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 GRAPHS,
ALGORITHMS,
AND OPTIMIZATION
Second edition
 DISCRETE
MATHEMATICS
ITS APPLICATIONS
R. B. J. T. Allenby and Alan Slomson, How to Count: An Introduction to Combinatorics,
Third Edition
Craig P. Bauer, Secret History: The Story of Cryptology
Jürgen Bierbrauer, Introduction to Coding Theory, Second Edition
Katalin Bimbó, Combinatory Logic: Pure, Applied and Typed
Katalin Bimbó, Proof Theory: Sequent Calculi and Related Formalisms
Donald Bindner and Martin Erickson, A Student’s Guide to the Study, Practice, and Tools of
Modern Mathematics
Francine Blanchet-Sadri, Algorithmic Combinatorics on Partial Words
Miklós Bóna, Combinatorics of Permutations, Second Edition
Miklós Bóna, Handbook of Enumerative Combinatorics
Miklós Bóna, Introduction to Enumerative and Analytic Combinatorics, Second Edition
Jason I. Brown, Discrete Structures and Their Interactions
Richard A. Brualdi and Dragos̆ Cvetković, A Combinatorial Approach to Matrix Theory and Its
Applications
Kun-Mao Chao and Bang Ye Wu, Spanning Trees and Optimization Problems
Charalambos A. Charalambides, Enumerative Combinatorics
Gary Chartrand and Ping Zhang, Chromatic Graph Theory
Henri Cohen, Gerhard Frey, et al., Handbook of Elliptic and Hyperelliptic Curve Cryptography
Charles J. Colbourn and Jeffrey H. Dinitz, Handbook of Combinatorial Designs, Second Edition
Abhijit Das, Computational Number Theory
Matthias Dehmer and Frank Emmert-Streib, Quantitative Graph Theory:
Mathematical Foundations and Applications
Martin Erickson, Pearls of Discrete Mathematics
Martin Erickson and Anthony Vazzana, Introduction to Number Theory
 Titles (continued)

Steven Furino, Ying Miao, and Jianxing Yin, Frames and Resolvable Designs: Uses,
Constructions, and Existence
Mark S. Gockenbach, Finite-Dimensional Linear Algebra
Randy Goldberg and Lance Riek, A Practical Handbook of Speech Coders
Jacob E. Goodman and Joseph O’Rourke, Handbook of Discrete and Computational Geometry,
Second Edition
Jonathan L. Gross, Combinatorial Methods with Computer Applications
Jonathan L. Gross and Jay Yellen, Graph Theory and Its Applications, Second Edition
Jonathan L. Gross, Jay Yellen, and Ping Zhang Handbook of Graph Theory, Second Edition
David S. Gunderson, Handbook of Mathematical Induction: Theory and Applications
Richard Hammack, Wilfried Imrich, and Sandi Klavžar, Handbook of Product Graphs,
Second Edition
Darrel R. Hankerson, Greg A. Harris, and Peter D. Johnson, Introduction to Information Theory
and Data Compression, Second Edition
Darel W. Hardy, Fred Richman, and Carol L. Walker, Applied Algebra: Codes, Ciphers, and
Discrete Algorithms, Second Edition
Daryl D. Harms, Miroslav Kraetzl, Charles J. Colbourn, and John S. Devitt, Network Reliability:
Experiments with a Symbolic Algebra Environment
Silvia Heubach and Toufik Mansour, Combinatorics of Compositions and Words
Leslie Hogben, Handbook of Linear Algebra, Second Edition
Derek F. Holt with Bettina Eick and Eamonn A. O’Brien, Handbook of Computational Group Theory
David M. Jackson and Terry I. Visentin, An Atlas of Smaller Maps in Orientable and
Nonorientable Surfaces
Richard E. Klima, Neil P. Sigmon, and Ernest L. Stitzinger, Applications of Abstract Algebra
with Maple™ and MATLAB®, Second Edition
Richard E. Klima and Neil P. Sigmon, Cryptology: Classical and Modern with Maplets
Patrick Knupp and Kambiz Salari, Verification of Computer Codes in Computational Science
and Engineering
William L. Kocay and Donald L. Kreher, Graphs, Algorithms, and Optimization, Second Edition
Donald L. Kreher and Douglas R. Stinson, Combinatorial Algorithms: Generation Enumeration
and Search
Hang T. Lau, A Java Library of Graph Algorithms and Optimization
C. C. Lindner and C. A. Rodger, Design Theory, Second Edition
San Ling, Huaxiong Wang, and Chaoping Xing, Algebraic Curves in Cryptography
Nicholas A. Loehr, Bijective Combinatorics
Toufik Mansour, Combinatorics of Set Partitions
 Titles (continued)

Toufik Mansour and Matthias Schork, Commutation Relations, Normal Ordering, and Stirling
Numbers
Alasdair McAndrew, Introduction to Cryptography with Open-Source Software
Elliott Mendelson, Introduction to Mathematical Logic, Fifth Edition
Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot, and Scott A. Vanstone, Handbook of Applied
Cryptography
Stig F. Mjølsnes, A Multidisciplinary Introduction to Information Security
Jason J. Molitierno, Applications of Combinatorial Matrix Theory to Laplacian Matrices of Graphs
Richard A. Mollin, Advanced Number Theory with Applications
Richard A. Mollin, Algebraic Number Theory, Second Edition
Richard A. Mollin, Codes: The Guide to Secrecy from Ancient to Modern Times
Richard A. Mollin, Fundamental Number Theory with Applications, Second Edition
Richard A. Mollin, An Introduction to Cryptography, Second Edition
Richard A. Mollin, Quadratics
Richard A. Mollin, RSA and Public-Key Cryptography
Carlos J. Moreno and Samuel S. Wagstaff, Jr., Sums of Squares of Integers
Gary L. Mullen and Daniel Panario, Handbook of Finite Fields
Goutam Paul and Subhamoy Maitra, RC4 Stream Cipher and Its Variants
Dingyi Pei, Authentication Codes and Combinatorial Designs
Kenneth H. Rosen, Handbook of Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics
Yongtang Shi, Matthias Dehmer, Xueliang Li, and Ivan Gutman, Graph Polynomials
Douglas R. Shier and K.T. Wallenius, Applied Mathematical Modeling: A Multidisciplinary
Approach
Alexander Stanoyevitch, Introduction to Cryptography with Mathematical Foundations and
Computer Implementations
Jörn Steuding, Diophantine Analysis
Douglas R. Stinson, Cryptography: Theory and Practice, Third Edition
Roberto Tamassia, Handbook of Graph Drawing and Visualization
Roberto Togneri and Christopher J. deSilva, Fundamentals of Information Theory and Coding
Design
W. D. Wallis, Introduction to Combinatorial Designs, Second Edition
W. D. Wallis and J. C. George, Introduction to Combinatorics
Jiacun Wang, Handbook of Finite State Based Models and Applications
Lawrence C. Washington, Elliptic Curves: Number Theory and Cryptography, Second Edition
DISCRETE MATHEMATICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS

GRAPHS,
ALGORITHMS,
AND OPTIMIZATION
Second edition

William l. Kocay
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Canada

DonalD l. Kreher
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, USA
CRC Press
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The authors would like to take this opportunity to express their appreciation and
gratitude to the following people who have had a very significant effect on their
mathematical development:
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“ the greatest of the graphmen ”
Contents

