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Preface xv

Chapter 1 Programming: A General Overview 1


1.1 What’s This Book About? 1
1.2 Mathematics Review 2
1.2.1 Exponents 3
1.2.2 Logarithms 3
1.2.3 Series 4
1.2.4 Modular Arithmetic 5
1.2.5 The P Word 6
1.3 A Brief Introduction to Recursion 8
1.4 C++ Classes 12
1.4.1 Basic class Syntax 12
1.4.2 Extra Constructor Syntax and Accessors 13
1.4.3 Separation of Interface and Implementation 16
1.4.4 vector and string 19
1.5 C++ Details 21
1.5.1 Pointers 21
1.5.2 Lvalues, Rvalues, and References 23
1.5.3 Parameter Passing 25
1.5.4 Return Passing 27
1.5.5 std::swap and std::move 29
1.5.6 The Big-Five: Destructor, Copy Constructor, Move Constructor, Copy
Assignment operator=, Move Assignment operator= 30
1.5.7 C-style Arrays and Strings 35
1.6 Templates 36
1.6.1 Function Templates 37
1.6.2 Class Templates 38
1.6.3 Object, Comparable, and an Example 39
1.6.4 Function Objects 41
1.6.5 Separate Compilation of Class Templates 44
1.7 Using Matrices 44
1.7.1 The Data Members, Constructor, and Basic Accessors 44
1.7.2 operator[] 45
vii
viii Contents

1.7.3 Big-Five 46
Summary 46
Exercises 46
References 48

Chapter 2 Algorithm Analysis 51


2.1 Mathematical Background 51
2.2 Model 54
2.3 What to Analyze 54
2.4 Running-Time Calculations 57
2.4.1 A Simple Example 58
2.4.2 General Rules 58
2.4.3 Solutions for the Maximum Subsequence
Sum Problem 60
2.4.4 Logarithms in the Running Time 66
2.4.5 Limitations of Worst-Case Analysis 70
Summary 70
Exercises 71
References 76

Chapter 3 Lists, Stacks, and Queues 77


3.1 Abstract Data Types (ADTs) 77
3.2 The List ADT 78
3.2.1 Simple Array Implementation of Lists 78
3.2.2 Simple Linked Lists 79
3.3 vector and list in the STL 80
3.3.1 Iterators 82
3.3.2 Example: Using erase on a List 83
3.3.3 const_iterators 84
3.4 Implementation of vector 86
3.5 Implementation of list 91
3.6 The Stack ADT 103
3.6.1 Stack Model 103
3.6.2 Implementation of Stacks 104
3.6.3 Applications 104
3.7 The Queue ADT 112
3.7.1 Queue Model 113
3.7.2 Array Implementation of Queues 113
3.7.3 Applications of Queues 115
Summary 116
Exercises 116
Contents ix

Chapter 4 Trees 121


4.1 Preliminaries 121
4.1.1 Implementation of Trees 122
4.1.2 Tree Traversals with an Application 123
4.2 Binary Trees 126
4.2.1 Implementation 128
4.2.2 An Example: Expression Trees 128
4.3 The Search Tree ADT—Binary Search Trees 132
4.3.1 contains 134
4.3.2 findMin and findMax 135
4.3.3 insert 136
4.3.4 remove 139
4.3.5 Destructor and Copy Constructor 141
4.3.6 Average-Case Analysis 141
4.4 AVL Trees 144
4.4.1 Single Rotation 147
4.4.2 Double Rotation 149
4.5 Splay Trees 158
4.5.1 A Simple Idea (That Does Not Work) 158
4.5.2 Splaying 160
4.6 Tree Traversals (Revisited) 166
4.7 B-Trees 168
4.8 Sets and Maps in the Standard Library 173
4.8.1 Sets 173
4.8.2 Maps 174
4.8.3 Implementation of set and map 175
4.8.4 An Example That Uses Several Maps 176
Summary 181
Exercises 182
References 189

Chapter 5 Hashing 193


5.1 General Idea 193
5.2 Hash Function 194
5.3 Separate Chaining 196
5.4 Hash Tables without Linked Lists 201
5.4.1 Linear Probing 201
5.4.2 Quadratic Probing 202
5.4.3 Double Hashing 207
5.5 Rehashing 208
5.6 Hash Tables in the Standard Library 210
x Contents

5.7 Hash Tables with Worst-Case O(1) Access 212


5.7.1 Perfect Hashing 213
5.7.2 Cuckoo Hashing 215
5.7.3 Hopscotch Hashing 227
5.8 Universal Hashing 230
5.9 Extendible Hashing 233
Summary 236
Exercises 237
References 241

Chapter 6 Priority Queues (Heaps) 245


6.1 Model 245
6.2 Simple Implementations 246
6.3 Binary Heap 247
6.3.1 Structure Property 247
6.3.2 Heap-Order Property 248
6.3.3 Basic Heap Operations 249
6.3.4 Other Heap Operations 252
6.4 Applications of Priority Queues 257
6.4.1 The Selection Problem 258
6.4.2 Event Simulation 259
6.5 d-Heaps 260
6.6 Leftist Heaps 261
6.6.1 Leftist Heap Property 261
6.6.2 Leftist Heap Operations 262
6.7 Skew Heaps 269
6.8 Binomial Queues 271
6.8.1 Binomial Queue Structure 271
6.8.2 Binomial Queue Operations 271
6.8.3 Implementation of Binomial Queues 276
6.9 Priority Queues in the Standard Library 282
Summary 283
Exercises 283
References 288

Chapter 7 Sorting 291


7.1 Preliminaries 291
7.2 Insertion Sort 292
7.2.1 The Algorithm 292
7.2.2 STL Implementation of Insertion Sort 293
7.2.3 Analysis of Insertion Sort 294
7.3 A Lower Bound for Simple Sorting Algorithms 295
Contents xi

7.4 Shellsort 296


7.4.1 Worst-Case Analysis of Shellsort 297
7.5 Heapsort 300
7.5.1 Analysis of Heapsort 301
7.6 Mergesort 304
7.6.1 Analysis of Mergesort 306
7.7 Quicksort 309
7.7.1 Picking the Pivot 311
7.7.2 Partitioning Strategy 313
7.7.3 Small Arrays 315
7.7.4 Actual Quicksort Routines 315
7.7.5 Analysis of Quicksort 318
7.7.6 A Linear-Expected-Time Algorithm for Selection 321
7.8 A General Lower Bound for Sorting 323
7.8.1 Decision Trees 323
7.9 Decision-Tree Lower Bounds for Selection Problems 325
7.10 Adversary Lower Bounds 328
7.11 Linear-Time Sorts: Bucket Sort and Radix Sort 331
7.12 External Sorting 336
7.12.1 Why We Need New Algorithms 336
7.12.2 Model for External Sorting 336
7.12.3 The Simple Algorithm 337
7.12.4 Multiway Merge 338
7.12.5 Polyphase Merge 339
7.12.6 Replacement Selection 340
Summary 341
Exercises 341
References 347

Chapter 8 The Disjoint Sets Class 351


8.1 Equivalence Relations 351
8.2 The Dynamic Equivalence Problem 352
8.3 Basic Data Structure 353
8.4 Smart Union Algorithms 357
8.5 Path Compression 360
8.6 Worst Case for Union-by-Rank and Path Compression 361
8.6.1 Slowly Growing Functions 362
8.6.2 An Analysis by Recursive Decomposition 362
8.6.3 An O( M log * N ) Bound 369
8.6.4 An O( M α(M, N) ) Bound 370
8.7 An Application 372
xii Contents

Summary 374
Exercises 375
References 376

Chapter 9 Graph Algorithms 379


9.1 Definitions 379
9.1.1 Representation of Graphs 380
9.2 Topological Sort 382
9.3 Shortest-Path Algorithms 386
9.3.1 Unweighted Shortest Paths 387
9.3.2 Dijkstra’s Algorithm 391
9.3.3 Graphs with Negative Edge Costs 400
9.3.4 Acyclic Graphs 400
9.3.5 All-Pairs Shortest Path 404
9.3.6 Shortest Path Example 404
9.4 Network Flow Problems 406
9.4.1 A Simple Maximum-Flow Algorithm 408
9.5 Minimum Spanning Tree 413
9.5.1 Prim’s Algorithm 414
9.5.2 Kruskal’s Algorithm 417
9.6 Applications of Depth-First Search 419
9.6.1 Undirected Graphs 420
9.6.2 Biconnectivity 421
9.6.3 Euler Circuits 425
9.6.4 Directed Graphs 429
9.6.5 Finding Strong Components 431
9.7 Introduction to NP-Completeness 432
9.7.1 Easy vs. Hard 433
9.7.2 The Class NP 434
9.7.3 NP-Complete Problems 434
Summary 437
Exercises 437
References 445

