce ðTj ; Ti Þ ; otherwise
Tj 2predðTi Þ

Earliest Start Time (EST) [9] for task Ti on processors Pj is defined as

( )
0     if Ti ¼ Tentry
ESTðTi ; Pj Þ ¼ max EFT Tj ; Pj þ Ce ðTj ; Ti Þ ; otherwise
Tj 2predðTi Þ

Note that pred(Ti) is the immediate predecessor of task Ti.

The proposed algorithm has excluded the communication time between the tasks
during allocation onto processors. For this, Ce(Tj, Ti) is excluded from EST and it is
rewritten as Modified EST (MEST):
( )
0    if Ti ¼ Tentry
MESTðTi ; Pj Þ ¼ max EFT Tj ; Pj ; otherwise
Tj 2predðTi Þ

Earliest Finished Time (EFT) [9] of the task Ti on processor Pj is defined as

 
EFT Ti ; Pj ¼ MESTðTi ; Pj Þ þ WðTi ; Pj Þ

where W(Ti, Pj) is the execution time of Ti on processor Pj.

2.4 Objective Function

The task scheduling algorithm is used to minimize the overall execution time or
scheduling length (SL) on the multiprocessor system. An objective function can be
defined as follows:
 
SL ¼ MaxfEFT Texit ; Pj g

where Texit is the last task of DAG and Pj {j = 1, 2, 3, …, Np} is a particular

processor on which the last task will execute.
6 R. Rajak et al.

3 Algorithm Design

The section discusses the content of proposed algorithm which is a modified ver-
sion of CPTL Algorithm [10].

3.1 Task Priority

Each task of given DAG has a priority based on two well-known task scheduling
attributes critical path (CP) and top-level (T-level) as discussed in the previous
section. A new attribute of each task using above attributes has been introduced as
CPT attribute [10] which is the difference between critical path and top-level. Its
computation is:

CPTðTi Þ ¼ CP  T-levelðTi Þ, where Ti is the tasks of given DAG and Ti = {T1,

T2, T3, …, Tn}.

3.2 Proposed MCPTL Algorithm

The CPTL algorithm [10] uses CPT task priority attribute for calculating the priority
of each task for a given DAG. These tasks are sorted in nonincreasing order as per
CPT attribute value and inserted into a list. The highest priority task is removed from
the list and allocated to the available processor as per two conditions, find minimum
EST and satisfied precedence constraint (PC) [7]. Here, during allocation of the tasks
to the processor, the communication time is considered between the tasks.
The MCPTL algorithm uses same priority attributes for calculating priority of
the tasks but not consider communication time between the tasks during allocation
of the tasks to processors and for this EST is modified as MEST which is used in
the proposed algorithm. This will reduce the scheduling length of the proposed
algorithm.

MCPTL algorithm
Step 1 Input: A DAG of finite number of task (Tn)
Step 2 Find CPT attribute of each task using following formula
CPTðTi Þ ¼ CP  T-levelðTi Þ
Step 3 Sort the tasks in a list (LT) by nonincreasing order of CPT values
Step 4 While the unscheduled task in LT do
Select the highest priority task Ti from LT
Step 5 For each processor Pj, j = 1 to Np do
Step 6 If Ti is Tentry then
(continued)
Modified Critical Path and Top-Level Attributes … 7

(continued)
Ti is allocated to available processor
Step 7 Else if Ti is satisfied PC then
Compute MEST (Ti, Pj) and Compute EFT(Ti, Pj)
Assign task Ti on processor Pj with minimum EFT
Step 8 Else if Ti is not satisfied PC then
Ti is inserted to end of LT
End For
End While
Step 9 SL = Max{EFT(Texit, Pj)}
Step 10 End

4 Performance Evaluation

The performance analysis of MCPTL algorithm is done based on comparison

metrics and using two DAG models with 9 and 11 tasks. We have considered that
all the tasks are of non-preemptive nature.

4.1 Comparison Metrics

The comparison metrics are used to analysis the proposed algorithm and heuristics
algorithms. The metrics are Scheduling Length (SL), Scheduling Length Ration
(SLR), Speedup (SP), Efficiency (EFF), Load Balancing (LB), and Cost
(C) (Table 1).

4.2 Numerical Examples

To measure the performance of the proposed algorithm MCPTL, two models

DAG1 [7] and DAG2 [6] with 9 and 11 tasks are considered on four homogenous
processors (Figs. 4, 5) and (Tables 2, 3).
This is to observe that the scheduling length of MCPTL algorithm is minimum
as compared to CPTL and heuristic algorithms. In case of DAG1, the MCPTL
algorithm generates scheduling length 11 which is provides better as compared to
other algorithms shown in Table 4. The proposed algorithm also provides better for
other metrics like speedup, efficiency, load balancing, scheduling length ratio, and
8 R. Rajak et al.

