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Energy Efficient Hardware Software Co Synthesis Using
Reconfigurable Hardware 1st Edition Jingzhao Ou Digital
Instant Download
Author(s): Jingzhao Ou, Viktor K. Prasanna
ISBN(s): 9781584887416, 1584887419
Edition: 1
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Year: 2009
Language: english
 Energy Efficient
Hardware-Software
Co-Synthesis Using
Reconfigurable Hardware
 CHAPMAN & HALL/CRC
COMPUTER and INFORMATION SCIENCE SERIES

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 Energy Efficient
Hardware-Software
Co-Synthesis Using
Reconfigurable Hardware

Jingzhao Ou
Xilinix
San Jose, California, U.S.A.

Viktor K. Prasanna
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Chapman & Hall/CRC
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Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data

Ou, Jingzhao.
Energy efficient hardware‑software co‑synthesis using reconfigurable hardware /
Jingzhao Ou, Viktor K. Prasanna.
p. cm. ‑‑ (Chapman & Hall/CRC computer and information science series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978‑1‑58488‑741‑6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Field programmable gate arrays‑‑Energy consumption. 2. Field programmable gate
arrays‑‑Design and construction. 3. Adaptive computing systems‑‑Energy consumption.
4. System design. I. Prasanna Kumar, V. II. Title. III. Series.

TK7895.G36O94 2009
621.39’5‑‑dc22 2009028735

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 To Juan, my dear wife.
Thanks a lot for your love!

−− Jingzhao Ou

To my parents.

−− Viktor K. Prasanna
Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Preface

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Challenges and Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Manuscript Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 Reconfigurable Hardware 9
2.1 Reconfigurable System-on-Chips (SoCs) . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1.1 Field-Programmable Gate Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1.2 Pre-Compiled Embedded Hardware Components . . . 16
2.1.3 Soft Processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.1.4 Domain-Specific Platform FPGAs . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.2 Design Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2.1 Low-Level Design Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2.2 High-Level Design Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.2.3 System Generator for DSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

3 A High-Level Hardware-Software Application Development

Framework 49
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.2 Related Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.3 Our Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.4 An Implementation Based on MATLAB/Simulink . . . . . . 57
3.4.1 High-Level Design Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.4.2 Arithmetic-Level Co-Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.4.3 Rapid Hardware Resource Estimation . . . . . . . . . 63
3.5 Illustrative Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.5.1 Co-Simulation of the Processor and Hardware Periph-
erals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.5.2 Co-Simulation of a Complete Multi-Processor Platform 70
 3.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

4 Energy Performance Modeling and Energy Efficient Mapping

for a Class of Applications 77
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.2 Knobs for Energy-Efficient Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.3 Related Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.4 Performance Modeling of RSoC Architectures . . . . . . . . 81
4.4.1 RSoC Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.4.2 A Performance Model for Virtex-II Pro . . . . . . . . 84
4.5 Problem Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.5.1 Application Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.5.2 Problem Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
4.6 Algorithm for Energy Minimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.6.1 Trellis Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.6.2 A Dynamic Programming Algorithm . . . . . . . . . 87
4.7 Illustrative Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.7.1 Delay-and-Sum Beamforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.7.2 MVDR Beamforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

5 High-Level Rapid Energy Estimation and Design Space Ex-

ploration 99
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
5.2 Related Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.2.1 Energy Estimation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.2.2 High-Level Design Space Exploration . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.3 Domain-Specific Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
5.3.1 Domain-Specific Models for Matrix Multiplication . . 106
5.3.2 High-Level Energy, Area, and Latency Functions . . . 111
5.3.3 Tradeoffs among Energy, Area, and Latency . . . . . . 112
5.4 A Two-Step Rapid Energy Estimation Technique . . . . . . 117
5.4.1 Step 1: Cycle-Accurate Arithmetic Level Co-Simulation 119
5.4.2 Step 2: Energy Estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5.5 Energy Estimation for Customized Hardware Components . 126
5.5.1 Software Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.5.2 Overall Design Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.5.3 Kernel Level Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.5.4 Application Level Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.6 Instruction-Level Energy Estimation for Software Programs . 136
5.6.1 Arithmetic-Level Instruction Based Energy Estimation 136
5.6.2 An Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.6.3 Illustrative Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5.7 Illustrative Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
5.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
6 Hardware-Software Co-Design for Energy Efficient Imple-
mentations of Operating Systems 153
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
6.2 Real-Time Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
6.2.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
6.2.2 Off-the-Shelf Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.3 On-Chip Energy Management Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . 159
6.4 Related Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
6.5 Our Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
6.6 An Implementation Based on MicroC/OS-II . . . . . . . . . 163
6.6.1 Customization of MicroBlaze Soft Processor . . . . . . 163
6.6.2 Clock Management Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
6.6.3 Auxiliary Task and Interrupt Management Unit . . . 165
6.6.4 Selective Wake-up and Activation State Management
Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.6.5 Analysis of Management Overhead . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6.6.6 Illustrative Application Development . . . . . . . . . . 171
6.7 An Implementation Based on TinyOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.7.1 Hardware Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
6.7.2 Illustrative Application Development . . . . . . . . . . 179
6.7.3 Analysis of Management Overhead . . . . . . . . . . . 182
6.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