Chapter 10 Algorithm Design Techniques 449


10.1 Greedy Algorithms 449
10.1.1 A Simple Scheduling Problem 450
10.1.2 Huffman Codes 453
10.1.3 Approximate Bin Packing 459
10.2 Divide and Conquer 467
10.2.1 Running Time of Divide-and-Conquer Algorithms 468
10.2.2 Closest-Points Problem 470
Contents xiii

10.2.3 The Selection Problem 475


10.2.4 Theoretical Improvements for Arithmetic Problems 478
10.3 Dynamic Programming 482
10.3.1 Using a Table Instead of Recursion 483
10.3.2 Ordering Matrix Multiplications 485
10.3.3 Optimal Binary Search Tree 487
10.3.4 All-Pairs Shortest Path 491
10.4 Randomized Algorithms 494
10.4.1 Random-Number Generators 495
10.4.2 Skip Lists 500
10.4.3 Primality Testing 503
10.5 Backtracking Algorithms 506
10.5.1 The Turnpike Reconstruction Problem 506
10.5.2 Games 511
Summary 518
Exercises 518
References 527

Chapter 11 Amortized Analysis 533


11.1 An Unrelated Puzzle 534
11.2 Binomial Queues 534
11.3 Skew Heaps 539
11.4 Fibonacci Heaps 541
11.4.1 Cutting Nodes in Leftist Heaps 542
11.4.2 Lazy Merging for Binomial Queues 544
11.4.3 The Fibonacci Heap Operations 548
11.4.4 Proof of the Time Bound 549
11.5 Splay Trees 551
Summary 555
Exercises 556
References 557

Chapter 12 Advanced Data Structures


and Implementation 559
12.1 Top-Down Splay Trees 559
12.2 Red-Black Trees 566
12.2.1 Bottom-Up Insertion 567
12.2.2 Top-Down Red-Black Trees 568
12.2.3 Top-Down Deletion 570
12.3 Treaps 576
xiv Contents

12.4 Suffix Arrays and Suffix Trees 579


12.4.1 Suffix Arrays 580
12.4.2 Suffix Trees 583
12.4.3 Linear-Time Construction of Suffix Arrays and Suffix Trees 586
12.5 k-d Trees 596
12.6 Pairing Heaps 602
Summary 606
Exercises 608
References 612

Appendix A Separate Compilation of


Class Templates 615
A.1 Everything in the Header 616
A.2 Explicit Instantiation 616

Index 619
P R E FAC E

Purpose/Goals
The fourth edition of Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in C++ describes data structures,
methods of organizing large amounts of data, and algorithm analysis, the estimation of the
running time of algorithms. As computers become faster and faster, the need for programs
that can handle large amounts of input becomes more acute. Paradoxically, this requires
more careful attention to efficiency, since inefficiencies in programs become most obvious
when input sizes are large. By analyzing an algorithm before it is actually coded, students
can decide if a particular solution will be feasible. For example, in this text students look at
specific problems and see how careful implementations can reduce the time constraint for
large amounts of data from centuries to less than a second. Therefore, no algorithm or data
structure is presented without an explanation of its running time. In some cases, minute
details that affect the running time of the implementation are explored.
Once a solution method is determined, a program must still be written. As computers
have become more powerful, the problems they must solve have become larger and more
complex, requiring development of more intricate programs. The goal of this text is to teach
students good programming and algorithm analysis skills simultaneously so that they can
develop such programs with the maximum amount of efficiency.
This book is suitable for either an advanced data structures course or a first-year
graduate course in algorithm analysis. Students should have some knowledge of inter-
mediate programming, including such topics as pointers, recursion, and object-based
programming, as well as some background in discrete math.

Approach
Although the material in this text is largely language-independent, programming requires
the use of a specific language. As the title implies, we have chosen C++ for this book.
C++ has become a leading systems programming language. In addition to fixing many
of the syntactic flaws of C, C++ provides direct constructs (the class and template) to
implement generic data structures as abstract data types.
The most difficult part of writing this book was deciding on the amount of C++ to
include. Use too many features of C++ and one gets an incomprehensible text; use too few
and you have little more than a C text that supports classes.
The approach we take is to present the material in an object-based approach. As such,
there is almost no use of inheritance in the text. We use class templates to describe generic
data structures. We generally avoid esoteric C++ features and use the vector and string
classes that are now part of the C++ standard. Previous editions have implemented class
templates by separating the class template interface from its implementation. Although
this is arguably the preferred approach, it exposes compiler problems that have made it xv
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xvi Preface

difficult for readers to actually use the code. As a result, in this edition the online code
represents class templates as a single unit, with no separation of interface and implementa-
tion. Chapter 1 provides a review of the C++ features that are used throughout the text and
describes our approach to class templates. Appendix A describes how the class templates
could be rewritten to use separate compilation.
Complete versions of the data structures, in both C++ and Java, are available on
the Internet. We use similar coding conventions to make the parallels between the two
languages more evident.

Summary of the Most Significant Changes in the Fourth Edition


The fourth edition incorporates numerous bug fixes, and many parts of the book have
undergone revision to increase the clarity of presentation. In addition,

r Chapter 4 includes implementation of the AVL tree deletion algorithm—a topic often
requested by readers.
r Chapter 5 has been extensively revised and enlarged and now contains material on
two newer algorithms: cuckoo hashing and hopscotch hashing. Additionally, a new
section on universal hashing has been added. Also new is a brief discussion of the
unordered_set and unordered_map class templates introduced in C++11.
r Chapter 6 is mostly unchanged; however, the implementation of the binary heap makes
use of move operations that were introduced in C++11.
r Chapter 7 now contains material on radix sort, and a new section on lower-bound
proofs has been added. Sorting code makes use of move operations that were
introduced in C++11.
r Chapter 8 uses the new union/find analysis by Seidel and Sharir and shows the
O( M α(M, N) ) bound instead of the weaker O( M log∗ N ) bound in prior editions.
r Chapter 12 adds material on suffix trees and suffix arrays, including the linear-time
suffix array construction algorithm by Karkkainen and Sanders (with implementation).
The sections covering deterministic skip lists and AA-trees have been removed.
r Throughout the text, the code has been updated to use C++11. Notably, this means
use of the new C++11 features, including the auto keyword, the range for loop, move
construction and assignment, and uniform initialization.

Overview
Chapter 1 contains review material on discrete math and recursion. I believe the only way
to be comfortable with recursion is to see good uses over and over. Therefore, recursion
is prevalent in this text, with examples in every chapter except Chapter 5. Chapter 1 also
includes material that serves as a review of basic C++. Included is a discussion of templates
and important constructs in C++ class design.
Chapter 2 deals with algorithm analysis. This chapter explains asymptotic analysis
and its major weaknesses. Many examples are provided, including an in-depth explana-
tion of logarithmic running time. Simple recursive programs are analyzed by intuitively
converting them into iterative programs. More complicated divide-and-conquer programs
are introduced, but some of the analysis (solving recurrence relations) is implicitly delayed
until Chapter 7, where it is performed in detail.
Preface xvii

Chapter 3 covers lists, stacks, and queues. This chapter includes a discussion of the STL
vector and list classes, including material on iterators, and it provides implementations
of a significant subset of the STL vector and list classes.
Chapter 4 covers trees, with an emphasis on search trees, including external search
trees (B-trees). The UNIX file system and expression trees are used as examples. AVL trees
and splay trees are introduced. More careful treatment of search tree implementation details
is found in Chapter 12. Additional coverage of trees, such as file compression and game
trees, is deferred until Chapter 10. Data structures for an external medium are considered
as the final topic in several chapters. Included is a discussion of the STL set and map classes,
including a significant example that illustrates the use of three separate maps to efficiently
solve a problem.
Chapter 5 discusses hash tables, including the classic algorithms such as sepa-
rate chaining and linear and quadratic probing, as well as several newer algorithms,
namely cuckoo hashing and hopscotch hashing. Universal hashing is also discussed, and
extendible hashing is covered at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 6 is about priority queues. Binary heaps are covered, and there is additional
material on some of the theoretically interesting implementations of priority queues. The
Fibonacci heap is discussed in Chapter 11, and the pairing heap is discussed in Chapter 12.
Chapter 7 covers sorting. It is very specific with respect to coding details and analysis.
All the important general-purpose sorting algorithms are covered and compared. Four
algorithms are analyzed in detail: insertion sort, Shellsort, heapsort, and quicksort. New to
this edition is radix sort and lower bound proofs for selection-related problems. External
sorting is covered at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 8 discusses the disjoint set algorithm with proof of the running time. This is a
short and specific chapter that can be skipped if Kruskal’s algorithm is not discussed.
Chapter 9 covers graph algorithms. Algorithms on graphs are interesting, not only
because they frequently occur in practice but also because their running time is so heavily
dependent on the proper use of data structures. Virtually all of the standard algorithms
are presented along with appropriate data structures, pseudocode, and analysis of running
time. To place these problems in a proper context, a short discussion on complexity theory
(including NP-completeness and undecidability) is provided.
Chapter 10 covers algorithm design by examining common problem-solving tech-
niques. This chapter is heavily fortified with examples. Pseudocode is used in these later
chapters so that the student’s appreciation of an example algorithm is not obscured by
implementation details.
Chapter 11 deals with amortized analysis. Three data structures from Chapters 4 and
6 and the Fibonacci heap, introduced in this chapter, are analyzed.
Chapter 12 covers search tree algorithms, the suffix tree and array, the k-d tree, and
the pairing heap. This chapter departs from the rest of the text by providing complete and
careful implementations for the search trees and pairing heap. The material is structured so
that the instructor can integrate sections into discussions from other chapters. For example,
the top-down red-black tree in Chapter 12 can be discussed along with AVL trees (in
Chapter 4).
Chapters 1 to 9 provide enough material for most one-semester data structures courses.
If time permits, then Chapter 10 can be covered. A graduate course on algorithm analysis
could cover chapters 7 to 11. The advanced data structures analyzed in Chapter 11 can
easily be referred to in the earlier chapters. The discussion of NP-completeness in Chapter 9
xviii Preface

is far too brief to be used in such a course. You might find it useful to use an additional
work on NP-completeness to augment this text.

