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 Curves and Surfaces
In Geometric Modeling:
Theory And Algorithms

Jean Gallier
Department of Computer and Information Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

c Jean Gallier
Please, do not reproduce without permission of the author

November 7, 2011
ii
 iii

To my new daughter Mia, my wife Anne,

my son Philippe, and my daughter Sylvie.

iv
Contents

1 Introduction 7
1.1 Geometric Methods in Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Examples of Problems Using Geometric Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Part I Basics of Affine Geometry 11

2 Basics of Affine Geometry 13
2.1 Affine Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Examples of Affine Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.3 Chasles’ Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4 Affine Combinations, Barycenters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.5 Affine Subspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.6 Affine Independence and Affine Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.7 Affine Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.8 Affine Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.9 Affine Hyperplanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.10 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Part II Polynomial Curves and Spline Curves 61

3 Introduction to Polynomial Curves 63
3.1 Why Parameterized Polynomial Curves? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.2 Polynomial Curves of degree 1 and 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.3 First Encounter with Polar Forms (Blossoming) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.4 First Encounter with the de Casteljau Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.5 Polynomial Curves of Degree 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.6 Classification of the Polynomial Cubics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
3.7 Second Encounter with Polar Forms (Blossoming) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.8 Second Encounter with the de Casteljau Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
3.9 Examples of Cubics Defined by Control Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
3.10 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

v
vi CONTENTS

4 Multiaffine Maps and Polar Forms 119

4.1 Multiaffine Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.2 Affine Polynomials and Polar Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
4.3 Polynomial Curves and Control Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.4 Uniqueness of the Polar Form of an Affine Polynomial Map . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.5 Polarizing Polynomials in One or Several Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

5 Polynomial Curves as Bézier Curves 143

5.1 The de Casteljau Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
5.2 Subdivision Algorithms for Polynomial Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
5.3 The Progressive Version of the de Casteljau Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
5.4 Derivatives of Polynomial Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
5.5 Joining Affine Polynomial Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
5.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

6 B-Spline Curves 187

6.1 Introduction: Knot Sequences, de Boor Control Points . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
6.2 Infinite Knot Sequences, Open B-Spline Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
6.3 Finite Knot Sequences, Finite B-Spline Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6.4 Cyclic Knot Sequences, Closed (Cyclic) B-Spline Curves . . . . . . . . . . . 214
6.5 The de Boor Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
6.6 The de Boor Algorithm and Knot Insertion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
6.7 Polar forms of B-Splines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
6.8 Cubic Spline Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
6.9 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Part III Polynomial Surfaces and Spline Surfaces 259

7 Polynomial Surfaces 261
7.1 Polarizing Polynomial Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
7.2 Bipolynomial Surfaces in Polar Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
7.3 The de Casteljau Algorithm; Rectangular Surface Patches . . . . . . . . . . 275
7.4 Total Degree Surfaces in Polar Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
7.5 The de Casteljau Algorithm for Triangular Surface Patches . . . . . . . . . . 282
7.6 Directional Derivatives of Polynomial Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
7.7 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

8 Subdivision Algorithms for Polynomial Surfaces 295

8.1 Subdivision Algorithms for Triangular Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
8.2 Subdivision Algorithms for Rectangular Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
8.3 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
CONTENTS vii

9 Polynomial Spline Surfaces and Subdivision Surfaces 337

9.1 Joining Polynomial Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
9.2 Spline Surfaces with Triangular Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
9.3 Spline Surfaces with Rectangular Patches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
9.4 Subdivision Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
9.5 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

10 Embedding an Affine Space in a Vector Space 371

10.1 The “Hat Construction”, or Homogenizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
10.2 Affine Frames of E and Bases of E b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
10.3 Extending Affine Maps to Linear Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
10.4 From Multiaffine Maps to Multilinear Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
10.5 Differentiating Affine Polynomial Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
10.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

11 Tensor Products and Symmetric Tensor Products 397

11.1 Tensor Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
11.2 Symmetric Tensor Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
11.3 Affine Symmetric Tensor Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
11.4 Properties of Symmetric Tensor Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
11.5 Polar Forms Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
11.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

Part IV Appendices 423

A Linear Algebra 425
A.1 Vector Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
A.2 Linear Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
A.3 Quotient Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
A.4 Direct Sums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
A.5 Hyperplanes and Linear Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

B Complements of Affine Geometry 447

B.1 Affine and Multiaffine Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
B.2 Homogenizing Multiaffine Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
B.3 Intersection and Direct Sums of Affine Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
B.4 Osculating Flats Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

C Topology 467
C.1 Metric Spaces and Normed Vector Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
C.2 Continuous Functions, Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471
C.3 Normed Affine Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
viii CONTENTS

D Differential Calculus 475

D.1 Directional Derivatives, Total Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
D.2 Jacobian Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Preface

This book is primarily an introduction to geometric concepts and tools needed for solving
problems of a geometric nature with a computer. Our main goal is to provide an introduc-
tion to the mathematical concepts needed in tackling problems arising notably in computer
graphics, geometric modeling, computer vision, and motion planning, just to mention some
key areas. Many problems in the above areas require some geometric knowledge, but in our
opinion, books dealing with the relevant geometric material are either too theoretical, or else
rather specialized and application-oriented. This book is an attempt to fill this gap. We
present a coherent view of geometric methods applicable to many engineering problems at
a level that can be understood by a senior undergraduate with a good math background.
Thus, this book should be of interest to a wide audience including computer scientists (both
students and professionals), mathematicians, and engineers interested in geometric methods
(for example, mechanical engineers). In particular, we provide an introduction to affine ge-
ometry. This material provides the foundations for the algorithmic treatment of polynomial
curves and surfaces, which is a main theme of this book. We present some of the main tools
used in computer aided geometric design (CAGD), but our goal is not to write another text
on CAGD. In brief, we are writing about

Geometric Modeling Methods in Engineering

We refrained from using the expression “computational geometry” because it has a well
established meaning which does not correspond to what we have in mind. Although we will
touch some of the topics covered in computational geometry (for example, triangulations),
we are more interested in dealing with curves and surfaces from an algorithmic point of
view . In this respect, we are flirting with the intuitionist’s ideal of doing mathematics from
a “constructive” point of view. Such a point of view is of course very relevant to computer
science.
This book consists of four parts.

• Part I provides an introduction to affine geometry. This ensures that readers are on
firm grounds to proceed with the rest of the book, in particular the study of curves
and surfaces. This is also useful to establish the notation and terminology. Readers

1
2 CONTENTS

proficient in geometry may omit this section, or use it by need . On the other hand,
readers totally unfamiliar with this material will probably have a hard time with the
rest of the book. These readers are advised do some extra reading in order to assimilate
some basic knowledge of geometry. For example, we highly recommend Berger [5, 6],
Pedoe [59], Samuel [69], Hilbert and Cohn-Vossen [42], do Carmo [26], Berger and
Gostiaux [7], Boehm and Prautzsch [11], and Tisseron [83].

• Part II deals with an algorithmic treatment of polynomial curves (Bézier curves) and
spline curves.

• Part III deals with an algorithmic treatment of polynomial surfaces (Bézier rectangular
or triangular surfaces), and spline surfaces. We also include a section on subdivision
surfaces, an exciting and active area of research in geometric modeling and animation,
as attested by several papers in SIGGRAPH’98, especially the paper by DeRose et al
[24] on the animated character Geri, from the short movie Geri’s game.

• Part IV consists of appendices consisting of basics of linear algebra, certain technical

proofs that were omitted earlier, complements of affine geometry, analysis, and dif-
ferential calculus. This part has been included to make the material of parts I–III
self-contained. Our advice is to use it by need !

Our goal is not to write a text on the many specialized and practical CAGD methods.
Our main goal is to provide an introduction to the concepts needed in tackling problems
arising in computer graphics, geometric modeling, computer vision, and motion planning,
just to mention some key areas. As it turns out, one of the most spectacular application
of these concepts is the treatment of curves and surfaces in terms of control points, a tool
extensively used in CAGD. This is why many pages are devoted to an algorithmic treatment
of curves and surfaces. However, we only provide a cursory coverage of CAGD methods.
Luckily, there are excellent texts on CAGD, including Bartels, Beatty, and Barsky [4], Farin
[32, 31], Fiorot and Jeannin [35, 36], Riesler [68], Hoschek and Lasser [45], and Piegl and
Tiller [62]. Similarly, although we cover affine geometry in some detail, we are far from giving
a comprehensive treatments of these topics. For such a treatment, we highly recommend
Berger [5, 6], Pedoe [59], Tisseron [83], Samuel [69], Dieudonné [25], Sidler [76], and Veblen
and Young [85, 86], a great classic. Several sections of this book are inspired by the treatment
in one of several of the above texts, and we are happy to thank the authors for providing
such inspiration.
Lyle Ramshaw’s remarkably elegant and inspirational DEC-SRC Report, “Blossoming: A
connect–the–dots approach to splines” [65], radically changed our perspective on polynomial
curves and surfaces. We have happily and irrevocably adopted the view that the most
transparent manner for presenting much of the theory of polynomial curves and surfaces is
to stress the multilinear nature (really multiaffine) of these curves and surfaces. This is in
complete agreement with de Casteljau’s original spirit, but as Ramshaw, we are more explicit
CONTENTS 3

in our use of multilinear tools. As the reader will discover, much of the algorithmic theory
of polynomial curves and surfaces is captured by the three words:

Polarize, homogenize, tensorize!

We will be dealing primarily with the following kinds of problems:

• Approximating a shape (curve or surface).

We will see how this can be done using polynomial curves or surfaces (also called Bézier
curves or surfaces), spline curves or surfaces.
• Interpolating a set of points, by a curve or a surface.
Again, we will see how this can be done using spline curves or spline surfaces.

• Drawing a curve or a surface.

The tools and techniques developed for solving the approximation problem will be very
useful for solving the other two problems.

