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DIGITAL SIGNAL AND IMAGE PROCESSING SERIES
Digital Signal and Image Processing using MATLAB®
 Revised and Updated 2nd Edition

Digital Signal and Image

Processing using MATLAB®

Volume 1
Fundamentals

Gerard Blanchet
Maurice Charbit

iSlE WILEY
First edition published 2006 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. © ISTE Ltd 2006
Th is edition published 2014 in Great Britain and the Un ited States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.

Apart trom any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as
permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced,
stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing ofthe publishers,
or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the
CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the
undermentioned address:

ISTE Ltd John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

27-37 St George's Road III River Street
London SW19 4EU Hoboken, NJ 07030
UK USA

www.iste.co.uk www.wi ley.com

© ISTE Ltd 2014

The rights of Gerard Blanchet and Maurice Charb it to be identified as the authors of this work have been
asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014942418

British Library Catalogu ing- in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available trom the British Library
ISBN 978-1-84821-640-2

MA TLAB®is a trademark of The Math Works, Inc. and is used with permission. The MathWorks does not
warrant the accuracy of the text or exercises in th is book. This book' s use or discussion of MA TLAB®
software does not constitute endorsement or sponsorship by The Math Works of a particular pedagogical
approach or use of the MA TLAB®software.

J;;S
FSC
MIX
Paper from
responsible sources
www.fsc.org FSC" C013604

Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd., Croydon, Surrey CRO 4YY
Contents

Foreword 11

Notations and Abbreviations 15

Introduction to MATLAB 19
1 Variables and constants . 22
1.1 Vectors and matrices. 22
1.2 Predefined matrices . 25
1.3 Constants and initialization 26
1.4 Multidimensional arrays 26
1.5 Cells and structures 27
2 Operations and functions . 29
2.1 Matrix operations . 29
2.2 Pointwise operations 31
2.3 Mathematical functions 32
2.4 Matrix functions . . . . 34
2.5 Searching elements using min , max , find , etc. functions 34
2.6 Other useful functions . . . . . . . . . 36
3 Programming structures . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.1 Logical operators on boolean variables 37
3.2 Program loops . . . . 38
3.3 Functions... .. . . 39
4 Graphically displaying results 39
4.1 2D display. . . . . . . 39
4.2 3D display . . . . . . . 43
4.3 Notes on plotting a curve 44
4.4 Animations.. .. . . . . 45
5 Converting numbers to character strings 47
6 Input/ output . .. . . . . . .. . .. . . 47
7 Program writing . . . . . . .. . .. . . 48
7.1 Developing and testing performances . 48
7.2 Various functions . . . 49
7.3 Using other languages . . . . . . . . . 51
6 Digital Signal and Image Processing using MATLAB®

Part I Deterministic Signals 53

Chapter 1 Signal Fundamentals 55

1.1 The concept of signal. . . . . . . . . . . 55
1.1.1 A few signals . . . . . . . . . . . 56
1.1.2 Spectral representation of signals 57
1.2 The concept of system 60
1.3 Summary .. . .. .. .. . . . . .. . . 62

Chapter 2 Discrete Time Signals and Sampling 65

2.1 Fundamentals of sampling .. 66
2.1.1 The Poisson formula . . . . 66
2.1.2 Perfect reconstruction .. . 68
2.1.3 Digital-to-analog conversion 79
2.2 Plotting a signal as a function of time 80
2.3 Spectral representation . . . . . . . . . 82
2.3.1 Discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT) . 82
2.3.2 Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) 86
2.3.3 Fast Fourier transform . . . . . . . 91

Chapter 3 Spectral Observation 95

3.1 Spectral accuracy and resolution . . . . . . . 95
3.1.1 Observation of a complex exponential 95
3.1.2 Plotting accuracy of the DTFT . . . . 98
3.1.3 Frequency resolution . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.1.4 Effects of windowing on the resolution 101
3.2 Short term Fourier transform .. . 104
3.3 Summing up . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.4 Application examples and exercises 110
3.4.1 Amplitude modulations 110
3.4.2 Frequency modulation 112

Chapter 4 Linear Filters 115

4.1 Definitions and properties 115
4.2 The z-transform . . . . . 120
4.2.1 Definition and properties 121
4.2.2 A few examples . . . . . . 122
4.3 Transforms and linear filtering . 123
4.4 Difference equations and rational TF filters 125
4.4.1 Stability considerations . . . . . . . 128
4.4.2 FIR and IIR filters . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.4.3 Causal solution and initial conditions 130
4.4.4 Calculating the responses . 133
4.4.5 Stability and the Jury test .. .. .. . 134
 Contents 7

4.5 Connection between gain and poles/zeros 135

4.6 Minimum phase filters . . . . 144
4.6.1 All-pass filters 145
4.6.2 Minimum phase filters 146
4.7 Filter design methods . . . . 149
4.7.1 Going from the continuous-time filter to the discrete-time
filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
4.7.2 FIR filter design using the window method 153
4.7.3 IIR filter design . . . . . . 164
4.8 Oversampling and undersampling 167
4.8.1 Oversampling. 167
4.8.2 Undersampling . . . .. . 171

Chapter 5 An Introduction to Image Processing 175

5.1 Introduction . . .. . . . . . . . . . 175
5.1.1 Image display, color palette . . .. . 175
5.1.2 Importing images. . . . . . . . . . . 179
5.1.3 Arithmetical and logical operations. 181
5.2 Color spaces. . . . . 183
5.2.1 RGB coding. . 187
5.2.2 HSV coding . . 188
5.2.3 CMYK coding 189
5.2.4 How to extract the RGB information from an image 191
5.2.5 Converting from color to grayscale 191
5.3 Geometric transformations of an image. 192
5.3.1 The typical transformations 192
5.3.2 Image registration . . . 195
5.4 Frequential content of an image 198
5.5 Linear filtering . . . . . . . 204
5.6 Other operations on images 213
5.6.1 Undersampling .. 213
5.6.2 Oversampling . . . 215
5.6.3 Contour detection 217
5.6.4 Median filtering .. 221
5.6.5 Image binarization 222
5.6.6 Modifying the contrast of an image. 227
5.6.7 Morphological filtering of binary images 231
5.7 JPEG lossy compression . . . . . . . . . . 233
5.7.1 Basic algorithm . . . . . . . . . .. . 234
5.7.2 Writing the compression function .. 235
5.7.3 Writing the decompression function 238
8 Digital Signal and Image Processing using MATLAB®

Part II Random Signals 241

Chapter 6 Random Variables 243
6.1 Random phenomena in signal processing 243
6.2 Basic concepts of random variables . . . 244
6.3 Common probability distributions 253
6.3.1 Uniform probability distribution on (a, b) 253
6.3.2 Real Gaussian random variable . . . . . . 254
6.3.3 Complex Gaussian random variable 255
6.3.4 Generating the common probability distributions 256
6.3.5 Estimating the probability density 259
6.3.6 Gaussian random vectors .. .. 260
6.4 Generating an r.v. with any type of p.d. 262
6.5 Uniform quantization. . . . . . . . . . . 268

Chapter 7 Random Processes 271

7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . 271
7.2 Wide-sense stationary processes . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
7.2.1 Definitions and properties of WSS processes. 273
7.2.2 Spectral representation of a WSS process 276
7.2.3 Sampling a WSS process . . . . . . . . 285
7.3 Estimating the covariance . . . . . . . . . . . 288
7.4 Filtering formulae for WSS random processes 296
7.5 MA, AR and ARMA time series . . . . . . . 302
7.5.1 Q order MA (Moving Average) process. 302
7.5.2 P order AR (AutoRegressive) Process 304
7.5.3 ARMA (P, Q) process . . . . . . . . . 311

Chapter 8 Spectra Estimation 313

8.1 Non-parametric estimation of the psd . . . . . . . . 313
8.l.1 Estimation from the auto covariance function 313
8.l.2 Estimation based on the periodogram 317
8.2 AR estimation .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . 325
8.2.1 AR parameters . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . 325
8.2.2 Estimating the spectrum of an AR process 329
8.3 Estimating the amplitudes and the frequencies . 330
8.3.1 The case of a single complex exponential. 330
8.3.2 Real harmonic mixtures . .. . 332
8.3.3 Complex harmonic mixtures . . 334
8.4 Periodograms and t he resolution limit 336