Exercises
Exercises, provided at the end of each chapter, match the order in which material is pre-
sented. The last exercises may address the chapter as a whole rather than a specific section.
Difficult exercises are marked with an asterisk, and more challenging exercises have two
asterisks.

References
References are placed at the end of each chapter. Generally the references either are his-
torical, representing the original source of the material, or they represent extensions and
improvements to the results given in the text. Some references represent solutions to
exercises.

Supplements
The following supplements are available to all readers at http://cssupport.pearsoncmg.com/

r Source code for example programs


r Errata

In addition, the following material is available only to qualified instructors at Pearson


Instructor Resource Center (www.pearsonhighered.com/irc). Visit the IRC or contact your
Pearson Education sales representative for access.

r Solutions to selected exercises


r Figures from the book
r Errata

Acknowledgments
Many, many people have helped me in the preparation of books in this series. Some are
listed in other versions of the book; thanks to all.
As usual, the writing process was made easier by the professionals at Pearson. I’d like
to thank my editor, Tracy Johnson, and production editor, Marilyn Lloyd. My wonderful
wife Jill deserves extra special thanks for everything she does.
Finally, I’d like to thank the numerous readers who have sent e-mail messages and
pointed out errors or inconsistencies in earlier versions. My website www.cis.fiu.edu/~weiss
will also contain updated source code (in C++ and Java), an errata list, and a link to submit
bug reports.
M.A.W.
Miami, Florida
C H A P T E R 1

Programming: A General
Overview

In this chapter, we discuss the aims and goals of this text and briefly review programming
concepts and discrete mathematics. We will . . .

r See that how a program performs for reasonably large input is just as important as its
performance on moderate amounts of input.
r Summarize the basic mathematical background needed for the rest of the book.
r Briefly review recursion.
r Summarize some important features of C++ that are used throughout the text.

1.1 What’s This Book About?


Suppose you have a group of N numbers and would like to determine the kth largest. This
is known as the selection problem. Most students who have had a programming course
or two would have no difficulty writing a program to solve this problem. There are quite a
few “obvious” solutions.
One way to solve this problem would be to read the N numbers into an array, sort the
array in decreasing order by some simple algorithm such as bubble sort, and then return
the element in position k.
A somewhat better algorithm might be to read the first k elements into an array and
sort them (in decreasing order). Next, each remaining element is read one by one. As a new
element arrives, it is ignored if it is smaller than the kth element in the array. Otherwise, it
is placed in its correct spot in the array, bumping one element out of the array. When the
algorithm ends, the element in the kth position is returned as the answer.
Both algorithms are simple to code, and you are encouraged to do so. The natural ques-
tions, then, are: Which algorithm is better? And, more important, Is either algorithm good
enough? A simulation using a random file of 30 million elements and k = 15,000,000
will show that neither algorithm finishes in a reasonable amount of time; each requires
several days of computer processing to terminate (albeit eventually with a correct answer).
An alternative method, discussed in Chapter 7, gives a solution in about a second. Thus,
although our proposed algorithms work, they cannot be considered good algorithms, 1
2 Chapter 1 Programming: A General Overview

1 2 3 4

1 t h i s
2 w a t s
3 o a h g
4 f g d t

Figure 1.1 Sample word puzzle

because they are entirely impractical for input sizes that a third algorithm can handle in a
reasonable amount of time.
A second problem is to solve a popular word puzzle. The input consists of a two-
dimensional array of letters and a list of words. The object is to find the words in the puzzle.
These words may be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal in any direction. As an example, the
puzzle shown in Figure 1.1 contains the words this, two, fat, and that. The word this begins
at row 1, column 1, or (1,1), and extends to (1,4); two goes from (1,1) to (3,1); fat goes
from (4,1) to (2,3); and that goes from (4,4) to (1,1).
Again, there are at least two straightforward algorithms that solve the problem. For each
word in the word list, we check each ordered triple (row, column, orientation) for the pres-
ence of the word. This amounts to lots of nested for loops but is basically straightforward.
Alternatively, for each ordered quadruple (row, column, orientation, number of characters)
that doesn’t run off an end of the puzzle, we can test whether the word indicated is in the
word list. Again, this amounts to lots of nested for loops. It is possible to save some time
if the maximum number of characters in any word is known.
It is relatively easy to code up either method of solution and solve many of the real-life
puzzles commonly published in magazines. These typically have 16 rows, 16 columns, and
40 or so words. Suppose, however, we consider the variation where only the puzzle board is
given and the word list is essentially an English dictionary. Both of the solutions proposed
require considerable time to solve this problem and therefore might not be acceptable.
However, it is possible, even with a large word list, to solve the problem very quickly.
An important concept is that, in many problems, writing a working program is not
good enough. If the program is to be run on a large data set, then the running time becomes
an issue. Throughout this book we will see how to estimate the running time of a program
for large inputs and, more important, how to compare the running times of two programs
without actually coding them. We will see techniques for drastically improving the speed
of a program and for determining program bottlenecks. These techniques will enable us to
find the section of the code on which to concentrate our optimization efforts.

1.2 Mathematics Review


This section lists some of the basic formulas you need to memorize, or be able to derive,
and reviews basic proof techniques.
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Title: Beyond the Horizon

Author: Eugene O'Neill

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEYOND THE


HORIZON ***
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plays and the encouragement of ALBERT MALTZ
the non-professional theatre. KENYON NICHOLSON
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· EUGENE O’NEILL
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AUSTIN STRONG

6 EAST 39TH STREET, NEW YORK CITY


Copyright, 1921, by Eugene O’Neill
Caution: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that Beyond the
Horizon, being fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States
of America, the British Empire, including the Dominion of Canada, and all
other countries of the copyright union, is subject to a royalty. All rights,
including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, public reading,
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strictly reserved. In its present form this play is dedicated to the reading
public only. All inquiries regarding this play should be addressed to Richard
J. Madden Play Company, at 1501 Broadway, New York, N. Y.
The non-professional acting rights of Beyond the Horizon are controlled
exclusively by the Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 6 East 39th Street, New
York, N. Y., without whose permission in writing no performance of it may
be made.
Manufactured in the United States of America
CHARACTERS
James Mayo, a farmer
Kate Mayo, his wife
Captain Dick Scott, of the bark Sunda, her brother
Andrew Mayo son of James Mayo
Robert Mayo son of James Mayo
Ruth Atkins
Mrs. Atkins, her widowed mother
Mary
Ben, a farm hand
Doctor Fawcett
ACT I
Scene I: The Road. Sunset of a day in Spring.
Scene II: The Farm House. The same night.
ACT II
(Three years later)
Scene I: The Farm House. Noon of a Summer day.
The top of a hill on the farm overlooking the sea. The following
Scene II:
day.
ACT III
(Five years later)
Scene I: The Farm House. Dawn of a day in late Fall.
Scene II: The Road. Sunrise.
BEYOND THE HORIZON

ACT ONE
Scene One
A section of country highway. The road runs diagonally from the left,
forward, to the right, rear, and can be seen in the distance winding toward
the horizon like a pale ribbon between the low, rolling hills with their
freshly plowed fields clearly divided from each other, checkerboard fashion,
by the lines of stone walls and rough snake fences.
The forward triangle cut off by the road is a section of a field from the
dark earth of which myriad bright-green blades of fall-sown rye are
sprouting. A straggling line of piled rocks, too low to be called a wall,
separates this field from the road.
To the rear of the road is a ditch with a sloping, grassy bank on the far
side. From the center of this an old, gnarled apple tree, just budding into
leaf, strains its twisted branches heavenwards, black against the pallor of
distance. A snake-fence sidles from left to right along the top of the bank,
passing beneath the apple tree.
The hushed twilight of a day in May is just beginning. The horizon hills
are still rimmed by a faint line of flame, and the sky above them glows with
the crimson flush of the sunset. This fades gradually as the action of the
scene progresses.
At the rise of the curtain, ROBERT MAYO is discovered sitting on the fence.
He is a tall, slender young man of twenty-three. There is a touch of the poet
about him expressed in his high forehead and wide, dark eyes. His features
are delicate and refined, leaning to weakness in the mouth and chin. He is
dressed in gray corduroy trousers pushed into high laced boots, and a blue
flannel shirt with a bright colored tie. He is reading a book by the fading
sunset light. He shuts this, keeping a finger in to mark the place, and turns
his head toward the horizon, gazing out over the fields and hills. His lips
move as if he were reciting something to himself.
His brother ANDREW comes along the road from the right, returning from
his work in the fields. He is twenty-seven years old, an opposite type to
ROBERT—husky, sun-bronzed, handsome in a large-featured, manly fashion
—a son of the soil, intelligent in a shrewd way, but with nothing of the
intellectual about him. He wears overalls, leather boots, a gray flannel shirt
open at the neck, and a soft, mud-stained hat pushed back on his head. He
stops to talk to ROBERT, leaning on the hoe he carries.