The material presented in this book is related to the classical differential geometry of
curves and surfaces, and to numerical methods in matrix analysis. In fact, it is often pos-
sible to reduce problems involving certain splines to solving systems of linear equations.
Thus, it is very helpful to be aware of efficient methods for numerical matrix analysis. For
further information on these topics, readers are referred to the excellent texts by Gray [39],
Strang [81], and Ciarlet [19]. Strang’s beautiful book on applied mathematics is also highly
recommended as a general reference [80]. There are other interesting applications of geom-
etry to computer vision, computer graphics, and solid modeling. Some great references are
Koenderink [46] and Faugeras [33] for computer vision, Hoffman [43] for solid modeling, and
Metaxas [53] for physics-based deformable models.

Novelties
As far as we know, there is no fully developed modern exposition integrating the basic
concepts of affine geometry as well as a presentation of curves and surfaces from the algo-
rithmic point of view in terms of control points (in the polynomial case). There is also no
reasonably thorough textbook presentation of the main surface subdivision schemes (Doo-
Sabin, Catmull-Clark, Loop), and a technical discussion of convergence and smoothness.

New Treatment, New Results

This books provides an introduction to affine geometry. Generally, background material
or rather technical proofs are relegated to appendices.
4 CONTENTS

We give an in-depth presentation of polynomial curves and surfaces from an algorith-

mic point of view. The approach (sometimes called blossoming) consists in multilinearizing
everything in sight (getting polar forms), which leads very naturally to a presentation of
polynomial curves and surfaces in terms of control points (Bézier curves and surfaces). We
present many algorithms for subdividing and drawing curves and surfaces, all implemented
in Mathematica. A clean and elegant presentation of control points is obtained by using
a construction for embedding an affine space into a vector space (the so-called “hat con-
struction”, originating in Berger [5]). We even include an optional chapter (chapter 11)
covering tensors and symmetric tensors to provide an in-depth understanding of the foun-
dations of blossoming and a more conceptual view of the computational material on curves
and surfaces. The continuity conditions for spline curves and spline surfaces are expressed
in terms of polar forms, which yields both geometric and computational insights into the
subtle interaction of knots and de Boor control points.
Subdivision surfaces are the topic of Chapter 9 (section 9.4). Subdivision surfaces form
an active and promising area of research. They provide an attractive alternative to spline
surfaces in modeling applications where the topology of surfaces is rather complex, and
where the initial control polyhedron consists of various kinds of faces, not just triangles
or rectangles. As far as we know, this is the first textbook presentation of three popular
methods due to Doo and Sabin [27, 29, 28], Catmull and Clark [17], and Charles Loop [50].
We discuss Loop’s convergence proof in some detail, and for this, we give a crash course on
discrete Fourier transforms and (circular) discrete convolutions. A glimpse at subdivision
surfaces is given in a new Section added to Farin’s Fourth edition [32]. Subdivision surfaces
are also briefly covered in Stollnitz, DeRose, and Salesin [79], but in the context of wavelets
and multiresolution representation.
A a general rule, we try to be rigorous, but we always keep the algorithmic nature of the
mathematical objects under consideration in the forefront.
Many problems and programming projects are proposed (over 200). Some are routine,
some are (very) difficult.

Many algorithms and their implementation

Although one of our main concerns is to be mathematically rigorous, which implies
that we give precise definitions and prove almost all of the results in this book, we are
primarily interested in the repesentation and the implementation of concepts and tools used
to solve geometric problems. Thus, we devote a great deal of efforts to the development and
implemention of algorithms to manipulate curves, surfaces, triangulations, etc. As a matter
of fact, we provide Mathematica code for most of the geometric algorithms presented in this
book. These algorithms were used to prepare most of the illustrations of this book. We also
urge the reader to write his own algorithms, and we propose many challenging programming
projects.

Open Problems
CONTENTS 5

Not only do we present standard material (although sometimes from a fresh point of
view), but whenever possible, we state some open problems, thus taking the reader to the
cutting edge of the field. For example, we describe very clearly the problem of finding an
efficient way to compute control points for C k -continuous triangular surface splines. We also
discuss some of the problems with the convergence and smoothness of subdivision surface
methods.

What’s not covered in this book

Since this book is already quite long, we have omitted rational curves and rational sur-
faces, and projective geometry. A good reference on these topics is [31]. We are also writing
a text covering these topics rather extensively (and more). We also have omitted solid
modeling techniques, methods for rendering implicit curves and surfaces, the finite elements
method, and wavelets. The first two topics are nicely covered in Hoffman [43], a remarkably
clear presentation of wavelets is given in Stollnitz, DeRose, and Salesin [79], and a more
mathematical presentation in Strang [82], and the finite element method is the subject of so
many books that we will not even attempt to mention any references.

Acknowledgement
This book grew out of lectures notes that I wrote as I have been teaching CIS510, In-
troduction to Geometric Methods in Computer Science, for the past four years. I wish to
thank some students and colleagues for their comments, including Doug DeCarlo, Jaydev
Desai, Will Dickinson, Charles Erignac, Hany Farid, Steve Frye, Edith Haber, Andy Hicks,
David Jelinek, Ioannis Kakadiaris, Hartmut Liefke, Dimitris Metaxas, Jeff Nimeroff, Rich
Pito, Ken Shoemake, Bond-Jay Ting, Deepak Tolani, Dianna Xu, and most of all Raj Iyer,
who screened half of the manuscript with a fine tooth comb. Also thanks to Norm Badler for
triggering my interest in geometric modeling, and to Marcel Berger, Chris Croke, Ron Don-
agi, Gerald Farin, Herman Gluck, and David Harbater, for sharing some of their geometric
secrets with me. Finally, many thanks to Eugenio Calabi for teaching me what I know about
differential geometry (and much more!).
6 CONTENTS
Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Geometric Methods in Engineering

Geometry, what a glorious subject! For centuries, geometry has played a crucial role in
the development of many scientific and engineering disciplines such as astronomy, geodesy,
mechanics, balistics, civil and mechanical engineering, ship building, architecture, and in
this century, automobile and aircraft manufacturing, among others. What makes geometry
a unique and particularly exciting branch of mathematics is that it is primarily visual . One
might say that this is only true of geometry up to the end of the nineteenth century, but
even when the objects are higher-dimensional and very abstract, the intuitions behind these
fancy concepts almost always come from shapes that can somehow be visualized. On the
other hand, it was discovered at the end of the nineteenth century that there was a danger in
relying too much on visual intuition, and that this could lead to wrong results or fallacious
arguments. What happened then is that mathematicians started using more algebra and
analysis in geometry, in order to put it on firmer grounds and to obtain more rigorous
proofs. The consequence of the strive for more rigor and the injection of more algebra in
geometry is that mathematicians of the beginning of the twentieth century began suppressing
geometric intuitions from their proofs. Geometry lost some of its charm and became a rather
inpenetrable discipline, except for the initiated. It is interesting to observe that most College
textbooks of mathematics included a fair amount of geometry up to the fourties. Beginning
with the fifties, the amount of geometry decreases to basically disappear in the seventies.
Paradoxically, with the advent of faster computers, starting in the early sixties, automo-
bile and plane manufacturers realized that it was possible to design cars and planes using
computer-aided methods. These methods pioneered by de Casteljau, Bézier, and Ferguson,
used geometric methods. Although not very advanced, the type of geometry used is very el-
egant. Basically, it is a branch of affine geometry, and it is very useful from the point of view
of applications. Thus, there seems to be an interesting turn of events. After being neglected
for decades, stimulated by computer science, geometry seems to be making a come-back as
a fundamental tool used in manufacturing, computer graphics, computer vision, and motion
planning, just to mention some key areas.

7
8 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

We are convinced that geometry will play an important role in computer science and
engineering in the years to come. The demand for technology using 3D graphics, virtual
reality, animation techniques, etc, is increasing fast, and it is clear that storing and processing
complex images and complex geometric models of shapes (face, limbs, organs, etc) will be
required. We will need to understand better how to discretize geometric objects such as
curves, surfaces, and volumes. This book represents an attempt at presenting a coherent
view of geometric methods used to tackle problems of a geometric nature with a computer.
We believe that this can be a great way of learning about curves and surfaces, while having
fun. Furthermore, there are plenty of opportunities for applying these methods to real-world
problems.
Our main focus is on curves and surfaces, but our point of view is algorithmic. We
concentrate on methods for discretizing curves and surfaces in order to store them and
display them efficiently. Thus, we focus on polynomial curves defined in terms of control
points, since they are the most efficient class of curves and surfaces from the point of view
of design and representation. However, in order to gain a deeper understanding of this
theory of curves and surfaces, we present the underlying geometric concepts in some detail,
in particular, affine geometry. In turn, since this material relies on some algebra and analysis
(linear algebra, directional derivatives, etc), in order to make the book entirely self-contained,
we provide some appendices where this background material is presented.

In the next section, we list some problems arising in computer graphics and computer
vision that can be tackled using the geometric tools and concepts presented in this book.

1.2 Examples of Problems Using Geometric Modeling

The following is a nonexhaustive listing of several different areas in which geometric methods
(using curves and surfaces) play a crucial role.

• Manufacturing

• Medical imaging

• Molecular modeling

• Computational fluid dynamics

• Physical simulation in applied mechanics

• Oceanography, virtual oceans

• Shape reconstruction

• Weather analysis
1.2. EXAMPLES OF PROBLEMS USING GEOMETRIC MODELING 9

• Computer graphics (rendering smooth curved shapes)

• Computer animation
• Data compression
• Architecture
• Art (sculpture, 3D images, ...)