Table 1 Comparison metrics

S. No Metrics Brief descriptions
1. Scheduling length It is the finished time of last task of given DAG on available
(SL) processor. That is, SL ¼ MaxfEFTðTi ; Pj Þg, where Ti is
Texit and Pj is available processor
2. Scheduling length It is defined as a ratio of scheduling length and critical path.
ratio (SLR) [11] That is,
SLR ¼ CP SL

3. Speedup (SP) [12] It is ratio of sum of sequential time for the tasks on single
processor and parallel time or scheduling length (SL) on
multiprocessors
Pn system. That is,
ETðTi Þ
SP ¼ i¼1
SL
4. Efficiency (EFF) [13] It is the ratio of Speedup and number of processors is used.
EFF ¼ SP Np ; where Np is number of processors is used

5. Load balancing It is defined as the ratio of scheduling and average, where

(LB) [14] average is the ratio of sum of processing time of each
processors and number of processors are used in
PNp
PT½Pj 
SL
scheduling. That is LB ¼ AVG ; AVG ¼ j¼1Np where
PT[Pj] is execution time of processor Pj
6. Cost (C) [13] It is defined as the product of number of processor used and
parallel time or scheduling length. That is, C ¼ Np  SL

Fig. 4 DAG1 with 9 tasks

4 1
1 1

10

1 1 1 1

6
5
5
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 “About three bells and a quarter. The sun will be up in a short time.”
“Good! I’ll be on deck in a brace of shakes.”
Sandie and Willie had been aroused by the shouting and trampling of
feet, and dreading something unusual had happened, they had quickly
dressed and gone on deck.
On learning what had happened, both heartily volunteered to lend a hand
at the pumps, and so the work went merrily on.
Soon the sky assumed the most glorious colours, with flushes of gold
and cloud stripes of purest amber and crimson.
Next, there hung low down on the horizon a short bright blood-red line,
which got bigger and more definite in shape every moment, till at last up
leapt the sun, and a triangular bar of bright ensanguined water stretched
right away to the very hull of the sinking ship herself.
Higher and higher mounts the sun, paler and clearer become its beams.
And now, to the joy of all, there is visible, not many miles away, a green
island.
It is like a veritable fairyland, for it does not appear to be in the sea at all,
but afloat in the ambient sky.
“Can we make it, sir,” asks Sandie, “before the vessel sinks?”
The captain’s glass was turned towards the island. He could see its
golden sands, see the long white line the breakers made as they broke lazily
on its beach, and see behind tall cocoa-nut trees and banks of waving palms.
“We can make it, my young friend, if——”
“If what, sir?” said Sandie, feeling somewhat uneasy at the captain’s
manner.
“If, Sandie, it be an island, and not a mocking mirage.”

CHAPTER VIII

CRUSOES—PREPARED FOR ANYTHING

But that island was no mirage. Of this all hands were speedily convinced,
and redoubled their efforts to pump the vessel and keep her afloat until they
could reach it. Breakfast of biscuits steeped in coffee was partaken of on
deck, then the steward spliced the main-brace.
Hardly half a mile now intervened between the Peaceful and the island,
but her rate of sailing was very slow, and she yawed about more than was
agreeable.
It must be confessed that the danger was now extreme. The ship might
sink at any moment, and in a moment, with all on board. Yet the captain and
crew determined to stick to her.
And they did. Ah! there is no sailor in all the wide world like the British
Jack-a’-tar, whether he treads the decks of a man-o’-war or hoists sail on a
merchant vessel.
Death was staring those men in the face. In another minute they might
all be in eternity, yet hear them sing as they work the busy pumps. Oh, only
sailors’ doggerel, with no sense in it, bar that it chimes in with the motion
and sound of the levers, and the gush of water that flows over the side—

“In San Domingo I was born,

Hurrah! lads, hurrah!
And reared among the yellow corn,
Heave, boys, and away she goes.
Hurrah!

My parients both were black as ink,

Hurrah! lads, hurrah!
They killed theirselves wi’ cussed drink,
Heave, boys, till pumps go dry.
Hurrah!”