ANDREW. (seeing ROBERT has not noticed his presence—in a loud shout)
Hey there! (ROBERT turns with a start. Seeing who it is, he smiles) Gosh,
you do take the prize for daydreaming! And I see you’ve toted one of the
old books along with you. (He crosses the ditch and sits on the fence near
his brother) What is it this time—poetry, I’ll bet. (He reaches for the book)
Let me see.
ROBERT. (handing it to him rather reluctantly) Look out you don’t get it
full of dirt.
ANDREW. (glancing at his hands) That isn’t dirt—it’s good clean earth.
(He turns over the pages. His eyes read something and he gives an
exclamation of disgust) Hump! (With a provoking grin at his brother he
reads aloud in a doleful, sing-song voice) “I have loved wind and light and
the bright sea. But holy and most sacred night, not as I love and have loved
thee.” (He hands the book back) Here! Take it and bury it. I suppose it’s that
year in college gave you a liking for that kind of stuff. I’m darn glad I
stopped at High School, or maybe I’d been crazy too. (He grins and slaps
ROBERT on the back affectionately) Imagine me reading poetry and plowing
at the same time! The team’d run away, I’ll bet.
ROBERT. (laughing) Or picture me plowing.
ANDREW. You should have gone back to college last fall, like I know you
wanted to. You’re fitted for that sort of thing—just as I ain’t.
ROBERT. You know why I didn’t go back, Andy. Pa didn’t like the idea,
even if he didn’t say so; and I know he wanted the money to use improving
the farm. And besides, I’m not keen on being a student, just because you see
me reading books all the time. What I want to do now is keep on moving so
that I won’t take root in any one place.
ANDREW. Well, the trip you’re leaving on tomorrow will keep you
moving all right. (At this mention of the trip they both fall silent. There is a
pause. Finally ANDREW goes on, awkwardly, attempting to speak casually)
Uncle says you’ll be gone three years.
ROBERT. About that, he figures.
ANDREW. (moodily) That’s a long time.
ROBERT. Not so long when you come to consider it. You know the Sunda
sails around the Horn for Yokohama first, and that’s a long voyage on a
sailing ship; and if we go to any of the other places Uncle Dick mentions—
India, or Australia, or South Africa, or South America—they’ll be long
voyages, too.
ANDREW. You can have all those foreign parts for all of me. (After a
pause) Ma’s going to miss you a lot, Rob.
ROBERT. Yes—and I’ll miss her.
ANDREW. And Pa ain’t feeling none too happy to have you go—though
he’s been trying not to show it.
ROBERT. I can see how he feels.
ANDREW. And you can bet that I’m not giving any cheers about it. (He
puts one hand on the fence near ROBERT).
ROBERT. (putting one hand on top of ANDREW’S with a gesture almost of
shyness) I know that, too, Andy.
ANDREW. I’ll miss you as much as anybody, I guess. You see, you and I
ain’t like most brothers—always fighting and separated a lot of the time,
while we’ve always been together—just the two of us. It’s different with us.
That’s why it hits so hard, I guess.
ROBERT. (with feeling) It’s just as hard for me, Andy—believe that! I hate
to leave you and the old folks—but—I feel I’ve got to. There’s something
calling me—— (He points to the horizon) Oh, I can’t just explain it to you,
Andy.
ANDREW. No need to, Rob. (Angry at himself) Hell! You want to go—
that’s all there is to it; and I wouldn’t have you miss this chance for the
world.
ROBERT. It’s fine of you to feel that way, Andy.
ANDREW. Huh! I’d be a nice son-of-a-gun if I didn’t, wouldn’t I? When I
know how you need this sea trip to make a new man of you—in the body, I
mean—and give you your full health back.
ROBERT. (a trifle impatiently) All of you seem to keep harping on my
health. You were so used to seeing me lying around the house in the old
days that you never will get over the notion that I’m a chronic invalid. You
don’t realize how I’ve bucked up in the past few years. If I had no other
excuse for going on Uncle Dick’s ship but just my health, I’d stay right here
and start in plowing.
ANDREW. Can’t be done. Farming ain’t your nature. There’s all the
difference shown in just the way us two feel about the farm. You—well, you
like the home part of it, I expect; but as a place to work and grow things,
you hate it. Ain’t that right?
ROBERT. Yes, I suppose it is. For you it’s different. You’re a Mayo
through and through. You’re wedded to the soil. You’re as much a product
of it as an ear of corn is, or a tree. Father is the same. This farm is his life-
work, and he’s happy in knowing that another Mayo, inspired by the same
love, will take up the work where he leaves off. I can understand your
attitude, and Pa’s; and I think it’s wonderful and sincere. But I—well, I’m
not made that way.
ANDREW. No, you ain’t; but when it comes to understanding, I guess I
realize that you’ve got your own angle of looking at things.
ROBERT. (musingly) I wonder if you do, really.
ANDREW. (confidently) Sure I do. You’ve seen a bit of the world, enough
to make the farm seem small, and you’ve got the itch to see it all.
ROBERT. It’s more than that, Andy.
ANDREW. Oh, of course. I know you’re going to learn navigation, and all
about a ship, so’s you can be an officer. That’s natural, too. There’s fair pay
in it, I expect, when you consider that you’ve always got a home and grub
thrown in; and if you’re set on traveling, you can go anywhere you’re a
mind to without paying fare.
ROBERT. (with a smile that is half sad) It’s more than that, Andy.
ANDREW. Sure it is. There’s always a chance of a good thing coming your
way in some of those foreign ports or other. I’ve heard there are great
opportunities for a young fellow with his eyes open in some of those new
countries that are just being opened up. (Jovially) I’ll bet that’s what you’ve
been turning over in your mind under all your quietness! (He slaps his
brother on the back with a laugh) Well, if you get to be a millionaire all of a
sudden, call ’round once in a while and I’ll pass the plate to you. We could
use a lot of money right here on the farm without hurting it any.
ROBERT. (forced to laugh) I’ve never considered that practical side of it
for a minute, Andy.
ANDREW. Well, you ought to.
ROBERT. No, I oughtn’t. (Pointing to the horizon—dreamily) Supposing I
was to tell you that it’s just Beauty that’s calling me, the beauty of the far
off and unknown, the mystery and spell of the East which lures me in the
books I’ve read, the need of the freedom of great wide spaces, the joy of
wandering on and on—in quest of the secret which is hidden over there,
beyond the horizon? Suppose I told you that was the one and only reason
for my going?
ANDREW. I should say you were nutty.
ROBERT. (frowning) Don’t, Andy. I’m serious.
ANDREW. Then you might as well stay here, because we’ve got all you’re
looking for right on this farm. There’s wide space enough, Lord knows; and
you can have all the sea you want by walking a mile down to the beach; and
there’s plenty of horizon to look at, and beauty enough for anyone, except
in the winter. (He grins) As for the mystery and spell, I haven’t met ’em yet,
but they’re probably lying around somewheres. I’ll have you understand
this is a first class farm with all the fixings. (He laughs)
ROBERT. (joining in the laughter in spite of himself) It’s no use talking to
you, you chump!
ANDREW. You’d better not say anything to Uncle Dick about spells and
things when you’re on the ship. He’ll likely chuck you overboard for a
Jonah. (He jumps down from fence) I’d better run along. I’ve got to wash up
some as long as Ruth’s Ma is coming over for supper.
ROBERT. (pointedly—almost bitterly) And Ruth.
ANDREW. (confused—looking everywhere except at ROBERT—trying to
appear unconcerned) Yes, Ruth’ll be staying too. Well, I better hustle, I
guess, and—— (He steps over the ditch to the road while he is talking).
ROBERT. (who appears to be fighting some strong inward emotion—
impulsively) Wait a minute, Andy! (He jumps down from the fence) There is
something I want to—— (He stops abruptly, biting his lips, his face
coloring).
ANDREW. (facing him; half-defiantly) Yes?
ROBERT. (confusedly) No—— never mind—— it doesn’t matter, it was
nothing.
ANDREW. (after a pause, during which he stares fixedly at ROBERT’S
averted face) Maybe I can guess—— what you were going to say—— but I
guess you’re right not to talk about it. (He pulls ROBERT’S hand from his side
and grips it tensely; the two brothers stand looking into each other’s eyes
for a minute) We can’t help those things, Rob. (He turns away, suddenly
releasing ROBERT’S hand) You’ll be coming along shortly, won’t you?
ROBERT. (dully) Yes.
ANDREW. See you later, then. (He walks of down the road to the left.
ROBERT stares after him for a moment; then climbs to the fence rail again,
and looks out over the hills, an expression of deep grief on his face. After a
moment or so, RUTH enters hurriedly from the left. She is a healthy, blonde,
out-of-door girl of twenty, with a graceful, slender figure. Her face, though
inclined to roundness, is undeniably pretty, its large eyes of a deep blue set
off strikingly by the sun-bronzed complexion. Her small, regular features
are marked by a certain strength—an underlying, stubborn fixity of purpose
hidden in the frankly-appealing charm of her fresh youthfulness. She wears
a simple white dress but no hat).
RUTH. (seeing him) Hello, Rob!
ROBERT. (startled) Hello, Ruth!
RUTH. (jumps the ditch and perches on the fence beside him) I was
looking for you.
ROBERT. (pointedly) Andy just left here.
RUTH. I know. I met him on the road a second ago. He told me you were
here. (Tenderly playful) I wasn’t looking for Andy, Smarty, if that’s what
you mean. I was looking for you.
ROBERT. Because I’m going away tomorrow?
RUTH. Because your mother was anxious to have you come home and
asked me to look for you. I just wheeled Ma over to your house.
ROBERT. (perfunctorily) How is your mother?
RUTH. (a shadow coming over her face) She’s about the same. She never
seems to get any better or any worse. Oh, Rob, I do wish she’d try to make
the best of things that can’t be helped.
ROBERT. Has she been nagging at you again?
RUTH. (nods her head, and then breaks forth rebelliously) She never
stops nagging. No matter what I do for her she finds fault. If only Pa was
still living—— (She stops as if ashamed of her outburst) I suppose I
shouldn’t complain this way. (She sighs) Poor Ma, Lord knows it’s hard
enough for her. I suppose it’s natural to be cross when you’re not able ever
to walk a step. Oh, I’d like to be going away some place—like you!