Chapter 9 The Least Squares Method 349

9.1 The projection theorem . 349
9.2 The least squares method . . . . . . . 353
 Contents 9

9.2.1 Formulating the problem 353

9.2.2 The linear model . . . . . 354
9.2.3 The least squares estimator 355
9.2.4 Identifying the impulse response of a channel 360
9.3 Linear predictions of t he WSS processes .. 362
9.3.1 Yule-Walker equations . . .. . .. . 362
9.3.2 Predicting a WSS harmonic process 364
9.3.3 Predicting a causal AR-P process. 365
9.4 Wiener filtering .. .. . .. .. . .. . . 366
9.4.1 Finite impulse response solution 368
9.4.2 Gradient algorit hm . . . . .. . . 369
9.4.3 Wiener equalization . . . . . . . 377
9.5 The LMS (least mean square) algorithm 379
9.5.1 The constant step algorithm .. 379
9.5.2 The normalized LMS algorit hm 388
9.5.3 Echo canceling . . . . . . .. . 391

Part III Appendices 397

Chapter 10 Hints and Solutions 399
H1 Signal fundamentals . . . . . 399
H2 Discrete time signals and sampling 399
H3 Spectral observation . . . . . . . . 405
H4 Linear filters . .. . .. . . . . . . 415
H5 An Introduction to image processing 437
H6 Random variables . 460
H7 Random processes . . . . 466
H8 Spectra estimation . . . . 472
H9 The least squares method 475

Chapter 11 Appendix 479

A1 Fourier transform . . . . . . . . 479
A2 Discrete time Fourier transform 480
A3 Discrete Fourier transform . 481
A4 z-Transform . . . . . . . . . 482

Bibliography 485

Index 489
Foreword

Simulation is an essential tool in any field related to engineering t echniques,

whether it is used for teaching purposes or in research and development.
When teaching technical subjects, lab works play an important role, as im-
portant as exercise sessions in helping students assimilate theory. The recent
introduction of simulation tools has created a new way to work, halfway be-
tween exercise sessions and lab works. This is particularly t he case for digital
signal processing, for which the use of the MATLAB® language, or its clones,
has become inevitable. Easy to learn and to use, it makes it possible to quickly
illustrate a concept after introducing it in a course.
As for research and development, obtaining and displaying results often
means using simulation programs based on a precise "experimental protocol",
as it would be done for actual experiments in chemistry or physics.
These characteristics have led us, in a first step, to try to build a set of exer-
cises with solutions relying for the most part on simulation; we then attempted
to design an introductory course on Digital Signal and Image Processing (DSIP)
mostly based on such exercises. Although this solut ion cannot replace the tra-
ditional combination of lectures and lab works, we do wonder if it isn't just as
effective when associated with exercise sessions and a few lectures. There is of
course no end in sight to the debate on educational methods, and the amount
of experiments being conducted in universities and engineering schools shows
t he tremendous diversity of ideas in t he matter.

Basic concepts of DSIP

The recent technical evolutions , along with their successions of technological
feats and price drops have allowed systems based on micro-controllers and
microprocessors to dominate the field of signal and image processing, at the
expense of analog processing. Reduced to its simplest form , signal processing
amounts to manipulating data gathered by sampling analog signals. Digital
Signal and Image Processing, or DSIP, can therefore be defined as t he art of
working with sequences of numbers.
12 Digital Signal and Image Processing using MATLAB®

The sampling theorem

The sampling theorem is usually the first element found in a DSIP course, be-
cause it justifies the operation by which a continuous time signal is replaced
by a discrete sequence of values. It states that a signal can be perfectly recon-
structed from the sequence of its samples if the sampling frequency is greater
than a fundamental limit called the Nyquist frequency. If this is not the case,
it results in an undesired effect called spectrum aliasing.

Numerical Sequences and DTFT

The Discrete Time Fourier Transform, or DTFT, introduced together with
the sampling theorem, characterizes the spectral content of digital sequences.
The analogy between the DTFT and the continuous time Fourier transform is
considered, with a detailed description of its properties: linearity, translation,
modulation, convolution, the Parseval relation, the Gibbs phenomenon, ripples
caused by windowing, etc.
In practice, signals are only observed for a finite period of time. This
"time truncation" creates ripples in the spectrum and makes it more difficult
to the separate two close frequencies in the presence of noise. This leads to
the concept of frequency resolution. The DTFT is a simple way of separating
two frequencies, but only if the observation time is greater than the inverse of
the difference between the two frequencies. The frequency resolution will allow
us to introduce the reader to weighting windows. However, a more complete
explanation of the concept of resolution can only be made if noise disturbing
the signal is taken into account, which is why it will be studied further when
random processes are considered.
The Discrete Fourier Transform, or DFT is the tool used for a numerical
computation of the DTFT. Because this calculation involves a finite number
of frequency values, the problem of precision has to be considered. There are
a few differences in properties between the DFT and the DTFT, particularly
regarding the indexing of temporal sequences that are processed modulo N.
Some examples of this are the calculation of the DTFT and the DFT of a
sinusoid, or the relation between discrete convolution and the DFT. At this
point, the fast algorithm calculation of the DFT , also called FFT (Fast Fourier
Transform), will be described in detail.

Filtering and Elements of Filter Design

Linear filtering was originally used to extract relevant signals from noise. The
basic tools will be introduced: the discrete convolution, the impulse response,
the frequency response, the z-transform. We will then focus on the fundamen-
tal relation between linear filtering with rational transfer functions and linear
constant-coefficient recursive equations.
 Foreword 13

Filter design is described based on a few detailed examples, particularly the

window method and the bilinear transform. The concepts of over-sampling and
under-sampling are then introduced, some applications of which are frequency
change and the reduction of quantization noise.

An introduction to images

Image processing is described in its own separate chapter. Many of the con-
cepts used in signal processing are also used in image processing. However
images have particular characteristics that require specific processing. The
computation time is usually much longer for images than it is for signals. It is
nevertheless possible to conduct image processing with MATLAB®. This theme
will be discussed using examples on 2D filtering, contour detection, and other
types of processing in cases where the 2D nature of the images does not make
them too different from a ID signal. This chapter will also be the opportunity
to discuss image compression and entropic coding.

Random Processes

Up until now, the signals used as observation models have been described by
functions that depend on a finite number of well known parameters and on
simple known basic functions: the sine function, the unit step function, the
impulse function, etc. This type of signal is said to be deterministic.
There are other situations where deterministic functions cannot provide us
with a relevant apprehension of the variability of the phenomena. Signals must
then be described by characteristics of a probabilistic nature. This requires
the use of random processes, which are time-indexed sequences of random vari-
ables. Wide sense stationary processes, or WSSP, are an important category of
random processes. The study of these processes is mainly based on the essen-
tial concept of power spectral density, or psd. The psd is the analog for WSSP
of the square module of the Fourier transform for deterministic signals. The
formulas for the linear filtering of WSSP are then laid down. Thus, we infer
that WSSPs can also be described as the linear filtering of a white noise. This
result leads to a large class of stationary processes: the AR process, the MA
process, and the ARMA process.

Spectral Estimation

One of the main problems DSIP is concerned with is evaluating the psd of
WSSPs. In the case of continuous spectra, it can be solved by using non-
parametric approaches (smooth periodograms, average periodograms, etc.) or
parametric methods based on linear models (AR, MA, ARMA).
14 Digital Signal and Image Processing using MATLAB®

The least squares

This chapter discusses the use of the least squares method for solving problems.
This method is used in a number of problems, in fields such as spectral anal-
ysis, modelling, linear prediction, communications, etc. We will discuss such
methods as the gradient and LMS algorit hms and t he Wiener equalization.

As a Conclusion
One of the issues raised by many of those who use signal processing has to
do with t he artificial aspect introduced by simulation. For example, we use
sampling frequencies equal to 1, and therefore frequencies with no dimension.
There is a risk that the student may lose touch with the physical aspect of
the phenomena and, because of that, fail to acquire the int uition of these
phenomena. That is why we have tried, at least in the first chapters, to give
exercises t hat used values wit h physical units: seconds, Hz, etc.
This work discusses important properties and theorems, but its objective
is not to be a book on mathematics. Its only claim, and it is certainly an
excessive one, is to show how interesting signal and image processing can be,
by providing examples and exercises we chose because they were not too trivial.
All of the subj ects discussed far from cover the extent of knowledge required
in t his field. However they seem to us to be a solid foundation for an engineer
who would happen to deal with DSIP problems.
Notations and
Abbreviations

o empty set
2::k,n 2::k 2::n
I when It I < T/2
rectT(t) { o otherwise
sin( 7fX)
sinc(x)
1TX

I when x E A
l (x E A) (indicator function of A)
{ o otherwise
(a, b] {x: a < x :::; b}
Dirac distribution when t E IR
t5(t)
{ Kronecker symbol when t E Z
Re(z) real part of z
Im(z) imaginary part of z
i or j V-I
x(t) ;=: XU) Fourier transform
(x*y)(t) continuous time convolution