7 Concluding Remarks and Future Directions 185

7.1 Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
7.2 Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

References 187

Index 197
List of Tables

2.1 Various FPL technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2 Logic resources in a CLB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.1 Resource usage of the CORDIC based division and the block
matrix multiplication applications as well as the simulation
times using different simulation techniques . . . . . . . . . . 66

4.1 Maximum operating frequencies of different implementations

of an 18×18-bit multiplication on Virtex-II Pro . . . . . . . 80
4.2 Energy dissipation Ei,s for executing task Ti in state s . . . 85
4.3 Energy dissipation of the tasks in the delay-and-sum beam-
forming application (μJ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.4 Various implementations of the tasks on RL for the MVDR
beamforming application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.5 Energy dissipation of the tasks in the MVDR beamforming
application (μJ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

5.1 Range of parameters for Xilinx XC2V1500 . . . . . . . . . . . 110

5.2 Number of modules and the latency of various designs . . . . 111
5.3 Energy and time performance models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
5.4 Power and area functions for various modules . . . . . . . . . 114
5.5 Energy dissipation of the FFT and matrix multiplication soft-
ware programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
5.6 Arithmetic level/low-level simulation time and measured/estimated
energy performance of the CORDIC based division application
and the block matrix multiplication application . . . . . . . 147
5.7 Simulation speeds of various simulators (unit: number of clock
cycles simulated per second) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

6.1 Dynamic power consumption of the FPGA device in different

activation states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
6.2 Various activation states for the FFT application shown in Fig-
ure 6.17 and their dynamic power consumption . . . . . . . . 181
List of Figures

1.1 Non-recurring engineering costs of EasyPath . . . . . . . . . 2

2.1 Classification of VLSI devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.2 Arrangement of slices within a Xilinx Virtex-4 CLB . . . . . 12
2.3 Virtex-4 slices within a Configurable Logic Block . . . . . . . 13
2.4 An FPGA device with island-style routing architecture . . . 14
2.5 Dual-port distributed RAM (RAM16x1D) . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.6 Cascadable shift registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.7 Diagonally symmetric interconnects in Virtex-5 . . . . . . . 17
2.8 Pipeline flow architecture of the PowerPC 405 Auxiliary Pro-
cessing Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.9 IBM CoreConnect bus architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.10 Architecture of DSP48 slices on Xilinx Virtex-4 devices . . . 21
2.11 Architecture of CoreMP7 soft processor . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.12 Architecture of MicroBlaze soft processor . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.13 Extension of the MicroBlaze instruction set through FSL inter-
faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.14 Extension of the Nios instruction set through direct ALU cou-
pling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.15 Architecture of ASMBL domain-specific platform FPGAs . . 28
2.16 Virtex-5 Multi-Platform FPGAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.17 Spartan-3 Multi-Platform FPGAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.18 An illustration of a low-level design flow . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.19 Design flow of System Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.20 The high-level Simulink block set provided by System Genera-
tor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.21 An FIR filtering design using System Generator . . . . . . . 36
2.22 Simulation results within the Simulink modeling environment 37
2.23 Automatic rate and type propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.24 Shared memory for hardware co-simulation . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.25 PowerPC system imported into SysrGen through Black Box
block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.26 Snapshot of a design using the PicoBlaze Block . . . . . . . 42
2.27 Two complementary flows supported by the EDK Processor
block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.28 Automatically generated memory map interface . . . . . . . 43
2.29 Adding shared memories to MicroBlaze memory map . . . . 44
2.30 Exposed top-level ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.31 High-level event generation interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.32 Co-debugging using GDB debugger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3.1 Hardware architecture of the configurable multi-processor plat-

form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.2 Our approach for high-level hardware-software co-simulation 54
3.3 An implementation of the proposed arithmetic co-simulation
environment based on MATLAB/Simulink . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.4 Architecture of the soft processor Simulink block . . . . . . . 60
3.5 Communication between MicroBlaze and customized hardware
designs through Fast Simplex Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.6 CORDIC algorithm for division with P = 4 . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.7 Time performance of the CORDIC algorithm for division (P =
0 denotes “pure” software implementations) . . . . . . . . . 67
3.8 Matrix multiplication with customized hardware peripheral for
matrix block multiplication with 2 × 2 blocks . . . . . . . . . 69
3.9 Time performance of our design of block matrix multiplication 69
3.10 The configurable multi-processor platform with four MicroB-
laze processors for the JPEG2000 encoding application . . . 71
3.11 Execution time speed-ups of the 2-D DWT task . . . . . . . 72
3.12 Utilization of the OPB bus interface when processing the 2-D
DWT task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.13 Simulation speed-ups achieved by the arithmetic level co-
simulation environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

