(eBook PDF) Alice 3 to Java: Learning Creative

Programming through Storytelling and Gaming pdf

download

https://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-alice-3-to-java-
learning-creative-programming-through-storytelling-and-gaming/

Download more ebook from https://ebooksecure.com

We believe these products will be a great fit for you. Click
the link to download now, or visit ebooksecure.com
to discover even more!

(eBook PDF) Documentary Storytelling: Creative

Nonfiction on Screen 4th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-documentary-
storytelling-creative-nonfiction-on-screen-4th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Creative Thinking and Arts-Based Learning:

Preschool Through Fourth Grade 7th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-creative-thinking-and-
arts-based-learning-preschool-through-fourth-grade-7th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Java: An Introduction to Problem Solving

and Programming 7th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-java-an-introduction-to-
problem-solving-and-programming-7th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Java: An Introduction to Problem Solving

and Programming 8th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-java-an-introduction-to-
problem-solving-and-programming-8th-edition/
(eBook PDF) Introduction to JAVA Programming and Data
Structures Comprehensive Version 11

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-introduction-to-java-
programming-and-data-structures-comprehensive-version-11/

Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive Version

10th edition- eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/introduction-to-java-
programming-comprehensive-version-ebook-pdf/

(eBook PDF) Introduction to Java Programming and Data

Structures, Comprehensive Version, 11th Global Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-introduction-to-java-
programming-and-data-structures-comprehensive-version-11th-
global-edition/

(eBook PDF) Introduction to Java Programming, Brief

Version, Global Edition 11th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-introduction-to-java-
programming-brief-version-global-edition-11th-edition/

Java Programming 9th Edition Joyce Farrell - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/java-programming-ebook-pdf/
Contents
Preface xvii

Prologue: Lawrence Prenderghast’s

Haunted Circus 1

Episode 1 • March 1, 1910: Larry 4

1 • Introduction 7

1.1 Program and Programming 8

1.2 A Problem-Solving Approach 8
1.3 A First Program Task 9
1.4 Analyze the Task 10
Summary 11
Terms 11
Concept Questions 11

2 • Design 13

2.1 Design Thinking 14

2.2 Set Design 15
2.3 Algorithm Development 18
2.4 Translate the Set Design into an Alice Scene 18
2.4.1 Add an object to the scene 21
2.4.2 Position an object using the cursor and one-shots 23
2.5 Saving a Project 26
2.6 Creating a Sense of Place 27
Summary 29
Terms 29
Concept Questions 29
Exercises 30
v
xii Contents

12.10 Player (User) Input 294

12.10.1 Get the input 294
12.10.2 Use the input 296
12.11 Check the Game State: End Conditions 297
12.12 Generalizing a Game Algorithm 299
Summary 300
Terms 300
Concept Questions 300
Exercises 301
Project 303

Episode 7 • March 1, 1910: Esther 305

13 • Built-in Arrays, Poses, More Events,

and Interactive Controls 311
13.1 Story Analysis for Demo 312
13.2 Design for Demo 312
13.2.1 Algorithm for demo 313
13.2.2 Demo starter world 313
13.3 Implement and Test the Demo 314
13.3.1 Built-in array of skeletal joints 315
13.3.2 Iteration with for each in 316
13.3.3 straightenOutJoints 319
13.3.4 Iteration with each in together 320
13.4 Story Analysis for an Interactive Game 321
13.4.1 Adapting for an interactive game 322
13.4.2 Game starter world 323
13.4.3 Pre-made custom procedures 324
13.5 High-Level Structure 325
13.6 Opening Cutscene 325
13.7 Animating with Poses 326
13.8 Play Game Decomposition 330
13.9 Implementation: Stairs Animation 332
13.9.1 Stair-twisting helper procedure 333
13.9.2 Using an infinite while loop 333
 Contents xiii

13.10 Implementation: Main Flow of the Game 335

13.10.1 Set up the game 336
13.10.2 The main game loop 336
13.10.3 Updates 337
13.10.4 Interactive control with Binary Operators 341
13.10.5 Testing and debugging interactivity 346
13.11 Check Game End Conditions 348
13.12 Feedback for Win or Loss 349
Summary 350
Terms 350
Concept Questions 350
Exercises 351
Project (Open Ended) 353

Episode 8 • March 1, 1910: Adelaide 355

14 • Custom Arrays and Functions 361

14.1 Demo: Basic Operations with a Custom Array 362

14.1.1 Create and initialize a custom array of objects 363
14.1.2 Iterate through a custom array 365
14.1.3 Access an item in an array 367
14.2 Program Example Story Analysis and Design 370
14.2.1 Design 371
14.2.2 Starter world 372
14.3 Implementation with a Custom Array 375
14.3.1 Writing a procedure with an array parameter 376
14.3.2 Calling a procedure with an array argument 378
14.3.3 Writing a procedure with a custom array but no parameter 378
14.3.4 Pre-made procedures for Adelaide encounter 382
14.4 Visual Alignment of a Custom Array (Horizontal) 382
14.5 Linear Search of an Array 386
14.5.1 A compareTo Custom Function 387
14.6 Visual Alignment of an Array (Vertical) 389
Summary 391
Terms 392
Concept Questions 392
xiv Contents

Exercises 393
Projects 394

15 • Java: Custom Arrays and Sort 397

15.1 Arrays in Java 399

15.1.1 Java array declaration 400
15.1.2 Java array initialization 401
15.1.3 Access an individual element in an array 402
15.2 Sorting an Array 404
15.2.1 The selection sort algorithm 404
15.2.2 Implementation: select sort 406
15.2.3 A function helper method: findLargestAfterIndex 407
15.2.4 Calling the helper function 409
15.2.5 A procedure helper method: swap 409
15.2.6 Using the Integer class compareTo function 411
15.2.7 Calling sort 412
15.3 Visual Representation of the Sort Mechanism 413
15.3.1 Modifying the swap procedural method for visualization 413
15.3.2 Modify the call to sort 414
Summary 416
Terms 416
Concept Questions 416
Exercises 417

Episode 9 • March 1, 1910: Gideon 419

16 • Event-Driven Programming and Advanced

Game Controls 425
16.1 Analyze the Story 426
16.2 Design 427
16.3 Implementation: The Opening Cutscene 429
16.4 Implementation: Game with an Implied Loop 430
16.4.1 Game analysis and design 431
16.4.2 Game setup 432
 Contents xv

16.5 Event Listener: keyPress 435

16.6 Debugging: TextString Output for Feedback 439
16.6.1 Setup for text display 440
16.6.2 Tracking and updating the text string display 442
16.6.3 Testing 444
16.6.4 Debug to restrict multiple event triggers 445
16.7 Event Listeners for Speed Updates 446
16.7.1 Time-elapsed event 447
16.7.2 Rounding error 448
16.7.3 Format output to display with two decimal places 448
16.7.4 Collision Event Listener 449
16.8 Event Listeners for End Conditions 451
16.8.1 Win condition: collisionStarted event listener 451
16.8.2 Loss condition: viewExited Listener 452
Summary 453
Terms 454
Concept Questions 454
Exercises 454
Open-Ended Project 455

Epilogue 457
Epilogue Capstone Project 461
Index 471
Preface
Alice is an educational software tool intended for teaching and learning fundamental con-
cepts of computer programming with animation, storytelling, and gaming as the context.
This book, and the Alice 3 software, builds on and extends the innovative approach intro-
duced with Alice 2 and the Learning to Program with Alice textbook (written by Dann, Coo-
per and Pausch and first published in 2004). Formal studies have proven the effectiveness
of this approach in attracting a diverse population, as well as increasing the retention rate
of students in introductory levels in both high school and early college courses. This suc-
cess and the highly positive feedback from hundreds of thousands of instructors and stu-
dents inspired the Alice team at Carnegie Mellon University to continue Alice system
development and provide strong support for instructors.

Teaching Approach
Creative Problem Solving
A creative problem-solving approach is used throughout the book. Each chapter begins
with a new problem, which is basically: “Design and create a program that animates the
story of (or simulates, or plays the game of) ....” Our problem-solving approach is an adap-
tation of a well-known approach developed by George Polya and published in his book,
How to Solve It. A quick summary of Polya’s problem-solving approach is

• Understand the problem.