A specific subproblem that often needs to be solved, for example in manufacturing prob-
lems or in medical imaging, is to fit a curve or a surface through a set of data points. For
simplicity, let us discuss briefly a curve fitting problem.
Problem: Given N + 1 data points x0 , . . . , xN and a sequence of N + 1 reals u0 , . . . , uN ,
with ui < ui+1 for all i, 0 ≤ i ≤ N − 1, find a C 2 -continuous curve F , such that F (ui ) = xi ,
for all i, 0 ≤ i ≤ N.
As stated above, the problem is actually underdetermined. Indeed, there are many dif-
ferent types of curves that solve the above problem (defined by Fourier series, Lagrange
interpolants, etc), and we need to be more specific as to what kind of curve we would like to
use. In most cases, efficiency is the dominant factor, and it turns out that piecewise poly-
nomial curves are usually the best choice. Even then, the problem is still underdetermined.
However, the problem is no longer underdetermined if we specify some “end conditions”, for
instance the tangents at x0 and xN . In this case, it can be shown that there is a unique
B-spline curve solving the above problem (see section 6.8). The next figure shows N + 1 = 8
data points, and a C 2 -continuous spline curve F passing through these points, for a uniform
sequence of reals ui .
Other points d−1 , . . . , d8 are also shown. What happens is that the interpolating B-spline
curve is really determined by some sequence of points d−1 , . . . , dN +1 called de Boor control
points (with d−1 = x0 and dN +1 = xN ). Instead of specifying the tangents at x0 and xN ,
we can specify the control points d0 and dN . Then, it turns out that d1 , . . . , dN −1 can be
computed from x0 , . . . , xN (and d0 , dN ) by solving a system of linear equations of the form
    
1 d0 r0
α1 β1 γ1   d 1   r1 
    
 α2 β2 γ2 0   d 2   r2 
    
 . ..   .   . 
   ..  =  .. 
    
 0 αN −2 βN −2 γN −2  dN −2  rN −2 
    
 αN −1 βN −1 γN −1  dN −1  rN −1 
1 dN rN

where r0 and rN may be chosen arbitrarily, the coefficients αi , βi , γi are easily computed from
the uj , and ri = (ui+1 − ui−1 ) xi for 1 ≤ i ≤ N − 1 (see section 6.8).
10 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
d2
bc

d1 b
bc x2
b
x1 bc
d7

b bc
d3
x3
d0 bc
d6 bc b
x6

b
x4
bc
x5
d4 b

bc

d5
b b

x0 = d−1 x7 = d8

Figure 1.1: A C 2 interpolation spline curve passing through the points x0 , x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 ,

x6 , x7

The previous example suggests that curves can be defined in terms of control points.
Indeed, specifying curves and surfaces in terms of control points is one of the major techniques
used in geometric design. For example, in medical imaging, one may want to find the contour
of some organ, say the heart, given some discrete data. One may do this by fitting a B-
spline curve through the data points. In computer animation, one may want to have a person
move from one location to another, passing through some intermediate locations, in a smooth
manner. Again, this problem can be solved using B-splines. Many manufacturing problems
involve fitting a surface through some data points. Let us mention automobile design, plane
design, (wings, fuselage, etc), engine parts, ship hulls, ski boots, etc.
We could go on and on with many other examples, but it is now time to review some
basics of affine geometry!
Part I
Basics of Affine Geometry

11
12
Chapter 2

Basics of Affine Geometry

2.1 Affine Spaces

Geometrically, curves and surfaces are usually considered to be sets of points with some
special properties, living in a space consisting of “points.” Typically, one is also interested
in geometric properties invariant under certain transformations, for example, translations,
rotations, projections, etc. One could model the space of points as a vector space, but this is
not very satisfactory for a number of reasons. One reason is that the point corresponding to
the zero vector (0), called the origin, plays a special role, when there is really no reason to have
a privileged origin. Another reason is that certain notions, such as parallelism, are handled
in an akward manner. But the deeper reason is that vector spaces and affine spaces really
have different geometries. The geometric properties of a vector space are invariant under
the group of bijective linear maps, whereas the geometric properties of an affine space are
invariant under the group of bijective affine maps, and these two groups are not isomorphic.
Roughly speaking, there are more affine maps than linear maps.

Affine spaces provide a better framework for doing geometry. In particular, it is possible
to deal with points, curves, surfaces, etc, in an intrinsic manner, that is, independently
of any specific choice of a coordinate system. As in physics, this is highly desirable to
really understand what’s going on. Of course, coordinate systems have to be chosen to
finally carry out computations, but one should learn to resist the temptation to resort to
coordinate systems until it is really necessary.

Affine spaces are the right framework for dealing with motions, trajectories, and physical
forces, among other things. Thus, affine geometry is crucial to a clean presentation of
kinematics, dynamics, and other parts of physics (for example, elasticity). After all, a rigid
motion is an affine map, but not a linear map in general. Also, given an m × n matrix A
and a vector b ∈ Rm , the set U = {x ∈ Rn | Ax = b} of solutions of the system Ax = b is an
affine space, but not a vector space (linear space) in general.

13
14 CHAPTER 2. BASICS OF AFFINE GEOMETRY

Use coordinate systems only when needed!

This chapter proceeds as follows. We take advantage of the fact that almost every affine
concept is the counterpart of some concept in linear algebra. We begin by defining affine
spaces, stressing the physical interpretation of the definition in terms of points (particles)
and vectors (forces). Corresponding to linear combinations of vectors, we define affine com-
binations of points (barycenters), realizing that we are forced to restrict our attention to
families of scalars adding up to 1. Corresponding to linear subspaces, we introduce affine
subspaces as subsets closed under affine combinations. Then, we characterize affine sub-
spaces in terms of certain vector spaces called their directions. This allows us to define a
clean notion of parallelism. Next, corresponding to linear independence and bases, we define
affine independence and affine frames. We also define convexity. Corresponding to linear
maps, we define affine maps as maps preserving affine combinations. We show that every
affine map is completely defined by the image of one point and a linear map. We investi-
gate briefly some simple affine maps, the translations and the central dilatations. Certain
technical proofs and some complementary material on affine geometry are relegated to an
appendix (see Chapter B).
Our presentation of affine geometry is far from being comprehensive, and it is biased
towards the algorithmic geometry of curves and surfaces. For more details, the reader is
referred to Pedoe [59], Snapper and Troyer [77], Berger [5, 6], Samuel [69], Tisseron [83], and
Hilbert and Cohn-Vossen [42].
Suppose we have a particle moving in 3-space and that we want to describe the trajectory
of this particle. If one looks up a good textbook on dynamics, such as Greenwood [40], one
finds out that the particle is modeled as a point, and that the position of this point x
is determined with respect to a “frame” in R3 by a vector. Curiously, the notion of a
frame is rarely defined precisely, but it is easy to infer that a frame is a pair (O, (−
→
e1 , −
→
e2 , −
→
e3 ))
−
→
consisting of an origin O (which is a point) together with a basis of three vectors (− →
e ,−1
→
e , e ).
2 3
For example, the standard frame in R3 has origin O = (0, 0, 0) and the basis of three vectors
−
→
e1 = (1, 0, 0), −
→
e2 = (0, 1, 0), and −
→
e3 = (0, 0, 1). The position of a point x is then defined by
the “unique vector” from O to x.
But wait a minute, this definition seems to be defining frames and the position of a point
without defining what a point is! Well, let us identify points with elements of R3 . If so,
given any two points a = (a1 , a2 , a3 ) and b = (b1 , b2 , b3 ), there is a unique free vector denoted
→
− →
−
ab from a to b, the vector ab = (b1 − a1 , b2 − a2 , b3 − a3 ). Note that
→
−
b = a + ab,

addition being understood as addition in R3 . Then, in the standard frame, given a point
−→
x = (x1 , x2 , x3 ), the position of x is the vector Ox = (x1 , x2 , x3 ), which coincides with the
point itself. In the standard frame, points and vectors are identified.
2.1. AFFINE SPACES 15

bc b
−
→
ab

bc
a
O bc

Figure 2.1: Points and free vectors

What if we pick a frame with a different origin, say Ω = (ω1 , ω2 , ω3 ), but the same basis
−
→
vectors (−
→
e1 , −
→
e2 , e3 )? This time, the point x = (x1 , x2 , x3 ) is defined by two position vectors:
−→
Ox = (x , x , x ) in the frame (O, (−
1 2 3
→
e ,−
→
e ,−
1
→
e )), and
2 3
−
→
Ωx = (x1 − ω1 , x2 − ω2 , x3 − ω3 ) in the frame (Ω, (−
→
e1 , −
→
e2 , −
→
e3 )).
This is because
−→ −→ − → −→
Ox = OΩ + Ωx and OΩ = (ω1 , ω2 , ω3 ).

We note that in the second frame (Ω, (− →

e1 , −
→
e2 , −
→
e3 )), points and position vectors are no
longer identified. This gives us evidence that points are not vectors. It may be computation-
ally convenient to deal with points using position vectors, but such a treatment is not frame
invariant, which has undesirable effets. Inspired by physics, it is important to define points
and properties of points that are frame invariant. An undesirable side-effect of the present
approach shows up if we attempt to define linear combinations of points. First, let us review
the notion of linear combination of vectors. Given two vectors − →
u and − →
v of coordinates
(u1 , u2 , u3) and (v1 , v2 , v3 ) with respect to the basis (− →
e1 , −
→
e2 , −
→
e3 ), for any two scalars λ, µ, we
can define the linear combination λ− →u + µ− →
v as the vector of coordinates
(λu1 + µv1 , λu2 + µv2 , λu3 + µv3 ).
−→ − → − → −→ − →
If we choose a different basis ( e′1 , e′2 , e′3 ) and if the matrix P expressing the vectors ( e′1 , e′2 ,
−
→
e′3 ) over the basis (−
→
e1 , −
→
e2 , −
→
e3 ) is
 