4.1 The RSoC model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

4.2 A linear pipeline of tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.3 The trellis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.4 Task graph of the delay-and-sum beamforming application . 90
4.5 Energy dissipation of different implementations of the broad-
band delay-and-sum beamforming application (the input data
is after 2048-point FFT processing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.6 Energy dissipation of different implementations of the broad-
band delay-and-sum beamforming application (the number of
output frequency points is 256) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.7 Task graph of the MVDR beamforming application . . . . . 92
4.8 MAC architectures with various input sizes . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.9 Energy dissipation of task T1 implemented using various MAC
architectures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.10 Energy dissipation of various implementations of the MVDR
beamforming application (M = 64) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.11 Energy dissipation of various implementations of the MVDR
beamforming application (the number of points of FFT is 256) 96
5.1 FPGA-based hardware-software co-design . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.2 Domain-specific modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5.3 Design scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.4 Energy distribution of the design proposed in [76] . . . . . . . 107
5.5 Architecture of P Ej according to Theorem 1 . . . . . . . . . 108
5.6 Architecture of P Ej according to Theorem 2 . . . . . . . . . 108
5.7 Energy, area, latency trade-offs of Theorem 1 as a function of
the block size (n/r), (a) off-chip design and (b) on-chip design
for n = 48 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
5.8 Energy, area, latency trade-offs of Theorem 2 as a function of
r, (a) off-chip design and (b) on-chip design for n = 48 . . . . 116
5.9 The two-step energy estimation approach . . . . . . . . . . . 118
5.10 Software architecture of our hardware-software co-simulation
environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
5.11 An implementation of the hardware-software co-simulation en-
vironment based on MATLAB/Simulink . . . . . . . . . . . 120
5.12 Flow for generating the instruction energy look-up table . . . 123
5.13 Python classes organized as domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
5.14 Python class library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.15 High-level switching activities and power consumption of the
PEs shown in Figure 5.33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.16 High-level switching activities and power consumption of slice-
based multipliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.17 Architecture of PyGen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.18 Python class library within PyGen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5.19 Design flow using the energy profiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.20 Design flow of PyGen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.21 Tree structure of the Python extended classes for parameterized
FFT kernel development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.22 Class tree organized as domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
5.23 Power consumption and average switching activities of in-
put/output data of the butterflies in an unfolded-architecture
for 8-point FFT computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.24 Estimation error of the butterflies when default switching ac-
tivity is used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.25 Trellis for describing linear pipeline applications . . . . . . . 136
5.26 Flow of instruction energy profiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5.27 Software architecture of an implementation of the proposed en-
ergy estimation technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5.28 Configuration of the MicroBlaze processor system . . . . . . 140
5.29 Energy profiling of the MicroBlaze instruction set . . . . . . 142
5.30 Impact of input data causing different arithmetic behavior of
MicroBlaze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
5.31 Impact of different instruction addressing modes . . . . . . . 144
5.32 Instant average power consumption of the FFT software pro-
gram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
5.33 CORDIC processor for division (P = 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
5.34 Architecture of matrix multiplication with customized hard-
ware for multiplying 2 × 2 matrix blocks . . . . . . . . . . . 148

6.1 Overall hardware architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

6.2 Configuration of the MicroBlaze soft processor with the COMA
scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
6.3 An implementation of the clock management unit . . . . . . 164
6.4 Linked list of task control blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
6.5 Ready task list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
6.6 Interrupt management unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.7 Priority aliasing for selective component wake-up and activa-
tion state management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6.8 Typical context switch overhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
6.9 Typical interrupt overhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
6.10 Instant power consumption when processing data-input inter-
rupt and FFT computation task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
6.11 Instant power consumption when processing data-output task 174
6.12 Energy dissipation of the FPGA device for processing one in-
stance of the data-out task with different operating frequencies 175
6.13 Average power consumption of the FPGA device with different
data input/output rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.14 Hardware architecture of h-TinyOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
6.15 An implementation of h-TinyOS on MicroBlaze . . . . . . . 179
6.16 Implementation of an FFT module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
6.17 Top-level configuration ProcessC of the FFT computation ap-
plication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
6.18 Average power consumption for different data input/output
rates for h-TinyOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Acknowledgments