• Devise a plan.
• Carry out the plan.
• Look back.
In computer programming, problem solving involves many of the same steps but is more
dynamic and often involves repeated steps, frequent testing, and revision. Therefore, we
have adapted the problem-solving approach to a cyclic model with a focus on the problem
task, creating a design, implementing code, and testing the code. This approach incorpo-
rates some elements of design thinking that starts with understanding and analyzing a prob-
lem (a challenging task), involves experimentation, and expects design and implementation
changes. These elements of design thinking are highly complementary to traditional decom-
position and stepwise refinement used in programming.

Teaching Classes and Methods in the Context of Animation

A major feature, in terms of student engagement, is the enhanced animation capability
provided by Alice 3 through a library of built-in classes, visually embodied by unique 3D
models. These characters and props cover a wide range of stories and cultures. They are
designed to capture the storytelling imagination of students and evoke the creation of

xvii
xviii Preface

animations inspired by the works of professional animation and gaming studios such as
Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Electronic Arts, and others. In addition to their visual appeal,
Alice’s Gallery classes provide features to jumpstart student animation programming,
including built-in animation methods. For example, the bird class includes pre-made meth-
ods for unfolding and folding a bird’s wings. These built-in animation methods provide for
rapid production of student story animations. And although these pre-made animations
make it easy for students to get started, they are merely an inspirational beginning. Alice
provides a powerful, intuitive interface for students to create their own customized methods
and animations from the programmatically simple to the complex. Students can even create
their own custom classes complete with inheritance features. Alice’s emphasis on visualiz-
ing classes of characters and props eases students into object-oriented thinking.

Learning Programming Through Storytelling and Gaming

In between the chapters of the textbook are episodes of an unfolding story about a mysteri-
ous, haunted circus train, a cast of unique characters, and the adventurous task of lifting a
magic spell from a troupe of circus performers. This story is meant to be the creative back-
drop for an Alice 3 programming course. Throughout the book, the main narrative leads
students through the creation of animations and interactive games adapted from episodes
of Lawrence Prenderghast’s Haunted Circus story.
Episode 1 introduces the Haunted Circus story and the two main characters: a yeti and
a haunted circus ringmaster. After the Prologue and Episode 1, additional episodes of The
Haunted Circus story appear at intervals between the text chapters.
An important turning point in The Haunted Circus story occurs in Chapters 9 and 10,
where the yeti and the circus ringmaster encounter the storyteller in the woods and set out on
an adventure to reunite the circus friends. At this point, the path through the story episodes
is somewhat flexible, and the chapter sequence may be selected as desired by the instructor.

Transitioning from Alice 3 to Java

A significant innovation in this textbook is software features and instructional material that
support transition to a production-level language (Java). This is in response to the requests
of hundreds of instructors who participate in our online Alice Educators List. The request
is: “Alice has been great for engaging my students and helping me teach the fundamental
programming concepts. Now, how do I make the transition to Java (or C++, or Python)?” In
this book, several chapters are devoted to providing assistance to the instructor and stu-
dents for building on the concepts learned in Alice to make a successful transition to Java.
We believe, however, that it isn’t enough to just add a few chapters on Java. For this
reason, the groundwork is carefully laid within the Alice chapters and then built upon in
the Java chapters to mediate a transition from Alice to Java. Some features of Alice 3 have
been improved to provide a close correlation between Alice and Java’s object-oriented con-
cepts. For example, the Alice 3 gallery models are organized in a hierarchy of classes, which
enables using inheritance in Alice in a manner that is more faithful to the way it is used in
Java, C++, and other object-oriented languages.

Audience
We understand that instructors will use this text to implement and support curriculum
and objectives that meet the needs and requirements of students in their own specific
educational institutions. In other words, we expect instructors will use the textbook in
 Preface xix

many different ways. Nonetheless, the following provides a short description of the
target population and courses we taught, and others we envisioned, as this book was
written.
In a semester-long course for introductory programming for non-majors, with an
interdisciplinary focus: The programming examples presented in this text have a story-
telling and animation context that is well suited to courses with an interdisciplinary
focus. Preliminary testing with non-majors in liberal arts schools and in curricula for
media arts, gaming, communications, and other programs of study has been highly
successful.
In a semester-long introductory programming course for majors who have little or
no programming experience: In many colleges, thirty to fifty percent of incoming majors
have experience in personal productivity with computers, but not in programming. Students
with little or no previous programming experience are at a disadvantage in a rigorous CS101
course and are at risk of dropping out or changing their major. Alice has been shown to
significantly increase retention and achievement of these students.
As a primary component in the AP Computer Science Principles course: This
book encompasses the span of computational thinking practices: connecting computing,
creating computational artifacts, abstracting, analyzing problems and artifacts, communi-
cating, and collaborating. The animation problem-solving context exemplifies most of the
big ideas in the CS Principles curriculum, including creativity, abstraction, algorithms, and
programming.
As a preparatory course prior to an AP Computer Science (Java) course: Alice 3
can be displayed in Java mode. This allows students to create program code in a gentle drag-
and-drop programming environment where typing code with the details of syntax is not
the major focus. This approach was used in Seymour Papert’s Logo and Rich Pattis’s Karel
the Robot, which were inspirations for the Alice project.

Concept Order and Chapter Sequence

Pedagogic Features
• When a new term is introduced, it is printed in bold blue.
• A list of new terms is provided at the end of each chapter and are in the index.
• A summary is presented at the end of each chapter.
• A set of concept questions is provided in each chapter.
• Exercises are provided in each chapter. In most chapters, exercises are included for
extending and enriching the example problem task for that chapter.
• Projects ideas are provided for later chapters, after students have experience with the
Alice and NetBeans IDEs.
• An optional capstone project is presented in the Epilogue.

Note: Over time, exercises and projects become more free-form and open ended. For this
reason, the number of exercises and projects included in the chapters are numerous at the
beginning but decrease in the latter half of the book.
The following is a quick overview of the programming concepts introduced by chap-
ter. See the Table of Contents for a list of chapter titles and a more detailed description of
chapter content.
xx Preface

Table • Concepts by Chapter

The first three or four chapters of the book are meant to be covered in quick suc-
cession, ideally in the first week of class meetings/lab. Remaining chapters vary in
length and may take two to five class meeting/lab days each. The pathway through
chapters, topic selection, and sequence can be modified at the instructor’s discretion to
meet specific needs and goals. The following dependency chart may assist in plotting a
path.
The chapters highlighted in yellow are Java chapters and those in white are Alice 3
chapters.
 Preface xxi

Chapter Dependency Diagram

A Few Suggested Custom Sequences

• For an “all Alice” path, the Java chapters may be omitted by using a sequence such
as 1-2-3-4-5-6-9-11-12-14-15 and 16, as time allows.
• For younger students, a path that avoids both arrays and Java is possible by follow-
ing the sequence 1-2-3-4-5-6-9-11-12.
• For a two-week introduction at the beginning of a traditional CS1 course in Java, a
possible sequence is 1-2-3-4-7-8 and the use of the provided Starter worlds to transi-
tion to Java.

The Alice 3 Software

The Alice 3 software is free and is available for download at www.alice.org. We recom-
mend downloading the latest version for your computer (PC, Mac, or Linux). The Alice
website also provides instructions for installation and an FAQ, with links for providing
bug reports. The Alice 3 system is 3D graphics and runs using Java’s OpenGL graphics
library. Please note that some tablets do not run Java and, therefore, will not run Alice.
Alice works well with most digital projection systems for classroom presentations,
including high resolution.
xxii Preface

Instructor Resources
The instructor resources are available to instructors who adopt this book by logging into
Pearson’s Instructor Resource Center at www.pearsonhighered.com/Dann. If you do not
already have access to the Pearson IRC, contact your Pearson sales representative or visit
www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/replocator.

Student Resources
Student support materials for this book are available at www.alice.org/Alice3ToJava.