The ship is reeling like a sick man. She reels, she staggers. When she
yaws, it seems as though she would never recover.
But hurrah! the shore is near. And here is a little cove that runs inland a
little way between banks of waving bananas and trees gorgeous with
creeping flowers.
At last she strikes, she rasps, she is fast upon the sand, and on an even
keel.
“The Lord’s Name be praised,” says the captain. And more than one
manly voice responds, “Amen!”
 The strain upon both Sandie’s mind and Willie’s, particularly during the
last hour, had been very great; and now that the reaction had come,
strangely enough, Sandie, at all events, felt that he would have given a five-
pound note for a five minutes’ cry.
. . . . . .
Our heroes were Crusoes now with a vengeance, but Crusoes after a
somewhat strange fashion.
In looking back to all their adventures since they left Sandy Point, they
could not but marvel at the wondrous way they had been preserved.
And here they were on board the wrecked derelict, safe and sound for a
time, at all events, and with good hopes of soon being picked up.
The first thing the crew had to do was to cut down trees in the woods, to
prop the ship up when the tide went farther back.
Meanwhile, taking Tyro with them, and not only a rifle each but a good
revolver, Sandie and Willie set out to explore the island. They soon found
that it was of no great extent, not more, indeed, than about ten miles long by
five or six wide.
This they ascertained by climbing a rather high hill, which had a bold
bluff rock right on its peak.
The island altogether was hilly and beautifully wooded, though there
were many green and verdant glades in it, and some open glens as well,
adown which they found, much to their joy, streamlets of clear water
bounding or rippling along, going singing to the sea, in fact.
There was no smoke to be seen anywhere, consequently they came to the
conclusion that the island was uninhabited.
This was strange, because there were fish in the streams, there were
rock-rabbits on the hills, and cocoa-nut and other trees were laden with
fruit. And it is the rule that, wherever on an island or on a coast you find
cocoa-nut trees, you find natives.
“What is the mystery, I wonder?” said Willie.
“I cannot tell at all,” replied Sandie. “It appears so strange that so fertile
and lovely an island as this should be lonesome and uninhabited.”
“Well, anyhow, Sandie, let us get farther into the interior.”
They wandered on and on, now through the greenery of the lovely
woods, pausing often to admire the strange and beautiful flowers, that hung
pendant or in garlands from the branches of the loftier trees, or to listen to
the sweet low singing of some little bright-winged bird.
On and on they wander.
And now, all at once, a wide grassy glade opens out to their view.
Both Sandie and Willie shrink back appalled at the sight that meets their
view.
Here are the ruins of a very large native village, with grass and creepers
growing rank over the fallen walls.
Regaining courage, they venture forward, but do not proceed far before
Willie trips, and almost falls over something in the grass. With the barrel of
his gun he moves aside the weeds, A white ant-cleaned skeleton lies there.
Lizards skurry away from it, grey lizards, red lizards, and green.
They shudder as they perceive that the skull has been cloven as if with
an axe.
But they do not go much farther ere they come upon many, very many
skeletons, and all bear the marks of violence.
And some among them are the skeletons of mere children.
Even in the blackened ruins of the huts lie half-charred bones, which tell
their own dismal tale.
But the saddest sight of all is that which they come to at last.
It is that of a large skeleton, with no marks of violence, hanging in
chains to a tree. The skull has tumbled to the ground and one of the limbs,
but enough remains to show the gruesomeness of the tragedy which at no
very recent date must have been enacted in this lovely glade. The poor
wretch must have been chained up alive, and left to die in the sunshine, or
to be eaten alive by the awful insects, the centipedes, and poisonous beetles
that infest a forest such as this by night.
Sandie and Willie both felt sick, and were not sorry when they found
themselves far away from that haunted glade.
They managed to shoot over a dozen rock-rabbits, and now with their
spoil they betook themselves back to the ship, to report on all they had seen.
“As I thought,” said the old captain. “The Blackbirders have been at
work. They have wiped out a portion of the natives who dared to resist, and
have made prisoners of the rest; and the poor wretch, hung in chains to die a
lingering death, was no doubt the chief.
 . . . . . .
The men of the lost Boo-boo-boo soon began to settle down to their new
mode of life, lonely and all though it was.
Captain D’Acre thought it would be best to live on board the Peaceful.
They would not only be free from malaria, and the troubles of creeping
insect life, but in a better position to defend themselves if attacked by some
wandering hostile tribe.
There was no saying how soon an attack of this kind might not be made,
so they determined to be prepared. They found a kind of willow-withe
growing plentifully on the island, and from this they manufactured in a few
days enough boarding-netting to go all the way round above the bulwarks.
They got all arms up, and loaded them, also plenty of ammunition. They
also trimmed all the lamps lest an attack should take place under cover of
the night. Moreover, lest a fight might end in a siege, they laid in a goodly
store of fresh water.
After this they felt comparatively safe, and inclined to take life very easy
indeed.
Many little shooting excursions and rambles were made into the interior.
Fishing parties too were got up, both inland and at sea.
All day long a look-out was stationed on the rocky peak of the highest
hill. His duty was to report by an arranged code of signals either the
approach of suspicious canoes, or the appearance in the offing of a ship.
In the latter case, it would be the duty of two boats, always kept ready
manned for the purpose, to row out to sea and endeavour to communicate
with the vessel.
The rock-rabbits, the fresh-water fish, but above all the many delicious
varieties of fish caught at sea, formed a most wholesome addition to the
larder, so that it is no wonder that Willie remarked more than once, that,
instead of existing in the guise of starving Crusoes, they really were living
like the British fighting-cock.
The fruit of the island was luscious, rich, and rare, and to crown all,
there were rare crabs, and curious but succulent lobsters, and oysters of
rarest flavour found clinging to the rocks at low water.
Sandie had come through a good many hardships, and much anxiety of
mind, within the last month or so; yet, singular to say, he had waxed hardy,
stout, and strong. There was no trace of consumption about him now,
unless, as Willie told him, it was the consumption of bananas and oysters.
All cough had gone, his voice was once more manly and strong, and his
spirits were never higher.
Oh, he often thought of home—that was but natural. He often wondered
what his parents and Elsie might be doing, and dear little Maggie May. But
when he did think of home, it was always hopefully, always with a happy
feeling of certainty that he should return in health and safety to resume his
studies at the University.
A whole month passed away, but no ship ever came; another dragged
somewhat more wearily by.
Things were beginning to look a trifle serious, for this reason: there was
a limit to the length of time the flour and biscuit would last. When these
were done, they would be compelled to live on salt meat, with the fish,
fruit, and rabbits they might succeed in getting.
So the men were now—in the third month of their Crusoe-ship—put on
an allowance of biscuit. It was deemed advisable also to be as sparing in the
expenditure of gunpowder as possible, so the rock-rabbits were snared
instead of being shot.
But if no ship appeared, it was satisfactory, on the other hand, that no
boats laden with savages hove in sight, so the Crusoes tried to live as
contentedly as circumstances would permit.
No fishing, or even snaring of rabbits, took place on the Sabbath. This
was kept as a day of rest, and in the forenoons the old captain always called
all hands aft. Then a prayer would be offered up, several hymns sung, a
chapter of the Bible read and explained or commented on to the best of the
good old man’s ability, then, after more singing and another prayer, the men
would be dismissed.
But D’Acre was a true sailor, and so every Saturday he caused the main-
brace to be spliced. Well spliced, too, not in any half-hearted way, so that
the men might enjoy themselves, and drink to those so far away—their
mothers, wives, and sweethearts.
And almost every Saturday night the mate would go forward with his
fiddle, and Sandie, too, would be there to sing a song. But before eight bells
every man had turned in who was not on duty.
. . . . . .
 Three long months had passed away, and things began to look serious.
The biscuits were done now, and even the beef was running short.
But, oh, joy! one forenoon the signalman on the hill-top was seen to
indicate the presence of a ship, and pointed with his large fan in her
direction.
In five minutes’ time two boats were under way, pulling merrily over the
sparkling waters in the direction indicated. Never even at a boat-race surely
did men pull more earnestly. It was indeed a race for life.
But now they can see the vessel. A great ocean steamer she is.
They alter course a little, their object being to intercept her. No need to
hurry now! Oh, glorious hour! She sees the approaching boats and stops
ship.
They are saved! What need to say more? The vessel is an outward-bound
steamer for Sydney. She carries a few passengers, but has ample
accommodation for the Crusoes.
They are made heartily welcome, and that evening, down in the splendid
saloon, our chief heroes have, over and over again, to tell all the outs and
ins of their wondrous adventures.