ROBERT. It’s hard to stay—and equally hard to go, sometimes.
RUTH. There! If I’m not the stupid body! I swore I wasn’t going to speak
about your trip—until after you’d gone; and there I go, first thing!
ROBERT. Why didn’t you want to speak of it?
RUTH. Because I didn’t want to spoil this last night you’re here. Oh, Rob,
I’m going to—we’re all going to miss you so awfully. Your mother is going
around looking as if she’d burst out crying any minute. You ought to know
how I feel. Andy and you and I—why it seems as if we’d always been
together.
ROBERT. (with a wry attempt at a smile) You and Andy will still have each
other. It’ll be harder for me without anyone.
RUTH. But you’ll have new sights and new people to take your mind off;
while we’ll be here with the old, familiar place to remind us every minute
of the day. It’s a shame you’re going—just at this time, in spring, when
everything is getting so nice. (With a sigh) I oughtn’t to talk that way when
I know going’s the best thing for you. You’re bound to find all sorts of
opportunities to get on, your father says.
ROBERT. (heatedly) I don’t give a damn about that! I wouldn’t take a
voyage across the road for the best opportunity in the world of the kind Pa
thinks of. (He smiles at his own irritation) Excuse me, Ruth, for getting
worked up over it; but Andy gave me an overdose of the practical
considerations.
RUTH. (slowly, puzzled) Well, then, if it isn’t—— (With sudden intensity)
Oh, Rob, why do you want to go?
ROBERT. (turning to her quickly, in surprise—slowly) Why do you ask
that, Ruth?
RUTH. (dropping her eyes before his searching glance) Because——
(Lamely) It seems such a shame.
ROBERT. (insistently) Why?
RUTH. Oh, because—everything.
ROBERT. I could hardly back out now, even if I wanted to. And I’ll be
forgotten before you know it.
RUTH. (indignantly) You won’t! I’ll never forget—— (She stops and
turns away to hide her confusion).
ROBERT. (softly) Will you promise me that?
RUTH. (evasively) Of course. It’s mean of you to think that any of us
would forget so easily.
ROBERT. (disappointedly) Oh!
RUTH. (with an attempt at lightness) But you haven’t told me your reason
for leaving yet?
ROBERT. (moodily) I doubt if you’ll understand. It’s difficult to explain,
even to myself. Either you feel it, or you don’t. I can remember being
conscious of it first when I was only a kid—you haven’t forgotten what a
sickly specimen I was then, in those days, have you?
RUTH. (with a shudder) Let’s not think about them.
ROBERT. You’ll have to, to understand. Well, in those days, when Ma was
fixing meals, she used to get me out of the way by pushing my chair to the
west window and telling me to look out and be quiet. That wasn’t hard. I
guess I was always quiet.
RUTH. (compassionately) Yes, you always were—and you suffering so
much, too!
ROBERT. (musingly) So I used to stare out over the fields to the hills, out
there—(He points to the horizon) and somehow after a time I’d forget any
pain I was in, and start dreaming. I knew the sea was over beyond those
hills,—the folks had told me—and I used to wonder what the sea was like,
and try to form a picture of it in my mind. (With a smile) There was all the
mystery in the world to me then about that—far-off sea—and there still is!
It called to me then just as it does now. (After a slight pause) And other
times my eyes would follow this road, winding off into the distance, toward
the hills, as if it, too, was searching for the sea. And I’d promise myself that
when I grew up and was strong, I’d follow that road, and it and I would find
the sea together. (With a smile) You see, my making this trip is only keeping
that promise of long ago.
RUTH. (charmed by his low, musical voice telling the dreams of his
childhood) Yes, I see.
ROBERT. Those were the only happy moments of my life then, dreaming
there at the window. I liked to be all alone—those times. I got to know all
the different kinds of sunsets by heart. And all those sunsets took place over
there—(He points) beyond the horizon. So gradually I came to believe that
all the wonders of the world happened on the other side of those hills. There
was the home of the good fairies who performed beautiful miracles. I
believed in fairies then. (With a smile) Perhaps I still do believe in them.
Anyway, in those days they were real enough, and sometimes I could
actually hear them calling to me to come out and play with them, dance
with them down the road in the dusk in a game of hide-and-seek to find out
where the sun was hiding himself. They sang their little songs to me, songs
that told of all the wonderful things they had in their home on the other side
of the hills; and they promised to show me all of them, if I’d only come,
come! But I couldn’t come then, and I used to cry sometimes and Ma would
think I was in pain. (He breaks off suddenly with a laugh) That’s why I’m
going now, I suppose. For I can still hear them calling. But the horizon is as
far away and as luring as ever. (He turns to her—softly) Do you understand
now, Ruth?
RUTH. (spellbound, in a whisper) Yes.
ROBERT. You feel it then?
RUTH. Yes, yes, I do! (Unconsciously she snuggles close against his side.
His arm steals about her as if he were not aware of the action) Oh, Rob,
how could I help feeling it? You tell things so beautifully!
ROBERT. (suddenly realizing that his arm is around her, and that her head
is resting on his shoulder, gently takes his arm away. RUTH, brought back to
herself, is overcome with confusion) So now you know why I’m going. It’s
for that reason—that and one other.
RUTH. You’ve another? Then you must tell me that, too.
ROBERT. (looking at her searchingly. She drops her eyes before his gaze) I
wonder if I ought to! You’ll promise not to be angry—whatever it is?
RUTH. (softly, her face still averted) Yes, I promise.
ROBERT. (simply) I love you. That’s the other reason.
RUTH. (hiding her face in her hands) Oh, Rob!
ROBERT. I wasn’t going to tell you, but I feel I have to. It can’t matter
now that I’m going so far away, and for so long—perhaps forever. I’ve
loved you all these years, but the realization never came ’til I agreed to go
away with Uncle Dick. Then I thought of leaving you, and the pain of that
thought revealed to me in a flash—that I loved you, had loved you as long
as I could remember. (He gently pulls one of RUTH’S hands away from her
face) You mustn’t mind my telling you this, Ruth. I realize how impossible
it all is—and I understand; for the revelation of my own love seemed to
open my eyes to the love of others. I saw Andy’s love for you—and I knew
that you must love him.
RUTH. (breaking out storming) I don’t! I don’t love Andy! I don’t!
(ROBERT stares at her in stupid astonishment. RUTH weeps hysterically)
Whatever—put such a fool notion into—into your head? (She suddenly
throws her arms about his neck and hides her head on his shoulder) Oh,
Rob! Don’t go away! Please! You mustn’t, now! You can’t! I won’t let you!
It’d break my—my heart!
ROBERT. (The expression of stupid bewilderment giving way to one of
overwhelming joy. He presses her close to him—slowly and tenderly) Do
you mean that—that you love me?
RUTH. (sobbing) Yes, yes—of course I do—what d’you s’pose? (She lifts
up her head and looks into his eyes with a tremulous smile) You stupid
thing! (He kisses her) I’ve loved you right along.
ROBERT. (mystified) But you and Andy were always together!
RUTH. Because you never seemed to want to go any place with me. You
were always reading an old book, and not paying any attention to me. I was
too proud to let you see I cared because I thought the year you had away to
college had made you stuck-up, and you thought yourself too educated to
waste any time on me.
ROBERT. (kissing her) And I was thinking—— (With a laugh) What fools
we’ve both been!
RUTH. (overcome by a sudden fear) You won’t go away on the trip, will
you, Rob? You’ll tell them you can’t go on account of me, won’t you? You
can’t go now! You can’t!
ROBERT. (bewildered) Perhaps—you can come too.
RUTH. Oh, Rob, don’t be so foolish. You know I can’t. Who’d take care
of ma? Don’t you see I couldn’t go—on her account? (She clings to him
imploringly) Please don’t go—not now. Tell them you’ve decided not to.
They won’t mind. I know your mother and father’ll be glad. They’ll all be.
They don’t want you to go so far away from them. Please, Rob! We’ll be so
happy here together where it’s natural and we know things. Please tell me
you won’t go!
ROBERT. (face to face with a definite, final decision, betrays the conflict
going on within him) But—Ruth—I—Uncle Dick——
RUTH. He won’t mind when he knows it’s for your happiness to stay.
How could he? (As ROBERT remains silent she bursts into sobs again) Oh,
Rob! And you said—you loved me!
ROBERT. (conquered by this appeal—an irrevocable decision in his voice)
I won’t go, Ruth. I promise you. There! Don’t cry! (He presses her to him,
stroking her hair tenderly. After a pause he speaks with happy hopefulness)
Perhaps after all Andy was right—righter than he knew—when he said I
could find all the things I was seeking for here, at home on the farm. I think
love must have been the secret—the secret that called to me from over the
world’s rim—the secret beyond every horizon; and when I did not come, it
came to me. (He clasps RUTH to him fiercely) Oh, Ruth, our love is sweeter
than any distant dream! (He kisses her passionately and steps to the ground,
lifting RUTH in his arms and carrying her to the road where he puts her
down).
RUTH. (with a happy laugh) My, but you’re strong!
ROBERT. Come! We’ll go and tell them at once.
RUTH. (dismayed) Oh, no, don’t, Rob, not ’til after I’ve gone. There’d be
bound to be such a scene with them all together.
ROBERT. (kissing her—gayly) As you like—Little Miss Common Sense!
RUTH. Let’s go, then. (She takes his hand, and they start to go off left.
ROBERT suddenly stops and turns as though for a last look at the hills and
the dying sunset flush).
ROBERT. (looking upward and pointing) See! The first star. (He bends
down and kisses her tenderly) Our star!
RUTH. (in a soft murmur) Yes. Our very own star. (They stand for a
moment looking up at it, their arms around each other. Then RUTH takes his
hand again and starts to lead him away) Come, Rob, let’s go. (His eyes are
fixed again on the horizon as he half turns to follow her. RUTH urges) We’ll
be late for supper, Rob.
ROBERT. (shakes his head impatiently, as though he were throwing off
some disturbing thought—with a laugh) All right. We’ll run then. Come on!
(They run of laughing as
(The Curtain Falls)