1. x(u)y(t - u)du
discrete time convolution
L x(u)y(t - u)
uEZ
16 Digital Signal and Image Processing using MATLAB®

x or ;K vector x
IN (N x N)-dimension identity matrix
A* complex conjugate of A
AT transpose of A
AH transpose-conjugate of A
A -I inverse matrix of A

JP'{X E A} probability that X E A

IE {X} expectation value of X
Xc = X -IE {X} zero-mean random variable
var(X) = IE{ IXcl}2 variance of X
IE {XIY} conditional expectation of X given Y

ADC Analog to Digital Converter

ADPCM Adaptive Differential PCM
AMI Alternate Mark Inversion
AR Autoregressive
ARMA AR and MA
BER Bit Error Rate
bps bits per second
cdf cumulative distribution function
CF Clipping Factor
CZT Causal z- Transform
DAC Digital to Analog Converter
DCT Discrete Cosine Transform
d.e.jde difference equation
DFT Discrete Fourier Transform
DTFT Discrete Time Fourier Transform
DTMF Dual Tone Multi-Frequency
dsp digital signal processing/processor
e.s.d.jesd energy spectral density
FIR Finite Impulse Response
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
FT continuous time Fourier Transform
 Notations and Abbreviations 17

HDB High Density Bipolar

IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform
i.i.d.jiid independent and identically distributed
IIR Infinite Impulse Response
lSI InterSymbol Interference
LDA Linear Discriminant Analysis
lms least mean squares
MA Moving Average
MAC Multiplication ACcumulation
OTF Optical Transfer Function
PAM Pulse Amplitude Modulation
PCA Principal Component Analysis
p.d./pd probability distribution
ppi points per inch
p.s.d./psd Power Spectral Density
PSF Point Spread Function
PSK Phase Shift Keying
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
rls recursive least squares
rms root mean square
r.p./rp random process
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio
r.v.jrv random variable
STFT Short Term Fourier Transform
TF Transfer Function
WSS Wide (Weak) Sense Stationary (second order) process
ZOH Zero-Order Hold
ZT z-Transform
Introduction to MATLAB

In this book the name MATLAB® (short for Matrix Laboratory) will refer to:

the program launched by using the command matl ab in Dos or Unix

environments, or by clicking on its icon in a graphic environment such as
xU, Windows, MacOS, etc.

or the language defined by a vocabulary and syntax rules.

MATLAB® is an interpreter, that is to say a program that remains in

the computer's memory once it is launched. MATLAB® displays several sub-
windows (Figure 1) one of which is a command window used to type commands
(instructions, functions names, program names), which are then directly "in-
terpreted ".
-- - --
4. MATlAB R2011b _" x
File Edit Debug Desktop Window Help

D Name .... Min Ma

Administriltcur 0.7071 0.7
III Publk 0.7854 0.7
III uscr6

» theto!l'"'t)i / 1 ; co~ (theto!l)

0 . 7071

A»

Figure 1 - The MATLAB® command window on MS- Windows

MATLAB® can be used in two ways: by direct execution of the commands

typed in the command window or by the execution of programs. When working
20 Digital Signal and Image Processing using MATLAB®

on large-sized projects, we use several programs and/or functions, which should

be organized by location on the disc. Examples of these three situations are as
follows:

1. Direct execution by typing demands directly in the command window: as

an example type x=log(2) at the MATLAB® prompt in the command
window. The answer is shown in Figure 2.

('\ n ('\ MATlAB 7.12.0 (R20 11a)

~ 0 el d' ... ~ .., c:'" .. 00 ~ ~ I [{Users / blanchet/Docur :.:J D Ii!ll
~ Shortcuts (fI How to Add (fI What', New
~ Q) New to MArLAR? Watch this Video see Demos or read Getting Started. x
;£ »x=log(2)
~
::l X =
~command
u
0.6931 01( result
.»
A

Figure 2 - The result log(2) is given by the interpreter

Executed commands can be recalled by pressing the t arrow to scroll

through all previously typed commands, or a sequence of letters followed
by t. All commands beginning with these letters then scroll.

2. Execution of a program: a program regroups commands in a text file

also called script. The user gives it a name, with the extension m. The
"built-in" editor can be used, which is highly recommended, or otherwise
an external editor can be used to create such files. If a program is named
progl.m, just type progl in the command window to start the execution.
MATLAB® looks for the file in the current directory. If it is not found
there, it looks in other paths known. This list can be obtained by typing
path.
The typed type progl enables the contents of the file to be viewed.

EXAMPLE 1 (Using the built-in editor) The integrated editor is de-

signed to type the programs, and can be activated by selecting New
script in the file menu or by typing edit in the command window.
Type the two program lines of Figure 3.
Once the program has been typed and saved under the name examplel.m,
the type examplel and examplel commands give:
 Introduction to MATLAB 21

nn

~ +§l r§l
~ El It-El
~ 1~- ----a-~~[~I~,~ 2~ ,~3~ ]~ ,~ b~~- a---- -' D
2 - c~[ 1,-1]

Iln 2 Col 6 #.

Fig ure 3 - Typing a program with the built-in editor

» t yp e ex ample 1

a=[1,2 , 3] , b=a
c =[1,-1]

» example1

a =

1 2 3

1 2 3

c =

1 -1

The execution of a program can also be launched by selecting the ~ icon

in the edit window or by using the F5 control key.

3. Development of a project: this requires the creation of several programs

and/or functions (see paragraph 3.3) . This implies in principle the cre-
ation of a directory in which all of these elements, and their associated
data files will be stored . T his is called t he working directory. Dur-
ing each new session of work on the project, this directory in MATLAB®
should be indicated. This can be achieved by selecting Current Folder in
the subwindow. Once this is done, pwd can be typed to verify (Figure 4).
The definition of t he directory path can also be done by selecting t he
item s et path ... in the menu file. The path can also be defined in
the command prompt window (by clicking on the icon with " ... " in the
top-right corner of the window), or by using the command addpath.
The functions path, addpath, rmpath, genpath, pathtool a savepath
can be used for managing the access path to the various directories used
22 Digital Signal and Image Processing using MATLAB®

n () ("I MATLAB 7.12.0 (R20 11a)

!0 el d! ... Ia ., (" .. OJ @l @ I/ Users/ blanchet/ Docum.nlS / MATIAB
~ Shortcuts (tJ How to Add [tI What's New
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II N;l~ '"
» pwd
calculTFO .a i
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€I myfunc.m
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" Start

Figure 4 - Examp le of a current directory which is th e default directory under Mac

OS

by MATLAB® (see documentation, online help, or type help path).

To avoid repeating this manipulation at each new work session , a
startup. m file can be created in the startup directory. When using linux
or Mac OS , the latter is obtained by the command userpath (Figure 4).
With Windows, the userpath command can also be used , unless the
Start in field in t he Properties dialog box window is already initial-
ized with an access path.

1 Variables and constants

1.1 Vectors and matrices
The MATLAB® language is dedicated to matrix calculations and was optimized
in this perspective. The variables handled as a priority are real or complex
matrices. A scalar is a 1 x 1 matrix, a column vector is a matrix with only one
column, and a line vector a matrix with only one line.
The notation (€ x c) indicates that the considered variable has € lines and
c columns.

EXAMPLE 2 (Assignment of a real matrix) Type a= [1 2 3; 4,5,6] at the

MATLAB® prompt in the command window:
» a=[1 2 3;4,5,6]
a =
1 2 3
4 5 6
 Introduction to MATLAB 23

» size(a)

ans

2 3

The size (a) instruction gives the number of rows and columns of a.
Values are assigned to the elements of a matrix by using brackets. A space,
or a comma, is a separator, and takes you to the next column, while the semi-
colon takes you to the next line. Elements are indexed starting from 1. The
first index is t he line number, the second one is the column number, etc. In
our example, a(l,l)=l and a(2,1)=4. The assignment a=[l 2;3 4 5] will
of course lead to an error message, since the number of columns is different for
the first and second lines.
Character strings can also be assigned to the elements of a matrix. However,
the string length must be compatible with the structure of the matrix. For
example, N= [' paul' ; , john'] would be correct, whereas N= [' paul' ; 'peter']
would cause an error.
When the vector's components form a sequence of values separated by reg-
ular intervals, it is easier to use what is called an "implicit" loop of the type
(indB: step: indE). This expression refers to a list of values starting at indB
and going up to indE by increments of step. Values cannot go beyond indE.
The increment value step can be omitted if it is equal to 1.

EXAMPLE 3 (Implicit enumeration) Type a=(0:1:10) or a=(0:10).

MATLAB® returns:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

EXAMPLE 4 (Incremented implicit enumeration) Type a= (0: 4: 10).