CHAPTER IX

“O MY POOR, DEAR FATHER!” CRIED SANDIE

What a pleasant voyage that was to Sydney! Our heroes had nothing to do
but talk and read, and laze dreamily in the sparkling sunshine, or under the
quarter-deck awning.
The ladies on board, and there were several young and not-quite-so-
young, appeared determined to make heroes of Sandie and Willie.
Moreover, they treated the former as somewhat of an invalid, Willie having
told them all his story, so they gave up a deck-chair to him. They wrapped
him in rugs at eventide. During the day they brought to him cunningly
concocted drinks, and when the shades of night fell they made him drink
fragrant coffee, fortified with condensed milk, plus a modicum of preserved
cream. Preserved fruits, too, were his. The only drawback to all this
enjoyment rested in the fact that these kind-intentioned ladies made him
swallow half-an-ounce of cod-liver oil three times every day; and Sandie
didn’t like it.
Sydney has the most beautiful and extensive harbour in the world. I feel
in duty bound to make that remark, because everybody else says the same
thing, and because I know it will please the Sydneyites, and the Australians
in general. You see, I mean to visit Sydney one of these days, and I wish to
have a Highland welcome.
“Have you anywhere in particular to stay?” asked the most matronly
lady of our young heroes.
“No,” was the candid reply.
“Oh, then I shall carry you off.”
And she did.
A very pleasing time she gave them, too, for over two months. Then
somebody else carried them away for another month, and as this was
repeated, it may be presumed that during their stay in Sydney their keep did
not cost them much.
But the matronly lady got hold of them again, and being a widow with
plenty of means, she could do as she pleased. So she made up her mind to
show Sandie and Willie something of Australia and Australian life.
Some men inform us that this world is all bad and vile. For my own part,
I have not found it so. I still am a believer in human nature. Well, for
example, persons like this matronly lady, who had taken so great an interest
in our heroes, are not such raræ aves as certain pessimists would have us
believe; and they obtain their own happiness by bringing about and
enjoying the happiness of others.
Mrs. Maxwell was this dear lady’s name, and her eyes positively
sparkled with delight when she witnessed the admiration and wonderment
exhibited by Sandie and Willie on first beholding the weird and awful
beauty of, for instance, the gum-tree forests.
City views, though very grand and rich, failed to impress them. Had they
not seen Edinburgh and Glasgow? But the wild sylvan loveliness of the
green silent country, ah! that indeed sent a thrill of pleasure to their hearts.
“As long as I live, Mrs. Maxwell,” Sandie told the lady when at long last
he had to bid her adieu, “I shall never forget this visit to Australia, nor all
the disinterested kindness you have shown us. Yes, we will write.”
 “Good-bye, boys, and God bless you!”
“God bless you, Mrs. Maxwell.”
There was tears in Sandie’s eyes, and I think in Willie’s too.
Yes, their time was up, they had to go. In two days’ time one of Mr.
Tomlison’s ships—a bonnie clipper barque and sister vessel to the lost Boo-
boo-boo—would leave Sydney harbour, going home round the Cape of
Good Hope instead of the Straits of Magellan, or the still more stormy
Horn, and not only were Sandie and Willie going by her, but Captain
D’Acre and the first mate as well.
It was the month of March, or autumn, when the good barque—Fairy
Queen was her name—reached Cape Town and cast anchor in the bay.
“What a lovely spot!” were Willie’s first words to Sandie, when both
went on deck next morning.
“It is indeed beautiful!”
It was not, however, the town they were admiring, but the grand
romantic mountainous scenery in its rear.
After breakfast they went on shore for a ramble. They soon found a
Malay guide, who for a trifle agreed to show them everything.
That word “everything” included all the public buildings, but best of all
the Botanical Gardens, which both our heroes agreed were a veritable
fairyland. Surely no such palms or flowers as these flourished or bloomed
anywhere else in the world!
When they had lingered long here, they came reluctantly away, and their
guide then took them to the hills.
And what hills! They were everywhere ablaze with flowers and the
rarest of heaths, that at home in Britain can only be kept alive in the
hothouse. Gorgeous geraniums were everywhere, and wherever there was a
patch of ground uncovered by these or by heaths, it would be closely
overgrown by a compact little flower of inexpressible sweetness, and in
shape not unlike a cineraria. These were principally crimson and white.
The only drawback to perfect enjoyment during this long hillside ramble
was the constant presence of snakes. The little sand-snake wriggled about
where least expected—on damp ground a great black snake lay coiled.
Sometimes when stooping down to cull flowers where the grass grew
greenest, the long thin dark whip-snake would glide out and away from
among their very fingers, very much to their horror. But worse than all was
the hooded cobra, the most deadly of all Cape snakes, and of these they saw
far more than they desired to.
Nevertheless, on the whole, they enjoyed their visit to the capital of the
Cape, and got on board at last, laden with botanical specimens, and quite as
hungry as there was any need to be.
. . . . . .
The Fairy Queen was once more at sea, and the weather was all that
could be desired.
With the exception, therefore, of a visit to the romantic and beautiful
island of St. Helena, the so-called sea-girt rock on which Napoleon was
imprisoned and died, the voyage was altogether uneventful.
The last letter received from home reached Sandie and Willie just before