ACT ONE

Scene Two
The sitting room of the Mayo farm house about nine o’clock the same
night. On the left, two windows looking out on the fields. Against the wall
between the windows, an old-fashioned walnut desk. In the left corner, rear,
a sideboard with a mirror. In the rear wall to the right of the sideboard, a
window looking out on the road. Neat to the window a door leading out into
the yard. Farther right, a black horse-hair sofa, and another door opening
on a bedroom. In the corner, a straight-backed chair. In the right wall, near
the middle, an open doorway leading to the kitchen. Farther forward a
double-heater stove with coal scuttle, etc. In the center of the newly
carpeted floor, an oak dining-room table with a red cover. In the center of
the table, a large oil reading lamp. Four chairs, three rockers with
crocheted tidies on their backs, and one straight-backed, are placed about
the table. The walls are papered a dark red with a scrolly-figured pattern.
Everything in the room is clean, well-kept, and in its exact place, yet
there is no suggestion of primness about the whole. Rather the atmosphere
is one of the orderly comfort of a simple, hard-earned prosperity, enjoyed
and maintained by the family as a unit.
JAMES MAYO, his wife, her brother, CAPTAIN DICK SCOTT, and ANDREW are
discovered. MAYO is his son ANDREW over again in body and face—an
ANDREW sixty-five years old with a short, square, white beard. MRS. MAYO is
a slight, round-faced, rather prim-looking woman of fifty-five who had once
been a school teacher. The labors of a farmer’s wife have bent but not
broken her, and she retains a certain refinement of movement and
expression foreign to the MAYO part of the family. Whatever of resemblance
ROBERT has to his parents may be traced to her. Her brother, the CAPTAIN, is
short and stocky, with a weather-beaten, jovial face and a white mustache—
a typical old salt, loud of voice and given to gesture. He is fifty-eight years
old.
JAMES MAYO sits in front of the table. He wears spectacles, and a farm
journal which he has been reading lies in his lap. THE CAPTAIN leans
forward from a chair in the rear, his hands on the table in front of him.
ANDREW is tilted back on the straight-backed chair to the left, his chin sank
forward on his chest, staring at the carpet, preoccupied and frowning.
As the Curtain rises the CAPTAIN is just finishing the relation of some sea
episode. The others are pretending an interest which is belied by the absent-
minded expressions on their faces.