MATLAB® returns:

048

The last element of a vector is indicated by the reserved word end. In the
previous example, a(end) indicates that its value is 8.
There are two other suites of value constructs: linspace and logspace.
Thus x=linspace(-10,15,100) returns a vector line of 100 numerical values
ranging from -10 to +15. x=logspace(-1,2,100) gives 100 values between
10- 1 and 10 2 "on a logarithmic scale".
It is possible to extend the size of a matrix. The interpreter takes care of
available space by dynamically allocating memory space during the execution
of the typed instruction.
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
the flames leapt up to shrivel the lowermost leaves of the rowan tree
by the spring, whence the wreckage which burnt so bravely had
come; for storm and stress seemed far from their world.

Then, while the boatmen took their turn at the scones and cake,
the jam and toast, they climbed the grassy slopes, and, sitting down
by the old tower, watched the sunset idly; for all things, even
pleasure, seem idle on such days as these. The clouds had pricked
westwards, as if to aid the Atlantic in a coming storm, but below
their heavy purple masses lay a strip of greeny gold sky, into which
the sun was just sinking from a higher belt of crimson-tinted bars.

"No Green Ray for us to-night," said Marjory, with a smile.

Paul raised his eyebrows. "No Green Ray on this or any other
night, in my candid opinion."

The Reverend James looked puzzled. "I have often heard you
mention this Green Ray, Miss Marjory, but I am not quite sure to
what you allude."

"To a fiction of Jules Verne's, that is all," put in Paul, quickly.

"Nothing of the sort; people have seen it," corrected the girl,
eagerly.

"Say they have seen it," murmured Paul, obstinately, and Marjory
frowned.

"I will explain it to you, Mr. Gillespie," she went on, with assertion
in her voice. "It is a green ray of light which shoots through the sea,
just as the topmost curve of the sun touches the water. I watch for it
often. I intend to watch for it till I see it, as others have done."

"And what good will it do to you when you have seen it?" asked
Paul. They were speaking to each other, despite the pretence of
general conversation; but it was so often.
 "I haven't the least idea," she answered airily; "for all that, I look
forward to seeing it as a great event in my life."

"Great events are dangerous; like some very valuable medicines,

uncertain in their effects. Birth, for instance--you may be born a fool
or a wise man. Marriage--a chance of the die--so I'm told. Death."
He pointed dramatically upwards and downwards with a whimsical
look on his anxious, gracious face.

"I deny it, I deny it altogether," cried the girl, forgetting herself
and him in her eagerness. "You are either in existence before birth,
or you are not. In the one case you must remain yourself, in the
other you, being nonexistent, cannot suffer chance or change. It is
the same with death. If there is no you to survive, death itself
ceases to be since you are non-existent. If there is, you must remain
yourself."

"Surely, my dear Miss Marjory," said the Reverend James,

breaking in on the girl's half-questioning appeal, "we are to be
changed in the twinkling of an eye?"

"And marriage, Miss Carmichael?" put in Paul, quietly, passing by

the last remark as if it, too, had been non-existent. "You left out
marriage in your philosophy."

Her face fell, yet softened.

"I do not know; it is like the Green Ray, something to dream

about."

"To dream about! Ah! that sort of marriage is, I own, beyond the
vision of ordinary humanity."

"But indeed there is nothing scientifically impossible in the Green

Ray. You have only to get the angle of refraction equal to the----"
 "Spare me, please. If I have to swallow romance I prefer it
undisguised. Even as a boy I refused powders in jam."

"Wish I had," grumbled Will, knocking the ashes out of his pipe.
"I have never been able to eat black-currant jelly in consequence.
And it is awfully nice in itself. Come, Marjory, we ought to be going."

"It is very hard to get rid of acquired tastes," muttered Paul, in an

undertone, as he rose, and quite familiarly held out his hand to help
Marjory to her feet also. "For instance, it will be difficult to forget the
flavour of the past fortnight."

"Why should you forget it?" They were standing apart from the
others, who were looking eastward to see if the boatmen were
ready.

"Because the pleasure of it has been demoralising."

"I don't believe in the demoralising effect of pleasure."

"Perhaps not. You are one of the virtuously constituted whose

pleasure consists in behaving nicely. Mine doesn't."

Her hand went out in an impulsive gesture of denial.

"Why should you say that? You are not----"

"How can you know what I am?" he began bitterly, yet

indifferently; his eyes, not upon her, but fixed far on the distant
horizon, as if arraigning some unseen power which had made him
what he was. Then he paused abruptly, and infinite surprise drove
everything else from his face.

"Look!" he cried.

"Look?--what?--where?"
 "Look!" His hand was on hers now, and its trembling touch
seemed to give her sight.

It was a new heaven and a new earth! For, on the outermost

edge of the world, the last beam of light from the sunken sun shot
through the waves, flooding sky, and sea, and shore, with a green
light, soft and pellucid as the heart of an emerald. But only for an
instant. The next he had loosed her hand and the light was gone.

"What are you staring at so, Miss Carmichael?" His mocking tone
jarred her through and through. She looked at him in sheer
bewilderment.

"The--the Green Ray!"

"The Green Ray!" he echoed, in the same tones. "I say, Cameron!
Here is your cousin declaring she has seen the Green Ray. Did you
see anything?"

"Only the seal you were watching out on the rocks yonder," called
Will. "Splendid shot, wasn't it?"

"The Green Ray!" echoed the Reverend James, bustling up. "Dear
me, how interesting, and I missed it, somehow. What was it like,
Miss Marjory?"

The girl stood with her clear, cold eyes fixed on Paul's face. "I
scarcely know. You had better ask Captain Macleod. If I saw
anything, he saw it also; and saw it first!"

"But you have such a much more vivid imagination than I," he
replied easily, "that what would be to me merely an unusually
beautiful effect, might be to you a miracle. It is simply a question of
temperament, and mine is severely practical. In fact, Cameron, if we
are to get home to-night, it's time we were going."
 "By George!" said Will, when, with a general scramble, they had
stowed everything on board, "it's later than I thought, the tide has
turned, and the wind is almost down. We must take the sweeps, I
am afraid."

"All right," said Paul. "Hand us over an oar."

He was a different man; the lazy content was gone, and he gave
a stroke from a straight back which made Donald gasp between his
efforts--"Gorsh me! but he is a fine rower, is the laird!"

But there was silence--the silence of hard work--for the most part,
as they toiled home with wind and tide against them. Yet the scene
was beautiful as ever in the growing moonlight.

"We are not more than a mile from the house here, Marjory," said
Will, as they rounded a point below the Narrowest; "but it will take
us a good hour to get her to the boat-house, and I can't leave her
here; it's spring tides, and the painter's not long enough. But I'll land
you on that rock, and the laird will see you home. Mother will be
getting anxious."

"I would rather stay," she was beginning, when Paul cut her short.

"Back water, bow; pull, Donald. Luff her a bit. Miss Carmichael,
please. That will do." They were alongside the little jetty of rock, and
he was out. "Your hand, please, the seaweed is awfully slippery.
Donald, pass up those shells, will you, they are in my handkerchief.
All right, Cameron. Give way."

It had all passed so quickly, and this masterful activity of Paul's

was so surprising, that Marjory, rather to her own surprise, found
herself following close on his heels as he forced a way for her
through the dense thickets of bracken, or held back a briar from the
path in silence. Yet the silence did not seem oppressive; it suited her
own confusion, her own vague pleasure and pain. She had seen the
Green Ray, but she had seen it through Paul Macleod's eyes. Yes;
whether he would or not, they had seen it hand in hand. He might
deny it, but the fact remained. He was one of those who could see
it!

And Paul, as he walked on, felt that the silence intensified his
clear pleasure and clearer pain. For there was no vagueness in his
emotions. It was not the first time that the touch of a woman's hand
had thrilled him through and through, as Marjory's had done as they
looked out over the sunset sea; but it was the first time that such a
thrill had not moved him to look upon the woman's face! And they
had stood still, hand in hand, like a couple of children, staring at the
Green Ray! What a fool he had been! What did it mean save
something at which he had always scoffed, at which he meant
always to scoff! And then the Green Ray? Was his brain softening
that he should see visions and dream dreams? He, Paul Macleod,
who loved and forgot all, save his own physical comfort. As everyone
did in the end. And yet it was a familiar pleasure to be in love again
honestly, a pleasure to feel his heart beating, to know that the girl
he fancied was there beside him in the moonlight, that he could tell
her of his heart-beats if he chose. But he did not choose. Love of
that sort came and went! Did he not know it? Did he not know his
own nature, and was not that enough? And yet, when they reached
the high road a sudden desire to make her also understand it, made
him say, abruptly:

"When do you begin work? In London, isn't it?"