a1 b1 c1
P = a2 b2 c2  ,
a3 b3 c3
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
compromise candidate; but this element, composed mostly of Daley
men, was intent on defeating Senator Hamblin at all hazards. It was
their only hope now; and while resolved to bolt his nomination if
made, and run Daley as a stump candidate, the irregularity of such a
course was to be avoided, if possible, by a compromise candidate.
In Miller's private parlor at Cleverdale's best hotel champagne,
cigars, and other refreshments were served. Miller could not prevail
on all delegates to accept his hospitality, for several moral lights in
their respective towns could not forget their standing, and enter a
room where temptations might lead them astray. Miller became
somewhat alarmed at the proposed compromise, for several of his
own friends talked of making success sure rather than run any risk
of defeat. Miller was given unlimited power by his chief to thwart
Daley's purpose. So, finally, in company with George Horton, Miller
held a protracted interview with the delegates in question, and a
generous distribution of money ended further efforts for a
compromise candidate.
Promptly at one o'clock, the Convention was called to order by the
chairman of the Senatorial Committee, who nominated Hon. Walter
Mannis as chairman. A Daley delegate offered an amendment that
James Kendrick, of Silvertown, be substituted for Mr. Mannis. This
was a test of the strength of the respective candidates, and the loss
of the amendment by a vote of seventeen against fourteen was
greeted with applause by the friends of Senator Hamblin.
The deliberations proceeded with many interruptions, when a motion
for a ballot called talkers to their feet. The Daley men, with great
persistency, fought for a compromise, and the speakers in making
their appeal embraced the opportunity to attack the character of
Senator Hamblin. Sargent's statement was read, followed by the
affidavit, read by Miller, wherein Sargent retracted his charges
against Hamblin, admitting the injustice done to a man who never,
to the affiant's knowledge, performed a dishonorable act. The
delegates became greatly excited, the Daley men making another
appeal for a compromise candidate, charging the responsibility of
defeat—which they declared sure to follow—upon the Hamblin
faction, if their request was ignored. Charges of so grave a nature
were preferred by both sides, that, if true, both Senator Hamblin and
ex-Assemblyman Daley would have been consigned to felons' cells.
The Daley delegates failing to carry their point, one of their number
moved to withdraw and hold another Convention. Twelve delegates
left the room, after which the nomination of Hon. Darius Hamblin
was made, and suitable resolutions passed, endorsing the action of
the Convention and condemning the course of the bolters.
A committee appointed to wait upon the candidate and inform him
of his nomination, soon returned with Senator Hamblin, who was
received with cheers. Order being restored, he thanked the
delegates for the honor conferred on him, and followed with a
powerful speech, his words being carefully and shrewdly chosen to
win sympathy. While he regretted, he said, the action of his personal
enemies, he felt it his duty to remain in the field, so long as the
Daley faction attacked his character. He deftly told of the personal
sacrifices made to serve his fellow-citizens, the speech concluding
with a promise of certain election, the cause represented by him
being in the hands of the people.
Several others spoke, among them Mannis, who paid a glowing
tribute to his friend; then the Convention adjourned.
In the mean time the twelve bolting delegates assembled at another
place, where they were joined by eleven others, chosen by bolting
caucuses in the senatorial district. A Convention was organized,
Daley was nominated, and resolutions were passed declaring him
the regular candidate, adjournment following.
Two faction candidates were now before the people, the hostility
between them bordering on frenzy.
 CHAPTER XII.
A WICKED SCHEME.

The campaign opened vigorously and malignantly, so far as the

senatorial nomination was concerned. The leaders began the work of
organization at once. Miller was manager of Senator Hamblin's
canvass. Yet every action was made at the instigation and under full
direction of the Boss himself. Money was freely used, and the men at
the factories were, through their pockets, made interested
combatants.
Senator Hamblin supposed he had the support of all the bosses at
the mills, but Daley succeeded in securing several men of influence,
whom Miller found himself unable to win over. Even the great
manufacturing company of which Hamblin was a director had many
Daley men in its employ. The opposition party placed its candidate in
the field, the leaders in the full hope that the split in Senator
Hamblin's party would give them victory. Consequently there was no
lack of ammunition to keep up the fight.
It is a custom of American politics for journals of the opposite party
to help on the faction fights of their opponents by publishing the
charges made by each faction against the other, and these cause
fully as much bad blood as the most fiendish politician can desire.
One of the first demonstrations on either side was the presentation
of colors by Senator Hamblin to the newly organized Hamblin
Guards. The affair was shrewdly managed to give it all the political
significance that such affairs carry with them. The company was to
be christened and the colors presented by the honorable gentleman
whose name had been adopted. One of the best city bands was
engaged, and a banquet was ordered, to which many prominent
men from abroad were invited. An elaborate programme was
prepared and the event pretty well advertised. It was not especially
intended by members of the company to use the occasion for
political purposes, but their patron shrewdly managed otherwise.
Prominent members of the New York State National Guard were to
grace the occasion with their presence, and the gathering of
shoulder-strapped notables was to be large.
Cleverdale was to have a great gala-day, and, of course, Senator
Hamblin expected to reap the benefit. The stand of colors consisted
of two elegant silk flags—one the National colors, the other the
company flag bearing the name of Hamblin Guards and the State
coat-of-arms in gold and colors.
Senator Hamblin, desiring to bring Walter Mannis and his daughter
together upon the stage of the Opera House, shrewdly arranged
that, immediately after his presentation speech, Mannis should
receive the flags in behalf of the company from the hands of Belle.
At first the girl refused to take part in the festivities, appealing to her
father to excuse her, and pleading her grief at the loss of little Willie;
but the father was inexorable, and Belle saw that she would not be
spared the pain of taking the part assigned her in her father's
political programme. The opportunity of bringing Belle and Mannis
together, added to his inherent pride of display and political
significance of the occasion, made the Senator extremely happy, so
what matter if it made his daughter miserable?
The town, on the occasion, presented the appearance of holiday
grandeur. Bunting streamed from many public places and private
residences, while the cool October air and clear blue sky combined
to make a truly royal day for the affair. As the military company was
composed of the best blood of Cleverdale, it was natural that the
citizens generally should honor the day.
The Opera House was resplendent with beauty and brains. When, at
the appointed hour, the Hamblin Guards, commanded by Captain
Rogers, entered, delicious music filled the hall, and amid the waving
of handkerchiefs and smiles and cheers the company marched
through the aisle to the stage, and were arrayed in solid ranks at its
back. The music ceasing, Senator Hamblin appeared in front,
accompanied by his daughter and followed by Hon. Walter Mannis
and Captain Rogers.
The programme opened with the presentation speech by Senator
Hamblin. It was an eloquent effort, and the points were so many
and so well put that deafening applause was frequent. Belle stood
by, holding the staff on which the company colors were furled.
Beautiful in her rich attire of satin and velvet, her sparkling eyes,
rosy cheeks and lips made her a most attractive figure. Mannis,
standing beside her, glanced with admiration at the beautiful girl.
Senator Hamblin's eye flashed with pride as he beheld his daughter,
but no one understood the meaning of the furtive glances he cast
toward Mannis and Belle, except the latter, who saw and
comprehended its full significance; it caused a twinge of pain and a
sigh to escape her, and these attracted the attention of Mannis.
Realizing that she was attracting attention, a blush overspread her
face, and the handsome Assemblyman felt flattered by the belief
that his presence caused her emotion, while in reality her mind was
clouded by the remembrance of her father's cruel commands. Her
agitation was momentary, for the cue being given Belle gracefully
unfurled the beautiful ensign. It was the natural signal for applause,
and the roof fairly shook with cheers, the band playing "The Star-
Spangled Banner," when Mannis took the flag and passed it to the
captain, who placed it in the hands of the company's ensign. The
other banner then given Belle was not fully exposed until coming
into the hands of Mannis. That gentleman then spoke in eloquent
words, his handsome form and commanding presence giving
excellent effect to his utterances. On finishing he was greeted with
loud applause. The party, retiring from the stage, entered a private
box at the left while the band played several selections. The Hamblin
Guards gave a display of military drill which was greatly enjoyed by
the audience.
Assemblyman Mannis divided his attention between father and
daughter, the latter treating him with politeness. This was gratifying
to her father, who hoped she would overcome her reluctance to obey
him. But he reckoned without remembering the inflexible will of his
child, who was too well bred to act other than as a lady toward her
father's guest, especially when he was treating her with great
deference.
While conversing with those about her, Belle saw George Alden
occupying a conspicuous seat, and many loving glances passed
between her and him. George could not avoid hearing the
expressions of admiration that greeted the handsome group. Senator
Hamblin was a noble-looking man; Mannis was handsome, and Belle
never shone with greater brilliancy.
The ceremonies were nearly over when Captain Rogers, advancing
to the front of the stage, in a few words thanked the people of
Cleverdale for the honor done his command in assembling to witness
the christening. He also thanked his superior officers, coming from a
distance to honor the occasion; and for the magnificent gift of colors
paid a handsome eulogy to the honorable gentleman whose name
the company bore. Then he proposed three cheers for Senator
Hamblin, which were given by the whole assembly, rising to their
feet. He then declared the exercises closed, the band played "Home,
Sweet Home," and the audience left the Opera House.
Senator Hamblin and party passing from the box, Belle was followed
by Mannis. As they reached the auditorium, the handsome
Assemblyman offered his arm, saying:
"Miss Hamblin, may I have the honor of accompanying you home?"
With a pleasant smile she replied:
"Thank you, kindly, but I have a previous engagement," and with a
"Good-night, sir," turning, she took the arm of George Alden, who
was at her side.
Mannis was chagrined and Senator Hamblin's countenance quickly
overspread with anger. Whispering to his companion, he said:
"My friend, I am astonished, but we will speak of this later."
He could say no more, for, coming upon a party of distinguished
military gentlemen awaiting him—military men always know whom
to waylay at such times—the party was led to the Cleverdale House
and ushered into the banquet hall. Several tables were arranged for
the company, Senator Hamblin, Assemblyman Mannis and the
military guests being placed at a special table. At the right was
another, at which were seated Miller, Paddy Sullivan, George Horton,
and several other political celebrities. At the left were the officers—
both commissioned and non-commissioned—while at other tables
were seated the members of the company.
The tables were loaded with every delicacy that could be obtained,
while bottles of wine flanked a regular line of graceful glasses.
Course after course was partaken of, and amid the hilarity the host
and his friend appeared to forget their disappointment.
The popping of corks seemed just the kind of artillery that the
uniformed guests enjoyed best. Yet those who remember the
troublous times of twenty years ago will not forget that the Union
was saved by members of this same Home Guard, who play at
soldiering with zest, but in time of need "mean business."
Speeches, toasts, etc., followed, until the "wee sma' hours" the flow
of soul, wit, and wine continued, and Senator Hamblin reaped the
full benefit. When the last toast was drank, the host arose, and
bidding the company good-night, departed with his guests. After the
military dignitaries were conducted to their rooms, Senator Hamblin
joined Mannis, who was awaiting him.
"My dear Mannis, I am amazed at my daughter's conduct toward you
this evening. It was unexpected to me."
"I am afraid, Senator, she has deeply set her affection on that young
Alden. I can read character, and tremble lest my efforts to win her
prove unsuccessful."
"Unsuccessful? they shall not be. Do you suppose I will allow my
child to throw herself away upon a common bank clerk? No! if you
love her as you say she shall be your wife. My mind is made up, and
the sentimental nonsense of the girl shall be overcome."
"You may not be able to overcome it, Senator. Still, I never loved
until I saw your daughter, and I will wed her if her consent can be
obtained, trusting to winning her affections afterward. Be careful
what you do, though; don't frighten her with harsh treatment. She is
conscientious, and having a share of her father's self-will she must
be handled carefully, or before you know it she will fly off like a
frightened bird. I shall leave here early in the morning; before I go I
beg of you, whatever you do, to be discreet."
The angry father could not be quieted so easily. His face was hard
with passion; he swore to himself that Alden should be sent away in
disgrace and Belle be locked in her room; but when Mannis told him
his canvass would not permit anything so arbitrary, the cord
controlling his every action being touched, he became quiet, and
said:
"Well, what course can I pursue? Answer me that."
Mannis suddenly rising to his feet, looked into the closet, under the
bed, behind the door, and in every place that might conceal a
listener, then approaching Senator Hamblin, whispered:
"This man Alden must be sacrificed."
Senator Hamblin started, while a shade of horror passed over his
countenance.
"No, no! Mannis, no bloodshed for me!"
"Bloodshed? Nonsense! no one said bloodshed. He is in your bank,
surrounded by temptation. Place a trap for him, do you understand?
Your daughter is too honorable and high-minded to associate with a
rascal."
"Yes, I see," thoughtfully answered the Senator. "I declare, Mannis,
you are full of expedients. Yes, he shall be entrapped, for I am
justified in saving my daughter."
"Treat her kindly and do not be harsh with Alden; but work up a trap
for him. Haven't you a clerk in the bank you can enlist to help you?"
"Let me see. I have it! The cashier, Wilber, can live but a short time
and Alden will be his successor. Sargent, who published that ugly
paper about me, is promised Alden's present place. Yes; he is my
man, and I will use him."
The two talked a few moments longer, and warmly shaking hands
parted, Senator Hamblin leaving for his home. On entering the gate
he heard his name spoken, and turning saw Miller approaching, all
excitement and out of breath, for he had been running.
"More trouble, Senator; that d——d Rawlings has sold us out."
"Sold us out! the devil he has! And two thousand dollars of my
money gone! It can't be possible, Miller!"
"But it is so, for I had it from his own lips. To-morrow's edition will
fire into you from all sides. It's a bad go, and I have been afraid of
the scoundrel. I was half inclined when I heard it to let Paddy
Sullivan set a few of the lads on the office and clean it out. But that
will hardly do."
"What shall we do for a home paper, now?"
"There is only one course left us, and that is buy up the Advertiser,
which is in the market; but we must get legal hold of the concern.
That is the only way now, for we must have an organ."
"Call at my office early to-morrow morning, and we will arrange the
matter. Curse the luck! but I will block that little game. Good-night!"
and the Senator entered the house, not to sleep, but to lie upon his
bed thinking over the two exciting problems of the day, namely, how
to entrap Alden, and in what manner to counteract the effects of
Rawlings' treachery.
 CHAPTER XIII.
DALEY'S STRENGTH WANES.