they left Sydney. At that time all their friends and relations were well.
Alas! though, in this world of sorrow much may happen in two or three
months.
The news of the arrival of the Fairy Queen in Aberdeen docks spread
like wildfire, and on the very next morning Sandie’s mother and Elsie came
off to welcome him home.
They were both dressed in the deepest mourning.
“O my poor, dear father!” cried Sandie in an agony of grief.
And what could his mother do but weep with him.
Yes, M‘Crae, the honest farmer of Kilbuie, had been called away.
What a change!
The farm itself was not kept on by Sandie’s mother. Everything had been
sold, and she and Elsie had come to live at a pretty little granite cottage on
the outskirts of Aberdeen.
So this, then, would be Sandie’s new home.
But as soon as the first great wave of grief had passed over his soul,
leaving it sad and chastened, Sandie determined to live but for his mother
and sister alone.
He was now well and strong, and could resume his studies without fear.
But he would not have to tax his brain so much in future. For the study
of Divinity presents no such difficulties as do Greek, Latin, and
Mathematics.
The cottage in which Mrs. M‘Crae had settled down, though by no
means an expensive one, was very pretty. It stood at the Rubislaw end of
Union Street, quite on the outskirts, and had a pretty little bit of garden in
front, and a long one behind.
Of course both Elsie and her brother missed the fields with their wild-
flowers, missed the golden furze and the yellow tasselled broom, missed too
the whisper of the wind in the dark waving pine-trees, the croodle of the
cushat, the mellow notes of the mavis, and plaintive song of the blackbird;
but Sandie told Elsie all these things would come again when he got his
church, which was bound to be in the country, and in one of the most
romantic parts of the country too. Meanwhile they must live in hope.
You may be sure that Sandie had not been long at home ere he paid a
visit to the manse of Belhaven, and his friend Willie went with him. Sandie
would not—could not—go near Kilbuie; his grief was far too recent.
He found Mackenzie not one whit altered. Maggie May came forward
with a smile and a bonnie blush to welcome Sandie back; but she gave him
no kiss. She was altered. She was a child no more.
But she paid him a compliment.
“How you have improved!” she said. “And how red and burned you
are!”
That night, while discussing a delightful dinner, Sandie and Willie held
Mackenzie and Maggie May spellbound as they related all the adventures of
their perilous voyage.
Next day, by way of bringing back sweet memories of Auld Lang Syne,
the young folks went fishing and picnicking; and a very happy, pleasant day
they spent, bringing home, too, an excellent bag.
They stayed nearly a week at the manse, then, promising faithfully soon
to come again, they said “Adieu!” and shortly were back once more in the
Granite City.
I must not forget to mention that Sandie brought back with him from sea,
not only his dear friend Tyro, but that beautiful young red tabby cat, and
that they speedily made themselves perfectly at home at Kilbuie Cottage.
During the summer that ensued, Sandie devoted much of his time to
coaching young students for the University. This was a kind of work that
was congenial to his tastes, and that really paid fairly well.
But when the winter session commenced, and he entered Divinity Hall,
as it is phrased, he threw up teaching. He was determined to do nothing
now to endanger his health.
Willie had entered a stockbroker’s office, so the two sincere friends did
not see quite so much of each other all the week. But there were always the
Saturday afternoons, and the Sundays to boot. Indeed, at such times, if
Willie was not at Kilbuie Cottage, it was because Sandie and he both were
at the Provost’s beautiful home in King Street.
And so the time passed by quickly and happily enough; this winter flew
away, and summer came again.
Then Sandie renewed his coaching.
“Monday is Bank holiday,” said Willie, one Saturday afternoon, as he
with Elsie and Sandie sat in the back summer-house, listening to the sweet
sad song of a merle perched upon a crimson-flowered May-tree. “Yes,
Sandie, Monday is Bank holiday, and do you know what I should dearly
like to do?”
“No.”
“Guess.”
“Go to Mackenzie’s?”
“Ah! Sandie, Mackenzie’s is a good deal in your head.”
What made Sandie blush, I wonder, and slightly alter his position?
“No, my friend, I like Mackenzie’s very well indeed, but it is too far
away. Now what say you to a dogcart drive up to the Loch of Skene, and
dinner at the old-fashioned cosy inn of Straik?”
“Delightful!” said Sandie.
“Will you go?” said Willie, turning suddenly round to Elsie. “Mind,” he
added, “we don’t mean to go without you.”
“In which case,” replied Elsie, laughing, “I shall be your humble
servant.”
“No, Elsie, our sweet companion, the partner of our joys and sorrows,
our bites and nibbles. So it is arranged.”
Monday was a delightful summer’s day, with just enough breeze to cool
the air, and cause a ripple on the water.
 How delicious it was to stop in the dark woods of Hazelhead, and hear
that same breeze sigh and whisper through the lofty pine-trees, and to listen
to the wild glad melody of the birds.
“Oh,” cried Sandie, who was ever romantic, “this is heavenly; does it not
put you in mind of that grand old Scotch song, ‘The bonnie woods o’
Craigielee’?”
“Everything puts you in mind of a song,” said Willie, “but sing it,
Sandie, sing it.”
“Help me, then.”
And sweetly in the morning air, in that dark wood, rose those tuneful
voices three.
I dare only give one verse.
 “Far down thy dark green plantin’ shade
The cushat croodles am’rouslie,
The mavis in the buchtin’ glade
Mak’s echo ring frae tree to tree.