Acknowledgments
Alice 3 lives in the heart and soul of the dedicated people in the Alice team. The primary
engineers and architects of the Alice 3 software were Dennis Cosgrove and Dave Culyba.
Dennis contributed to the original Alice and was the lead architect and software engineer
for Alice during the early days of Alice development with Randy Pausch.
Particular thanks go to Sabrina Haskell, professional game designer at Schell Games.
Sabrina contributed to the design thinking used throughout the textbook and specifically
to the game design and structure in the chapters where game examples are used.
A huge thanks to Eric Brown, who assumed the Director position of the Alice Project
upon retirement of Wanda Dann. Eric maintained team focus with the textbook authors to
insure completion of the necessary graphics, manuscript, and software revisions.
We are most grateful to Electronic Arts for their contribution of the Sims 2 artwork to
the Alice 3 Gallery. The 3D models from the Sims 2 artwork is the foundation of the gallery.
An incredible collection of 3D models has been added to Alice 3 to create cultural diversity.
These models were created by an Alice team of character artists and summer interns, under
the leadership and direction of Laura Paoletti. The original design of the 3D models was devel-
oped in consultation with John DeRiggi, Senior Character Artist at Schell Games. We owe
much gratitude to the contributions of Pei Hong, staff character artist, and summer interns
including: Austin Booker, Matthew Kline, Yuan (Dorothy) Sheng, and Gregory Mirles.
Our deep gratitude goes to early testers and users of Alice 3 and this textbook for
their helpful feedback, suggestions, and comments: Stephen Cooper at Stanford University,
William Taylor, Anita Wright, and RoseMary Boiano at Camden County College, Eileen
Wrigley and Don Smith at Allegheny Community College, Tebring Daly at Collin College,
Cristy Charters at Florida International University, and Leslie Spivey at Edison Commu-
nity College. Jeisson Hidalgo-Cespedes, in residence at Carnegie Mellon as a visiting scholar
from the University of Costa Rica, reviewed the first five chapters and prepared many
questions and examples used in these chapters.
Sincere thanks to Tracy Johnson of Pearson for supporting this effort. A huge thank
you to the editorial staff at Pearson who helped bring this textbook to life, particularly
Kristy Alaura, Carole Snyder, Rose Kernan, and Revathi Viswanathan. We gratefully
acknowledge the reviewers of this textbook Tim Gallagher—Winter Springs High School,
Teresa Elmore—Libertyville High School Saquib Razak—Carnegie Mellon University
Qatar, Anita Wright Camden County College, Leslie Spivey—Edison Community College,
Laine Agee—White Station High School, William Taylor—Camden County College.
 Preface xxiii

This material is based upon work partially supported by the National Science Foun-
dation under Grant Numbers 0894104 and 0903271. Any opinions, findings, conclusions,
or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not neces-
sarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
We are most grateful for funding to support the development of Alice 3 with a transi-
tion to Java and faculty development workshops. Over the last decade, this funding has
been provided by: Oracle, the Sun Microsystems Foundation, Electronic Arts, Hyperion,
Google, the Payne Family Foundation, the Hearst Foundation, and the National Science
Foundation.

Wanda Dann
Don Slater
Laura Paoletti
Dave Culyba
Notes to the Student
This book is all about learning to write a computer program. Taking a programming course
can be challenging and time consuming. In fact, there are times when it can be downright
frustrating. As authors and educators, we want to stand up and say there is a better way to
learn real computer programming. This book is designed to introduce programming in a
creative context. We want to make it more engaging and less complicated, but still cover all
the essential concepts expected in an introductory programming course curriculum.
In this book, you will step into the world of creating 3D animations. Each chapter
presents the concepts of programming with hands-on examples that illustrate creating a
short animation or game for Lawrence Prenderghast’s Haunted Circus, an original story writ-
ten by Laura Paoletti. In the example animation and gaming projects, you will be bringing
the story to life by creating programs that illustrate portions of the and games presented in
the chapters and exercises. Alice was originally developed as a tool for creating prototype
animations for use with head-mounted devices in virtual reality research. Alice is similar
to professional software tools used by animators in animation and gaming studios (Pixar,
Disney, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Electronic Arts, and many others). In animation and
gaming studios, a project team is often composed of artists, animators, designers, and pro-
grammers who work together to create short animated segments that evolve and are com-
bined into the final product. Likewise, your instructor may ask you to work on a project
with a team.
Depending on your goals, you may also transfer your work from Alice to Java. Java is
a production-level programming language used by professionals to create real-world soft-
ware applications. For example, Alice itself is written in Java. The Java chapters in this
book provide examples that apply the concepts learned in Alice to write code in Java. This
experience is most helpful to students who plan to continue developing their programming
skills by taking an AP Computer Science or CS1 (or CS 101) college or university-level pro-
gramming course.
Supplementary materials for this textbook are at www.alice.org/Alice3ToJava.

xxv
1
Introduction

Concept Objectives
• Define program and programming • Analyzing a task statement
• A problem-solving approach • Background details
• Adapting a story narrative to a task • Objects and actions
statement

7
8 Chapter 1 | Introduction

This chapter introduces a problem-solving approach as a fundamental technique for writ-

ing the example computer programs in this textbook. Many example programs will be
animations telling a story or playing a game. Some programs will be interactive and some
will perform computations for random actions and decision making.

1.1 Program and Programming

A common definition of a computer program is a sequence of instructions that tells a com-
puter how to perform a specific task. We refer to a programming task as a problem in the
sense that a “problem” is “a creative and challenging task.” The challenge is that the com-
puter hardware only performs the actions/instructions described in the program. This
means the program instructions must be effective.
At its core, computer programming designs and implements creative solutions to address
human needs. For example, computers facilitate communication through complex systems
such as Facebook™ or Twitter™. Computer-controlled robots are used in everything from
manufacturing to surgery. Art galleries hold interactive installations that gather information
from the audience with cameras or sensors, process the data, and give live feedback. Program-
ming provides the software tools used to animate and create three-dimensional models for
games. And a programmer ultimately brings those animations and games to life.

1.2 A Problem-Solving Approach

In computer programming, problem solving begins with the goal of writing code to perform a
task and often involves repeated steps. Newly written code requires frequent testing, and it is
possible that revisions will be needed along the way. Therefore, the problem-solving approach
used in this book is represented in a cyclic model. The cycle includes four major steps: ana-
lyze and understand the task, design a plan, implement the design, and test. Figure 1.1 is a

Program task

Analyze the
task

Design a
Test
plan

Implement
the design

Figure 1.1 • A problem-solving approach

 A First Program Task | Chapter 1 9

diagram that represents the steps in this problem-solving process. There is a clockwise pro-
gression from analyzing and understanding, to design, to implement, and then test. However,
lines also connect each step to each of the other steps because it is likely that the programmer
will repeat many of the steps again and again. In this way, the diagram represents a cyclic
process.

1.3 A First Program Task

Episode 1 of Lawrence Prenderghast’s Haunted Circus story introduces two leading charac-
ters, Tashi and Larry. Tashi is a 30 year-old yeti. She is still a “baby” in the Yeti’s extraor-
dinary lifespan, but is rapidly growing up. Tashi yearns for independence and adventure
in the world beyond her cave. In this episode, Tashi discovers Larry, a human skeleton
buried in snow and ice. Larry was the ringmaster of a circus sideshow that once traveled
up and down the coastal towns and rugged mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Larry’s
circus train and all the troupe members were caught in an avalanche a hundred years
ago. Our first program task is to create an animation for an excerpt of the first episode
of the story.
In the entertainment industry’s production of animated films, the narrative of a story
is typically adapted to the capabilities and needs of animation software and film media.
Not every detail from the original writing will be included and some parts will be modified
in a visual telling of the story. Below is a summary of the first excerpt of the Haunted Circus
to be used as a program example. In this adaptation, you will notice that many details have
been omitted and some have been modified.

When the avalanche hits the train, Larry becomes encased in ice. He is still alive, but
unable to move, leaving him only to his thoughts. A hundred years pass, and a baby yeti
discovers an unusual ice block while out hunting. Tashi, the yeti, grows weary of the same
old barren snowfields around her cave home and daydreams about finding better food and
adventure elsewhere. To her surprise, as she gets closer Tashi sees a skeletal hand sticking
out of a crack in the ice. The hand wiggles, and she realizes something could be alive inside.
Tashi hops on her snowboard, pushes off, and crashes into the ice block. The block splits
neatly in two and reveals a full human skeleton. Larry screams in shock at discovering he’s
become a skeleton, but also in fear of Tashi. Until he sees she has his top hat. He figures
she must have stolen his hat from his train, so he chases after the thieving yeti, hoping to
find the remains of his circus troupe.