During my Ph.D. study at the University of Southern California, I was

working in Professor Prasanna’s research group, also known as the P-Group.
The pleasant research atmosphere in the P-Group was very helpful and enjoy-
able. I would like to thank all the members in the group, including Zachary
Baker, Amol Bakshi, Seonil Choi, Gokul Govindu, Bo Hong, Sumit Mohanty,
Gerald R. “Jerry” Morris, Jeoong Park, Neungsoo Park, Animesh Pathak,
Ronald Scrofano, Reetinder Sidhu, Mitali Singh, Yang Yu, Cong Zhang, and
Ling Zhuo. Among them, I want to give special thanks to Amol, who shared
an office with me since I joined the group; Seonil, with whom I have discussed
many of the research problems; Govindu, who was my officemate for one year;
and Bo and Yang, who are very close personal friends in my life.
I would like to thank my colleagues at Xilinx, Inc. This includes Ben Chan,
Nabeel Shirazi, Shay P. Seng, Arvind Sundararajan, Brent Milne, Haibing
Ma, Sean Kelly, Jim Hwang, and many others. Especially, I would like to
thank Brent Milne and Jim Hwang for offering me the internship and the full-
time job opportunity at Xilinx. Xilinx is a very innovative company. In the
past three years there, I have filed over 30 invention disclosures and patent
applications with the company. You can imagine the excitement and fun I
have while working there!
I want to express my wholehearted gratitude to my wife, Juan. She has
been a great support for me since the first day we fell in love with each other.
We were classmates for many years and studied together at the South China
University of Technology and the University of Southern California. We are
now happily living together in the Bay area with our little angel, Hellen.
Finally, I appreciate the patience, encouragement, and help from Bob Stern
and Theresa Delforn at CRC Press.

−− Jingzhao Ou
Preface

The integration of multi-million-gate configurable logic, pre-compiled het-

erogeneous hardware components, and on-chip processor subsystems offer high
computation capability and exceptional design flexibility to modern reconfig-
urable hardware. Moshe Gavrielov, the recently appointed president and CEO
of Xilinx, which is the largest manufacturer of commercial reconfigurable hard-
ware, pointed out that “FPGAs are becoming more and more relevant to a
wider range of designers. But it’s not just about gates; it’s about the IP as
well.”
Being the leader of the largest programmable logic company, Gavrielov sees
a three-fold challenge for his company.
First, it must maintain its pace in enlarging the capabilities of the
underlying silicon. Second, it must build its portfolio of IP across
a growing breadth of applications. And third, the company must
continue to pour investment into its development tools, so they are
able both to serve the needs of an increasingly diverse and, one
suspects, increasingly specialized and FPGA-naive community of
users and to continue hiding the growing complexity of the actual
FPGA circuitry from those users. ... In a semiconductor industry
of at least temporarily diminishing expectations, in which much
of the growth is sought in the low-power, low-margin consumer
world, one that has been firmly resistant to FPGA technology in
the past, that is a bold bet. The investment to create new silicon,
new tools, and greater scalability will have to come first, and the
answer as to whether the growth is really there will come second.∗

Rapid energy estimation and energy efficient application synthesis using

these hardware devices remains a challenging research topic. Energy dissipa-
tion and efficiency have become a hurdle that prevents the further widespread
use of FPGA devices in embedded systems, where energy efficiency is a key
performance metric. The major challenges for developing energy efficient ap-
plications using FPGAs are described in the following paragraphs.
• The ever increasing design complexity makes low-level design flows and
techniques unattractive for the development of many complicated systems.

∗ From Ron Wilson, “Moshe Gavrielov looks into the future of Xilinx and the FPGA

industry,” EDN.com, January 7, 2008, http://www.edn.com/blog/1690000169/post/

1320019732.html.
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 “All right,” said Hugh, “step in,” and, with this, Judge Lynn was
ushered into the directors’ room.
He struck an attitude of great dignity, thrusting one hand deep
into his waistcoat, and, with the other resting upon his hip, he said,
“Gentlemen, you-alls ‘ll pardon me, but I’m desirin’ to jist ask two or
three questions.”
The directors nodded their heads, as much as to say, “Go on.”
“Captain Osborn,” said the judge, “did n’t I onderstand you to say
that person’ly you’d like to ‘commodate me with the loan of a
thousand dollars?”
“I believe I did,” replied the captain.
“Mr. Vice-President,” said the judge, turning to Mr. Doole, “did n’t I
onderstand you to say that person’ly you’d no objections to loanin’
me the money?”
“I think I made such an observation,—yes!” replied Mr. Doole.
“Stanton,” continued the judge, with awful seriousness, “is n’t it a
fact that you said you’d be glad to ‘commodate me if it was a
personal matter of your own?”
“Yes, I think I said something like that, Judge,” replied Hugh.
“Well, gentlemen, person’ly each and every one of you would like
to ‘commodate me, but collectively you’ve turned me down; is n’t
that ‘bout it?”
The directors nodded their heads.
“But you see—” said the captain.
“Never mind, Captain,” interrupted the judge, “explainin’ don’t
count. Here’s what I want to say to you-alls. I jist want to say that
person’ly I think you’re a mighty nice lot o’ fellers, but collectively
I’m assoomin’ you’re the darndest lot of skates I ever run up agin’.”
And, with this parting shot, the judge hastily left the room,
muttering dire vengeance against bloated bondholders and coupon-
clippers.
 CHAPTER XXXIV.—THE PRAIRIE-
FIRE