Thou bonnie wood o’ Craigielee,

Thou bonnie wood o’ Craigielee,
In thee I spent life’s early day,
An’ won my Mary’s heart in thee.”

The landlady of the little inn knew the young men, and was delighted to
see them. She promised, if they would leave the matter to her, to provide a
dinner, she felt sure, would not only please them, but the winsome young
lady too. And would they have the boy, their old guide? Of course they
would. Without him they could not be sure of anything like a bag.
Well, the boy came, and he carried the luncheon that was to be eaten by
the burnside, and the bottle of delicious heather-ale.
It was, on the whole, a heavy burden, but this lad’s back seemed just
made for heavy burdens, tiny and all though he was.
The trout to-day were very kind, and even before luncheon-time they
had succeeded in making a fairly good bag.
After luncheon they completed their “take,” then spent the rest of their
time in wandering through the woods and fields, and by the Loch side,
collecting wild-flowers. Then back to the inn in good time for dinner.
The tablecloth was spotlessly white, the knives and forks shone like
silver, though they weren’t, and through the open window, as they dined,
blew the soft west wind, laden with the odour of roses. Roast duck and
tender green peas, what could be better, but the whole associations made
that dinner, simple though it was, far more delightful than if it had been
eaten in the banqueting hall of a palace.
Low over the greenery of the woods the sun was declining when,
bidding good-bye to the kindly landlady, they mounted once more and
drove off.
But the gloaming star was shining sweet and clear long before they
reached once more the bonnie woods of Hazelhead.
 CHAPTER X