The appearance of the Investigator next morning was like a

thunderbolt in the village of Cleverdale. It came out boldly against
Senator Hamblin, and charged that his action at the convention
meant the overthrow of his party. The editor stated that he had
stood by the man as long as he had even a piece of argument to
catch his toes on, but when the wisdom of the men controlling the
convention could not bring Senator Hamblin to see his duty, when a
compromise candidate was asked for and refused, it was time for all
respectable men in the party to declare themselves on the side of
honesty, justice, and common-sense. It cited the charges first
brought by Sargent, copied Sargent's first statement in full, and then
charged that the profligate use of money had done more than
anything else to make the elective franchise a farce. Senator
Hamblin was held responsible for the disgrace of corrupting voters in
the village of Cleverdale. The article was a scathing arraignment of
Hamblin before the bar of public opinion, and apparently its
influence foreboded disaster to the regular candidate.
During the early morning hours Miller met his "boss" at the private
office of the latter, having previously seen the editor of the
Advertiser, who offered to sell his paper for twenty-five hundred
dollars. The price was considered high, but that being the best that
could be done, Miller was ordered to purchase the concern at once.
One of Cleverdale's young lawyers was placed in charge of the
Advertiser's editorial columns, and the first number devoted itself to
Rawlings' treachery and Daley's private character. The latter, the new
editor asserted, was, unlike that of Cæsar's wife, not above
suspicion, while Senator Hamblin's private character was pure and
spotless.
The fight between the papers was so full of acrimony that Satan
himself would have delighted in it, had there been any possibility of
his receiving fire-proof copies. Both candidates were attacked, and
the sins of their ancestors were carefully elaborated and fired off as
campaign fireworks.
Previous to an election, American journalism of the party-organ
stripe has a demoralizing influence in the land. The good qualities of
candidates are briefly mentioned. But the bad qualities—ah! these
are what the party organs delight in. Not the part that their own
candidate occupies on the side of virtue; not the good that is in him;
not the intellectual qualifications he boasts of; not the nobleness of
character he possesses—none of these inspire the editor. No, all of
this is nothing: the amount of "pure cussedness" that can be
attributed to the opposing candidate is the indicator of journalistic
inspiration. Many a man who has thought himself a moral light has
in an unguarded moment accepted a nomination, and the
astonishment of himself and friends to see how corrupt he suddenly
becomes is not infrequently a harbinger of victory for the opposition.
The English language can hardly furnish adjectives to qualify such a
man. Damned he is inevitably, and his carcass when hung up is filled
with arrows dipped in printer's poisoned ink. When a foreigner picks
up one of our party organs, during an exciting political campaign, he
cannot help thanking his Creator he was not born in a land where
public men are such rascals and robbers. Cardinal Wolsey said,
"Corruption wins not more than honesty," but the dethroned favorite
lived before America had gone into politics on her own account, and
then left the work to her parasites instead of attending to it herself.
As an index to the feeling of the Cleverdale community, a very
interesting incident that occurred after the Investigator's editor came
out against Senator Hamblin is valuable. One evening Editor
Rawlings, boldly entering the "Shades," walked up to Paddy Sullivan,
and extending his hand said:
"Good-evening, Paddy."
The man addressed rose slowly to his feet, the hot blood rushed to
his face, the florid countenance assuming an almost purple hue.
Drawing back from the outstretched hand as if it had been a viper
preparing to strike its fangs into his flesh, a look of scorn flashed
from his bleared eyes, his lips trembled, and his chin quivered as he
roared:
"Shake hands! wid sich a dirty traither as yees? Judas Iscariot was a
white man beside the loike of yees, and Binedict Arnold a saint. Git
out av this house, ye villin! Bad cess to a loafer who sells hisself to a
tradin' thafe! Shake hands wid yees, is it? May me hand be cut from
me arrum afore it aven teches that pizen thing av yours."
Several men gathered about Rawlings, and each had a word to say.
"Well, gentlemen, what have I done?" asked Rawlings; "can't a
thoroughbred citizen call in here without being insulted? Come,
boys, let's take a drink. Set 'em up, Paddy."
"Set 'em up, Paddy? Not a domned set up here. D'ye hear?" and the
proprietor began pulling off his coat. "Now look ye here, Mr. Binedict
Arnold, there's the door! and if your dirty carcass isn't outside of it in
fifteen siconds, be jabers, I'm the darlint to throw yees out! No, b'ys,
yees kape back. Moind, I'm the jedge to settle wid him. Iditor, git
out!"
Rawlings, realizing that the angry Paddy was in earnest, slowly
walked toward the door, when an egg striking him full in the back
caused him to utter a savage oath.
"Paddy Sullivan, you and your gang of ruffians will repent this!"
During the interview Paddy failed to observe three men whispering
to his wife, back of the bar. The woman handing them a package,
the ugly-looking fellows stole out the side-door, and hid behind a
tree as Rawlings was leaving the saloon.
The exasperated editor unconsciously approached the trio, swearing
furiously at the outrage to his person, bitterly denouncing Senator
Hamblin, whom he held responsible for the insult. As he arrived at
the ambuscade, three men suddenly sprang out, and before
recovering from his surprise Rawlings was enveloped in a cloud of
flour, the substance filling his eyes and mouth and covering him from
head to foot. For once the Investigator man could boast that he was
a white man, but he did not think to do it. And before he had
recovered sufficiently to recognize his assailants, they had fled.
Hearing approaching footsteps, he stepped aside as Senator Hamblin
and Cyrus Hart Miller passed. Hidden behind a tree, he gnashed his
teeth with rage as the objects of his hatred disappeared. He then
left his place of concealment and started homeward.
The campaign went on, and Senator Hamblin bled freely. His
chances were desperate, the Daley crowd drawing so heavily from
him that at times the election of the opposition party candidate
seemed almost assured. Miller was at work day and night, and
wherever money could be used to win back strong leaders the price
was paid and the wanderers brought back to the fold.
At the Cleverdale Woollen Mill, of which Senator Hamblin was a large
stockholder, three powerful bosses opposed him. One had seen the
necessity of "getting straight" for his employer, the others refusing to
see their duty, or rather their interest. Having been exhorted and
coaxed, it was evident they meant to "stick," and, each controlling
many men, it became necessary to resort to other means to prevent
opposition to the Senator.
As a warning to others, one of the bosses was to be removed from
his position at the factory. Of course it would not do to openly
discharge men for having political opinions of their own, for that
would be called proscription, and in this free land would never be
tolerated. Besides, a candidate could ill afford being called a
"bulldozer," so, pay-day arriving, one of the bosses was discharged,
and informed that his work did not please. He denounced the
company for depriving him of the right of enjoying his own opinions,
the charge being indignantly denied, but the company put a stanch
Hamblin man in the vacant place, while the other stubborn boss,
thinking discretion the better part of valor, was not slow in deserting
Daley. The factory hands were soon made solid for their employer,
for in the factory were posted large placards bearing the words:
 EMPLOYÉS ARE EXPECTED
TO VOTE FOR

DARIUS HAMBLIN
FOR

STATE SENATOR.