Adaptation of a written story for an animation requires a focus on the essential aspects
of plot and character development. One way to focus is to create a summary breakdown of
the plot that can be programmed as actions (instructions). Consider the limitations of com-
plexity and make any changes to the plot that might make it easier to program. For example,
in the original story Tashi bites the skeleton’s hand. But, in our summary, Tashi runs her
snowboard into the block of ice. This is to shorten and simplify the actions for a first pro-
gram example. Our summary breakdown is as follows:

Tashi is out hunting for food.

She sees a strange block of ice covered in snow with a skeleton hand hanging out of
a crack in the ice.
The skeleton hand wiggles, and whatever is inside is clearly not as dead as it appears.
She runs into the block of ice with her snowboard.
The fissure splits further until the block falls apart to reveal the full skeleton.
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
present and until the results of the next summer's campaign could
be known. Had he been old enough to enlist, Al would undoubtedly
have joined the army in spite of everything, in order to be at the
front and share in the search for his brother. But as he would not be
sixteen until the early Spring of 1863, that was out of the question.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere of the place and the time in which he
was living were well calculated to develop in him the strong military
inclinations of his nature, and as the months went on he found it
more and more difficult to be satisfied with the work in which he
was engaged. There was hardly an hour of the day in which squads
or companies of troops did not pass along the busy streets of St.
Louis, and often full regiments, with bands playing and colors flying,
or batteries of artillery rumbling over the cobble-stones, marched
past on their way to the Levee to embark on steamers for the seat
of war in the South. St. Louis was the great recruiting depot of the
West, and at Benton Barracks, just beyond the Fair Grounds and
only a few blocks from the Colton home, as many as twenty
thousand men were nearly always quartered, mustering, drilling,
outfitting and then marching away to take their places in the fighting
armies at the front. News of battle was constantly in the air and the
war formed the chief topic of conversation always and everywhere.
Now it was the disastrous repulse of the Army of the Potomac at
Fredericksburg, Virginia; then the terrible conflict at Murfreesboro,
Tennessee; and then, a little later, the capture of Fort Hindman, at
Arkansas Post, Arkansas; while authentic news and uncertain rumors
of other battles, skirmishes, and military movements circulated
constantly.
Though St. Louis was a Union city by a very substantial majority
there nevertheless existed there a strong though suppressed
Southern sentiment; but Al was even less inclined to be influenced
by it than his father would have been, or than he would have been
himself before his father's death. The reason was that public opinion
in the North and West at this time held that the outbreak of the
Indians in Minnesota had been instigated and encouraged by agents
from the Southern Confederacy, who hoped, by precipitating an
Indian war upon the Northwest, not only to divert a good many
Union troops from the South but even possibly to effect a
Confederate conquest of the Northwestern Territories. Happily for
the fair fame of American civilization, it has in later years been quite
clearly established that the Confederates had nothing to do with
inciting the barbarous outbreak, but at the time it was firmly
believed in the Northwest. Therefore it seems but natural that a
person in Al's position, grieving for a father murdered and a brother
carried away captive by the red fiends, should entertain bitterness
toward those whom he believed to be largely responsible for his
bereavement. This feeling but added to his interest in the military
preparations of those who were going to fight the Southerners, and
increased his desire to be a partaker in their toils and trials and
triumphs.
When he found an opportunity to do so, as he did on Sunday
afternoons and his other infrequent holidays, he occasionally went
down to the river front where were to be seen the big transport
steamers, starting out loaded to the guards with troops or coming in
with cargoes of sick and wounded men, and where, also, were
generally to be found one or more of the pugnacious-looking iron-
clad gunboats which had been and still were fighting their way foot
by foot down the battery-lined rivers of the South, carrying the flag
of the Union into regions where it had been outcast for two years
past. But more frequently his steps turned toward Benton Barracks,
for there on the great parade ground between the huge barracks,
each seven hundred and fifty feet in length, were always to be found
swarms of troops at drill. Here he would see a squad of four or eight
recruits receiving from a corporal instructions in the rudiments of
tactics, such as the salutes, the facings, or the manual of arms. A
little further on would be a regiment executing ponderous evolutions
in company or battalion front.
Observing all these tactical exercises with lively interest and careful
attention, Al soon began to comprehend the methods and objects of
movements which at first seemed wholly bewildering. He obtained a
copy of the "United States Infantry and Rifle Tactics," the text book
then in use for the instruction of the United States troops, and spent
evening after evening studying them until he was much more
familiar with the contents than the average volunteer soldier several
years his senior. Though he could not utilize his knowledge because
of his youth, he persisted in acquiring it, not only because he liked it
but because he felt that eventually it would be useful to him,
especially if he could ever carry out his cherished ambition of
entering West Point.
One day in the Spring of 1863, Mr. White called Al into his private
office.
"The chief commissary of subsistence in this city has asked me if I
could tell him of a few good men to act as civilian clerks in his
department," said he. "They must be men who understand
something of staple groceries such as the army uses and who know
how to get out orders and ship goods. Would you like to have such a
position for a while?"
Al's eyes brightened. Such work would place him in closer touch with
the army, an object which appealed to him strongly. But he bore in
mind his obligations and answered, cautiously,
"I should like it very much, Mr. White, if you approve of it and if I
could make as much as I do now."
"The position will pay you a little more than you are getting now,"
said Mr. White, leaning back in his chair as if to give plenty of time to
the discussion, "and it will give you some valuable experience if you
aim to continue in the wholesale grocery business. The commissary
department is handling enormous quantities of goods in St. Louis
now and an insight into the Government's methods of transacting
such a volume of business will be a great benefit to you. Of course,
whenever you want to leave the Government's employ and come
back here, your position will be open for you. You are very young for
such a place but you have made such rapid progress and learned to
do your work so well and thoroughly that I shall have no hesitation
in recommending you as one of my best employees."
"Thank you, sir," said Al, flushing with pleasure. "I hope I deserve
it."
"You understand," Mr. White continued, "I don't want you to leave
me; but I owe it to the Union to give her the best I have when she
asks it. I am past middle age myself and I don't think I am worth
enough as a soldier to volunteer yet; there are plenty of younger
and stronger men still pouring in to fill up the armies. But if the war
drags on and the time comes that I feel she needs my actual,
physical services, I shall go. Meantime, as I say, I shall give her the
best I have in other ways, and you are part of that best. Though you
are not old enough to be a soldier, I know you will appreciate that
your work as a civilian employee may be quite as valuable to the
Government as though you were enlisted in the service."
"Indeed I do, Mr. White," answered Al, "and I shall do my best to
serve the Union faithfully."
In the new work upon which he entered next day Al continued
throughout that momentous Summer and Fall. Though serving in a
capacity both humble and obscure, he had his part in preparing and
forwarding the supplies which enabled General Grant to cut loose
from his base, swing his army around to the rear of Vicksburg, and
two months later to capture that Gibraltar of the Mississippi with all
its garrison and munitions of war. He helped to make ready the
subsistence carried by Grant's and Sherman's armies when they
went to the relief of Chattanooga; and from the depots where he
worked a constant stream of stores was always going forward to the
thousands of Union troops scattered in fortified posts and