A
KANSAS prairie is a veritable inland sea. From Meade to the
northwest a broad expanse of buffalo-grass lands stretched
away for many miles, almost as level as the top of a table,
without even a single gully or rill to break its tiresome monotony.
Often, at night, I have walked along some quiet roadway far into the
country, listening to the silence that enveloped me. Sometimes the
very air that, seemingly, pulsed with monotonous stillness, would be
startled by the sharp, quick bark of a wolf in the distance. I have
looked out across these flat table-lands, dimly lighted by the moon
in its last quarter, and for hours watched half-formed shadows of
passing clouds flit vaguely on across this vast sea of silence, while
others followed in countless numbers, until vision became confused
and imagination triumphed over knowledge. At such times, in fancy I
stood on the beach of a mighty ocean, and each shadow was a
sable-shrouded sail-boat carrying my hopes away to some unknown
shore of mystery.
The hot winds had dried and browned the buffalo-grass. Then the
rain came and freshened the landscape into a new life. Several
weeks of warm, windy weather had now intervened. The country
was becoming parched and dry again. The thick, matted buffalo-
grass was cured as effectually as is the Eastern farmer’s hay when it
is cut into swaths and dried before it is bunched into windrows. It,
however, retained its nutritiousness. Indeed, it was said to be more
fattening for the vast herds of cattle than prior to the hot winds.
One afternoon a thin line of smoke was discernible afar in the
western horizon. It seemed like a black ribbon reaching from No-
Man’s-Land, on the south, to the sand-hills, a distance of almost a
hundred miles to the north. These remarkable mounds of sand, in
width from five to fifteen miles, border the Arkansas River on its
south bank. They separate the river from the table-lands lying
farther to the south. To the inexperienced observer, the dark border
in the western horizon had more the appearance of dust-clouds,
caused by innumerable whirlwinds, than of smoke, but the older
frontiersmen recognized in the menacing dark border, a prairie-fire.
As Hugh Stanton was walking along the street, his attention was
called to this distant cloud, by Judge Lynn.
“I say, Stanton,” said he, “do you see that line of smoke? Onless I
don’t know a thing or two, the cattlemen will have to shift their
herds to a new range. You bet yer life they will. Reckon I knows a
thing or two.”
“Why, is that smoke?” asked Hugh. “Looks like a whirlwind of dust
to me.”
“Yes, sirree, that’s smoke, and one of the tarnallest, biggest
prairie-fires is ragin’ over there that ever scorched dry buffalo-grass.
Things’ll be sizzin’ hot ‘round here soon. You bet I know what I’m
talkin’ ‘bout.”
Hugh gazed intently while the Judge was speaking, and then
observed, “Well, if it were n’t so far away I should like to drive over
and see a genuine prairie-fire.”
“See a prairie-fire! Why, dang my buttons, man, I’m lowin’ you ‘re
liable to see enough prairie-fire afore mornin’ to last you the rest of
your nach’al days. You bet if it once gets started this way things’ll be
poppin’ ‘round here, an’ the whole country will be locoed:”
“Why, how so?” asked Hugh. “That dust line, or smoke, or
whatever it is, must be fully a hundred miles away.”
Lynn laughed in derision. “Gee, Stanton, not speakin’ onfeelin’ or
careless-like, but you’re tender. You’re dead easy. ‘Course it’s a
hundred miles away, maybe more, but if the wind gets a-comin’ an’
a-blowin’ this way, you’ll see the all-firedest time in these diggin’s
you ever heerd tell of, an’ somethin’ mighty thrillin’ will happen. You
bet I’m not ‘round makin’ a virtue out of duty, but, speakin’
onrestrained-like, every able-bodied man’ll have a duty to perform if
that fire gets to racin’ this way, an’ I’m not assoomin’ any spechul
knowledge in sayin’ it. I reckon I can tell a fire when I see smoke,
an’ there’s no misonderstandin’ ‘bout that.”
It was not long until several hundred townspeople were on the
street, discussing the great prairie-fire that was raging in the
western counties. Some of the more timid expressed alarm, but the
majority had never experienced a Kansas prairie-fire, and even in the
dullest soul there was a pronounced novelty in anticipation of so
grand a sight.
The smoke-cloud grew blacker and thicker near the earth, and
gradually rose higher and higher. A strong wind set in from the west,
and, before five o’clock, the ominous-looking pillars of smoke had so
dimmed the sun that it appeared like a great shield of bronze. The