Preface xvii

1 Graphs and Their Complements 1

1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 Degree sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.1 Havel-Hakimi theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2.2 Erdös-Gallai theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.3 Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.4 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2 Paths and Walks 23

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2 Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3 Walks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4 The shortest-path problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.5 Weighted graphs and Dijkstra’s algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.6 Data structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.7 Floyd’s algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.8 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

3 Subgraphs 45
3.1 Counting subgraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.1.1 Möbius inversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.1.2 Counting triangles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.2 Multiplying subgraph counts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.3 Mixed subgraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.4 Graph reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.4.1 Nash-Williams’ lemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

ix
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3.5 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

4 Some Special Classes of Graphs 57

4.1 Bipartite graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.2 Line graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.3 Moore graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.4 Euler tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.4.1 An Euler tour algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.5 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

5 Trees and Cycles 73

5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.2 Fundamental cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.3 Co-trees and bonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.4 Spanning tree algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.4.1 Prim’s algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.4.1.1 Data structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
5.4.2 Kruskal’s algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.4.2.1 Data structures and complexity . . . . . . . 85
5.4.3 The Cheriton-Tarjan algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.4.4 Leftist binary trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.5 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

6 The Structure of Trees 97

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.2 Non-rooted trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.3 Read’s tree encoding algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.3.1 The decoding algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6.4 Generating rooted trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
6.5 Generating non-rooted trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
6.6 Prüfer sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
6.7 Spanning trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Contents xi

6.8 The matrix-tree theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
6.9 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

7 Connectivity 125
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
7.2 Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
7.3 Finding the blocks of a graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
7.4 The depth-first search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
7.4.1 Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
7.5 Sections and modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
7.6 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

8 Graphs and Symmetry 147

8.1 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
8.2 Cayley graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
8.3 Coset diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
8.3.1 Double cosets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.4 Conjugation, Sylow subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
8.5 Homomorphisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
8.6 Primitivity and block systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
8.7 Self-complementary graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
8.8 Pseudo-similar vertices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
8.9 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

9 Alternating Paths and Matchings 169

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
9.2 The Hungarian algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
9.2.1 Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.3 Edmonds’ algorithm, blossoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.3.1 Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
9.4 Perfect matchings and 1-factorizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
9.5 The subgraph problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
9.6 Coverings in bipartite graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
9.7 Tutte’s theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
9.8 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
xii Contents

10 Network Flows 193

10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
10.2 The Ford-Fulkerson algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
10.3 Matchings and flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
10.4 Menger’s theorems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
10.5 Disjoint paths and separating sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
10.6 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

11 Hamilton Cycles 217

11.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
11.2 The crossover algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
11.2.1 Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
11.3 The Hamilton closure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
11.4 The extended multi-path algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
11.4.1 Data structures for the segments . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
11.5 Decision problems, NP-completeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
11.6 The traveling salesman problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
11.7 The ∆TSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
11.8 Christofides’ algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
11.9 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

12 Digraphs 251
12.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
12.2 Activity graphs, critical paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
12.3 Topological order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
12.4 Strong components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
12.4.1 An application to fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
12.5 Tournaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
12.5.1 Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
12.6 2-Satisfiability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Contents xiii

12.7 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

13 Graph Colorings 271

13.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
13.1.1 Intersecting lines in the plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
13.2 Cliques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
13.3 Mycielski’s construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
13.4 Critical graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
13.5 Chromatic polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
13.6 Edge colorings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
13.7 Graph homomorphisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
13.8 NP-completeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
13.9 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

14 Planar Graphs 305

14.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
14.2 Jordan curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
14.3 Graph minors, subdivisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
14.4 Euler’s formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
14.5 Rotation systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
14.6 Dual graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
14.7 Platonic solids, polyhedra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
14.8 Triangulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
14.9 The sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
14.10 Whitney’s theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
14.11 Medial digraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
14.12 The 4-color problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
14.13 Nowhere-zero flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
14.14 Straight-line drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
14.15 Coordinate averaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
14.16 Kuratowski’s theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
14.17 The Hopcroft-Tarjan algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
14.17.1 Bundles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
14.17.2 Switching bundles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
14.17.3 The general Hopcroft-Tarjan algorithm . . . . . . . . . 353
xiv Contents

14.18 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

15 Graphs and Surfaces 359

15.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
15.2 Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
15.2.1 Handles and crosscaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
15.2.2 The Euler characteristic and genus of a surface . . . . 368
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
15.3 Isometries of surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
15.4 Graph embeddings, obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
15.5 Graphs on the torus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
15.5.1 Platonic maps on the torus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
15.5.2 Drawing torus maps, triangulations . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
15.6 Coordinate averaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
15.7 Graphs on the projective plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
15.7.1 The facewidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
15.7.2 Double covers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
15.8 Embedding algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
15.9 Heawood’s map coloring theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
15.10 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

16 The Klein Bottle and the Double Torus 425

16.1 The Klein bottle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
16.1.1 Rotation systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
16.1.2 The double cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
16.2 The double torus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
16.2.1 Isometries of the hyperbolic plane . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
16.2.2 The double torus as an octagon . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
16.3 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

17 Linear Programming 451

17.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
17.1.1 A simple example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
17.1.2 Simple graphical example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
17.1.3 Slack and surplus variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
17.2 The simplex algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
Contents xv

17.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

17.2.2 Some notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
17.2.3 Phase 0: finding a basis solution . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
17.2.4 Obtaining a basis feasible solution . . . . . . . . . . . 460
17.2.5 The tableau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
17.2.6 Phase 2: improving a basis feasible solution . . . . . . 462
17.2.7 Unbounded solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
17.2.8 Conditions for optimality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
17.2.9 Phase 1: initial basis feasible solution . . . . . . . . . 469
17.2.10 An example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
17.3 Cycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
17.4 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

18 The Primal-Dual Algorithm 479

18.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
18.2 Alternate form of the primal and its dual . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
18.3 Geometric interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
18.3.1 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
18.4 Complementary slackness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
18.5 The dual of the shortest-path problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
18.6 The primal-dual algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
18.6.1 Initial feasible solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
18.6.2 The shortest-path problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
18.6.3 Maximum flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
18.7 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506

19 Discrete Linear Programming 507

19.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
19.2 Backtracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
19.3 Branch and bound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
19.4 Totally unimodular matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
19.5 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Bibliography 527

Index 539
Preface

Our objective in writing this book is to present the theory of graphs from an al-
gorithmic viewpoint. We present the graph theory in a rigorous, but informal style
and cover most of the main areas of graph theory. The ideas of surface topology are
presented from an intuitive point of view. We have also included a discussion on lin-
ear programming that emphasizes problems in graph theory. The text is suitable for
students in computer science or mathematics programs.
Graph theory is a rich source of problems and techniques for programming and
data structure development, as well as for the theory of computing, including NP-
completeness and polynomial reduction.
This book could be used a textbook for a third or fourth year course on graph
algorithms which contains a programming content, or for a more advanced course
at the fourth year or graduate level. It could be used in a course in which the pro-
gramming language is any major programming language (e.g., C, C++, Java). The
algorithms are presented in a generic style and are not dependent on any particular
programming language.
The text could also be used for a sequence of courses like “Graph Algorithms I”
and “Graph Algorithms II”. The courses offered would depend on the selection of
chapters included. A typical course will begin with Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5. At this
point, a number of options are available.
A possible first course would consist of Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13,
and 14, and a first course stressing optimization would consist of Chapters 1, 2, 3,
5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, and 19. Experience indicates that the students consider these
substantial courses. One or two chapters could be omitted for a lighter course.
We would like to thank the many people who provided encouragement while
we wrote this book, pointed out typos and errors, and gave useful suggestions. In
particular, we would like to convey our thanks to Ben Li and John van Rees of the
University of Manitoba for proofreading some chapters.