Will any man vote the bread and butter from the mouths of his wife
and children?
Senator Hamblin meanwhile treated his daughter with great
kindness. He did not refer to the scene at the Opera House, or again
forbid her meeting Alden. He gave her large sums of money to
distribute among the charitable institutions and poor of Cleverdale.
Belle was happy at being allowed to assist the needy, and her father
found her a valuable aid to his ambition. It was not strange, with so
much money wisely distributed, that his canvass should grow more
promising as election drew nearer. Men were sent into every part of
the senatorial district, and if argumentative power availed not, more
solid inducements were used. The powerful railroad interests were
helping Daley, but even with the contributions from the great
monopolies he continually lost ground. When he was nominated the
mad passions of his backers held full sway, but as time passed men
became cooler, and the irregularity of Daley's nomination, as well as
the interest of the party, were powerful arguments in favor of
Senator Hamblin. Here and there strong leaders were recaptured,
and returned with their followers to the support of the regular
nominee.
Miller managed the canvass with consummate skill. He was
everywhere at the right moment, while County Clerk Horton,
Assemblyman Mannis, Paddy Sullivan, and others were valuable
auxiliaries. "The machine" showed its great strength in the
emergency, and demonstrated that the most powerful engine of
American politics, when the bosses instead of the people have their
hand on it, is the machine. Daley's canvass dwindled to insignificant
proportions, although danger was by no means impossible, for it was
reported that Daley would withdraw and urge his friends to support
the opposite party's candidate. As for Rawlings, he had really been a
detriment to the bolters, for his malice and treachery were so
apparent that respectable people became disgusted with him, and
the Investigator became a boomerang. Rawlings was treated with
contempt by his townsmen, and of course did not enjoy the respect
of those who purchased him.
A week before election day the cashier of the Cleverdale National
Bank died. The directors at once called a meeting and elected
George Alden cashier, choosing Sargent as teller to fill the vacancy
caused by Alden's promotion. Sargent's appointment was to be kept
secret until after election, lest it might endanger the bank president's
success.
It was a proud day for George Alden when he was formally made
cashier, and Belle was agreeably surprised when her father spoke
kindly of the young man, although he added:
"I hope he will do nothing to destroy the confidence the directors
have placed in him, but, like all young men, he may fall into
temptation. He has greater responsibility than ever before, and in
these days of defalcations it is hard to tell who will fall. George Alden
is only human."
Belle, biting her lip with concealed vexation, was about to reply
when a glance from her mother stifled the words she would have
spoken. Feeling the significance of her father's remark, she went to
her room to reflect upon what she had heard.
 CHAPTER XIV.
THE ELECTION.

'Twas the eve of election, and everything had been done by all sides
to insure a full vote. Thorough canvasses having been made by the
three candidates, every party felt confident of winning the day. A
mass meeting at the Opera House was to be addressed by Senator
Hamblin, and the hour drawing nigh a vast crowd assembled. At
eight o'clock the spacious balcony was filled with ladies, stalwart
men occupying seats on the main floor. When Senator Hamblin
entered cheer after cheer greeted him. Bowing acknowledgments,
he turned to greet the semi-circle of solid men of Cleverdale
occupying chairs on the stage. Although his face was radiant with
pleasure, careworn lines about his eyes gave evidence of the strain
he had undergone during the exciting canvass now drawing to a
close. As he took his seat a gentleman rose and said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, for the purpose of organizing this meeting, I
nominate as chairman, William J. Campbell. All favoring Mr. Campbell
as chairman will signify it by saying Aye."
There was a loud vote "Aye!"
"All opposed will say No!"
There being no votes in the negative, the motion was declared
carried, and Mr. Campbell escorted to the chair. Making a brief
speech, he paid a high compliment to "Cleverdale's favorite,"
Senator Hamblin, predicting a sweeping victory on the morrow,
looking for a more harmonious feeling in the party after the canvass
was over. His remarks were frequently interrupted by applause, after
which he asked the pleasure of the meeting.
Cyrus Hart Miller arose and proposed a number of gentlemen as
vice-presidents of the meeting. The list contained names of many
old citizens, and it was evident an effort had been made to recognize
every element of Cleverdale. Every nationality was represented, even
the names of several colored persons—descendants of Ham—being
sandwiched between Celtic or Teutonic slices, while the native
American was present in small quantity—merely enough for
seasoning.
Then followed a long list of secretaries, embracing the names of
many young men. The motion being submitted and carried, these
gentlemen were invited to take seats on the stage. After music by
the band, Cleverdale's glee club sang a piece suitable for the
occasion, when the chairman presented Senator Hamblin. This was
the occasion for more applause. When this subsided, the honorable
gentleman began his remarks. Speaking at length, the occasion
offered fine opportunities for display of his oratorical powers. Giving
his views upon leading public questions, and comprehensively
elucidating all the details of his subject, he compelled his audience
to be attentive listeners. His views upon finances were explained,
and his opposition to railroads and other monopolies graphically
dilated upon. In all his remarks, however, he held one highly-colored
picture before his auditors: it was a life-size photograph of himself
as a Reformer. No reference was made to Daley and his friends until
near the close of the speech, when the Senator paid his respects to
them in words not at all complimentary. He told his hearers of
having been forced into the campaign against his will, compelled to
be their candidate simply to vindicate their honor as well as his own.
Not desiring the office, it being a detriment to his business, he had
placed himself in the hands of his friends and neighbors, and the
morrow's verdict would be received by him either as an indorsement
or condemnation of his course as their servant. Having been told
that vast sums of money would be expended by the bolting faction,
he also had the assurance of gentlemen managing the campaign on
his side that every effort would be made to thwart the corrupters of
the ballot-box. Dwelling heavily upon this one point, he somehow
refrained from telling the audience that his own check for twenty
thousand dollars had been drawn that day, and the money
distributed in every town in the senatorial district for the purpose of
purchasing votes. Had the information been given, the knowledge
might have increased his vote among that class of men whose
patriotic motives at the polls are governed by money.
The Senator spoke for two hours, and, the meeting closing, the
people of Cleverdale were left in a halo of political enthusiasm.
Election day opened pleasantly. Cyrus Hart Miller had thoroughly
organized his forces, his chief staff officer being the powerful Paddy
Sullivan. Next to his own Bridget and the children, Senator Hamblin
occupied the chief seat in Paddy's affections, for the "Boss" being a
generous paymaster Paddy adored him.
The opening hours of election day were quiet. During the morning
the honest voters cast their ballots, the marketable article appearing
later in the day. As Miller entered one of the polling-places and met
Farmer Johnson, he extended his hand and said:
"Mr. Johnson, how are you to-day?"
"Mighty well, Miller; how's things agoin' here?"
"Oh, Hamblin will be elected by a good big majority."
"Don't be sartin on it. I tell you what it is, them Daley fellers is a-
workin' like blazes into the hands of t'other party."
"That's nothing new, for Daley has been working that way all the
time, being paid to bolt and come up a stump candidate. He is a bad
man, Mr. Johnson."
"Don't know so much about that air; but see here, Miller—let me
speak to you privately—he offered to pay my team hire if I'd come
down and vote for him."
"But a farmer worth his forty thousand dollars wouldn't sell his
vote!"
"Sell my vote! See here, Miller, let's go into this room. There: I can
speak to you by ourselves, now. Do you mean to insinuate I'd sell
my vote—me, a farmer who can buy the best farm in this 'ere
county? No, sir, you've got the wrong man."
"Why, Mr. Johnson, of course you wouldn't."
"No, I jest wouldn't. But you see this is a good workin' day, and me
and my two boys dropped everything to come down to vote. Daley
offered to pay for my team if we'd go for him. I don't like him half so
well as I do Hamblin; but—er—it kinder seems as if you'd oughter
stand the price of our three days' work and team-hire if we vote
your ticket."
"What do you call it worth? Are the boys here?"
"Yes, they'll be here in a few minutes; and if you'll give me five
dollars—that is, two for the team and a dollar apiece for our three
days' work—we'll vote for Hamblin."
"It's a pretty good price, but I suppose I will have to do it."
"But 'tain't sellin' our votes. I'd scorn doing such a mean trick as
that. It's only gettin' pay for lost time."
"Exactly so, Mr. Johnson; I wouldn't dare offer to buy your votes for
fear of offending you. There are your boys—call them."
The good old farmer, whose fine sense of honor would not permit
him to sell his vote, said:
"Jack, you and Jim must vote for Hamblin; give us your ballots,
Miller."
The ballots deposited in the box, Farmer Johnson, one of the
upholders of our free institutions, received a five-dollar greenback
for performing his duty as a patriot. This was only one instance,
many of the same character occurring during the day.
Paddy Sullivan was at the polling district, and as the "b'ys" came up,
said:
"Now, thin! here's your clane ticket—sthand aside and let the voters
come up. Here, Misther Inspecthor, take this ballot. Be jabers, thim's
the regular clane ticket, an' it's meself as knows how to git 'em in!
Whoop 'em in, b'ys!"
Crowding his fat form before those voting against his candidate, at
every opportunity, and challenging them, he ruled despotically, and
respectable men looked approval.
"Arrah! Paddy Sullivan is no slouch, and when yees wants the ballot
kept clane, I'm the daisy to do it."
Men ran hither and thither; Miller's aids receiving orders flew off,
returning with those to be "seen." Whispering consultations were
held, ballots distributed and deposited, the corrupted voters
thereafter receiving pasteboard checks representing the amount
agreed upon. In a small room in another part of the building the
holders, presenting the checks, received their cash.
During the afternoon the excitement increased, the purchasable
voters flocking about Miller and Paddy Sullivan, the latter standing
near the ballot-box and making himself obnoxious to all voting the
other ticket. He assumed to instruct the inspectors of election about
their duties, and these officials feared to dispute his authority, in
many instances their decisions being forestalled by him. Those of the
other party were at his mercy, and the power of a pothouse
politician was absolute. He was especially abusive to those of his
own political party who voted for Daley, and soon after noon the
Daley crowd becoming demoralized were driven from the polls.
So thoroughly was Senator Hamblin's programme carried out that
every voter on his side was brought to the polls, in many instances
men being paid to vote in both polling-places. All this was done in
the interest of Senator Hamblin, who claimed to represent the
"honesty and reform" element of the community.
Honesty and Reform! what sins you have to answer for! So potent
are these names that if Beelzebub ever expects to people his realms
with the good, he need only announce from platform and press that
he is for honesty and reform.
Toward night Senator Hamblin received words of encouragement
from every town. Passing the day at the bank, directing the
movements of his forces, he was in excellent spirits at the prospects
of his success and the downfall of his enemies.
The polls closing, Cyrus Hart Miller and Paddy Sullivan joined the
boss at Hamblin's private office.
"Sinitor, ye're elected by two thousand majority, and there hain't
enough lift of Daley to grase a griddle wid. Didn't we vote the b'ys
lively!"
"Paddy, you are a trump, and I shall never forget your services in my
behalf. Here is a little present for you," and he handed him two one-
hundred-dollar bills.
"God bless you, Sinitor, and whin Paddy Sullivan can help yees, he's
yer man, every time. May ye live long and niver want for a frind."
Cigars were lighted, and the trio waited for returns. It was not long
before the good news began to flow in, Cleverdale's majority for
Senator Hamblin being nearly two hundred larger than that of two
years previous. No sooner was the result announced than the streets
were illuminated with bonfires and a crowd of men approached the
bank. Telegrams kept coming in containing news of Senator
Hamblin's increased majorities on every side, so that his election was
assured beyond a doubt. His countenance beamed with delight, and
Paddy Sullivan, whirling upon his heel, shouted:
"Hip! hip! hooray! didn't we whoop 'em in!"
The shout reaching the crowd outside, they at once responded:
"Three cheers for Senator Hamblin!"
In answer to the summons, Senator Hamblin stepped out, followed
by Miller and Paddy, and was greeted with cheers from the crowd,
who demanded a speech. He responded in a few words of thanks,
congratulating his fellow-citizens that honesty and right had
triumphed over corruption. When he concluded, cries were made for
Miller, who appeared and spoke briefly, thanking his fellow-citizens
for their part in the day's victory. Of course he did not refer to the
fact that at least three quarters of those before him had received
checks, ranging from two to five dollars, for voting for Senator
Hamblin.
A great victory had been won—that was enough. Senator Hamblin,
figuring the cost, found he had paid over forty thousand dollars for
the honor of holding an office for which he would receive fifteen
hundred dollars per year for two years. Contemplating the cost, he
said:
"It is a pretty expensive investment, but the profits have not yet
begun to come in."
It was far into the night when, entering his residence, he retired to
his room, and said:
"Now if I can get rid of Alden and make Belle the wife of Mannis I
shall be a happy man. Mannis is rich, and I have lately met with
heavy losses. To-morrow Sargent goes into the bank, and then—for
Alden!"
 CHAPTER XV.
GLOOMY FOREBODINGS.