"Yes; in November."

"And you are really going to waste life in a dull, dirty school,
teaching vulgar little boys and girls."

"I shall teach them not to be vulgar."

He shrugged his shoulders. "You cannot fight against Nature, Miss

Carmichael; as we are born, we remain. You will only kill yourself in
your efforts at regeneration."
 "I think not. I am very strong to begin with, and then I hate
rusting in idleness."

"Rust may be better than tarnish. When I think of you here in this
paradise--a fool's paradise, perhaps--and of what you must
encounter there, it seems preposterous for you to mix yourself up.
But you do not understand; you never will." He had forgotten his
new outlook in the old resentment at her unconsciousness.

"Understand what? I can understand most things if I try."

"Can you? I doubt it. You cannot understand me, for instance, but
that is beside the question. The only comfort is that real life will
disgust you. Then you will return to the home you should never have
left."

"I have no home--you know that."

"You can make one by marrying, as other girls do."

"I am not like other girls, thank you----"

"Do you think I can't see that?" he broke out quite passionately.
"Should I be talking to you as I am if you were--why, I can't even
speak to you of what some of them are. It is because you are not as
other girls----"

"Then you wish me to behave as they do. You are scarcely

logical." Her tone was as ice, and, chilling his passion, sent him back
to his cynicism.

"Logic and love do not generally run in double harness, Miss

Carmichael; but if you prefer the former, I am quite prepared to stick
to it. Someone wants a wife, someone wants a home. It is a mere
case of barter. What can be more natural, sensible----"

"And degrading."
 "Pardon me, not always. I will take my own case if you will allow
me. We have touched on it often before. Let us speak frankly now. I
need money, not for myself alone; for the property. You have hinted
a thousand times that I am a bad landlord; so I am. How can I help
it without money?"

"You could be a better landlord than you are."

"If I chose to live on porridge and milk; but I don't choose, and I
don't choose to sell. I prefer to stick to champagne and devilled
bones, and give up another personal pleasure instead. And you say
it is degrading."

"I said nothing of the sort. I spoke of myself. It would degrade

me. I do not presume to speak of you."

"But you think it all the same."

"And if I do, what is that to you?" she cried suddenly, in hot

anger. "I do condemn you, if you will have the truth. I think you will
deliberately turn your back on the best part of life if you marry for
mere comfort--and, what is more, that you will regret it."

"Possibly. I regret most things after a time. Let us wait and see
whether you or I find the greatest happiness in life. Only we are not
likely to agree even there, for we shall not see the world in the same
light."

"Unless High Heaven vouchsafes us another Green Ray," she said

coldly.

The allusion aroused all his own vexation with himself, all his
impatience at her influence over him. They were passing the short
cut leading to the Lodge, and he paused.

"I don't think I need intrude on Mrs. Cameron tonight," he said.

"Good-bye, Miss Carmichael." Then suddenly he turned with a smile
of infinite grace. "Let us shake hands over it to show there is no ill-
feeling. It is my last holiday, remember; and, according to you, I am
going into penal servitude for life. But I'll chance my ticket-of-leave.
I am generally fairly virtuous when I have enough to eat and drink.
And we have had a good time, haven't we?"

"Very," said Marjory. And though he tried hard to get up another

thrill as their hands met, he failed utterly. He might have been
saying good-bye to his grandmother for all the emotion it roused in
him; and as he strode home he scarcely knew if the fact were
disconcerting or satisfactory. The latter, in so far that it proved his
feeling for Marjory must be of a placid, sentimental form, to which
he was unaccustomed. What else could it be in such surroundings,
and with a girl who hadn't a notion what love meant?

And Marjory, as she crossed the few yards between her and Mrs.
Cameron's comments, felt vexed that she was not more angry with
the culprit. But once again the thought of the St. Christopher, and of
Paul's blue, chattering lips, when he had the chills at the Pixie's
Lake, came to soften her and make her forget all but admiration and
pity.
 CHAPTER XI.

Rain! Rain! Rain! One drop chasing the other down the window-
pane like boys upon a slide. Beyond them a swaying network of
branches rising out of the grey mist-curtain veiling the landscape,
and every now and again a wild whirl of wind from the southwest,
bringing with it a fiercer patter on the pane. Those who know the
West coast of Scotland in the mood with which in nine cases out of
ten it welcomes the Sassenach, will need no further description of
the general depression and discomfort in Gleneira House a week
after Paul had said good-bye to Marjory at the short cut. For he had
been right, the deluge had come; and even Mrs. Cameron, going her
rounds through byre and barn in pattens, with petticoats high kilted
to her knees, shook her head, declaring that if it were not for the
promise she would misdoubt that the long-prophesied judgment had
overtaken this evil generation. And she had lived in the Glen for fifty
years.

Poor Lady George, who had arrived at Gleneira wet, chilled,

uncomfortable, yet still prepared to play her rôle of hostess to
perfection, fell a victim to a cold, which, as she complained, put it
out of her power to give a good rendering to the part. Since it was
manifestly impossible to receive her visitors, arriving in their turn
wet, chilled, uncomfortable, with anything like the optimism
required, for protestations that Highland rain did no harm, and hot
whiskey-and-water did good, were valueless, when you sneezed
three times during your remark. If she could only have gone to bed
for one day, there would have been some chance for her; but that
was impossible, since nowadays one couldn't have a good old-
fashioned cold in one's head without the risk of breaking up one's
party from fear of influenza! So she went about in a very smart,
short, tweed costume, with gaiters, and affected a sort of forced
indifference even when the cook, imported at fabulous wages, gave
up her place on the third day, saying she could not live in a shower
bath, and was not accustomed to a Zoölogical Gardens in the larder;
when the upper housemaid gave warning because hot water was not
laid on to the top of the house, and the kitchenmaid refused to make
the porridge for the half-dozen Highland lassies, who did all the
work, on the ground that no self-respecting girl would encourage
others in such barbarous habits. But all this, thank heaven! was on
the other side of the swing door; still, though the guests could
scarcely give warning, matters were not much brighter in, what
servants call, collectively, the dining-room. Breakfast was a godsend,
for a judicious admixture of scones and jams, and a little dexterous
manipulation of the time at which people were expected to come
down, made it last till eleven at the earliest. And then the hall was a
providence. Large, and low, and comfortable, with a blazing fire, and
two doors, where the ladies could linger and talk bravely of going
out. Looking like it, also, in tweeds even shorter and nattier than
Lady George's, yet for all that succumbing after a time to the
impossibility of holding up an umbrella in such a gale of wind, joined
to gentle doubts as to whether a waterproof was waterproof. Then
there was lunch. But it was after lunch, when people had manifestly
over-eaten themselves, that the real strain of the day began. So that
the Reverend James Gillespie, coming to call, despite the pouring
rain, as in duty bound, was delighted with the warmth of his
reception, and Lady George, making the most of the pleasing
novelty, reverted unconsciously to a part suitable to the occasion.

"Dear me!" she said plaintively; "this is very distressing! Imagine,

my dear Mrs. Woodward! Mr. Gillespie assures me that there is no
church in the Glen, only a schoolhouse. Paul, dear, how came you
never to mention this, you bad boy?"

Paul, who, after sending the most enthusiastic men forth on what
he knew must be a fruitless quest after grouse, was devoting himself
to the ladies, and in consequence felt unutterably bored, as he
always did when on duty, turned on his sister captiously:

"I thought you would have remembered the fact. I did, and you
are older than I am. Why, you used always to cry--just like Blazes
does--if my mother wouldn't let you open the picture papers during
service."

Lady George bridled up. It was so thoughtless of Paul, bringing all

the disagreeables in life into one sentence; and reminiscences of
that sort were so unnecessary, for everyone knew that even the best
childhood could not stand the light of adult memory.

"But surely there was a talk, even then, of a more suitable

building. I suppose it fell through. High time, is it not, dear Mrs.
Woodward, for our absentee landlord to repair his neglect?"

"The farm-steadings have first claim to repair, I'm afraid,

Blanche," returned Paul, refusing his part. "The church will have to
stand over as a luxury."

Lady George, even in her indignation, hastened to cover the

imprudence, for the Woodwards were distinctly high.

"Not a bit of it, Paul! We will all set to work at once, Mr. Gillespie,
and see what can be done--won't we, dear Mrs. Woodward?"

"I would suggest writing to the Bishop as the first step," said the
Reverend James, modestly.

"And then a fancy fair," continued Lady George.

"Delightful! a fancy fair, by all means," echoed an elderly

schoolfellow of Blanche's, who had been invited on the express
understanding that she was to do the flowers and second all
suggestions.
 "I trust you will have nothing of the kind, Blanche," put in Paul,
with unusual irritation. "I hate charitable pocket-picking. I beg your
pardon for the crude expression, Miss Woodward, but I have some
excuse. On one occasion in India I was set on by every lady in the
station, with the result that I found twenty-five penwipers of sorts in
my pocket when I got home."