William Kocay
Donald L. Kreher
August, 2004

xvii
xviii Graphs, Algorithms, and Optimization

Preface to the second edition

The second edition of Graphs, Algorithms, and Optimization contains three com-
pletely new chapters. New material has also been added to previously existing chap-
ters. There is a new chapter on subgraph counting containing identities connecting
various kinds of subgraphs in a graph. The graph reconstruction problem is intro-
duced in this chapter. There is a chapter on graphs and symmetries, where the relation
of permutation groups to graphs is considered. This chapter contains the basic theory
of permutation groups. In particular, groups are used to construct symmetric graphs,
and to understand self-complementary graphs and graphs with pseudo-similar ver-
tices. A chapter on graph embeddings on the Klein bottle and double torus has also
been added.
Some of the new material added to previously existing chapters is :
• A proof of the Erdös-Gallai theorem has been included;
• Sections on isometries of surfaces have been added, according to their applica-
tion to graph embeddings in the plane and torus;
• The treatment of the double cover of graphs on the projective plane has been
expanded;
• Automorphism groups of graph embeddings have been included;
• The proof of the NP-completeness of 3-coloring a graph has been corrected;
• The algorithm using Vizing’s technique for edge-coloring a graph has been im-
proved;
• A section on modules in graphs and digraphs has been added;
• Edmonds’ matching algorithm using blossoms now has a section;
• Nowhere-zero flows are introduced;
• The use of coordinate averaging to produce nice drawings of graphs on surfaces
is introduced;
• The basics of graph homomorphisms are now presented.
Also all the diagrams in the text have been redrawn and enhanced. We convey our
thanks and gratitude to Andrei Gagarin for his help in the proof-reading of this second
edition.

William Kocay
Donald L. Kreher
August, 2016
Preface xix

William Kocay obtained his Ph.D. in Combinatorics and Optimization from the
University of Waterloo in 1979. He is currently a member of the Computer Sci-
ence Department, and an adjunct member of the Mathematics Department, at the
University of Manitoba, and a member of St. Paul’s College, a college affiliated
with the University of Manitoba. He has published numerous research papers,
mostly in graph theory and algorithms for graphs. He was managing editor of the
mathematics journal Ars Combinatoria from 1988 to 1997. He is currently on
the editorial board of that journal. He has had extensive experience developing
software for graph theory and related mathematical structures.
Donald L. Kreher obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska in 1984.
He has held academic positions at Rochester Institute of Technology and the
University of Wyoming. He is currently a University Professor of Mathematical
Sciences at Michigan Technological University, where he teaches and conducts
research in combinatorics and combinatorial algorithms. He has published nu-
merous research papers and is a co-author of the internationally acclaimed text
“Combinatorial Algorithms: Generation Enumeration and Search”, CRC Press,
1999. He serves on the editorial boards of two journals.

Professor Kreher is the sole recipient of the 1995 Marshall Hall Medal, awarded
by the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications.
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1
Graphs and Their Complements

1.1 Introduction
The diagram in Figure 1.1 illustrates a graph. It is called the graph of the cube. The
edges of the geometric cube correspond to the line segments connecting the nodes in
the graph, and the nodes correspond to the corners of the cube where the edges meet.
They are the vertices of the cube.

2 6
3 7

0 4
1 5

FIGURE 1.1
The graph of a cube

This diagram is drawn so as to resemble a cube, but if we were to rearrange it,

as in Figure 1.2, it would still be the graph of the cube, although it would no longer
look like a cube. Thus, a graph is a graphical representation of a relation in which
edges connect pairs of vertices.

5 7
1 3

0 2
4 6

FIGURE 1.2
The graph of the cube

1
2 Graphs, Algorithms, and Optimization

DEFINITION 1.1: A simple graph G consists of a vertex set V (G) and an edge
set E(G), where each edge is a pair {u, v} of vertices u, v ∈ V (G).



We denote the set of all pairs of a set V by V2 . Then E(G) ⊆ V (G) 2 . In the
example of the cube, V (G) = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, and E(G) = {01, 13, 23, 02, 45,
57, 67, 46, 15, 37, 26, 04}, where we have used the shorthand notation uv to stand
for the pair {u, v}. If u, v ∈ V (G), then u −→ v means that u is joined to v by
an edge. We say that u and v are adjacent. We use this notation to remind us of the
linked list data structure that we will use to store a graph in the computer. Similarly,
u 6−→ v means that u is not joined to v. We can also express these relations by
writing uv ∈ E(G) or uv 6∈ E(G), respectively. Note that in a simple graph if
u −→ v, then v −→ u. If u is adjacent to each of u1 , u2 , . . . , uk , then we write
u −→ {u1 , u2 , . . . , uk }.
These graphs are called simple graphs because each pair u, v of vertices is joined
by at most one edge. Sometimes we need to allow several edges to join the same pair
of vertices. Such a graph is also called a multigraph. An edge can then no longer be
defined as a pair of vertices, (or the multiple edges would not be distinct), but to each
edge there still corresponds a pair {u, v}. We can express this formally by saying that
a graph G consists of a vertex set V (G), an edge set E(G), and a correspondence


ψ : E(G) → V (G) 2 . Given an edge e ∈ E(G), ψ(e) is a pair {u, v} which are
the endpoints of e. Different edges can then have the same endpoints. We shall use
simple graphs most of the time, which is why we prefer the simpler definition, but
many of the theorems and techniques will apply to multigraphs as well.
This definition can be further extended to graphs with loops as well. A loop is an
edge in which both endpoints are equal. We can include
this in the general definition
of a graph by making the mapping ψ : E(G) → V (G) 2 ∪ V (G). An edge e ∈ E(G)
for which ψ(e) = u ∈ V (G) defines a loop. Figure 1.3(a) shows a graph with
multiple edges and loops. However, we shall use simple graphs most of the time, so
that an edge will be considered to be a pair of vertices.

(a) (b)

FIGURE 1.3
A multigraph (a) and a digraph (b)
Graphs and Their Complements 3

A directed graph or digraph has edges which are ordered pairs (u, v) rather than
unordered pairs {u, v}. In this case an edge is also called an arc. The direction of an
edge is indicated by an arrow in diagrams, as in Figure 1.3(b).
The number of vertices of a graph G is denoted |G|. It is called the order of G.