The excitement of election had hardly subsided when Daley was

declared bankrupt. With the loss of property his mind became
shattered. Brooding over his troubles and looking upon himself as a
victim of the grossest persecution, his brain became so diseased that
he would talk of nothing but fancied wrongs. Friends, observing his
singular actions, little thought that he contemplated revenge. Two
weeks later, however, Daley entered the bank, pulled a revolver from
his pocket and fired two shots at his late antagonist. Luckily the
pistol failed to do its work, and Daley was secured before he could
do more mischief. Raving and swearing that he would have Senator
Hamblin's life, he was removed at once, his friends promising to
send him to an asylum. Senator Hamblin agreed not to prosecute
him, but the affair caused great excitement, much sympathy being
expressed for Daley. His case was only one of many: men infatuated
with politics are often overwhelmed in financial and social ruin,
occasionally followed by dethronement of reason.
Sargent's position in the bank caused much comment, but he was a
good accountant and at once became conversant with his work.
Cashier Alden gladly saw how readily he fell into the routine of a
teller's duties, for he himself had long been doing the work of two
men. While glad to have so useful an assistant, he did not feel the
confidence he wished in the new teller, for Sargent lacked that frank
expression of countenance that all business men look for in one
another. Besides, the attitude that Sargent had occupied toward the
president of the bank prejudiced Alden's mind against him. The new
cashier knew that Sargent, over his own signature, had made
statements reflecting upon Senator Hamblin's character, and had
subsequently under oath denied them, his reward being the position
as bank-teller. If Alden had been a politician he would have seen
nothing unusual in such inconsistency, but being only a business
man he judged Sargent by business rules, just as if politics was not
a rule unto itself.
One evening Senator Hamblin was writing letters in his private office
at the bank when Sargent entered, and said:
"Excuse me, but I desire to get a book I have here."
"All right, Sargent. How do you like your new place?" said the
Senator.
"It suits me nicely. Just my fit, thanks to you, sir. Anything I can do
to serve your interests I shall be ready to perform."
"Anything, Sargent?"
"Yes, sir! You can command me to do anything you will. I am
indebted to you, and only too anxious to serve you."
Senator Hamblin hesitated as if about to speak, and then in a low
tone of voice said:
"I have some very important work I may call upon you to perform. It
is very peculiar, and will require the greatest secrecy. You have done
private work for me before, and whatever you do now will not be
without reward. I am not quite ready. In the mean time attend
strictly to your duties, and make yourself strong with the cashier.
Win his confidence in every particular, and you will have no cause for
regret. I have taken you into my confidence as well as my employ.
You can go now, as I have letters to write, and wish to be alone."
"Good-night, sir!" said Sargent. "When you need my services,
command me and I shall obey," and he passed out of the building.
"Yes," said Senator Hamblin, "I believe he will do anything I desire,
and with his assistance a trap can be laid for Alden, for I am
determined he shall be put out of the way."
He had just written a letter to Mannis, containing the following lines:
"When shall I see you? I desire to know what has occurred to your
mind to help along that little scheme. You must have a programme.
Shall we meet soon?" Folding and addressing the letter, he soon
after started for home, and arriving there saw Belle and George
Alden in the parlor. He did not enter the room, but passing the door
muttered angrily:
"We will spoil that fun soon. Curse it! I wish I could strangle him!"
His hatred for the cashier increasing, he could not drive the thought
from his mind that Alden was really doing something criminal. A
certain villain named Iago once worked himself into a similar frame
of mind. Hamblin's one absorbing thought was to ruin Alden, and
thus estrange from him his daughter's affection.
Belle felt sure that her father's tranquillity was not permanent.
Expecting another outbreak, she never awoke in the morning
without saying to herself, "I am afraid it will come to-day." Her father
often spoke of money losses, accompanying his remarks with these
words:
"I should not care, if my daughter were as well provided for as I
desire." Although raising no objection to George Alden's visiting the
house, he was always cross after seeing him there. At the bank he
spoke to him only on business, and as the cashier attended strictly
to his duties there was little reason for conversation between him
and the Senator.
Of course all this could not escape the attention of the village
people, for "folks will talk." Everybody had his own views about the
matter. George Alden was often seen with the beautiful daughter of
the bank president, and it was remarked that the young lady
seemed a satisfied party to the arrangement, so the village gossips
had a rich morsel to roll about in their mouths.
One of the directors of the bank, a regular sitter in one of the
Cleverdale stores—where that detestable creature, the male gossip,
may be found every evening warming his toes as well as warming
the reputation of his neighbors—related his suspicions to fellow-
sitters, who in turn related them to their wives, and finally the news
was generally circulated that Senator Hamblin disliked Cashier Alden
because the latter admired his daughter. This was enlarged upon to
suit the crowd where the subject was under discussion, until the
whole neighborhood knew more about the private matters of the
Hamblin family than did the family itself. There is nothing wonderful
about this, though, for the family who knows as much about its own
business as the neighbors do has never yet been discovered.
Belle observed with pain her father's angry countenance, and sighed
as she thought of the change that had come over him in a few short
months. Once she was his pet; he never entered the house without
uttering words of endearment or presenting her some token of
affection; now, sullen and morose, he took his meals in silence, and
the old, happy, sunshiny days were only memories.
George Alden hearing her sigh looked into her face, and said:
"Why are you sad?"
"I was thinking—thinking of the happy past."
"And has the present or future no happy moments?"
"Yes, it has many; but oh, George, time works some dreadful
changes. Once I was my father's pride, but that day has passed, and
now he has no love, but ambition; no companions but such as Miller
and Paddy Sullivan; no thought but for politics, and few aims outside
of public life. Oh, how I should enjoy one single moment of the good
old days—when I had a father."
George offered some lover's sympathy of a kind that, although made
by lips, does not put itself into words. But he said:
"It makes me sad to realize that I am much to blame for this state of
affairs. If I thought you would be happier I would make the greatest
sacrifice man can, and give you up. I know by his every action
toward me that I am the subject of his hatred. He considers me a
thief who has stolen his most precious treasure, and if I did not fill
my position at the bank acceptably I should not be retained an
hour."
"Is he unkind to you, George?"
"No, he never speaks to me except on business matters. If he has
anything to say, any little pleasantry to relate, it is always to
Sargent, whom he treats in a far more friendly manner than he does
me."
"What kind of a clerk does Sargent make?"
"He is a good accountant, perfectly correct, and very apt and quick
to learn; writes a fine hand, and has the most wonderful power of
imitating handwriting I ever saw."
"Do you have confidence in him? Is he a man you can safely trust?"
"H'm—well, he is your father's choice, he trusts him; why shouldn't
I?"
Belle, with true womanly instinct, was not satisfied, and said:
"Be frank with me, George. You must have reason for distrusting
him, and I ask your confidence. No one more than I can desire you
to have a trustworthy clerk."
"I can only say I am not impressed with his honesty. Perhaps I am
prejudiced, for you know he has not placed himself on record as one
whose word can be relied upon. Belle, when Sargent stepped into
the bank I should have resigned at once had it not been for you."
"For me! why?"
"Because your father wished him to have the position. No harm may
come of it, but I have a presentiment of evil. Pshaw; it's a foolish
whim, no doubt, and I should not be influenced by it, nor worry you
with it. I think it is time for me to be off when I torment my
sweetheart with presentiments. Good-night."
Belle went directly to her mother, who said:
"What is it, Belle? is anything wrong to-night?"
"Oh, I don't know. Why did papa engage that Sargent as bank clerk?
He does not bear a good reputation. George does not have
confidence in him, and I am afraid he is not a trustworthy man."
"You and George don't like him, eh? If you and George will please
attend to your own affairs you will both appear to better advantage."
Belle started; it was her father who had spoken; he had entered the
room unperceived, just in time to hear her remark.
"Papa, as you have heard me, I cannot recall my words. After his
publishing such a statement about you, I cannot repress my
indignation against the fellow. I do not like him, and with due
respect to you have no confidence in him."
"If my daughter will not interfere in the public and private business
matters of her father," said the Senator coldly, "but will be guided
more by his advice and judgment, her future will be happier, and her
companions not of that class who slander their betters."
So speaking, he left the room. Belle's temper rose quickly; the hot
blood mantled her cheek, and her eyes flashed fire.
"George Alden's character is as far above that detestable Sargent's
as the sky is above the earth. Papa hates those who are good and
noble, but he takes to his confidence such men as Cyrus Miller,
Paddy Sullivan, and that Sargent. Oh, this detestable politics! It
steals the honorable instincts from good men, and makes them
willing to sacrifice any and every thing to gain power. It has taken
away my dear father, and left you a widow and me fatherless. God
pity us both!"
Sympathetic words calmed the daughter's grief somewhat, and a
few moments later, bidding her mother good-night, Belle gained her
room and fell upon her knees before the only Friend who entirely
consoled her when she felt desolate. She arose comforted. She was
scarcely asleep when she dreamed that, again a little girl, happy and
free from sorrow, she saw her father and flew to meet him. As her
arms were about to embrace him, a serpent's head darted before
her, the face changing to that of Sargent, who said:
"Beware, maiden! I am the god of political ambition, and am about
to crush you in my coils."
As it wound its dreadful length about her she reached forth her
hands and piteously implored her father to save her. He only
laughed, and said:
"Oh, no, my daughter; I am the slave of the serpent. He demands
your sacrifice, and I must obey."
Looking again, she saw the faces of her father's political friends, all
laughing at her, and the serpent said:
"Only ten seconds to live!"
Closer and closer its coils tightened about her; she could scarcely
breathe; her agony becoming unbearable, she gave a loud shriek,
and cried:
"Oh, mother, save me!"
Springing to the floor, the frightened girl beheld her mother entering
the room.
"What is it, child? How you frightened me."
"It was a hideous nightmare. I thought I was being crushed by a
serpent."
After relating her dream, Belle tried again to sleep, but during the
remainder of the night the phantom haunted her. Truly, her dream
was only a presage of the grief and trouble in store for her.
 CHAPTER XVI.
THE PRINCE OF MANNIS MANOR.