earth was overcast with a yellow, subdued light; and the winds in
their onward sweeping seemed surcharged with presentiment—
burdened with dread. To the onlookers it did not seem possible that
danger to them lurked in this unchained fire demon, so far away.
Some one suggested that it might be well to plow furrows around
the western limits of the town, and back-fire, but he was quickly
laughed into silence for his fears. The increasing throng seemed to
enjoy a scene that all the while was growing plainer and grander in
the western horizon.
It was perhaps eight o’clock that night when the residents of
Meade discovered a thin glow of fire cutting the dark belt near the
earth, like a blood-red sickle. The line reached for miles from north
to south. The sight was novel and inspiring. The rapidly-moving
smoke-clouds, in their spiral twistings, had floated far to the east,
and they now presented an appearance as spectacular as an aurora
borealis. Great, reddened banks of clouds mounted almost to the
zenith, while on either side were interspersed columns of rolling
smoke of inky blackness.
The people ceased jesting now, for the scene was awe-inspiring. A
stillness fell over the assemblage. Presently the rumble of wagons
was heard on the different country roads leading into Meade. The
country folks had taken alarm, and, with well-filled wagons
containing their more valuable belongings, were hastening away
from their lonely dugouts to the protection of the town.
Some of the townspeople were inclined, at first, to jeer at the
fears of the farmers and ranchmen; but beneath their jeering there
had anchored a universal lodestone of depression and apprehension.
Arrangements were hastily made to protect the town by back-firing,
and by plowing furrows in the prairie sod on its western, southern,
and northern limits. Hundreds of willing hands volunteered to do this
work. The fireline grew plainer as it continued its eastward advance.
The shifting banks of smoke now resembled a seething ocean of
tumult. Some of the clouds were as yellow as molten gold, while
others appeared blood-stained, and fearful to look upon. The entire
western sky was aglow; and even high in the heavens were restless,
shifting banks of rose-tinted clouds, that feathered and paled into a
fringe of dissolving pink and white.
The streets were crowded with the inhabitants of the surrounding
country. By midnight a quiver of fear had shot through every heart,
and the weird light of the fire was casting a deathlike pallor over
every face. A dull, threatening roar could be heard. The flames were
leaping one upon another, like the incoming waves of the billowy
deep, ever changing and seething like an army of hissing serpents.
Their forked tongues shot high into the emblazoned clouds,
fantastically lighting up the landscape.
The hoarse, doleful bellowing of cattle was heard in the distance.
A smell of burning grass filled the air with stifling odor. The cattle
came nearer, and the sound of their trampling hoofs resembled the
sullen mutterings of thunder. A command was given to turn the
herds from the principal streets, but it was unavailing. Before the
people realized the danger, nearly a thousand beeves, bellowing in
stampeded terror, rushed pell-mell through the streets of Meade,
horning each other in their fury, and trampling to death any
unfortunate who happened to get in their way. They finally corralled
themselves in the public square.
Captain Osborn’s sonorous voice was heard above the tumult,
calling for additional volunteers to help fight the oncoming flames.
 Horses were hastily hitched to wagons in which barrels of water
were placed. Blankets, old coats, quilts, gunny-sacks, and every
conceivable kind of cast-off garments were hastily secured and
fastened to hoe and fork handles and poles, to be used by the brave
men in fighting the fire. These recruits hastened to the limits of the
town, and joined the fire-fighters, who were now begrimed with soot
and smoke even beyond recognition. They continued back-firing, but
it was practically unavailing. The fire would burn in the buffalo-grass
only when going with the wind. The teams and breaking-plows were
hastily transferred to a point nearer the town, and here wide, deep
furrows were plowed. The firemen then burned the grass between
these headlands, but their efforts were to prove futile in checking
the sweeping flames.
Then a wildly novel scene occurred. Flocks of prairie-hens, quails,
meadow-larks, and thrushes, all blinded, singed, and frightened,
began flying against the buildings, many of them falling to the earth