encampments or marching hither and thither all over the Southwest
fighting innumerable minor battles and skirmishes. But his daily
occupation was very prosaic and needs no more than casual
mention.
At length, when Autumn came again, another letter was received
from General Sibley. It was as disappointing as the one of the year
before. He told briefly of the long Summer's campaign in which he
had marched westward from the Minnesota River to the Missouri,
defeating the Indians in three pitched battles and driving them
across the Missouri, and of the later advance of another column up
the valley of the Missouri, under General Alfred Sully, which had also
encountered and defeated the Indians. But neither column had
rescued Tommy, though they had heard rumors of his whereabouts
and had gained a little new information concerning his captor.
The latter, it now seemed clearly established, was an Upper
Yanktonais warrior named Te-o-kun-ko, or, in English, The Swift.
From the statements of hostile Indians who had talked with
friendlies or had surrendered to the troops during the campaign, it
appeared that this man had not been with the main body of the
Indians during the Summer; he had taken his family, in company
with a small party of about a dozen other lodges, over into the
country along the Yellowstone and Powder Rivers, in Idaho. They
had probably spent the season in hunting and skirmishing
occasionally with the Crows, the powerful people occupying most of
that region, who were hereditary enemies of the Sioux. It must be
understood that the great Sioux Nation consists of a number of
different tribes, of which the Upper Yanktonais tribe is one, and the
Lower Yanktonais another. It seemed that he still had with him the
white boy whom he had captured in Minnesota. The lad seemed
perfectly contented and was displaying such aptitude and prowess in
learning to ride, shoot, hunt, and perform the other feats of skill,
agility, and hardihood which the Indians regard as most manly, that
Te-o-kun-ko took great pride and delight in him and was evidently
trying to wean him away from any longing for his white relatives, in
the hope of eventually making him, to all practical intents, a full-
fledged Sioux warrior.
General Sibley added that in the Spring of 1864 General Sully would
almost certainly lead another expedition up the Missouri to fight the
Indians, though whether he himself would move against them again
was doubtful. He renewed his regrets that he had been unable to
recapture Tommy, and his hopes that another year would surely see
him restored to his family, and here the letter ended.
Mrs. Briscoe and Al were not only bitterly disappointed by the news;
it positively stunned them. The idea that Tommy could have been, all
this time, anything but a suffering and wretchedly unhappy prisoner,
was entirely new to them. That he could have grown not merely
contented with his lot among the savages but even attached to it, a
possibility very clearly suggested by General Sibley's letter, seemed
unbelievable, at least to Mrs. Briscoe. But Al, on reflection, was not
so much inclined to scoff at it as he had been at first. He
remembered having heard of several cases in which white boys,
taken captive by Indians when so young that their affections and
habits were not deeply rooted, had become so attached to the wild,
free life of the red men that they voluntarily renounced civilization
and remained all their lives with the people of their adoption. Then
he recalled the prominent characteristics of Tommy's disposition,—
his sturdy independence, his love for being out of doors, for handling
horses and for hunting and trapping,—inclinations which he had not
shown until their removal to Minnesota but which had developed
rapidly there, where Tommy, in the midst of a solitude which was
almost wilderness, had apparently been happier than ever before in
his life. He recalled, also, the little boy's warm-hearted affection for
his parents and for himself and Annie; a trait of character which
certainly seemed the strongest argument against the theory that
Tommy could grow to forget them. But Al was obliged to admit to
himself that the other impulses of his young brother's nature would
all find gratification in the life of the plains; while, moreover, if he
were kindly treated, even his affections might be kindled for the
people with whom he was living. He had been with the Indians now
for more than a year, which is a long time in a young boy's life.
The more he became convinced of such possibilities, the more was
Al disturbed and alarmed by them. It had been bad enough to think
of his brother as a heart-broken captive, but to think of him as
perhaps a future renegade, an apostate to his race, was far worse,
for it added shame to sorrow. He could not bear to think of his
mother having to face such a calamity. Finally he took his troubled
thoughts to his uncle, who was always kind, sympathetic and
helpful.
"I have been thinking a great deal about this matter, too, Al," said
Mr. Colton. "There is no question in my mind that Tommy might take
the course you speak of, if he should remain long enough with the
Indians. From the reports we have he seems to be well and even
happy. The most important reason now for getting him away from
them seems to be to remove him from their moral influence. But,
incredible as it may seem, I really believe there may be a possibility
that now; even if the soldiers should find him, he would be unwilling
to come away with them."
Al looked at his uncle and slowly nodded his head in agreement.
"Yes, I believe that might be so," he answered. "And it seems to me,
Uncle Will, for that very reason if no other, I ought to go with the
next expedition; for if Tommy should be found I know that when he
saw me and I told him about mother and all of us, he would want to
come back. But I can't go, that's all."
"Al," said Mr. Colton, "I agree with you that you ought to, and I think
probably you can. Since midsummer my business has begun to
revive. People are commencing to see that the South is getting the
worst of this war and there is a growing feeling of confidence that
the Union is going to be saved. Therefore interest is reviving in
business matters of all kinds, real estate among others. If the Union
is going to be preserved, St. Louis will continue to be a great and
growing city; nobody cared to speculate on what it would be while
the success of the Confederacy seemed probable. But, you see, I am
beginning to have business again, and if our armies continue gaining
such victories as they have been during the last six months, there
will be more business by next Spring. I wish to Heaven I could go
into the service and help to hasten the end; but this," he moved the
stump of his left arm impatiently, "forever debars me from such
service. But if I can help you to go where you may be able to assist
in recovering your brother and at the same time to be perhaps of
some service to our country, even though you are not old enough to
enlist, I shall feel that I have done something. I think by Spring I
shall be able to take care of your mother and sister while you are
gone and I shall be only too glad to do it."
Al's cheeks flushed with mingled surprise and pleasure. His sense of
duty, however, was still uppermost.
"But, Uncle Will,—" he began.
"Now, that's all right, Al," interrupted Mr. Colton. "This is simply a
family matter, and you need not worry about it at all. The only
question which remains to be settled is whether it can be arranged
for you to accompany an expedition into the Indian country. If
General Sibley were going, no doubt he would be willing to find a
place for you some way. But it seems that he may not go again, and
another commander, like General Sully, for instance, may not want to
have you. However, we shall have to wait to settle that until we
know more about actual plans for next season's campaign, and that
probably will not be possible until late Winter or early Spring."
Mrs. Briscoe at first found it very hard to reconcile herself to the
plan, for she was divided between anxiety for Tommy and
apprehension lest harm should befall Al if he went in search of his
brother. But by pointing out to her that it was still uncertain whether
the commander of the expedition would permit him to go at all, Al,
shrewdly aided by his uncle, induced her to give the subject calm
consideration, being convinced that if she did so she would in time
see that it was best. So the Winter passed with little further
discussion of the subject. Al continued at his work, Annie was
attending school, and Mrs. Briscoe aided her sister with the duties of
the household. Indeed, the refugees from Minnesota seemed to
have become fixtures in the Colton home, and, though all of them
thought occasionally of their returning some time to the abandoned
claim above Fort Ridgely, the time for doing so remained in the
indefinite future. None of them could feel like attempting to resume
the even tenor of their lives until Tommy should have been brought
back from his captivity.
 CHAPTER VI
ON GENERAL SULLY'S STAFF