The number of edges is ε(G). If G is simple, then obviously ε(G) ≤ |G| 2 , because


E(G) ⊆ V (G) 2 . We shall often use node or point as synonyms for vertex.
Many graphs have
special names. The complete graph Kn is a simple graph with
|Kn | = n and ε = n2 . The empty graph K n is a graph with |K n | = n and ε = 0.
K n is the complement of Kn .

FIGURE 1.4
The complete graph K5

DEFINITION 1.2: Let G be a simple

graph. The complement of G is G, where
V (G) = V (G) and E(G) = V (G)
2 \ E(G).
E(G) consists of all those pairs uv which are not edges of G. Thus, uv ∈ E(G)
if and only if uv 6∈ E(G). Figure 1.5 shows a graph and its complement.

1 2 1 2

G= G=

4 3 4 3

FIGURE 1.5
A graph and its complement

Figure 1.6 shows another graph and its complement. Notice that in this case,
when G is redrawn, it looks identical to G.
In a certain sense, this G and G are the same graph. They are not equal, because
E(G) 6= E(G), but it is clear that they have the same structure. If two graphs have
the same structure, then they can only differ in the names of the vertices. Therefore,
we can rename the vertices of one to make it exactly equal to the other graph. In the
4 Graphs, Algorithms, and Optimization

1 1 1

5 2 5 2 4 3
−→

4 3 4 3 2 5
G G G

FIGURE 1.6
Another graph and its complement

Figure 1.6 example, we can rename the vertices of G by the mapping θ given by

k: 1 2 3 4 5
,
θ(k) : 1 3 5 2 4

then θ(G) would equal G. This kind of equivalence of graphs is known as isomor-
phism. Observe that a one-to-one mapping θ of the vertices of a graph G can be
extended to a mapping of the edges of G by defining θ({u, v}) = {θ(u), θ(v)}.
DEFINITION 1.3: Let G and H be simple graphs. G and H are isomorphic if
there is a one-to-one correspondence θ : V (G) → V (H) such that θ(E(G)) =
E(H), where θ(E(G)) = {θ(uv) : uv ∈ E(G)}.
We write G ∼ = H to denote isomorphism. If G ∼ = H, then uv ∈ E(G) if and
only if θ(uv) ∈ E(H). One way to determine whether G ∼ = H is to try and redraw
G so as to make it look identical to H. We can then read off the mapping θ from the
diagram. However, this is limited to small graphs. For example, the two graphs G and
H shown in Figure 1.7 are isomorphic, because the drawing of G can be transformed
into H by first moving vertex 2 to the bottom of the diagram, and then moving vertex
5 to the top. Comparing the two diagrams then gives the mapping

k: 1 2 3 4 5 6
θ(k) : 6 4 2 5 1 3

as an isomorphism.
It is usually more difficult to determine when two graphs G and H are not iso-
morphic than to find an isomorphism when they are isomorphic. One way is to find
a portion of G that cannot be part of H. For example, the graph H of Figure 1.7 is
not isomorphic to the graph of the prism, which is illustrated in Figure 1.8, because
the prism contains a triangle, whereas H has no triangle. A subgraph of a graph G is
a graph K such that V (K) ⊆ V (G) and E(K) ⊆ E(G). If θ : G → H is a possible
isomorphism, then θ(K) will be a subgraph of H which is isomorphic to K.
A subgraph K is an induced subgraph if for every u, v ∈ V (K) ⊆ V (G), uv ∈
E(K) if and only if uv ∈ E(G). That is, we choose a subset U ⊆ V (G) and all
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read, and the others working, but all casting anxious looks towards
the door.
By and bye comes laughter and voices and ringing footsteps up the
stair, but only Charteris enters the drawing-room; for Harry and his
other friends are climbing further up to the turret, where he has fitted
up a little “den,” as Gilbert Allenders calls it, for himself. And their
good friend, Mr. Charteris, looks very grave; they think Harry has
lowered himself in Cuthbert’s eyes—they think this seriousness is
the painful regret with which a strong man sees a weak one sink
under temptation; and their hearts flutter within them with restless
anxiety, and they listen to Harry’s laugh in the distance till its echo
makes them sick. While, all the time, Cuthbert is too much interested
not to notice how uneasily the young wife moves upon her chair, and
the abstraction from which Martha starts with a dismal resolution to
be gay again. Poor Harry! But Cuthbert stands behind the chair of
Rose, and feels that he is consoling her—feels that he is occupying
with his presence something of the space which, without him, might
have been wholly given to anxiety and fear.
The children are already out under the windows, playing on the
lawn; and, at Cuthbert’s suggestion, Rose and Martha accompany
him to the mall on the river-side. He tells them how he admired this
when he came first with Harry to see Allenders, and that he often
fancies how they must enjoy this verdant cloister when he is shut up
in his office at Edinburgh. The sun slants in through the great oak
which rounds the end of the mall, and just touches here and there a
heavy alder leaf, and lights up one little branch upon a stately elm,
with tender golden rays, cool and dewy; and there is wind enough to
disturb the long willow branches and ruffle the fleecy lining of their
leaves. A narrow strip of path, sandy and yellow, breaks the soft
green turf which slopes down to the water on one side, and on the
other, rich with flower-beds, stretches up in a slight incline to the
walls of Allenders; and Cuthbert, with Martha on his arm, walks
slowly, silently, looking after the white figure which has strayed a step
or two before. Slightly turning towards them, with a shy, half-
conscious look backwards, Rose says something to Martha about
the wild flowers in the grass; and Rose guesses, with a tremor, that
Cuthbert has had visions of herself under the shadow of these trees,
and feels that his eye just now is dwelling upon her, and that he is
saying words to her in his heart. But the charmed silence lasts, and
even Martha, looking on, has not the heart to break its spell.
But look up yonder at the turret. With the sun glancing in his hair,
Harry stands in the little battlemented gallery, and holds up a glass of
sparkling wine, and bows and smiles, and drinks to them.
Immediately both the sisters look at Cuthbert; and Cuthbert, with a
gaiety he does not feel, takes off his hat, and returns the salutation
with playful stateliness. His gesture cheers them, and they become
again quite tremulously glad, when he calls to Harry to come down,
and Harry nods in assent, and disappears upon the turret stair. It is
true that the momentary smile flits away from Cuthbert’s face, and he
becomes very serious. But they are looking for Harry—they do not
see the deep regret and gravity which clouds the brow of his friend,
who, within himself, says “Poor Harry!” with a heavy sigh.
And Harry is now more excited than ever, and they are constantly
calming and soothing him to keep him within bounds—trying to be
gay themselves that his unreal gaiety may be less marked—and
carefully avoiding everything which could possibly irritate his
feelings. Poor Harry! some wistful eye is always following him, some
solicitous voice constantly interposing to bring down to the ordinary
quietness and moderation his unconscious extravagance—eyes
which are afraid to meet—afraid to confide to each other, even by a
glance, this new pain which Harry has brought upon them; for
hitherto they have seen principally the remorse which followed his
fall, and never before have beheld others conscious, of what so
greatly humiliated themselves. Now the sneer and patronizing
forbearance of Gilbert Allenders, who has too cool a head to be
moved as Harry is, chafes Martha beyond endurance, and excites
the gentle little Agnes to such a pitch of anger, that her hand
clenches involuntarily, and she could almost strike him in a burst of
weeping petulance. But the long, long painful hours pass away, and
at last it is night.
“It is nothing—it is nothing. Nobody thinks anything of this but us.
We are always so anxious!” sobs Agnes, as she wakes in the middle
of the night, and weeps; but Martha, who does not need to wake—
who has never slept—suffers her heart to say nothing, but only
prays, and tries to forget—tries to think of anything rather than Harry;
and cannot weep, if she should try for ever.
 CHAPTER XIV.