THE CAPTAIN. (chuckling) And that mission woman, she hails me on the
dock as I was acomin’ ashore, and she says—with her silly face all screwed
up serious as judgment—“Captain,” she says, “would you be so kind as to
tell me where the sea-gulls sleeps at nights?” Blow me if them warn’t her
exact words! (He slaps the table with the palm of his hands and laughs
loudly. The others force smiles) Ain’t that just like a fool woman’s question?
And I looks at her serious as I could, “Ma’m,” says I, “I couldn’t rightly
answer that question. I ain’t never seed a sea-gull in his bunk yet. The next
time I hears one snorin’,” I says, “I’ll make a note of where he’s turned in,
and write you a letter ’bout it.” And then she calls me a fool real spiteful
and tacks away from me quick. (He laughs again uproariously) So I got rid
of her that way. (The others smile but immediately relapse into expressions
of gloom again).
MRS. MAYO. (absent-mindedly—feeling that she has to say something) But
when it comes to that, where do sea-gulls sleep, Dick?
SCOTT. (slapping the table) Ho! Ho! Listen to her, James. ’Nother one!
Well, if that don’t beat all hell—’scuse me for cussin’, Kate.
MAYO. (with a twinkle in his eyes) They unhitch their wings, Katey, and
spreads ’em out on a wave for a bed.
SCOTT. And then they tells the fish to whistle to ’em when it’s time to turn
out. Ho! Ho!
MRS. MAYO. (with a forced smile) You men folks are too smart to live,
aren’t you? (She resumes her knitting. MAYO pretends to read his paper;
ANDREW stares at the floor).
SCOTT. (looks from one to the other of them with a puzzled air. Finally he
is unable to bear the thick silence a minute longer, and blurts out): You
folks look as if you was settin’ up with a corpse. (With exaggerated
concern) God A’mighty, there ain’t anyone dead, be there?
MAYO. (sharply) Don’t play the dunce, Dick! You know as well as we do
there ain’t no great cause to be feelin’ chipper.
SCOTT. (argumentatively) And there ain’t no cause to be wearin’
mourning, either, I can make out.
MRS. MAYO. (indignantly) How can you talk that way, Dick Scott, when
you’re taking our Robbie away from us, in the middle of the night, you
might say, just to get on that old boat of yours on time! I think you might
wait until morning when he’s had his breakfast.
SCOTT. (appealing to the others hopelessly) Ain’t that a woman’s way o’
seein’ things for you? God A’mighty, Kate, I can’t give orders to the tide
that it’s got to be high just when it suits me to have it. I ain’t gettin’ no fun
out o’ missin’ sleep and leavin’ here at six bells myself. (Protestingly) And
the Sunda ain’t an old ship—leastways, not very old—and she’s good’s she
ever was.
MRS. MAYO. (her lips trembling) I wish Robbie weren’t going.
MAYO. (looking at her over his glasses—consolingly) There, Katey!
MRS. MAYO. (rebelliously) Well, I do wish he wasn’t!
SCOTT. You shouldn’t be taking it so hard, ’s far as I kin see. This vige’ll
make a man of him. I’ll see to it he learns how to navigate, ’n’ study for a
mate’s c’tificate right off—and it’ll give him a trade for the rest of his life,
if he wants to travel.
MRS. MAYO. But I don’t want him to travel all his life. You’ve got to see
he comes home when this trip is over. Then he’ll be all well, and he’ll want
to—to marry—(ANDREW sits forward in his chair with an abrupt movement)
—and settle down right here. (She stares down at the knitting in her lap—
after a pause) I never realized how hard it was going to be for me to have
Robbie go—or I wouldn’t have considered it a minute.
SCOTT. It ain’t no good goin’ on that way, Kate, now it’s all settled.
MRS. MAYO. (on the verge of tears) It’s all right for you to talk. You’ve
never had any children. You don’t know what it means to be parted from
them—and Robbie my youngest, too. (ANDREW frowns and fidgets in his
chair).
ANDREW. (suddenly turning to them) There’s one thing none of you seem
to take into consideration—that Rob wants to go. He’s dead set on it. He’s
been dreaming over this trip ever since it was first talked about. It wouldn’t
be fair to him not to have him go. (A sudden uneasiness seems to strike him)
At least, not if he still feels the same way about it he did when he was
talking to me this evening.
MAYO. (with an air of decision) Andy’s right, Katey. That ends all
argyment, you can see that. (Looking at his big silver watch) Wonder what’s
happened to Robert? He’s been gone long enough to wheel the widder to
home, certain. He can’t be out dreamin’ at the stars his last night.
MRS. MAYO. (a bit reproachfully) Why didn’t you wheel Mrs. Atkins back
tonight, Andy? You usually do when she and Ruth come over.
ANDREW. (avoiding her eyes) I thought maybe Robert wanted to tonight.
He offered to go right away when they were leaving.
MRS. MAYO. He only wanted to be polite.
ANDREW. (gets to his feet) Well, he’ll be right back, I guess. (He turns to
his father) Guess I’ll go take a look at the black cow, Pa—see if she’s ailing
any.
MAYO. Yes—better had, son. (ANDREW goes into the kitchen on the right).
SCOTT. (as he goes out—in a low tone) There’s the boy that would make a
good, strong sea-farin’ man—if he’d a mind to.
MAYO. (sharply) Don’t you put no such fool notions in Andy’s head, Dick
—or you ’n’ me’s goin’ to fall out. (Then he smiles) You couldn’t tempt
him, no ways. Andy’s a Mayo bred in the bone, and he’s a born farmer, and
a damn good one, too. He’ll live and die right here on this farm, like I
expect to. (With proud confidence) And he’ll make this one of the slickest,
best-payin’ farms in the state, too, afore he gits through!
SCOTT. Seems to me it’s a pretty slick place right now.
MAYO. (shaking his head) It’s too small. We need more land to make it
amount to much, and we ain’t got the capital to buy it. (ANDREW enters from
the kitchen. His hat is on, and he carries a lighted lantern in his hand. He
goes to the door in the rear leading out).
ANDREW. (opens the door and pauses) Anything else you can think of to
be done, Pa?
MAYO. No, nothin’ I know of. (ANDREW goes out, shutting the door).
MRS. MAYO. (after a pause) What’s come over Andy tonight, I wonder?
He acts so strange.
MAYO. He does seem sort o’ glum and out of sorts. It’s ’count o’ Robert
leavin’, I s’pose. (To SCOTT) Dick, you wouldn’t believe how them boys o’
mine sticks together. They ain’t like most brothers. They’ve been thick as
thieves all their lives, with nary a quarrel I kin remember.
SCOTT. No need to tell me that. I can see how they take to each other.
MRS. MAYO. (pursuing her train of thought) Did you notice, James, how
queer everyone was at supper? Robert seemed stirred up about something;
and Ruth was so flustered and giggly; and Andy sat there dumb, looking as
if he’d lost his best friend; and all of them only nibbled at their food.
MAYO. Guess they was all thinkin’ about tomorrow, same as us.
MRS. MAYO. (shaking her head) No. I’m afraid somethin’s happened—
somethin’ else.
MAYO. You mean—’bout Ruth?
MRS. MAYO. Yes.
MAYO. (after a pause—frowning) I hope her and Andy ain’t had a serious
fallin’-out. I always sorter hoped they’d hitch up together sooner or later.
What d’you say, Dick? Don’t you think them two’d pair up well?
SCOTT. (nodding his head approvingly) A sweet, wholesome couple
they’d make.
MAYO. It’d be a good thing for Andy in more ways than one. I ain’t what
you’d call calculatin’ generally, and I b’lieve in lettin’ young folks run their
affairs to suit themselves; but there’s advantages for both o’ them in this
match you can’t overlook in reason. The Atkins farm is right next to ourn.
Jined together they’d make a jim-dandy of a place, with plenty o’ room to
work in. And bein’ a widder with only a daughter, and laid up all the time to
boot, Mrs. Atkins can’t do nothin’ with the place as it ought to be done. She
needs a man, a first-class farmer, to take hold o’ things; and Andy’s just the
one.
MRS. MAYO. (abruptly) I don’t think Ruth loves Andy.
MAYO. You don’t? Well, maybe a woman’s eyes is sharper in such things,
but—they’re always together. And if she don’t love him now, she’ll likely
come around to it in time. (As MRS. MAYO shakes her head) You seem
mighty fixed in your opinion, Katey. How d’you know?
MRS. MAYO. It’s just—what I feel.
MAYO. (a light breaking over him) You don’t mean to say—(MRS. MAYO
nods. MAYO chuckles scornfully) Shucks! I’m losin’ my respect for your
eyesight, Katey. Why, Robert ain’t got no time for Ruth, ’cept as a friend!
MRS. MAYO. (warningly) Sss-h-h! (The door from the yard opens, and
ROBERT enters. He is smiling happily, and humming a song to himself, but as
he comes into the room an undercurrent of nervous uneasiness manifests
itself in his bearing).
MAYO. So here you be at last! (ROBERT comes forward and sits on ANDY’S
chair. MAYO smiles slyly at his wife) What have you been doin’ all this time
—countin’ the stars to see if they all come out right and proper?
ROBERT. There’s only one I’ll ever look for any more, Pa.
MAYO. (reproachfully) You might’ve even not wasted time lookin’ for
that one—your last night.
MRS. MAYO. (as if she were speaking to a child) You ought to have worn
your coat a sharp night like this, Robbie.
SCOTT. (disgustedly) God A’mighty, Kate, you treat Robert as if he was
one year old!
MRS. MAYO. (notices ROBERT’S nervous uneasiness) You look all worked
up over something, Robbie. What is it?
ROBERT. (swallowing hard, looks quickly from one to the other of them—
then begins determinedly) Yes, there is something—something I must tell
you—all of you. (As he begins to talk ANDREW enters quietly from the rear,
closing the door behind him, and setting the lighted lantern on the floor. He
remains standing by the door, his arms folded, listening to ROBERT with a
repressed expression of pain on his face. ROBERT is so much taken up with
what he is going to say that he does not notice ANDREW’S presence.)
Something I discovered only this evening—very beautiful and wonderful—
something I did not take into consideration previously because I hadn’t
dared to hope that such happiness could ever come to me. (Appealingly)
You must all remember that fact, won’t you?
MAYO. (frowning) Let’s get to the point, son.
ROBERT. (with a trace of defiance) Well, the point is this, Pa: I’m not