either crippled or dead. The entire town echoed with fluttering
wings. Wolves, driven from their dens and haunts by the prostrating
heat, rushed by the fire-fighters in frantic fright. Soon the town was
fairly besieged by these frenzied animals. Their advent seemed to
madden the already infuriated cattle, and a general mjlie and
warfare to the death ensued. The yelps and barking cries of this
bedlam were at once pitiful and terrible. Dozens of wolves were
gored to death.
Hundreds of jack-rabbits, their long ears lying flat upon their
backs, came bounding in from the burning prairie. The wolves had
been intimidated by the sharp horns of the terrified cattle, but now
they turned, with many a snarl and growl, upon the rabbits, and
killed scores of these helpless habituis of the Great Southwest.
The people had taken refuge in the upper stories, and on the roofs
of buildings, to protect themselves from the savage arena below. As
the fire drew nearer, and the light and heat became more intensified,
a spectral hue fell over the blanched faces of all.
A suffocating fear, far exceeding even that of the hot winds,
enveloped the beleaguered town of Meade. The situation was
desperate. The flames, in their maddened fury of triumph, were
rushing on the wings of the wind toward their defenseless victims.
The brave battalion of firefighters was forced to retire in haste
before the stifling heat. The western fronts of the buildings were as
light as noonday, while to the eastward the long shadows danced,
grew less distinct, and then darkened, as the scarlet smoke rose and
fell, producing strange and weird phantoms.
The rapidly-gliding columns of smoke, resting “one upon another—
one upon another,” seemed to have ignited and become a surging
sea—a pyrotechnical display of fire waves. A few buildings on the
outskirts caught fire from the great heat. Millions of flying sparks, as
countless as the stars, filled the air, threatening complete
annihilation. The menacing flames were advancing upon their
helpless prey with a fierceness that seemed to partake of hellish
glee. The cries of rabbits, the yelps of coyotes, the moaning howl of
wolves, the frantic roarings of cattle, and the wail of hysterical and
fainting women,—all produced the wildest pandemonium. Above this
terrible tumult could be heard the hissing, crackling, seething laugh
of the undulating, death-dealing labyrinth of flames,—on they
rushed, in awful fury. Extinction seemed imminent. The burning
buildings were already crumbling into charred ruins; while others
were being enveloped with roaring, swirling sheets of fire. Like
prophets, they seemed to be foretelling, by example, a certain
destruction. The cattle, the wolves, the jack-rabbits and the people,
were alike demoralized and stampeded by an overpowering fear.
The fire now advanced like a line of molten lava. On, on it came,
to the very limits of Meade. Man and beast seemed about to be
offered up on a fiery altar. The cattle moaned a sacrificial dirge. The
smothering smoke crept stealthily down through the streets, and
suffocation hushed the wail of the people. Like hordes of painted
savages, the flames seemed to be brandishing bloody tomahawks,
as they rushed at their victims with demoniacal shrieks of exultation.
Then, God smote the rock of deliverance,—a divine hand reached
out in infinite compassion. The heavens opened, the rain descended
in blinding torrents, the earth trembled with deafening peals of
thunder, the lightning pierced the clouds in fearful grandeur, as if the
Almighty, in His immeasurable goodness, were hurling an admonition
at the flames.
Providence grappled the devouring demon by the throat, as he
was in the very act of exulting over an almost certain victory. The
fire-king of terror surrendered to an omnipotent decree. Its mighty
strength was broken, and what a few moments before had seemed
an irresistible artillery of power and defiance became a charnel-
house, wrapped in the sable robes of its own defeat. Then there
went up a cry from the people, “God lives! Our lives are spared! All
praise to the Ruler of the universe!”
When the wreck and ruin had been surveyed in the gray dawn and
morning of a new day, these loyal people, with a fortitude unequaled
in the history of communities, returned to the burning embers of
their dugout homes, and, forgetting the devastation of the hot winds
and the calamity of the greatest prairie-fire that had ever swept over
the Southwest, they went on loving Kansas,—the land of sunshine
and of sunflowers.
 CHAPTER XXXV.—A BUCKING
BRONCO