"Twenty-five, that was a large number," said Alice, stifling a yawn.

"What did you do with them?"

"Put them away in lavender as keepsakes, of course."

"My dear Paul," put in his sister, hurriedly, recognising his unsafe
mood. "We do things differently in England. We do not set on young
men; we do not have----"

"A superfluity of penwipers," interrupted her brother, becoming

utterly exasperated; but as he looked out of the window he saw
something which made him sit down again beside Alice Woodward,
and devote himself to her amusement. Yet it was a sight which with
most men would have had exactly the opposite effect, for it was a
glimpse of a well-known figure battling with the wind and the rain
along the ferry road. But Paul Macleod had made up his mind;
besides, rather to his own surprise, the past few days had brought
him very little of the restless desire to be with Marjory, which he had
expected from his previous experiences in love. It was evidently a
sentimental attack, unreal, fanciful, Arcadian, like the episode in
which it had arisen. And yet a remark of his sister's at afternoon tea
set him suddenly in arms.

"Mr. Gillespie told me there was a girl staying at the Camerons',

Paul, who was a sort of governess, or going to be one. And I
thought--if she hadn't a dreadful accent, or anything of that sort,
you know, of having her in the mornings for the children."

"Miss Carmichael, Blanche," he broke in, at a white heat, "is a

very charming girl, and I was going to ask you to call upon her, as
soon as the weather allowed of it. I have seen a good deal of her
during the last few weeks, and should like you to know her."

Really, in his present mood, Paul was almost as bad as a dynamite

bomb, or a high-pressure boiler in the back kitchen! Still, mindful of
her sisterly devotion, Lady George covered his indiscretion gracefully.

"Oh, she is that sort of person, is she? I must have misunderstood

Mr. Gillespie, and I will call at once, for it is so pleasant, isn't it, Alice
dear, for girls to have companions."

And yet, as she spoke, she told herself that this was an
explanation of her brother's patience in solitude, and that it would
be far safer, considering what Paul was, to keep an eye on this
possible flirtation. Meanwhile, the offender felt a kind of shock at the
possibilities her easy acquiescence opened up. He had been telling
himself, with a certain satisfaction, that the idyll was over, leaving
both him and her little the worse for it; and now, apparently, he was
to have an opportunity of comparing the girl he fancied, and the girl
he meant to marry, side by side. It was scarcely a pleasing prospect,
and the knowledge of this made him once more return to his set
purpose of fostering some kind of sentiment towards Alice
Woodward. But the fates were against him. Lord George, coming in
wet, but lively, from a constitutional, began enthusiastically, between
his drainings of the teapot, in search of something to drink, on the
charms of a girl he had met on the road. "A real Highland girl,"
continued the amiable idiot, regardless of his wife's storm signals,
"with a lot of jolly curly hair: not exactly pretty, you know, but fresh
as a daisy, bright as a bee. I couldn't help thinking, you know, how
much better you would all feel, Blanche, if you went out for a blow
instead of sticking at home."

"We should not come into the drawing-room with dirty boots if we
did, should we, Alice dear? Just look at him, Mrs. Woodward! He
isn't fit for ladies' society, is he?"
 Lord George gave a hasty glance at his boots, swallowed his tepid
washings of the teapot with a muttered apology, and retired, leaving
his wife to breathe freely.

"That must be Miss Carmichael, I suppose," she remarked easily.

"I am beginning to be quite anxious to see this paragon, Paul."

"Nothing easier," replied her brother, shortly; "if you will be ready
at three to-morrow afternoon, I'll take you over and introduce you."

Positively she felt relieved when, with some excuse about seeing
whether the sportsmen had returned, he left the drawing-room. It
was like being on the brink of a volcano when he was there, and yet,
poor, dear old fellow, he behaved very sweetly.

She said as much to him, being clever enough to take his real
affection for her into consideration, during a brief quarter of an
hour's respite from duty which she managed in his business-room
before dinner.

"I wish I had a snuggery like this, Paul," she said, plaintively
shaking her head over his long length spread out on one side of the
fire, and Lord George's on the other, "but women always bear the
brunt of everything. If the barometer would go up I could manage;
but it will go down, and though I've taken away the one from the
hall, Major Tombs has an aneroid in his room, and will speak about
it. And Ricketts--I have had her for five years, George, you
remember--gave me warning to-day. It seems Jessie took advantage
of the fire in Ricketts's room to dry one of Paul's wet suits, and
Ricketts thought it was a burglar. She went into hysterics first, and
now says she never was so insulted in her life."

Paul laughed. "Would it do any good if I apologised?"

"Wish it had been mine," grumbled Lord George. "This is my last

coat but one, and the sleeves of it are damp. I can't think why the
dickens the women can't turn 'em inside out."
 "Oh! of course, it's the women again, George, but the footman
wants to know if he is expected to grease boots, and I don't know
what to say. Someone used to grease them, I remember----"

"Oh! if it comes to that," said Paul, hotly, "I'll grease 'em myself.
Why should you bother, Blanche?"

"Now that is so like a man! Someone must bother; and really

servants are so troublesome about boots, though I must own one
would think you men were centipedes; there are fifty pairs in the
laundry at present. And Mrs. Woodward says her husband has
smoked too many cigars and drunk too much whiskey and soda. As
if it were my fault." Poor Lady George spoke quite tearfully.

"Well, I offered to take him out, but he said his waterproof wasn't
waterproof. What the dickens does a man mean by coming to the
West Highlands without a waterproof? One doesn't expect anything
else in a woman, of course, but a man!"

Lady George dried her eyes disconsolately. "Oh! it is no use,

George, importing the antagonism of sex into the matter. It is bad
enough without that. If we only had a billiard-room I could manage.
Do you know I think it quite criminal to build a house in the country
without one."

"There are the Kindergarten toys, my dear," suggested her

husband; "the children seem to have tired of them."

"Oh, don't try to be funny, please!" retorted his wife; "that would
be the last straw. And nurse says it is because they cannot get out
that they are so cross. Just when I was counting on them, too, as a
distraction."

"Well, Blazes was that effectually this morning," replied her

husband, with an air of conviction; "he howled straight on end for
two hours, and when I went into the nursery to see what was up, I
found the poor little beggar sobbing over some grievance or
another."

Lady George flushed up. "It was only because he couldn't come
down with the others--I really can't have him; he is so unreasonable,
and Mrs. Woodward doesn't believe in my system."

"Never mind, my dear Blanche," said her brother, consolingly. "It

seems to answer nicely with good children, and children ought to be
good, you know. And the barometer is going up, it really is."

"For wind, I suppose," replied his sister, tragically. Apparently it

was for wind; at any rate, Will Cameron coming up to see the laird
on business next day observed casually that this must be about the
end of it; an optimistic remark which has a certain definite
significance in a land of gales. Even the sportsmen were driven to
the cold comfort of examining the action of each other's weapons
with veiled contempt, discussing the respective merits of each
other's accoutrements, from cartridge cases to leggings, and trying
to forget that the wild weather was making the birds still wilder than
they had been already. It appeared to have the same effect upon
humanity. Sam Woodward, who had been a thorn in poor Lady
George's side from the beginning, fell out with the only man who
could tolerate him, and thereafter told his sister it was a beastly
hole, and that he meant to make the mater give him some oof, when
he would cut and run to some place where they weren't so beastly
stuck up. Mr. Woodward, senior, after roaming about disconsolately
waiting for the post, was only appeased by Lady George's suggestion
that he would be doing yeoman's service to the cause of civilisation
if he composed a letter to the Postmaster-General, calling attention
to the disgraceful irregularity in her Majesty's mails to Gleneira;
whereupon he retired into the library and wasted several sheets of
foolscap.

It was on the children, however, that the weather had the most
disastrous effect; so much so that Lord George, returning in the
afternoon from a blow with Paul--whose patience had given way
over a point-blank refusal on the under footman's part to stop
another hour if he was not allowed a fire in his room before dinner--
found his wife in the nursery standing helplessly before Blazes, who,
in his flannel nightgown, was seated stolidly on the floor. Adam and
Eve, meanwhile, were eyeing the scene from their beds, where,
however, they had a liberal supply of toys.

"Oh, George!" she cried appealingly, "he has such a hard, hard
heart; and I am sure he must get it from your side of the family, so
do you think you could do anything with him?"

"Put him to bed like the others," suggested his father, weakly,
showing signs, at the same time, of beating a retreat, but pausing at
the sight of his wife's face, which, to tell the truth, was not far from
tears.