going—I mean—I can’t go tomorrow with Uncle Dick—or at any future
time, either.
MRS. MAYO. (with a sharp sigh of joyful relief) Oh, Robbie, I’m so glad!
MAYO. (astounded) You ain’t serious, be you, Robert? (Severely) Seems
to me it’s a pretty late hour in the day for you to be upsettin’ all your plans
so sudden!
ROBERT. I asked you to remember that until this evening I didn’t know
myself. I had never dared to dream——
MAYO. (irritably) What is this foolishness you’re talkin’ of?
ROBERT. (flushing) Ruth told me this evening that—she loved me. It was
after I’d confessed I loved her. I told her I hadn’t been conscious of my love
until after the trip had been arranged, and I realized it would mean—leaving
her. That was the truth. I didn’t know until then. (As if justifying himself to
the others) I hadn’t intended telling her anything but—suddenly—I felt I
must. I didn’t think it would matter, because I was going away. And I
thought she loved—someone else. (Slowly—his eyes shining) And then she
cried and said it was I she’d loved all the time, but I hadn’t seen it.
MRS. MAYO. (rushes over and throws her arms about him) I knew it! I was
just telling your father when you came in—and, Oh, Robbie, I’m so happy
you’re not going!
ROBERT. (kissing her) I knew you’d be glad, Ma.
MAYO. (bewilderedly) Well, I’ll be damned! You do beat all for gettin’
folks’ minds all tangled up, Robert. And Ruth too! Whatever got into her of
a sudden? Why, I was thinkin’——
MRS. MAYO. (hurriedly—in a tone of warning) Never mind what you were
thinking, James. It wouldn’t be any use telling us that now. (Meaningly)
And what you were hoping for turns out just the same almost, doesn’t it?
MAYO. (thoughtfully—beginning to see this side of the argument) Yes; I
suppose you’re right, Katey. (Scratching his head in puzzlement) But how it
ever come about! It do beat anything ever I heard. (Finally he gets up with a
sheepish grin and walks over to ROBERT) We’re glad you ain’t goin’, your
Ma and I, for we’d have missed you terrible, that’s certain and sure; and
we’re glad you’ve found happiness. Ruth’s a fine girl and’ll make a good
wife to you.
ROBERT. (much moved) Thank you, Pa. (He grips his father’s hand in his).
ANDREW. (his face tense and drawn comes forward and holds out his
hand, forcing a smile) I guess it’s my turn to offer congratulations, isn’t it?
ROBERT. (with a startled cry when his brother appears before him so
suddenly) Andy! (Confused) Why—I—I didn’t see you. Were you here
when——
ANDREW. I heard everything you said; and here’s wishing you every
happiness, you and Ruth. You both deserve the best there is.
ROBERT. (taking his hand) Thanks, Andy, it’s fine of you to—— (His
voice dies away as he sees the pain in ANDREW’S eyes).
ANDREW. (giving his brother’s hand a final grip) Good luck to you both!
(He turns away and goes back to the rear where he bends over the lantern,
fumbling with it to hide his emotion from the others).
MRS. MAYO. (to the CAPTAIN, who has been too flabbergasted by ROBERT’S
decision to say a word) What’s the matter, Dick? Aren’t you going to
congratulate Robbie?
SCOTT. (embarrassed) Of course I be! (He gets to his feet and shakes
ROBERT’S hand, muttering a vague) Luck to you, boy. (He stands beside
ROBERT as if he wanted to say something more but doesn’t know how to go
about it).
ROBERT. Thanks, Uncle Dick.
SCOTT. So you’re not acomin’ on the Sunda with me? (His voice indicates
disbelief).
ROBERT. I can’t, Uncle—not now. I wouldn’t miss it for anything else in
the world under any other circumstances. (He sighs unconsciously) But you
see I’ve found—a bigger dream. (Then with joyous high spirits) I want you
all to understand one thing—I’m not going to be a loafer on your hands any
longer. This means the beginning of a new life for me in every way. I’m
going to settle right down and take a real interest in the farm, and do my
share. I’ll prove to you, Pa, that I’m as good a Mayo as you are—or Andy,
when I want to be.
MAYO. (kindly but skeptically) That’s the right spirit, Robert. Ain’t none
of us doubts your willin’ness, but you ain’t never learned——
ROBERT. Then I’m going to start learning right away, and you’ll teach me,
won’t you?
MAYO. (mollifyingly) Of course I will, boy, and be glad to, only you’d
best go easy at first.
SCOTT. (who has listened to this conversation in mingled consternation
and amazement) You don’t mean to tell me you’re goin’ to let him stay, do
you, James?
MAYO. Why, things bein’ as they be, Robert’s free to do as he’s a mind to.
MRS. MAYO. Let him! The very idea!
SCOTT. (more and more ruffled) Then all I got to say is, you’re a soft,
weak-willed critter to be permittin’ a boy—and women, too—to be layin’
your course for you wherever they damn pleases.
MAYO. (slyly amused) It’s just the same with me as ’twas with you, Dick.
You can’t order the tides on the seas to suit you, and I ain’t pretendin’ I can
reg’late love for young folks.
SCOTT. (scornfully) Love! They ain’t old enough to know love when they
sight it! Love! I’m ashamed of you, Robert, to go lettin’ a little huggin’ and
kissin’ in the dark spile your chances to make a man out o’ yourself. It ain’t
common sense—no siree, it ain’t—not by a hell of a sight! (He pounds the
table with his fists in exasperation).
MRS. MAYO. (laughing provokingly at her brother) A fine one you are to
be talking about love, Dick—an old cranky bachelor like you. Goodness
sakes!
SCOTT. (exasperated by their joking) I’ve never been a damn fool like
most, if that’s what you’re steerin’ at.
MRS. MAYO. (tauntingly) Sour grapes, aren’t they, Dick? (She laughs.
ROBERT and his father chuckle. SCOTT sputters with annoyance) Good
gracious, Dick, you do act silly, flying into a temper over nothing.
SCOTT. (indignantly) Nothin’! You talk as if I wasn’t concerned nohow in
this here business. Seems to me I’ve got a right to have my say. Ain’t I
made all arrangements with the owners and stocked up with some special
grub all on Robert’s account?
ROBERT. You’ve been fine, Uncle Dick; and I appreciate it. Truly.
MAYO. ’Course; we all does, Dick.
SCOTT. (unplacated) I’ve been countin’ sure on havin’ Robert for
company on this vige—to sorta talk to and show things to, and teach, kinda,
and I got my mind so set on havin’ him I’m goin’ to be double lonesome
this vige. (He pounds on the table, attempting to cover up this confession of
weakness) Darn all this silly lovin’ business, anyway. (Irritably) But all this
talk ain’t tellin’ me what I’m to do with that sta’b’d cabin I fixed up. It’s all
painted white, an’ a bran new mattress on the bunk, ’n’ new sheets ’n’
blankets ’n’ things. And Chips built in a book-case so’s Robert could take
his books along—with a slidin’ bar fixed across’t it, mind, so’s they
couldn’t fall out no matter how she rolled. (With excited consternation)
What d’you suppose my officers is goin’ to think when there’s no one
comes aboard to occupy that sta’b’d cabin? And the men what did the work
on it—what’ll they think? (He shakes his finger indignantly) They’re liable
as not to suspicion it was a woman I’d planned to ship along, and that she
gave me the go-by at the last moment! (He wipes his perspiring brow in
anguish at this thought). Gawd A’mighty! They’re only lookin’ to have the
laugh on me for something like that. They’re liable to b’lieve anything,
those fellers is!
MAYO. (with a wink) Then there’s nothing to it but for you to get right out
and hunt up a wife somewheres for that spick ’n’ span cabin. She’ll have to
be a pretty one, too, to match it. (He looks at his watch with exaggerated
concern) You ain’t got much time to find her, Dick.
SCOTT. (as the others smile—sulkily) You kin go to thunder, Jim Mayo!
ANDREW. (comes forward from where he has been standing by the door,
rear, brooding. His face is set in a look of grim determination) You needn’t
worry about that spare cabin, Uncle Dick, if you’ve a mind to take me in
Robert’s place.
ROBERT. (turning to him quickly) Andy! (He sees at once the fixed resolve
in his brother’s eyes, and realizes immediately the reason for it—in
consternation) Andy, you mustn’t!
ANDREW. You’ve made your decision, Rob, and now I’ve made mine.
You’re out of this, remember.
ROBERT. (hurt by his brother’s tone) But Andy——
ANDREW. Don’t interfere, Rob—that’s all I ask. (Turning to his uncle)
You haven’t answered my question, Uncle Dick.
SCOTT. (clearing his throat, with an uneasy side glance at JAMES MAYO
who is staring at his elder son as if he thought he had suddenly gone mad)
O’ course, I’d be glad to have you, Andy.
ANDREW. It’s settled then. I can pack the little I want to take in a few
minutes.
MRS. MAYO. Don’t be a fool, Dick. Andy’s only joking you.
SCOTT. (disgruntedly) It’s hard to tell who’s jokin’ and who’s not in this
house.
ANDREW. (firmly) I’m not joking, Uncle Dick. (As SCOTT looks at him
uncertainly) You needn’t be afraid I’ll go back on my word.
ROBERT. (hurt by the insinuation he feels in ANDREW’S tone) Andy! That
isn’t fair!
MAYO. (frowning) Seems to me this ain’t no subject to joke over—not for
Andy.
ANDREW. (facing his father) I agree with you, Pa, and I tell you again,
once and for all, that I’ve made up my mind to go.
MAYO. (dumbfounded—unable to doubt the determination in ANDREW’S
voice—helplessly) But why, son? Why?
ANDREW. (evasively) I’ve always wanted to go.
ROBERT. Andy!
ANDREW. (half angrily) You shut up, Rob! (Turning to his father again) I
didn’t ever mention it because as long as Rob was going I knew it was no
use; but now Rob’s staying on here, there isn’t any reason for me not to go.
MAYO. (breathing hard) No reason? Can you stand there and say that to
me, Andrew?
MRS. MAYO. (hastily—seeing the gathering storm) He doesn’t mean a
word of it, James.
MAYO. (making a gesture to her to keep silence) Let me talk, Katey. (In a
more kindly tone) What’s come over you so sudden, Andy? You know’s
well as I do that it wouldn’t be fair o’ you to run off at a moment’s notice
right now when we’re up to our necks in hard work.
ANDREW. (avoiding his eyes) Rob’ll hold his end up as soon as he learns.
MAYO. Robert was never cut out for a farmer, and you was.
ANDREW. You can easily get a man to do my work.
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