And gentle hands the breakfast-rite begin,

Then the bright kettle sings its matin song.
Then fragrant clouds of Mocha and Souchong
Blend as they rise.

rogers.
“Who is that out there, leading the horse?” asked Agnes, with some
anxiety.
The snowy linen and bright silver and china of the breakfast-table
sparkle in the sunshine. At a corner, Violet and Katie sit before a
covered tray, hastily taking their porridge; for the breakfast is much
later than usual this morning, and the children are in great haste, lest
they should be too late for school. Rose is working at the corner
window—the new window, where the white rose bush nods up to her,
and lays a snowy fragrant present of buds upon the window-ledge;
but Martha stands silently, as she stood last morning, to watch Harry
go away, and again pulls with unconscious fingers the jasmine
flowers.
“Who is that?” repeated Agnes.
It is only a groom leading up and down, on the broad gravel walk at
the other side of the lawn, a fine horse, stately and impatient, which
scorns its limited space, and paws the gravel disdainfully, and arches
its proud neck to the infinite admiration of the Dragon and John, who
stand by the holly hedge as spectators. Katie and Violet, attracted by
the repetition of Agnes’s question, rush from the window to the door
to ascertain; and after a brief conversation with Dragon, Violet
returns, breathless, with the information, that it is a new riding-horse,
sent out this morning from Stirling, where Harry bought it yesterday;
but that Dragon says it is too wild a horse for any but a bold rider,
and that it is sure to throw Mr. Hairy.
“Tell Dragon he’s an old fool, and that he had better think what he
says,” said Harry himself, who suddenly made his appearance as
Violet spoke; “and you, Lettie, mind your own business, and don’t be
so officious in reporting what everybody tells you. Why don’t you get
these children off to school, Agnes? Yes, it’s my horse. I hope no
one has any objection.”
Poor Harry! in this morning light, his own conscience has weighty
objections, and upbraids him with folly and extravagance. But Harry
feels miserable, and is not well—angry with himself, and defiant of all
around him—and he feels himself bound in honour to defend his
horse.
But no one attacks it; poor little Agnes is only anxious and
deprecatory, eager to smile away his impatience, and cheer the
depression which she very well knows is sure to follow; while Martha
still stands at the open window, without ever turning her head, and
vacantly draws the long, pliant branch of jasmine through her fingers,
and says not a word.
“They are just going away,” said Agnes, hastily tying on the bonnet
which Lettie had brought in her hand; “they have just breakfasted,
you see, Harry. We are rather late this morning; and Mr. Charteris is
not down stairs yet.”
Harry left the room immediately, and went out. The arrival of this
horse did him good—dispersing the clouds of his depression, and its
consequent ill-humour—and before he returned to the breakfast-
room, Harry had consoled his conscience by a resolution to begin
immediately his agricultural labours, and to spend no more of Miss
Jean’s money, except lawfully, on the object for which he borrowed it.
When he re-entered the room Cuthbert was there, and Harry had to
smooth his brow and welcome his guest. Agnes still half trembling,
and growing talkative in her anxiety to restore ease to the
conversation, found herself, to her great delight and astonishment,
seconded by Martha, as they took their places round the table. And
the still composure of Martha’s manner did more for this end, than
the tremulous eagerness of the little wife. They regained the every-
day tone, the every-day level of quietness and repose; and Agnes
began to flatter herself that nothing unusual had happened last night
after all, and Harry to think that his conscience blamed him unjustly;
only the sickness in Martha’s heart lay still, uneased, and
undisturbed. She was done with struggling—now she had only to
wait for what it pleased God to reveal.
Charteris was to stay a week, and numerous excursions were
discussed at the breakfast-table. It was a relief to them all, to have
these things to speak about; but Cuthbert exerted himself to-day to
gain the confidence of Harry, and did in some degree gain it. They
spoke together of the projected improvements; and though Harry
said with a little braggadocio that it was “an old rich aunt” who had
given him the necessary capital, he was tolerably frank about his
intentions, and very glad to receive introductions to some agricultural
authorities whom Cuthbert knew. They walked together over the farm
which the tenant was to leave at Martinmas, and together
commented on the lean and scanty crops, which sparely covered the
half-cultured soil. It was a fresh, showery day, enlivened by a light
breeze, which brought down the chiller breath of the hills over the
green lowland country; and as this wind waved about his hair, and
blew the sparkling rain against his cheeks, Harry struggled under the
uneasy burden on his heart, and tried to throw it off, and let it vex
him no more. “Forgetting the things that are behind,” he muttered to
himself, as they paused on a little eminence, and saw the sun touch
into brilliant light a thousand rain-drops among the waving corn, and
on the roadside trees—for still a heavy consciousness gnawed at his
heart, and compelled him to try some bargain with it for rest—and
Harry gladly turned to look away from the past, into the broad life
which lay before him, as bright as this sunny strath, though, like it,
dewed with tears; and in the future his sanguine eyes again saw
nothing but hope.
“Forgetting the things that are behind!” Alas, poor Harry! for it was
only too easy to forget.
 But there followed a few days of cheerful activity, the very first of
which dissipated into thin air the last remnant of Harry’s remorseful
consciousness—for Cuthbert and he rode together to call on some of
the agricultural authorities before mentioned, and take counsel with
them—not always sweet—concerning all the processes of the
warfare which should subjugate this stubborn soil; and Harry
advertised in the local newspapers for a manager to take charge of
his farming operations, and heard of one before his advertisement
was printed, so suitable, as it seemed, in every respect, that Harry,
fearing he might not wait till Martinmas, engaged him out of hand in
July, that no one else might seize on such a treasure.
Not only so—but Harry, whose pride had been greatly hurt by
Dragon’s implied opinion that he was a timid rider, subdued his
horse, at no small cost to his own nerves, and rode a dozen miles to
a cattle-show, partly in self-assertion, partly to acquire some
knowledge of “the beasts,” which his agricultural instructors
discoursed of so learnedly; but Harry was not the man to study
beasts, and his long ride exhausted him, though it was a triumph. He
had settled matters, however, with his conscience which now, rather
applauded than condemned—and Harry was content.
Poor Harry! but when Cuthbert’s week was out, he said those
words with eyes that glistened, and a yearning heart; for Harry was
born to be loved, and amid all his faults, and all the unconscious
selfishness of his indulgences, he never lost this natural portion.
And Cuthbert, leaving behind him a bright, cheerful, hopeful
household, as ready to be exhilarated as depressed, had said
nothing to Rose—for he himself had little yet to share with any one,
and he was afraid to risk his affectionate interest with the family as
friend and counsellor, even for the chance of attaining the nearer and
still more affectionate connexion for which he hoped. And Cuthbert,