"So I have, but he gets out again, and nurse can't hold him in all
the time. Besides, it was Mrs. Woodward's fault for being so
disagreeable about my system; but the children were naughty, poor
dears; only, of course, Adam and Eve went to bed when they were
told--you see, they are reasonable, and knew that if they did they
would be allowed to come down again to dessert--and then they
didn't really mind going to bed to please me, the little dears. But
Blasius actually slapped Mrs. Woodward's face, and then she said he
ought to be whipped. So we had quite a discussion about it, and, in
the heat of the moment, I told Blasius he must stop in bed till he
said he was sorry. And now I can't make him stop in bed or say a
word. He just sits and smiles."

Here their mother's tone became so unlike smiles that Adam and
Eve, from their little beds, begged their ducksom mummie not to cry,
even though Blazes was the baddest little boy they had ever seen.

"If he won't say it, you can't make him," remarked Lord George
aside, with conviction. "If I were you I'd chance it."
 "But I can't. You see, I told Mrs. Woodward I could manage my
own children, and so I've made quite a point of it with Blasius. I
can't give in."

Lord George, who was in the Foreign Office, and great on

diplomatic relations, whistled softly. "Always a mistake to claim when
you can't coerce--or retaliate." Then he added, as if a thought had
struck him, "Look here! has he had his tea? No! then hand him over
to me; I'll put him in the little room by the business room. Nobody
will hear him there even if he does howl, and as he gets hungry he
will cave in, I expect. At any rate, he can't get out of bed there, and
I don't think he can like it."

But for some unexplained reason, possibly original sin, Blasius

elected to be quite cheerful over the transfer. He informed the nurse,
as she put on his dressing-gown, that he was going to "'moke with
daddy," and when he reached the little bare room, which was almost
a closet, he tucked the same dressing-gown round his little legs very
carefully as he plumped down on the floor.

"Blazeth's goin' to stay here a long, long time," he said,

confidently. "Dood-night, daddy dear."

In fact, he was so quiet that more than once his father, smoking
in the next room, got up to open the door softly and peer in to see if
by chance any evil could have befallen the small rebel; only to retire
finally, quite discomforted by the superior remark that "when
Blazeth's horry Blazeth's 'll let daddy know." To retire and meditate
upon the mysterious problem of fatherhood, and that duty to the
soul which, somehow or another, you have beckoned out of the
unknown. In nine times out of ten, thoughtlessly, to suit your own
pleasure; in ninety-nine times out of a hundred to bring it up to suit
your own convenience, to minister to your amusement, to justify
your theories.
 Lady George, coming in with the falling twilight, when the duties
of afternoon tea were over in the drawing-room, found her husband,
minus a cigar, brooding over the fire.

"I've done it, Blanche," he said defiantly.

"Done what?"

"Beaten him. I knew I should some day."

His wife gave quite a sharp little cry. "Oh, George! and I trusted
you. I trusted you so entirely, because you knew it was wrong. And
now it can never be undone--never! You have ruined everything--all
the confidence, and the love--Oh! George, how could you?"

The man's face was a study, but it was one which few women
could understand, for there is something in a righteous disregard of
weakness which seems brutal to most of them; for to them justice,
like everything else, is an emotion.

"The little beggar bit me," he began, rather sheepishly, and then
suddenly he laughed. "He was awfully quiet, you know, and I
thought he was really getting hungry; so I went in, and by Jove!
Blanche, he had eaten nearly a whole dog biscuit! Paul keeps them
there, you know, for the puppy. Well, I felt he had me on the hip as
it were, and if it hadn't been for your face, I'd have given in--like a
fool. So I sate down and talked to him--like--like a father. And then
he suddenly slipped off my knee like an eel, and bit me on the calf.
Got tired, I suppose, and upon my soul, I don't wonder--we had
been at it for hours, remember. And then--I don't think I lost my
temper, Blanche--I don't, indeed; but it seemed to come home to me
that it was he or I--a sort of good fight, you know. So I told him that
I wasn't going to be bothered by him any more. He had had his fun,
and must pay for it, as he would have to do till the day of his death.
And then I gave him a regular spanking--yes! I did--and he deserved
it."
 There was the oddest mixture of remorse, defiance, pain, and
pride in her husband's honest face, but Lady George could see
nothing, think of nothing, save the overthrow of her system, her
belief.

"I wonder you aren't ashamed of yourself!" she cried, quite

passionately. "It isn't as if he could reason about it as you can--it
isn't as if he understood--it is brute force to him, nothing more----"

"That's just it, you see," protested the culprit, feebly, "if he could
reason."

"And now the memory must be between you two always, and it
isn't as it used to be in the old barbarous days. Parents nowadays
care for something more than the old tyranny. We have a respect for
our children as for human beings like ourselves. And now you will
never be--or at least you ought never to be able to look him in the
face again! Just think what it means, George!" Blanche, as she stood
there with disclaiming hands and eloquent voice, felt herself no
mean exponent of the new order of things, and rose to the occasion.
"If he had been a man, you dared not have beaten him, so it was
mean, brutal, unworthy. How can you expect the child to forget it?
Would you, if you were in his place? No! He will never forget it, and
the memory must come between you----"

"Blazeth's horry."

A round, full, almost manly voice, and a round, broad face,

seamed with tears, yet strangely cheerful withal, as if, the bolt
having fallen, the sky was clear once more.

Blanche dropped to her knees, and, secure in her own

conscience, held out her arms to the little advancing figure, but the
child steered past them. It was fact, and fact alone, which impressed
the sturdy brain, which day by day was gathering up its store of
experience against the hand-to-hand fight with life, which, please
God, would come by and bye--the life which was no Kindergarten
game, the life of strange, unknown dangers, against which the only
weapon is the sheer steel of self-control. And this was a little
foretaste of the fight in which daddy had won; daddy, who could do
nothing but clasp the little figure close to his heart as it climbed to
his knee, and then walk away with it to the window to hide his own
tears.

His wife, standing where Blasius had passed her by, could see
those two round, red heads, so strangely like each other, though the
one had a shock of rough hair and the other was beginning to grow
bald. And she could hear that round full voice with a ring of concern
in it.

"Blazeth's horry he hurt daddy such a lot. And daddy hurt

Blazeths awful; but he's a dood boy now. And oh, daddy! I don't fink
them bickeys is half as nice as daddy's--and Blazeths would like one,
becauth he's a dood boy."

The storm was over. The sky was clear, and Lord George, as he
carried his youngest born pick-a-back upstairs to the nursery, felt
that there was a stronger tie between them than there had ever
been before; a strange new tie between him and the little soul he
had beckoned out of the unknown--the little soul to whom in future
"Daddy says not" would represent that whole concentrated force of
law and order from which it was at present sheltered, but which by
and bye would be its only teacher. And yet, when brought face to
face with his wife's arguments, he, being of the dumb kind, could
only say:

"You see, my dear, Blazes is not a Kindergarten child, now is he?"

 CHAPTER XII.

And still it rained!

"Paul, this is awful," mourned poor Lady George, on the eighth

morning. "The post hasn't come at all for two days, and it is
positively heartrending to see poor Mr. Woodward trying to read
Monday's share-list for the third time. Then the beef hasn't come
either, and their maid won't eat any other meat. Hot roast twice a
day, and cold for lunch. All the servants have given warning, and I
don't believe the Woodwards will stand it."

"Let them give warning, too," broke in her brother, hotly; then
seeing his sister's face, went on after his wont, consolingly. "Don't
bother, please, I'm not worth it. Besides, if Miss Woodward is going
to do me the honour of marrying Gleneira, it is as well that she
should learn to stand a little damp."

"A little damp! Besides, she will have time to learn afterwards--
women always do after they are married--till then, they really have a
right to be amused. Can't you suggest something to cheer us up?
I'm at my wits' end. Even the book-box has gone astray, and it is so
hard to make conversation when you don't see the society papers."

"Shall I black my face or stand on my head and sing a comic

song? I've done both in my salad days."

"Oh, don't be unkind, Paul, when I have taken so much trouble!"

"You have, indeed," he echoed, walking to the window moodily,

feeling at once irritated and annoyed. Personally he would have
found no difficulty in amusing himself with Marjory, whom he had
not seen for a week, so close at hand. And suddenly the thought of
someone else who had had the knack of making time pass
pleasantly occurred to him. "I'll tell you what I'll do, Blanche, I'll wire
to Mrs. Vane to come at once. I expected to hear two days ago if
she was to be with us this week or next; but she would come
anywhere to do a kindness, and she would keep us alive--rain or no
rain."