At last, early in March, the long uncertainty respecting the next

season's campaign against the Sioux, and the rumors which had
circulated about it all through the Winter, were terminated by the
arrival in St. Louis of General Alfred Sully, who, so the papers
announced, had come to begin the accumulation of supplies and to
make other preparations for his impending campaign. Brigadier
General Sully was the commander of the District of Iowa, with
headquarters at Davenport, in that State; but he had come to St.
Louis directly from Milwaukee. There he had spent several days in
consultation with General Sibley and Major General John Pope, who
was in command of the Department of the Northwest, embracing
the Districts of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, the latter under
General Sibley.
General Sully very soon made his presence known at the commissary
office in St. Louis by the requisitions for supplies which began to
pour in from him. A few days later a young army officer, an aide-de-
camp on General Sully's staff, was sent down to the office by the
General to check over the requisitions already made. Al was
assigned to assist him. The aide, whose name was Lieutenant Dale,
proved an agreeable youth, only a few years older than Al, and after
their work was finished they fell into conversation. Al told him briefly
of the disasters which had befallen his family in Minnesota, and then
of the battle at Fort Ridgely.
"Why, you've seen enough fighting to be a veteran already,"
exclaimed Lieutenant Dale, when Al had concluded his narrative. "I'll
tell you what you ought to do; you ought to go up into the Sioux
country with us this summer. We're going to have some fun up
there. And maybe you could get on the track of your brother."
"That is just what I want to do," answered Al, "but I'm not old
enough to enlist."
"That makes no difference," answered Dale. "The General could
arrange to take you in some capacity or other if he knows that you
have a good reason for wanting to go and that you won't lose your
nerve in a pinch."
"Do you think he would?" asked Al, doubtfully.
"I think it's very probable. Go and ask him. He is very kind-hearted,
if he is a strict disciplinarian and a hard fighter."
"He's a hard fighter, is he?" asked Al, eagerly. "You see, I don't know
much about him."
Lieutenant Dale looked at him pityingly. "A hard fighter?" he replied.
"I should say he is! He fought against the Seminoles in Florida and
the Rogue River Indians in Oregon and the Sioux in Minnesota and
Nebraska and the Cheyennes in Kansas, all before the beginning of
the Rebellion. He won honors at Fair Oaks and Chancellorsville; and
then, when the Indian trouble in the Northwest came, they sent him
up into Dakota to fight the Sioux again, last Summer. That was the
first that I was with him, and we certainly had our share of
marching, going up the Missouri Valley, and our share of fighting at
White Stone Hill, where we swung away from the Missouri and
struck the redskins out on the prairie nearly over to the James River.
They had been following up General Sibley, never suspecting that we
would come from the other direction and fall on their rear. But we'll
punish them worse this year, for we shall have a much larger force;
and the General intends to follow them until they are either forced to
make peace or are broken up and scattered all over the country. And
he can scatter them; what he doesn't know about Indian fighting
isn't worth knowing."
"I'm sure it will be a campaign well worth taking part in," replied Al.
"I ought to go, and I hope I can."
"I will speak to the General about you and the reason you have for
wanting to accompany us," Lieutenant Dale said. "Then you come
and see him yourself to-morrow or as soon after as you can."
Al did not delay the visit. That evening he talked with his mother and
uncle about it and, though the former was naturally reluctant to
have him go where she felt he would be in danger, she had also
come to realize that the arrangement afforded the best chance of
recovering her lost son, Tommy. Mr. Colton, after Al had told him of
his conversation with young Lieutenant Dale, concluded that it would
be as well for Al to interview General Sully alone.
"I do not know the General," said he, "and I could influence him but
little; while, if you go by yourself, it will indicate more self-reliance
on your part. I know, of course, that you have plenty of it, but a
stranger naturally would not until he had become acquainted with
you, and it is always well to make a good first impression. I think
you were fortunate in meeting this Lieutenant Dale. He will probably
speak favorably of you to General Sully, and that will help your
case."
Accordingly the next afternoon when his work for the day was
finished, Al hurried off to the place where General Sully was making
his headquarters while in the city. He found little evidence of pomp
or ceremony about these headquarters. An orderly was in the outer
room, to whom Al told his name and errand. The soldier replied that
the General was alone, writing letters; and then, stepping to the
door of an adjoining room, he announced Al by name.
"Bring him in," Al heard a deep but pleasant voice answer, and the
next moment he found himself standing, with a somewhat fluttered
pulse, in the presence of General Sully. The latter rose as he entered
and extended his hand.
"I have been expecting you, young man," said he, smiling.
"Lieutenant Dale told me of you last evening, and I had also heard
of you before from General Sibley. I was on the watch for your
brother all last Summer but I couldn't get hold of him. Have a chair,"
he went on, resuming his own seat and motioning Al to another one.
"Now, what can I do for you?"
As clearly and briefly as possible Al related his reasons for thinking
that he ought to go into the Indian country to assist in the search for
his brother, finishing with the request that he might be taken along
in some capacity and adding that he would try to make himself
useful. As he talked, he was conscious that the General was studying
him critically through the pair of deep-set eyes which, though
penetrating, were not forbidding. When he had concluded, the
General did not reply at once. Instead, he remarked, after a pause,
"General Sibley told me he understood that your father was one of
Doniphan's men. Is that correct?"
Unconsciously Al's shoulders straightened a little.
"Yes, sir," he replied, a touch of pride in his voice, "he was. I am
named for Colonel Doniphan,—Alexander Doniphan Briscoe."
"Indeed?" said the General, with evident surprise and interest.
He was silent a moment, then asked abruptly,
"Do you know anything about tactics,—military routine,—discipline?"
"I have been a clerk in the commissary department here for a year,
sir," Al replied, "and have become pretty familiar with the
Government's methods of handling stores and more or less so with
other matters of administration. Then I have studied tactics pretty
hard, both in the book and in watching the troops at drill out at
Benton Barracks."
"H-m! That's good." The General's voice became decisive. "If you
should go with me you would have to become a part of the
expedition and submit to discipline the same as a soldier, even
though you are not enlisted; and I understand you are too young to
enlist. I can have no favored idlers around. We are going after the
Indians and for no other purpose, and in order to be successful
every individual must do his part. Do you think you could agree to
do that?"
"I shall certainly obey orders and try to make myself useful,"
responded Al, promptly.
General Sully swung around in his swivel desk chair and gazed
abstractedly out of the window for a moment. Then he swung back
again and looked at Al frankly.
"I may as well tell you," said he, "that it is against my policy to have
any more civilians with me in the field than I can possibly help. Too
many civilians mixed up in military affairs have nearly been the
ruination of the United States during this Rebellion. At the same
time, I like to have young fellows of the right metal; they are often
more useful than old stagers. And I believe you'll do. A son of one of
Doniphan's daredevils, especially a namesake of his, ought to be all
right for courage; and moreover, General Sibley told me of the
reports he heard of your conduct at Fort Ridgely. You see, I know
more about you than you thought." He smiled at Al's embarrassed
glance. "I'll find a place for you somewhere, as a commissary's or
quartermaster's clerk, probably. Come and see me again to-morrow
or next day and I'll have it arranged."
Al thanked him heartily and went away, feeling already a warm
admiration for this firm but courteous soldier. The interview aroused
in him more pleasurable anticipation of the expedition than he had
felt heretofore, and he found himself preparing for it and looking
forward to it enthusiastically.
True to his promise, General Sully had a position arranged for him
when he called next day, and one, moreover, upon whose duties he
could enter at once. He quitted his work as clerk of the St. Louis
commissary office only to continue it in the same place as a clerk for
the chief commissary officer of the Northwestern Indian Expedition.
Knowing that he was to be with them, General Sully's staff officers
took an immediate interest in him, especially Lieutenant Dale, whose
friendship proved not only increasingly pleasant but very helpful as
well. Dale was able to give Al many suggestions as to how best to
meet the problems and situations which constantly arose in his
position. There was also a Captain Feilner, who treated him with
much kindness. He was an officer of German birth who had risen to
his position from the ranks of the regular army and was now General
Sully's chief topographical engineer.
For six weeks every one in St. Louis connected with the expedition
was busily occupied in getting supplies together and in shipping
several hundred tons of foodstuffs, clothing, camp equipage, and
ammunition on steamboats which were going up the Missouri on the
Spring high water to Fort Benton, Montana, the outfitting point for
the newly discovered gold district in that Territory. These goods were
consigned to Fort Union, the chief trading post of the American Fur
Company, at the mouth of the Yellowstone River, where a depot was
to be established so as to have supplies ready for the troops when
they should reach that point, as it was planned they should do, after
marching overland from the Missouri to the Yellowstone. Many
hundreds of tons more were loaded on the eight steamers which
General Sully had chartered for the exclusive use of his army, and on
them were carried also a great quantity of building materials for use
in the two forts which were to be erected, one on the upper Missouri
and one on the Yellowstone. Few troops were to start with the fleet
from St. Louis, because General Sully's men were either scattered in
the several forts and cantonments along the river in Dakota where
they had spent the Winter, or were to meet the boats at the village
of Sioux City, Iowa; while a large column from General Sibley's
command was marching from Minnesota straight across the high
prairies of Dakota to join the rest of the expedition at Bois Cache
Creek, nearly opposite the mouth of the Moreau River.
 CHAPTER VII
UP THE MISSOURI