in his tenderness of protection and succour, exaggerated the
difference between his age and hers; he only thought himself likely
to succeed at all, by the gentle and gradual process of wooing, which
might accustom and attach her to him before she was aware. So he
went away quietly, leaving, it is true, many tokens which spoke to
Rose a strange, unusual language, showing her how much space
she occupied in the heart and thoughts of this man, who, of all men
she had ever seen, held the highest place. And Rose trembled and
smiled with indefinite delight as words and looks came to her
remembrance—looks and words which Cuthbert had feared would
alarm and startle her, but which even his self-command could not
restrain. There is a charm in this guessed and implied affection
which perhaps no certainty has; and Rose, whose thoughts had not
yet taken shape or form, whose shy, womanly heart shrank even
from believing itself beloved, and who would have denied the belief
strenuously, had she asked herself the question in so many words—
Rose suffered a bright mist of reverie to float about her, and was
thrilled now and then with apprehensions and revelations, starting
out half-distinct for a moment, and anon disappearing into the sunny
maze. It was an idle mood, and sent her straying along the river-
side, and seated her for hours together under the oak, with vague
smiles and blushes flitting over her face, and many a dream in her
heart; but yet her needle flew swiftly too under this mist, and she
could be very well content with silence, for the long indefinite
musings of her romance were sweet to Rose.
 CHAPTER XV.
A good old man, Sir; he will be talking; as they say, when
the age is in, the wit is out.—much ado about nothing.
“And, Dragon, you mind you promised the very first day—but you
never told us yet the story of the Lady’s Well.”
“Have you ever been to see it, bairns?” asked the old man.
The children were seated on the outside stair, which led to Dragon’s
room. Violet, at least, sat on the upper step, with a book on her lap,
and a total disappearance of feet, which suggested a suspicion that
Lettie patronised the Turkish manner of seating herself rather than
the English. Katie, who had a larger share of boldness than her
friend, was jumping from the stair to the ground, mounting a step
higher for every leap, while Dragon stood on the threshold of his own
door, dangling his thin long arms, and talking to them with his usual
animation. It was not yet the hour “when the kye come hame,” and
the two little girls, who constantly attended Mysie during the process
of milking, were waiting for her appearance; besides that, they very
generally chose to learn their lessons on Dragon’s steps, having a
facility of interruption here, which they could attain to in no other
place.
“Eh, no—we’ve never been there!” cried Katie; “and Mysie’s no
away yet to bring the cow. We’ve plenty time. Will you come,
Dragon, and let us see it now?”
“I’m no heeding—if you’re sure you would like to gang,” said the old
man. “But then, how am I to ken that you’ve got a’ your lessons bye,
and that it’s lawful to take ye? for, you see, bairns that dinna attend
to their learning, have nae claim to diversion; and, Missie, you’re no
dune wi’ your book yet.”
“But it’s just grammar, Dragon,” said Lettie, disconsolately; “and it’s
no use trying to learn it till I’m to say it, for I aye forget till it’s just the
time. Eh, Katie, you couldna jump off here.”
“Ye’re nane o’ ye gaun to jump and break banes at my door. I’ll no
hae mysel brocht in for a doctor’s bill, like the way the auld maister
brocht in Eppie for the muckle bowl she broke,” said Dragon. “Gang
quiet down the steps, bairns, or I’ll no let you come here ony mair.
And now, you see, we’ll take this road, and we’ll sune be at the
Lady’s Well.”
The road was a solitary lane, looking deep and cool under the
shadow of high thorn hedges, through which the delicate white
convolvulus had darned its fairy leaves and tendrils. Here and there
in the hedge-row, an old low oak, long shorn of all its branches,
stood alone like some strong ruin, with a growth of pliant twigs, and
young foliage waving over the bald trunk as they might have waved
over a moss-grown wall. The ruddy clouds of the sunset were rapidly
fading from the west, and already a meek young moon glanced shyly
over the head of Demeyet; but it was still full daylight, and the
children skipped along gaily by Dragon’s side, keeping an eye on the
field, whence Mailie, the brown cow, began to low her impatient
summons to her maid; but the maid did not make her appearance,
and Violet and Katie went merrily on to the Lady’s Well.
The Lady’s Well lay under the shadow of an immense old saugh
tree, whose whispering, sighing branches were continually bending
down with a kind of graceful melancholy curiosity over the clear
spring at its feet. A very narrow strip of path proved that there still
came occasional visitors to the little fountain; but the underwood was
thick and tangled round it, and the long bramble branches, on which
already early berries began to ripen, formed a dangerous network of
defence, closing up even the one entrance, which gave admittance
to the small circle of green turf surrounding the spring. But there
were signs remaining which told of a time when greater honour was
paid to the Lady’s Well; for the water bubbled up into a marble basin,
and a small carved canopy protected it from the falling leaves. The
little girls scrambled through the brambles with eager interest, and
Katie bent curiously over the protecting cradle, while Violet sat down
upon a great stone, which lay beside the basin—a hewn stone,
slightly hollowed out in the centre, as if it had been used as a seat
for ages. The stillness of the place, shut in on every side by the
surrounding wood, and the silvery tinkle with which the water
escaped from the hollowed edge of the basin, and passed away in a
slender thread over the bleached pebbles of its narrow channel—
away under the thick concealing brushwood, disappearing as
completely as though the earth had swallowed it again—affected
Lettie with strange awe; and so it was not her, but her little
companion, who broke the dreamy silence by demanding from
Dragon the story he had promised.
“Ye see, bairns,” said Dragon, seating himself on the slender trunk
of a young willow, cut down and left there for dead, but which was
already throwing out its unquenchable life in long shoots of delicate
green, “there was ance a Laird of Allenders, and he had ae only
daughter, and her name was Violet. But they never ca’d her Lettie,
as they do you, Missie—aye, the full name, like as if she had been a
flower; and as bonnie as a flower she was, by a’ accounts, and made
ballants and sangs out of her ain head. But, bairns, ye’ll be getting
your death of cauld in this dowie place, and then the blame’s sure to
come on me.”
“But the lady, Dragon—the lady,” exclaimed Violet, whose interest
had been greatly quickened by the lady’s name.
“Weel, as I was saying, there was not anither woman body about
the house but hersel, and some servant women—neither mother, nor
sister, nor friend; and the auld laird living solitary, and the young ane
away in Flanders at the wars; so Leddy Violet ga’ed wandering about
the water and the hills, her lane, and had an awfu’ wark wi’ this bit
spring, and caused bring the very stane you’re sitting on, Missie,” (a
thrill of strange interest passed over Lettie), “and came ilka day
hersel, and drank the water in a silver cup, and sat upon the seat,
with her ain thoughts for company, till the spirits that were in the
world then, began to take note of her, and tell ane anither of the Lady