"It would be too late," returned his sister, dejectedly. "To do any
good she should be here to-day. I will not be responsible for another
hour--another minute of this detestable climate." She spoke quite
tragically, but her brother was staring out of the window with all his
eyes.

"By all that's impossible! Yes, it is. Hooray, Blanche! There she is."

"Who! What!"

"Violet! Violet Vane in Macniven's machine. How on earth----" He

was out of the door full of excitement, followed by his sister, who
was heard giving tragic orders for hot baths and blankets.

"She must be half drowned," said Mrs. Woodward, hastening from

her room at the sound of wheels to join the little circle crowding
round the window to watch the arrival. "She will go to bed at once,
of course."

"And have something warm," said one voice.

"More likely inflammation of the lungs. I remember----" suggested

another.

"Bronchitis, at least--poor thing--poor thing----" put in a third.

To which Cassandra chorus came the sound of a musical laugh

and a perfect ripple of chatter, as Paul, with a new cheerfulness in
his face, ushered in the daintiest little figure, which, as he held the
door open, looked back at him to finish the recital of her adventures
with words, "It was such fun."

"My dear Mrs. Vane," cried Lady George, "you must be dead!"

"Only with laughing, I assure you. I am not a bit wet, thanks. I

got them to lend me a tarpaulin jacket and a sou'-wester. But
Captain Macleod tells me I was not expected--I am so sorry, but
really I did write."

"The post is shamefully irregular," put in Mr. Woodward,

majestically; "it did not come yesterday, and I have no doubt it will
not come to-day."

"But it has! I brought it. Peter Macniven--that was my driver--

proposed I should give it a lift, and Donald Post said it would save
time if I took out the Gleneira letters myself. So I did. They are in
my bag downstairs, Paul--quite a large bundle for Mr. Woodward;
and all the picture papers, and a packet of chocolates from Fuller's.
And, oh! by the way, Lady George, there was a basket of beef and a
box of books lying for you at the Oban pier, so I took the liberty of
bringing them along."

"My dear--my dear Mrs. Vane!"

Lady George positively could say no more. Here was a guest,

indeed. It was as if a glint of sunshine had come into the house; so
that after a time the young man with a big head, whom Lady George
had invited because he could recite poetry to the young ladies, and
who had for the last few days been elaborating a sonnet on suicide,
went hurriedly out of the room to commit to paper the opening lines
of a lyric, "To a sea breeze sweeping away a storm." It was the
same with everyone in the house, and even the maids bustled to get
her room in order, and the butler, after laying an extra place at the
dinner-table, remarked in the housekeeper's room that now,
perhaps, the dining-room would have conversation that was worth
listening to.

Only Paul, remembering her ways of old, and that, spirits or no

spirits, the long journey must have fatigued one who was past the
first untiringness of youth, urged her to rest; but with a little familiar
nod of comprehension she set the very idea aside with scorn.
Thereby, to say sooth, starting fair with him by arousing once more
that tender admiration for pluck which, despite asseverations to the
contrary, most men have for courage and fire in a woman. Paul
Macleod, at any rate, felt it keenly when she came, plumaged like
some delicate butterfly, into the drawing-room before dinner, causing
Mr. Woodward to put down the share-list without a sigh, and Sam,
who had been laying down the law loudly, to become bashfully
silent. And then when, in consequence of her being the Honourable
Mrs. Vane by virtue of a most dishonourable husband, Paul took her
down to dinner, how different that dinner was! He recognised it
gratefully; recognised the readiness of her smile, the art which her
bright eyes had of making people believe in themselves and feel that
they, too, had something to say worth the saying. The art, in short,
of the hostess, which Lady George, with all her cleverness, had not;
for the simple reason that she thought too much about the effect
she was producing. And Violet Vane's worst enemies might call her
artificial, but they could never have called her self-conscious or
selfish. While, as for the artificiality, a woman must needs be that
who is deadly weary, and who has given herself bright eyes and a
ready tongue by means of chloric ether. Violet had to slip away for
another dose ere she could face what to her was the dreariest,
deadliest hour of the day--the time when the ladies wait patiently for
the men to come up from the wine and the cigars; for she was
frankly, unblushingly, a man's woman, and would confess as much to
anyone with a smile. And wherefore not? She had lived among them
all her life. She had no babies to discuss, had no experience of
English housekeeping, and felt no sympathy with woman's rights or
wrongs; for the simple reason that she herself had never felt the
least disqualification of sex. She was bonne camarade in every fibre
of her mind and body; yet withal a thorough little lady.

"Paul, my friend," she said, as he made his way straight to her

sofa, where, with wide, bright eyes, she had been taking sights for
future steering, "you can have five minutes by the clock, and then
monsieur will be on duty again. Will he not? Yes! no doubt five
minutes is short; it will not suffice to tell me all you have to tell, will
it? But I would rather leave it for to-morrow. For I am tired, Paul, so
tired, and I don't want to be cross."

Something in her voice touched him. "Of course, you are tired. I
know that. But when was our dear lady ever cross?"

The old familiar title, given in the remote Indian station to the
dainty little woman who had made life so pleasant to so many, came
to his lips naturally, and the scent of the jasmine she wore carried
him back to the days when it had seemed an integral part of
consciousness; since life was divided into delirium-haunted
forgetfulness and confused awakenings to the familiar perfume. And
those are things a man never forgets. She laughed, though the
words sent a throb to her heart.

"Cross?" she echoed; "I am always cross when people are dull.
And you are dull to-night, Paul. Why?"

Those bright eyes were full of meaning, and he hesitated over the
remark that he had been waiting for the sunshine of her presence.
She laughed again, this time with an odd little ring in it. "My dear
Paul, you should not need sunshine nowadays." There was no
mistaking her intent, and he winced visibly.

"I always said you had antennae, Violet," he replied, with a flush;
"but how on earth have you found that out already?"

She paused for a moment, and a mad desire to quote a proverb

about thieves came over her. So it was true, then! True, and she--
she was too late! She set her teeth firmly over her own pain. "Does
it generally need such great acumen to discover when Paul Macleod
is in love, mon ami?"

The sarcasm struck home, and he rose, feeling the position

untenable. "Come and sing," he said; "it is years since I heard you."

She shook her head. "It will not do, Paul; not even though it is
five years six months seventeen days and a few hours or so since we
sang 'La ci darem' together. The five minutes is not up yet, so sit
down, please, and tell me who these people are whom you want to
amuse. Or, stay! I will catalogue them, and then you can correct my
mistakes. Your sister? How handsome she is, yet not in the least like
you. Lord George? A perfect angel, with a twinkle in his eye. He is to
be my best friend. Your Miss Woodward? Alice is a pretty name,
Paul; and her hair shall be of what colour it shall please God. Am I
right, Benedict? Papa Woodward? Have a care, Paul! he studies the
share-list too much; so have it in Government securities. Mamma
Woodward? What her daughter will be at that age; it is such an
advantage to a man, Paul, to see exactly what his future will be.
Master Woodward? No! I will leave you to describe him."

Paul winced again. "You are very clever, Violet--suppose you pass
on to the others----"

"I told you I was evil-tempered. Then there is the young man who
wrote a sonnet to somebody's eyebrow--probably mine--between
the soup and fish. Two young ladies colourless--your sister is clever,
too, Paul--and a couple of men to match. Finally the Moth."

"Who?"

"Miss Jones, or is she Miss Smith? I met her in Devonshire with

another school friend. She was Watteau then--cream and roses. I
met her, too, on a yacht--anchors and lanyards. And here, like Lady
George, she is moyen-âge."
 "But why the Moth?"

"Because she takes her colour from what she preys upon; and she
frets my garment! That is all, except the lady who bicycles and
thinks Gleneira too hilly, and the man who takes photographs."

"My dear Violet!" laughed Paul; "you are a witch."

"Pardon me! I am an ass--all ears. And Bertie, Palmer, and Gordon

come next week. I'm glad of that; one can't make bricks without
mud. Straw requires the baser clay."

"Straw! that is hardly complimentary to your sex!"

"Pardon me again! the highest duty of a woman is to please man,

and he is proverbially tickled by a straw. So now for the neighbours."

"None."

Violet Vane's eyebrows went up in derision. "There is no Sahara in

Lorneshire, and you have been here for three weeks--or is it a
month?"

"To be accurate, a month and four days."

"Dear me! what a long time it takes to put up curtains."

"Very. I am sure those five minutes are over, Violet. Won't you
come and sing for us?"

"How--how dreadfully dull you must have been, Paul!"

"Dreadfully. Blanche! will you try and persuade Mrs. Vane to sing
to us--she is obdurate with me."

Lady George, delighted at her brother's virtue in seeking to break

up a tête-a-tête, was urgent in her appeals, and Mrs. Vane passed to
the piano, airily.
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