On the last day of April the long preparations were finally completed.
The eight steamers lay along the Levee with flags floating from their
forward peaks and the black smoke pouring from their funnels. A
great crowd had gathered on the river bank to watch the departure;
and while drays and wagons rattled over the cobblestones and long
lines of negro roustabouts ran back and forth across the gang-planks
of the steamers, carrying on board the last packages of freight, Al
stood at the boiler deck rail of the Island City, General Sully's
headquarters boat. He waved his hand and smiled, more cheerfully
than he felt at that moment, to his mother and Annie and Uncle Will,
who stood in the wide doorway of the wharf-boat below, looking up
at him. Now that the final moment had come, Mrs. Briscoe's heart
was torn at parting with her boy, who had so loyally and unselfishly
devoted himself to her wellbeing since her husband's death. But she
bore it as bravely as a good mother always bears such trials, smiling
brightly at him through her tears as the head-lines were slipped from
the Island City's bow and her great stern wheel began slowly to
revolve. Al, his own eyes misty, watched his mother until in the
distance she became blurred with the crowd. The steamer swung
gracefully out into the swift current of the Mississippi, described a
wide, sweeping curve to the middle of the channel, and then,
rounding up stream at the head of the majestic line of her consorts,
forged up past the smoky city on the first mile of the long journey
into the Northwestern wilderness.
Until the cheering crowd on the Levee was quite blotted out by
distance and intervening steamers along the bank, Al stood at the
rail looking back. When at last he turned away, with a strange
feeling of depression and loneliness, he found Lieutenant Dale
standing behind him.
"Come, boy," said he, slapping Al's shoulder, "brace up! We are
going to have a great time this Summer, and you'll be mighty glad
you came. I know it's hard leaving your folks. I felt just the same
way less than three years ago when I marched off from home to
Washington and the first Bull Run. But it does no good to feel blue
over it; you'll come back again all right, anyway. Get busy; that's the
best remedy for blues. Are those last goods that were brought on
board checked up yet? No? Well, you better go down and check
them, hadn't you?"
Al acted on the suggestion, and by the time he was through, the
fleet had entered the mouth of the Missouri and was approaching St.
Charles, a picturesque little old city straggling up over the rugged,
wooded hills on the north bank of the Missouri. The boats did not
stop at the town, but continued running until nearly dark, when they
laid up for the night at Penn's Woodyard, four miles above.
Excepting in high water, when the channel is broad and deep, it is
very unusual for boats to run at night on the Missouri owing to the
danger of striking snags or going aground on sandbars. Next
morning, after replenishing their fuel supply at the woodyard, they
started at daylight and ran without mishap or halt, excepting to take
on wood several times, until dusk found them just below the mouth
of the Gasconade River, where they again tied up to wait for
daylight.
In the Spring of 1864 there had been little rain in the Missouri Valley,
and the river was very low for the season, a fact which greatly
disturbed General Sully; he foresaw that the trip would probably be
painfully slow and that he would not be able to reach the Indian
country until so late that the campaign would have to be a hurried
one. Early next morning, at the mouth of the Gasconade, they
encountered the first of the obstacles which they had been dreading.
As is usual below the mouths of tributaries, where the eddy created
by the muddy current of the main river coming in contact with that
of the tributary causes the mud and sand to sink to the bottom, a
sandbar here extended across the Missouri's channel. The Island
City, in the lead and running near the south shore along the base of
the bluffs, notwithstanding the caution of her pilot, stuck her bow
into it and stopped short. Al, who was in the main cabin, ran forward
as he felt the boat shiver and careen and looked down over the bow.
"Why, we've stuck fast!" he exclaimed to Captain Feilner, whom he
found standing by the rail. "What will they do now?"
"Send out a boat and sound for a passage," the Captain answered.
Even as he spoke, Alexander Lamont,—or, Alex Lamont, as he was
usually called,—the tall, bronzed captain of the Island City, leaned
out over the rail and shouted up to the hurricane deck above,
"Lower away the yawl, there! Step lively, now!"
They heard the shuffle of feet on the sanded tar roof overhead, the
creak of falls and tackles, and in a moment the boat, its long oars
manned by six stalwart deck hands and carrying, besides, a
steersman at the stern and a leadsman with a sounding pole at the
bow, pulled around the side of the steamer and out into the shoal
water ahead. Meanwhile, the long line of steamers behind them also
came to a stop.
"How much water must there be for us to get through?" asked Al.
"We are drawing three and a half feet," answered Captain Feilner,
"and we ought to have four feet to go on, but we can do it on three
and a half by sparring or warping. Have you never seen those things
done? Well, you will probably have a chance in a few minutes,—and
plenty more before we are through with this trip. Some of the other
steamers do not draw quite as much as we do but none of them
seem to be going to try to pass us."
The yawl gradually worked its way diagonally across and down the
river, following the crest of the bar, until it had approached quite
near to the north bank, the leadsman constantly thrusting his pole
down to the river bottom. Then the boat suddenly turned around
and came rapidly back to the Island City.
"There's three and a half, large, over there," said the pilot who had
acted as leadsman as he came aboard, speaking to Captain Lamont.
"We can go over but you'll likely have to set spars."
He ascended to the pilot-house and jerked the whistle rope. A
warning bellow roared out over the river, re-echoing from the forest-
clad bluffs on either side. One by one the steamboats behind them
took up the refrain, until the noise resembled that of a
manufacturing city at the noon hour.
"What on earth is all that whistling for?" asked Al. "Are they trying to
scare the bar out of the river?"
"No," laughed Captain Feilner. "That is a signal that we are going to
back up. There isn't room to turn in this channel and all the others
must back up, too, so that we won't run into each other."
The fleet backed for a half mile, then the Island City reversed her
wheel and started up again, running this time, however, close in by
the north shore. As she went ahead the strokes of her pistons
became more and more rapid until, as she approached the crossing,
she was going at a great speed for a steamboat.
"He's going to try to belt her through," exclaimed Lieutenant Dale,
coming up at this moment. "We'll get a jolt. I hope nothing breaks."
Hardly had he finished speaking when there came a loud grating
sound from the bow as the boat's flat bottom began to scrape over
the sand. Her timbers quivered and groaned, her speed diminished
so quickly that those who were standing on her decks were nearly
thrown down, and then, after scraping along for a few feet slowly
and painfully she came to a full stop. For a moment the stern wheel
continued to churn the water into white foam; then the pilot, with an
impatient gesture, jerked the wire to the stopping-bell down in the
engine room, and the ponderous wheel came to a halt.
"No use," he cried to Captain Lamont, leaning out of the pilot-house
window. "She's nearly over but you'll have to set the spars!"
There was a great shouting and commotion on the lower deck as the
spars, two long, heavy timbers like telegraph poles, one on each side
of the bow, were swung out and erected in position, their lower
extremities resting on the river bottom, the upper, fitted with tackle
blocks, rising high above the level of the boat's top deck. Through
the tackle blocks ran heavy cables fastened at one end to the boat's
gunwale and at the other to the steam capstan. When the spars had
been set, the capstan began to revolve, winding up the cable and
thus hoisting the bow of the boat until it hung suspended on the
spars. At the same time the wheel was slowly revolved, forcing the
boat ahead until the spars had tilted forward so far as to let the bow
down again into the sand. Then they were dragged forward and set
upright once more, and the process was repeated. Before a great
while the crest of the bar was passed, and the Island City floated on
into deeper water and continued her journey. But though it had not
been what river men would consider a hard crossing, she had lost
nearly six hours in sounding and sparring, and it was noon by the
time she had left the Gasconade out of sight behind her. The vessels
following her each forced its way across the bar in the same manner
as she had done, excepting the Chippewa Falls and the Alone, boats
of smaller dimensions and lighter draft, which were able to slip over
without sparring. By the time the last one had passed the
Gasconade, it was evening again, and the fleet was strung out for
miles up the river. The Island City anchored out for the night to a bar
just below Kate Howard Chute, so called for a beautiful packet of
that name which had sunk there in 1859. The point was only thirty
miles above the Gasconade, so that twenty-four hours had been
consumed in covering that insignificant distance. The Island City was
towing a large barge, intended for use when they should reach the
Indian country, but it was very much in the way and retarded her
progress considerably.
That evening Al asked Captain Lamont how far it was from St. Louis
to the mouth of Cannonball River, Dakota, where it was expected
that the actual campaign against the Indians would begin, and was
told that it was about fourteen hundred miles. He did some figuring
and found that if they continued to progress at the same rate as
they had done that day it would be more than six weeks, or past the
middle of June, before they would reach their destination. It seemed
an astonishingly long time to him but, as the event proved, he had