HOW IT ALL ENDED

Ah! now my story draws to a close. I am very sorry because I have quite
enjoyed writing it.
The reader may never know how much of my own young life is depicted
in these pages. Many a time and often have I laughed as recollections of
schoolboy or student pranks have risen up before my mind’s eye, but more
than once as I wrote a mist bedimmed my sight, and something fell—it
might have been a tear.
Life, dear reader, is all like a dream; but we never realise this until grey
hairs appear around our temples, and there are silver threads in the dark
brown of our beards.
But come, I must pull myself up with a round turn, as we sailors say.
Moping never did any good in this world, that I am aware of; grief is more
ageing than time itself. There is nothing so healthful as cheerfulness and
good temper. “A merry heart goes all the day.” Let us laugh, then. There
isn’t the slightest fear of getting too fat. I don’t believe in the silly old
saying, “Laugh and grow fat.” I’ve been laughing all my life, when I
haven’t been whistling or humming a tune, but I’m not fat yet, and what is
more, I don’t want to be. But a merry heart strengthens every muscle and
organ in the body, and prevents chilblains. A ridiculous thing to say, is it?
Oh, perhaps, but it is true. That disagreeable winter complaint belongs to
the sad and the phlegmatic morose sort of people. But a merry heart means
a well-balanced circulation, and so, if you want to be healthy, you’ve got to
cultivate cheerfulness.
All this is digression? Well, I don’t care, I shall do what I like in my last
chapter.
. . . . . .
In course of years, Mrs. M‘Crae and Elsie both got to like the little
cottage. It was cosy and homely and snug. They had their regular visitors,
too, and never cared to add many to them.
When in harbour, both Captain D’Acre and his mate used to be constant
visitors, and the mate never failed to bring his fiddle. Then a regular
musical evening was sure to follow, much to Mrs. M‘Crae’s delight, for she
was passionately fond of melody.
Summer after summer, Sandie continued coaching his pupils,
remunerating to both teacher and students, and winter after winter he
plodded back and fore to the Divinity Hall. He was a pet student with all the
professors, because he was a very promising one. Whatever study he took
in hand, he went into thoroughly, and was not content until he had mastered
it. That is the sort of man Sandie was.
But the winters and the summers too wore away at last,—Sandie’s
divinity studies were over. He had passed every examination with honour,
and was now the Rev. Alexander M‘Crae, M.A.
What joy!
All his toils were over—so he thought; he would soon get a church—so
he believed; and he would take his mother away to his beautiful home in the
cool green country, far away from the madding crowd, from the bustle and
din, from the grime and the gride of city life. As hope told him this
flattering tale, he could not help repeating to himself those charming lines
of Horace, beginning

“Beatus ille qui preul negotiis,

. . . . . .
Paterna rura bubus exercit suis
Solutus omni fenore,”