at the Well. Some say she began to get wit of them hersel, and saw
them watching her out of the trees; but ye maunna believe that,
bairns, for it has nae foundation—no a hair of proof, to satisfy ony
man that inquired into it.”
 “But there came a braw gentleman to the countryside that had a
grand castle some way in the Lennox, and great friends among the
Highland chiefs; and ae day, when he was gaun wandering by the
links of Forth, he heard music in the air, and ga’ed on and on,
following after it, till it led him by the very road we came this nicht,
and brought him to where Leddy Violet was sitting by the well. And
what should this be but a sma’ fairy, that had a lad hersel, nae doubt,
and likit Leddy Violet, and didna ken what grand company guid
thoughts were, but aye lamented ower the bonnie leddy, her lane
and solitary in the wood. Ane canna tell now what kind of spirits thae
fairies were, but nae doubt they had discrimination; for it even turned
out sae, that the leddy hersel likit the braw lad’s company better than
her ain thoughts.”
“Eh, Dragon, are you sure there’s nae fairies now?” asked Katie
Calder.
“He’ll tell us the morn. I want to hear about the Lady, Dragon?” said
the eager Violet.
“I never saw ony,” said the old man, mysteriously, “whiles I’ve heard
folk say—but I’ll no tell you that, or you’ll be feared.”
“What is it, Dragon?” exclaimed both the children in a breath.
“They say in moonlight nights, the fairies have a feast here, and get
their wine out of the well; and that there’s aye some about in the
gloaming spreading the tables; but they’ll no meddle wi’ ye, if you’re
guid bairns.”
Violet shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked intently under the
brushwood, to one spot of bright reflected light upon the water. She
did not speak, but with a shiver of fascination and awe watched the
slender current steal away under the leaves, and devoutly believed
that she had seen the golden vessels of the fairy feast; but even this
did not make her forget the story, and again she repeated, “The lady,
Dragon, the lady.”
“Weel, bairns, ye see it was the spring season then,” resumed
Dragon, “and there was a lang summer time to come—bonnie days
—we never have the like of them now—when Leddy Violet was
constant at the Well. And the lad—they ca’ed him Sir Harry—came
and went, and lay on the grass at her feet, and courted her, and
sang to her, and made his reverence, till she learned to think, poor
lassie, that there wasna a man like him in a’ the world. So he got
acquaint at her father’s house, and courted the auld laird for her, and
was about Allenders night and day; and at last it came to pass that
they were to be married.
“Now, ye see, having mair to do now, when she was soon to be a
married wife, she never got out to her auld wanderings, but sat with
her maids, and saw them make gowns of silk and satin for the grand
bridal; and this very same sma’ fairy that first brought the gentleman
to see her, had cast out with her ain lad by this time, and was in a
sorrowful humour, and could not keep her hand from aye meddling
with the leddy’s concerns. So what did she do, for an imp of mischief
as she maun hae been, but flee away to Sir Harry’s ain land, and
gather I kenna how mony stories of him; for he had been but a wild
lad in his young days, and was nae better than he should be even
then. And I canna tell ye, bairns, what art magic it was dune by, but
this I ken, that it a’ came to Leddy Violet’s ain ears—every word o’t.
Now ye maun mind, that for her ain sel, she was like a saint; no a
wee new-born bairn, nor ane of the like of you, mair innocent than
her, though she was a woman grown. And nae suner had she heard
this, than her maid that was wi’ her, was aware of a sound like the
snapping o’ a string. Na, missie, ye couldna guess what that was—it
was a sairer thing than you ever heard tell o’ a’ your days—it was
Leddy Violet’s heart.”
Violet had fixed her dilating melancholy eyes, in which the tears
were fast swelling, upon the old man’s face, and sat leaning her
head upon her hands, bent forward with the deepest attention; while
Katie, arrested suddenly in the very act of balancing herself upon the
little canopy, turned a look of eager interest upon him, till released by
this conclusion she slipped down, and placed herself very quietly on
the fallen tree by his side. In his monotonous, half-chaunting voice,
the old man proceeded.
“The wedding was put off, and naebody kent what for, for Leddy
Violet had a wise heart, and wouldna send him away till she was
sure. But there came a gray-bearded man to the gate in the night,
and asked to see her—what he said nae man kent; but when the
morning broke, Leddy Violet was sitting at her ain window, gripping
her hands fast, with a face as wan as the dead, and the bonnie gold
hair upon her head a’ covered wi’ flakes of white, like snaw. But she
rose up and cried upon her serving-woman, and put on her wedding
gown. It was a’ white and glistening—the auld brocade that you read
about in books, wrought with flowers, and grander than you ever
saw. And then she put her bride’s veil on her head, and went away
with a slow, stately step out of Allenders. The serving-woman in fear
and trembling creepit away after her, hiding under the hedges along
the whole road, and she mindit often that the leddy didna meet a
single living person a’ the way—for she came straight here to the
Lady’s Well.”
With a shiver of excitement and wonder the children looked round
them, and drew closer to Dragon; but the old man went steadily on.
“It was just half-licht, and the woman could see naething but the
leddy, with her grand glistening gown and her veil about her head,
gaun stately alang the quiet road. When she came to the Well, she
sat down upon the stane, and crossed her hands upon her breast,
and droopit her head; but there came a noise of folk upon the road at
that moment, and Leddy Violet’s woman ran to see what it was. She
looked east, and she looked west, but there wasna so much as a
shadow on the haill way; and then she was scared and feared, and
ran without a stop till she wan hame.
But never mortal man saw Leddy Violet mair.”
“Eh, Dragon! where did she go?” cried Katie Calder under her
breath; but Violet only cast timid looks round her, and almost thought
she could perceive, in the half-light of this other gloaming,
glimmerings of the white garments through the close foliage of the
trees.
“I tell ye, Missie, nae mortal on this earth kens that,” said the
Dragon of Allenders; “but, bairns, ye’ll be getting cauld—and I’ll tell
ye the rest at hame.”
 “Oh, Dragon, tell us the rest,” pleaded Violet; but she looked behind
her and before, and almost believed she felt the cold hand of the
weird-lady laid upon her shoulder.
“They sought her up and down through the whole country, but the
wise and auld among them, kent full well that they would never get
her; and from that day to this, nae man has ever seen her, nor kens
if she is dead, and away to heaven, or if she’s living aye a charmed
life in the fairy-land. It’s my hope she’s in heaven this hundred years
—but ane can never tell.”
“And, Dragon, what about Sir Harry?” asked Katie Calder, timidly.
“Sir Hairy was like to gang distraught. He came here and sat upon
that stane, day after day for a whole year; and it was him caused
bring the stane bowl, and pit the carved wark ower the spring; and at
the end of the year he died.
That’s a’ the story, bairns; but, Missie, you that’s fond of ballants,
there’s ane the leddy made, and that her woman heard her rhyming
ower the day she ga’ed away. I have been trying to mind it a’ this
time. It used to have a tune in the country-side. I could ance sing it
grand mysel—and if you’ll be awfu’ quiet, I’ll try—