considerably overestimated the average speed which the fleet could
maintain. For days they continued travelling through the State of
Missouri, contending with sandbars and head winds. The interior of
the State was in a deplorable condition as a result of the war.
Guerillas were overrunning it everywhere, and the boats rarely
landed at a town without hearing either that some of the marauders
had just left on the approach of the fleet or that they had been
raiding there a day or two before. General Sully's vessels were so
numerous and well armed that the guerillas did not dare attack
them. All Missouri River boats at that time were more or less fortified
around the pilot-house with timber or boiler-iron bulwarks, to protect
the pilots from the bullets of guerillas on the lower river and from
those of Indians in the upper country, while the piles of cordwood on
the main deck afforded some protection to the men there. Yet the
fleet seldom passed a downward-bound boat which had not been
fired into or boarded, and fortunate was the vessel which had
escaped without the loss of one or more people on board killed or
wounded.
There were plenty of men in the expedition who would have been
glad to encourage such attacks had they been made, for, as was
always the case among the class of men who worked as laborers on
the steamboats, there were many hardened and even desperate
characters in the crews of Sully's vessels. Not a few of them were
deserters from the Confederate army, tired of fighting but still rebels
at heart; and others were Southern sympathizers, fleeing from the
draft in the Northern States. Most of these men hoped, when they
should draw near to Montana, to find opportunities for slipping away
from the expedition and making their way to the gold fields which
were just being opened in the placer deposits around Bannack, Last
Chance Gulch, Alder Gulch and other places, and which were
attracting a wild rush of adventurers from all over the country. Such
men were naturally hard to handle and it took steamboat officers of
firmness and courage to keep them in control.
Since the beginning of the voyage Al had not had much occasion to
mingle with the crew of the Island City. The cargo of the steamboat
consisted chiefly of corn for the use of the cavalry horses in the
Indian country and, once it was on board, required little attention.
He therefore seldom had any reason for going to the lower deck
except to while away the time, which, indeed, was the principal
occupation of the army officers on board. As might naturally be
supposed, he was usually with some of them. But one day he was
standing on the main deck near the boilers when one of the deck
hands, a young fellow a few years older than himself, came by
carrying a couple of heavy sticks of cordwood to the furnaces. Al had
once or twice in the past noticed this fellow staring at him in a
disagreeable way and felt instinctively that it must be because the
deck hand was envious of the apparently easy and pleasant time
which he was having. Al's back was turned toward him and neither
saw the other until one of the sticks collided heavily with Al's
shoulder, almost throwing him down. Al turned and though bruised,
was on the point of apologizing for being in the way, when the
fellow, an ugly, red flush overspreading his face, shouted, with a
plentiful sprinkling of oaths between his words,
"Get out of my road, you little Yankee snipe! What are you loafing
around here for, anyhow?"
"I'm sorry I got in your way," replied Al, controlling his temper, "but I
didn't see you."
"Well, you'd better stay upstairs with your blue-bellied Yankee
officers. They oughtn't to let their little pet run around this way."
Hearing loud words, several other deck hands gathered round,
grinning at the excitement, their sympathies evidently with their
companion.
"As for my being down here," Al answered, feeling that it would not
do to let such language pass unnoticed, especially before the other
men, "I have as much business here as you have. As for being a
Yankee, I suppose everybody on a United States ship is a Yankee. If
they're not, they'd better go ashore."
"It would take a mighty big lot of such spindle-legged doll babies as
you to put me ashore," shouted the young ruffian, flinging down his
wood and advancing on Al with clenched fists. "Down South we
don't use anything but boats we've kicked the Yankees off of."
Several of the other deck hands crowded closer, exclaiming,
"Aw, let the kid alone, Jimmy. He ain't done nothin' to you."
"Look out, Jimmy; you'll get in trouble, talkin' that way."
"So you're a rebel deserter, are you?" asked Al, his eyes flashing. "I
thought so. If you're so much attached to them, why didn't you stay
down there and take some more Yankee boats?"
The fellow, quite beside himself with rage, did not wait to reply but
sprang at Al like a bull-dog. Al knew little about boxing, but he was
quick. As his assailant rushed at him, he jumped forward and
planted one fist with all his strength on the point of the fellow's chin.
The rowdy's feet flew from under him and he fell to the deck with a
heavy thud, completely dazed for a moment. Then he scrambled to
his feet with a string of imprecations pouring from his lips, and
jerking an ugly, broad-bladed knife from a sheath on his belt, again
leaped at Al. Seeing his intention, his companions rushed forward to
stop him, but Al had snatched up a stoking iron from the floor beside
him and swung it back over his shoulder. His face was pale, but not
with fright, and as his assailant looked into his steady eyes
something in them caused him suddenly to lower his knife and
hesitate.
"Come one step nearer and I'll brain you," said Al, his voice very low
and quiet. "You miserable, cowardly bully, attacking a fellow who is
unarmed and who has done nothing to you. Now, if you want to stay
on this boat you've got to quit that kind of talk about Yankees or I'll
see that you are put off. It's very plain you are a rebel and you've no
business getting your living under the protection of the Union as
long as you feel that way. Next time you want to try anything with
me I shall be ready for you, and I warn you, you won't get off so
easily again."
He threw down the stoking iron and, turning his back on the crest-
fallen rowdy, deliberately walked away, followed by ejaculations from
the group of onlookers such as,
"Bully boy!" "Served him right." "You're all right, kid!"
Later in the day he mentioned the occurrence to Lieutenant Dale
and Captain Feilner, who promptly wished to have the deck hand put
ashore.
"Not on my account, unless he does some more secesh talking," said
Al. "I can take care of myself with him. Besides, it may be a good
lesson for him and teach him to be decent after this."
The fellow, as it turned out, had been pretty thoroughly beaten and
he made no more trouble for Al during the voyage, though he
always gave him an ugly look when they chanced to meet.
Lieutenant Dale decided from the incident that Al ought to learn the
art of boxing, in which he himself was quite expert, having learned it
in college. So thereafter they spent an hour or so every day in
sparring. By the time the voyage was over, Al had become as skilful
as his instructor, and General Sully, Captain Feilner and the other
officers often gathered to watch their bouts and to encourage them
to greater efforts.
At Glasgow, his old home, Al had an opportunity to go ashore for a
short time and he was astonished and grieved to note the changes
which three short years had wrought in the familiar old town. The
levee was deserted save by a few indolent loafers who, without
recognizing him, stared at him suspiciously as he went past; for in
that terror-haunted country, fear and suspicion of everybody and
everything had become the habit of the people. Climbing the hill to
the main part of town, he found grass growing in the once bustling
business streets and many buildings locked and vacant. His father's
old store was among them, closed as he had left it. He saw no
familiar faces; most of the men and boys he had known were off in
one of the armies, Confederate or Union, and the women were not
often venturing from their houses in such times. In the residence
section the scene was still worse. House after house stood deserted
and going to decay. With slow steps Al went on to the place which
had been the home of his family in the dear old days when they
were happy and prosperous. The gate was fallen from the hinges,
weeds were growing thickly over the gravel walks, several panes of
glass were broken out of the windows, and a loose shutter creaked
dolefully in the wind. He rested his hand on a weather-beaten fence
picket and gazed out into the garden he remembered so well, where
he and Tommy and Annie had played; and beyond that into the
orchard, where the summer apples used to grow so large and red
and juicy. The cords of his throat tightened and a mist swam before
his eyes. Weeds and grass and broken limbs strewed the ground;
silence and desolation were everywhere. He turned away abruptly
and hastened back to the levee, never stopping until he was once
more on the boiler deck of the Island City, where General Sully and
several other officers were smoking and playing cards. It seemed to
him as if a ghost were following him, the ghost of dead days, so
tenderly remembered that the thought of them was unendurable,
and for the time being he wanted only to plunge into the present
and forget.
Welcome to Our Bookstore - The Ultimate Destination for Book Lovers
Are you passionate about testbank and eager to explore new worlds of
knowledge? At our website, we offer a vast collection of books that
cater to every interest and age group. From classic literature to
specialized publications, self-help books, and children’s stories, we
have it all! Each book is a gateway to new adventures, helping you
expand your knowledge and nourish your soul
Experience Convenient and Enjoyable Book Shopping Our website is more
than just an online bookstore—it’s a bridge connecting readers to the
timeless values of culture and wisdom. With a sleek and user-friendly
interface and a smart search system, you can find your favorite books
quickly and easily. Enjoy special promotions, fast home delivery, and
a seamless shopping experience that saves you time and enhances your
love for reading.
Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and
personal growth!

ebooksecure.com