which may be paraphrased: “Happy is the man who, far from the busy
haunts of life, far from care and worry, ploughs with his own oxen the
paternal acres.”
But Sandie’s life while at the Divinity Hall had not been all bliss
unalloyed. There was one drawback to his happiness. Let me explain it, if I
can. Sandie, then, was constitutionally shy.
Now shyness is about the worst fault a public orator or preacher can
have, though I must not omit to mention that the cleverest men are usually
the shyest.
In the privacy of his own study, which was right away up at the top of
Kilbuie Cottage, an attic, in fact, Sandie, when all alone, could declaim
triumphantly, and many a rousing extempore sermon he here preached.
Again, he could preach a sermon anywhere, and with confidence, if he had
written it out beforehand, and might have the manuscript on the pulpit desk
in front of him. But well he knew that many old people in country parishes
had a decided objection to written sermons. They liked their ministers to
walk into the pulpit, to take a text, and trust to the Spirit of God to give
them language and words.
Now, after all, extempore preaching is merely a matter of habit and
experience.
Strangely enough, assistance came to Sandie from quite an unexpected
quarter.
It was while he was in his third year, that one Thursday evening he was
told by Elsie, who could hardly keep from smiling, that a lady and
gentleman wanted to see him on a matter of business.
“Where are they, Elsie?”
“In the drawing-room, Sandie.”
“Say, I’ll be down in a moment.”
He dashed his fingers through his hair, smoothed down his dark brown
beard, pulled up his collar, cleared his throat, and descended.
When he opened the drawing-room door, he was certainly somewhat
surprised and taken aback at the youth and diminutive stature of the lady
and gentleman. The boy was about eight, the girl barely ten.
But she opened negotiations with a promptitude that did her credit.
“Oh, if you please, Mr. M‘Crae, long, long ago when father first comed
to this country from the Norf, he builded a school, and every Sunday night
now there is preachin’ in the school, ’cause the people likes it, an’ every
Fursday night little wee Williamie Gordon here, my bludder, and myse’f
comes in to get a minister. But, oh, if you please, sir, we can’t get one to-
night, and oh, would you come?”
“And where is the school, my dear?”
“Oh, if you please, it is four miles from here at Bellfield. And you has
through the dark Hazelhead woods to go, where sometimes the robbers kills
folks. Williamie Gordon and I isn’t afraid, ’cause we is too small to bother
killing, and we have nothing to rob. But you wouldn’t be afraid, ’cause
you’s a big fine man, and could kill them back again.”
Sandie laughed at the droll conceit. But he promised he would come in
spite of the robbers. Then he rung the bell, and five minutes after that the
two children were doing justice to a hearty supper.
Then the wee toddlers started back on their long and dreary journey,
arriving home safe and sound.
After they had gone, Sandie went straight up-stairs, chose a text, and
never lifted his head from over his desk until he had written a good long
sermon.
With this in his pocket—as he thought—he started on the Sunday
afternoon for Bellfield school. His child friends were there to give him a
hearty welcome, and an invitation to supper after the sermon.
Every one was struck with the young man’s appearance and manner. He
gave out a psalm and conducted the singing. He prayed long and fervently.
Then he opened the Book, and after giving out his text, placed his hand in
his pocket to produce his manuscript.
It was gone!
His heart seemed to leap clean out of him; his head swam, and he almost
fell. Then he bent his brow reverently over the Bible and prayed for
strength.
Slowly and in short constrained sentences he began to speak, but he
gathered strength as he went on, he waxed eloquent, impassioned; he could
scarcely believe it was he himself who was talking.
And never, I ween, was sermon listened to with more marked and
solemn attention.
“Thank God,” said Sandie to himself when at last he closed the Book.
Sandie preached at this school every fortnight after this, but neither here
nor anywhere else did he ever again use a manuscript.
A letter came from Sandie’s friend Mackenzie a few weeks after he had
been ordained minister.
The clergyman of Drumlade, the very parish in which Sandie was born,
and in which stood the farm of Kilbuie, was very old and wanted a helper.
He (Mackenzie) had proposed Sandie. Would he come?
This was glorious news!
Sandie became such a favourite with the parishioners, that, six months
afterwards, when the poor old minister died, he received a universal and
unanimous call to take the office.
 And so it came to pass that ere long our hero became minister of the fine
old parish of Drumlade.
The church itself was a large one, and stood on an eminence overlooking
a curve of the winding Don, and surrounded by its God’s acre of green,
green graves.
At a distance of about an eighth of a mile, and nestling near the river-
side, in a bosky dell, stood the fine old manse, with its rich old walled
gardens, its grass lawns and rose terraces, on one of which stood an ancient
dial-stone.
There was a wilderness of trees all about, bird-haunted trees. Surely not
a feathered songster that ever trilled a note in the far North that did not sing
in those copses and groves, while high aloft, in the swaying pine-trees, lived
hawk and crow and magpie.
All the place, in the sweet summer-time, was a poem, a romance, a
dream.
Of course Kilbuie Cottage was now given up, and Sandie’s mother and
Elsie came to reside at the manse, and sit Sunday after Sunday in the manse
pew, near to the pulpit.
Sandie’s living was a good one, and there was, in addition to the stipend,
a large and rich farm of glebeland, which soon became the young minister’s
chief delight.
. . . . . .
I must tell you something else, as long as I think of it. Jamie Duncan had
a rich uncle, who was good enough to shuffle off this mortal coil for the
benefit of Jamie. He left him quite a haul of money.
Then Jamie took Kilbuie farm and stocked it, and elevated Geordie
Black—the quondam orra man—to the proud position of first horseman,
and lived happy ever afterwards, so far as I know.
I did hear lately that Geordie Black had married Tibbie, but it may be
mere rumour.
. . . . . .
One beautiful summer’s day Willie called at the manse. He had come to
stay for a whole fortnight.
And he meant to enjoy himself, so he said. Yes, Willie meant to enjoy
himself, and he did. But, going into her room one day, Sandie found his
mother sitting on the sofa weeping bitterly.
Somewhat alarmed, he seated himself beside her, and put an arm around
her waist in the old tender fashion.
“Mother, mother, what is the matter? You frighten me!”
“Oh,” she sobbed, “he—your friend Willie—is going to deprive me of—
of my child.”
More tears and sobbing.
“I am—going to lose my daughter.”
“Mother, mother,” pleaded Sandie, caressing her, “you must not give
way like this. It is nature—nay, more, marriage is Heaven’s ordination.”
She got quieter after a time, and even smiled through her tears.
“But,” she said, after a thoughtful pause, “I shall almost break my heart
to be deprived of my daughter.”
“Oh! no, you won’t, mother dear. Because, listen! I am going to bring
you home another daughter.”
Sandie got straight up now from his mother’s side and walked out.
Presently he returned, leading by the hand—why, whom do you think?
Bonnie blushing Maggie May.
“Mother, your daughter that is to be!”
Sandie’s mother opened her arms, and next moment Maggie May was
nestling on her breast.
And this is how it all ended, reader mine.
And surely we could hardly have wished it otherwise. Could we?

THE END.

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