The night wind rose amang the hills,

But the glen was lown and gray,
When she drew her veil about her head
And went upon her way.
And she has gathered the green willow
To lay on the threshold stane,
And the yew and the rue in the chalmer of state,
That the house might be kent for desolate
When she was lost and gane.

Oh! father, kindly fare ye well,

Good may your last days be,
And God send your son were hame in peace,
Since ye’ll nae joy in me.
And though ye have made a desert, Harry,
 And griefs I mayna tell,
Where ance dwelt mony a pleasant thing,
Yet Harry, fare ye well!

But wae unto the man, Harry,

Within this house shall dwell,
And bears the name that breaks my heart,
Though I say fare ye well!
The night wind cries among the trees,
I ken what words they be,
And I maun hence to bruik your pain,
But wae to him that bears the name
Which is the dead of me.”

It was nearly dark now, and the cracked and quivering voice of age
rung strangely through the night. Violet felt the leaves rustle about
her, and shrank from the elfin touch of the long willow shoots which
thrust themselves into her hand, and cast furtive, timid glances
round, trembling lest she should see the stately white lady, with her
drooped head and her bridal veil, sitting under the trees. Katie was
bolder, and understood the ballad; but Lettie’s attention, constantly
drawn to some imaginary stir among the brushwood, or wandering
reflection on the water, and arrested by the singular ghostly effect of
the old man’s shrill voice and ashy face, failed to make anything of
the verse which ended his story. The water trickled away unseen
under the leaves—the saugh tree turned out its fleecy lining to the
night wind, which began to tremble among its branches—mystic
flutterings shook the long grass and limber brambles—and Lettie sat
on the stone seat where Lady Violet sat before her, and trembled to
her very heart. Little Katie Calder, poking about into the dark
mysterious underwood, felt only a little pleasant thrill of
apprehension, and was not afraid—for Katie could very well trust an
imagination which never had played pranks with her; but an awe of
the dark road home possessed Lettie. She was afraid to remain in
this weird corner, and afraid to go away.
 “Mailie’s milkit half an hour since,” said Dragon, getting up with his
usual activity, and shaking the long arms which Violet half suspected
were fastened on with wires, “and the haill house will be asteer
wondering what’s come of us. Bairns, we’ll get our licks if we stay
langer—and I’m wearying for my parritch mysel.”
But Lettie went along the dark lane, under the high hedge, which
might have concealed armies of fairies, and looked behind her with
furtive side-long looks, wistful and afraid. The road was very solitary
and quiet, but now and then a slow footstep advancing out of the
darkness made her heart leap; and even when they had reached
home, Lettie ran, with unnecessary haste, up the dim staircase, and
was glad when bed-time came, and she could lay down her head
and close her eyes. But after all, it was quite unsatisfactory to close
her eyes; and as the room was very dark, Lettie constantly opened
them to cast anxious glances into the corners, and listened with all
her might for the rustling of the lady’s silken gown; but Lady Violet
made no appearance to her little relative, except in dreams.
 CHAPTER XVI.

What strong hand can hold his swift foot back?

shakspeare.
The window is up in Martha’s room, and the sweet morning air
comes in upon you, with a fresh and pleasant abruptness, frank and
simple as the sudden laughter of a child. The stir of early day is upon
all the country without—birds twittering among the wet leaves, which
themselves glisten and tremble in the sun, shaking off the rain which
fell heavily through the night—and far-off footsteps and voices,
echoing over the fields, of rural people at their wholesome toil.
Beside the window, a work-basket stands upon a little table, and you
will wonder when you see it full of the embroidered muslin—the
delicate “opening” at which Martha and Rose were wont to labour. It
is an elaborate collar which Martha holds in her hand, and she is
working at it with silent speed, as she used to do. You would fancy,
to look at her now, that the family change of fortune had brought little
ease to her.
But upon a sofa, at a little distance, Rose, with a fresh morning
face, and pretty muslin gown, is spreading out Harry’s present—the
rich, grave-coloured silk, which has been made into a dress for
Martha. And Martha suffers herself to smile, and says it’s only fault is
that it is too good, and that the bairns will not know her when she
has it on. Katie Calder, at Rose’s side, draws out the folds
reverentially, and says, with awe, under her breath, that it is “awfu’
bonnie;” but Violet sits on the carpet at Martha’s feet, and thinks
about the lady at the well.
For this is a holiday, and the children have no dread of school or
lessons before their unembarrassed eyes. In the next room sits a
Stirling dressmaker, who has condescended to come out to
Allenders, to make up into gowns the glittering silks of Harry’s
present; and Katie has already spent an hour in the temporary work-
room, appearing now and then, to report the shape of a sleeve, or to
exhibit a specimen of some superlative “trimming.” It is quite a
jubilee to Katie.
But Violet, in an oriental attitude, like a small sultana, sits on the
carpet, and stoops both head and shoulders over the book on her
knee; which book, for lack of a better, happens to be a quaint essay
of Sir Thomas Browne’s. All the light literature contained in the old
Laird of Allenders’ book-shelves, has been devoured long ago, and
Violet concluded “Hydrotaphia” to be better than sermons—a
conclusion which she is now slightly inclined to doubt. But Lettie is a
little dreamy and meditative this morning, and is thinking of Dragon’s
story, and of Lady Violet’s ballad; wondering, too, with secret
excitement, whether she could make a ballad herself, and repeating
over and over again a single ecstatic verse about the moon, of her
own composition, which Violet thinks, with a thrill, sounds very like
poetry. When Martha stops to thread her needle, she lays her hand
caressingly upon Lettie’s head, and bids her sit erect, and not stoop
so much; and Lettie is almost encouraged to repeat this verse to her,
and hear whether Martha thinks it is like poetry—almost—but she
never is quite sufficiently bold.
The door opens with a little commotion, and Agnes, with care on
her brow, comes hurriedly in. The room has been so perfectly
peaceful that you feel at once the disturbing element, when the
young wife enters, for Agnes is excited, impatient, perturbed. She
has just been having a controversy with Harry, and comes here, half
crying, at its close.
“He says he’s going to Edinburgh to-day with Gilbert Allenders; I
hate Gilbert Allenders,” said the little wife, in a sudden burst. “He is
always leading Harry away. He is going to the races, and yet he says
he doesn’t care a straw for the races. Oh, will you speak to him,
Martha!”
“It is better not, Agnes: he will take his own way,” said Martha. “It is
best I should not interfere.”
 “He says we all heard Gilbert Allenders ask him, and that I knew
well enough he intended to go, and that you knew, Martha. I told
Harry I was sure you did not; and what pleasure will he have at the
races?”
“I wish Gilbert Allenders were in America, or in China—or in
London, if he likes it better,” said Rose quickly.
“That’s because he wants to fall in love with you,” said Agnes, with
a light laugh, diverted for the moment by the fervour of Rose’s good
wishes for the fascinating Gilbert; “but I am sure I would not care
where he was, if he was only away from Harry; and Harry does not
like him either. Rose, we’re to try to gather a big basket of
strawberries for Mrs. Charteris, and I think, maybe, Martha, if Harry
goes there, that he may get no skaith in Edinburgh.”
Rose came shyly to the table. “If it had only been a week sooner! or
if we had not pulled so many berries on Saturday!”
“We must take what we can get,” said Agnes; “and the basket is
standing below the walnut tree. Will you not say anything to Harry,
Martha?”
“I will see him before he goes away,” said Martha, laying down her
work.
And Violet sprang up and threw “Hydrotaphia” into the work-basket,
and called upon Katie Calder, who just then ran out of the work-room
with a little paper pattern in her hand, of a bonnet which she
designed manufacturing for a great doll, joint property of herself and
Lettie. Lettie, with her books and her reveries, gave but a very
inconstant regard to this doll; it was often thrown for a week together
upon the less capricious attention of Katie Calder.
Harry was standing by the dining-room window, with a sprig of
jasmine in his breast, looking slightly ruffled and impatient, but still
very bright and animated; and as Agnes passed him, carrying the
basket, he patted her shoulder playfully, and called her a good girl,
after all. Poor little Agnes! she was not sure whether it was best to
laugh or cry.