Havelock, the home of Hon. Walter Mannis, is a beautiful village

situated in a valley surrounded by lofty hills. The place is not a busy
one, but the home of many old and wealthy families who reside
there during the summer months. The streets are lined on either
side with well-grown shade trees, and the handsome residences are
surrounded by spacious grounds tastefully laid out.
Mannis Manor had passed down from father to son for four
successive generations, each inheritor marking his ownership with
additions or alterations until the fine old house displays architectural
styles of different periods of the past century. Walter Mannis
inherited this old manor and its two hundred acres, beside a fortune
in cash of over a quarter of a million dollars. Having been in
possession about ten years, with so much money at his command, is
it strange that he had devoted much of his time to pleasure and
dissipation?
Both parents dying during his childhood, in the conduct of household
matters he was dependent upon a house-keeper, an inmate of the
old manor many years before he became its owner.
Mrs. Culver felt her responsibility, and considered it her privilege as
well as duty to keep a motherly eye upon the young master. One of
those good souls found in every community, she enjoyed her work,
and her word about the manor was law. Mannis humored her whims,
for she was a most valuable member of his household. She was sixty
years of age, prudent, systematic, orderly, thoroughly competent
and trustworthy. While carefully managing household affairs, she
devoted much time to the supervision of farm duties, acknowledging
no authority except the master himself, who had great confidence in
her ability. Looking after his domestic comforts, she kept his suite of
rooms in perfect order; regulated his wardrobe, and saw every
garment kept in repair. She occasionally scolded him for
extravagance in dress, and he received her severe words good-
humoredly, for he really loved the kind, motherly attention bestowed
upon him. In sickness she was a valuable nurse, and her closet of
"yarbs and nostrums" a curiosity. With cup and spoon in hand ready
to dose a patient, she was supremely happy. She was proud of "her
Walter," although the young man caused her many hours of anxiety.
At college he had sought merry young men for associates, and as he
was provided with plenty of money he had no trouble to find them.
Witty, vivacious, and eloquent, these brilliant adjuncts made him a
lion in society, young men seeking him, while the ladies felt honored
at his attention. He was a great flirt, and his conquests of hearts
were frequent, yet he never until now had surrendered his own.
While his eye sparkled with intelligence, it did not impress a student
of human nature as being the eye of an honest man; even children
could sometimes see in it something that made them distrustful.
He enjoyed the gay life money enabled him to follow, and much of
his time was passed away from home. During the winter his abiding-
place was the great metropolis. Allowing himself to be led to palatial
gambling dens, he played, and lost heavily, yet his passion was not
cooled by reverses. Wall Street tempted him, and his ventures at
first returned him fair margins, but his later investments were
unsuccessful. Becoming interested in politics, he was twice elected
member of assembly, and his manner, fortune, and intellectual
qualities made him a great favorite at Albany.
The legislator who can gain the personal friendship of his associates
can accomplish more than the cold, dignified man, so often elected
simply to give character to his constituency. Mannis was not only a
good debater on the floor, but a "powerful persuader" between
sessions, and could accomplish more with members from the "rural
districts" than any man in either house. The farmer members looked
upon him as a kind of deity. He flattered them, and when they were
unable to frame a bill in presentable shape, assisted them, and thus
won their regard, though for his own part he felt that many
buckwheat producers had been spoiled by sending an equal number
of farmers to the State Legislature.
Mannis was well adapted to politics, and really liked its excitements.
Having served two terms, he was only prevented seeking a
renomination because it had been the custom to alternate the office,
every two years, between the northern and southern part of his
assembly district. He seriously thought of overthrowing this old time-
honored custom, but friends persuading him to wait or look for
something higher, he turned his aspirations to Congress, and was
trying to educate his forces to assist in the consummation of this
wish.
In business speculations he was seldom successful, for money
invested in many enterprises always returned him less than he put
in. His losses troubled him, and he was often haunted with the idea
that he would eventually become a poor man. Investing in
government bonds and drawing the interest at stated intervals was
too slow a way of making money. Observing friends gaining fortunes
by speculation, he felt that he too could make money in the same
way.
At the time this story began he had lost half his fortune in
speculation and gambling, and realized that his available funds were
gradually passing from his hands. His farm yield, though not enough
to help him out of his difficulty, was, thanks to the management of
Mrs. Culver, sufficient to support his household without making
drafts on his bank account. But his extravagant private expenses
worried and caused him hours of anxious thought.
"There's nothing else to do," he would say to himself; "I must make
a wealthy marriage. With a fortune and a wife I can save myself and
keep a life-lease on the old manor."
It was this thought that actuated him partially in his desire to wed
Belle Hamblin. While he admired her brilliant personality, and
confessed that he was never before so charmed with a lady, he
acknowledged to himself that her father's fortune was necessary to
save him from the financial disaster which he feared.
He sat in his room one evening smoking a cigar and thinking. All
about were evidences of his æsthetic taste. Bric-à-brac crowded the
mantels, while many fine pictures adorned the walls. Easels,
arranged with a view to throwing light upon the works they held,
were on all sides. Oriental rugs lay on the floor, while the luxurious
furniture about the apartment seemed to coax the visitor or
inhabitant to lounge upon soft cushions. Curtains of costly material
hung before the large plate-glass windows, and as the afternoon sun
peered through them it saw a picture of which the owner of the
apartment was not the least handsome part.
A servant entered with a number of letters, which Mannis hastily
shuffled through his fingers as if they had been cards. His eye
quickly detecting the one he was looking for, he dropped the rest,
and said:
"Here it is: let me see what the Senator has to say. What a man he
is! He seems to be as infatuated with me as I am with his beautiful
daughter. Well, I am infatuated with her; she is certainly the most
charming creature I ever met; and I am determined to win with her
her father's fortune also, for I have no father of my own to return to,
and have the 'fatted calf' business done for me. Let me see what
Hamblin has written."
Opening the letter, he read it carefully through, then smiled and
said:
"Yes, he will do anything to rid himself of Alden. When I proposed
entrapping him he was startled, but now can hardly wait for my
suggestions. He hates Alden; he is ambitious that his daughter shall
make a brilliant match; he thinks me the personification of brilliancy,
and, by Jove, he doesn't miss it much. Ah, Senator, if you knew how
I was running through my fortune you would change your mind. This
is a very good joke you are playing on yourself."
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