T
HE great fire left nothing in its trail but ruin and hunger. The
farmers were, indeed, in sad circumstances. Want and misery
were in reality glaring at the people with gaunt and hollow
eyes. The spring sunshine and rain had clothed the landscape in
brilliant green; the hot winds had changed all, as if by magic, into a
world of dullest brown; while the great fire had spread over the
prairie a sable robe of ruin. Nor had the fire-king been entirely
cheated of the sacrifice of flesh and blood. The brown prairie had
been turned into a vast graveyard where suffocated men, horses,
cattle, wild animals, and flying things had, alike, been offered up to
the insatiable greed of the flames. Side by side lay these half-burned
carcasses and bones, telling where the victims had fallen,
vanquished in their race for life.
Time, however, would strangely change this field of desolation.
Other seasons would come, and here, where blackened embers lay
scattered for miles in every direction, new hopes would blossom.
Springing up from among these very bones, and enriched by them,
would grow the johnny-jump-ups, the daisies, and the dandelions.
The plum bushes that grow in straggling bunches along the sand-
dunes would again blossom and yield their plenteous offerings of
scarlet-red sand-plums. A new carpet of growing green, interspersed
with a myriad of rainbow-tinted flowers, would cover these barren
plains with a mantle of renewed life and beauty. This hope
stimulated the people and robbed their defeat of many remorseful
stings.
Major Buell Hampton came to the rescue. In his usual magnificent
generosity, he announced through the Patriot that there would be
ample assistance for the comfort of all. Arrangements were made for
the farmers to drive their teams northward, along the old “Jones and
Plummer” trail, to Dodge City, the nearest railroad point, and there
load their wagons with provisions for man and beast. In a few days
plenty once more blessed the impoverished people.
Major Hampton was ably seconded in his benevolence by John
Horton, Captain Osborn, and others.
“I am of the opinion,” said Major Hampton, when talking to Hugh
Stanton, “that in the crucible of suffering, God separates the dross
from the gold. It is necessary to jar men into a realization of ‘man’s
dependence upon his brother man.’.rdquo;
“Every condition that arises, Major,” replied Hugh, “brings to light a
new phase of your character. You have donated thousands of dollars
to these unfortunates, and you should be almost idolized by them
for your rare generosity.”
“My dear Stanton, let me say to you that praise, even though
deserved, is, after all, only flattery. I am not entitled to your
complimentary words. To feed the hungry, visit the sick, and clothe
the naked is a command from the Supreme Ruler. The only real
happiness in the world is in making others happy.”
John Horton rode up the street while they were talking, and
reported to Major Hampton that a hundred head of beeves would
arrive that evening for distribution among the sufferers.
“Well, Stanton, my boy,” said the major, “I am going into the
country this afternoon, but shall try to see you to-morrow.” With this
he turned toward the Patriot office, leaving Hugh to marvel at this
strange man whose liberality to the needy seemed limitless.
In the meantime Mrs. Horton had awakened to a realization that
she had been unfairly influenced in many ways by the late Mrs.
Osborn.
She now wondered why she had been so blinded. She was a
woman of great nobility of heart and of excellent judgment in most
matters, and she was beginning to acknowledge to herself that she
had committed a great error in her foolish Anglomania ambitions.
She seldom did things by halves. Discovering that Ethel was
irrevocably in love with Doctor Redfield, she determined to make
amends for the miserable daubs she had painted in the stage setting
of an unsuccessful English comedy. She therefore wrote at once to
Doctor Redfield, assuring him of her unqualified approval of his suit,
and urging him to stop at the Grove, as their guest, as long as he
remained in the Southwest. This urgent request was supplemented
by the rugged and yet whole-souled invitation of the cattle king.
Accordingly, the doctor left Hugh Stanton’s rooms at the hotel for
the hospitality of Horton’s Grove, where he might be with Ethel.
Hugh was filled with a keen sense of loneliness when Jack drove
away with his fiancie. Her tender eyes shone with a new light when
in Jack Redfield’s presence. She coaxingly told Hugh that he must
come over to the Grove every day, and, if he did not, they would
surely send for him.
When they were gone, Hugh turned back to his room, marveling
at the transformation in Ethel. Her cheeks glowed with the pink tinge
of ruddy health and her lips were like well-ripened cherries, while
the whole expression of her youthful face was one of contentment
and of hope. “Love is a wonderful thing,” said he, as he stood by the
window watching the carriage containing Jack and Ethel drive away
toward the country. He sighed, muttered something to himself, and
turned from the window.
“After all,” said he, aloud, “marriage is a mystery, the prelude an
illusion decked with ribbons of flattery, the awakening an
introduction to the real, where the happiness of each hangs upon
the caprice of both; while life, at best, is only a straw blown about
on the surface of chance, with the devil ever standing near,
beckoning us on to a labyrinth of confusion and misery.” Then he
thought of Ethel’s fair hand, which he had so recently held in his
own, and there crept into his soul, as the fanning breath of
springtime, a feeling of reverence, loyalty and respect.
The next morning, as Hugh was walking down the street, he met
Marie Hampton. A rich color mounted her cheek at their meeting.
“You are quite a stranger,” said she, smiling pleasantly. “We have not
seen you at our home for more than a week, and papa says you
have ceased calling at the Patriot office, altogether.”
“A friend has been visiting me,” replied Hugh, “and I have given
him considerable of my time, but that’s over with now,” said he, with
a sigh, “and I shall hope to see more of you and your father, too.”
“Oh, has he gone away so soon?” asked Marie.
“No,” replied Hugh, moodily, “but he does not need me any
longer.”
“Indeed?” said Marie, and there was an interrogative accent in her
voice.
“Yes,” replied Hugh, nervously. “Come, I will walk with you and tell
you a romance.”
They turned down the street toward Major Hampton’s home, and,
as they walked along, Hugh told Marie of Jack Redfield’s love affair.
“Oh, how romantic!” she exclaimed, when he had finished. “Just
like a story in a novel. I am impatient to see Ethel and this hero of
hers.”
They had reached Marie’s home, and she was standing on the
veranda, leaning her pretty head, with its wealth of bronzed hair,
against one of the supports. Her eyes were resting radiantly on
Hugh’s face.
“I doubt not,” Hugh was saying, “that they are very happy, and I
presume it is only a question of time until we shall lose Ethel.”
“Papa says he fears you will also go away now that the hot winds
have destroyed the crops and the big fire has generally devastated
the country.”
Hugh shrugged his shoulders. “The greater the pressure, the
better the wine.” He laughed a little and continued, “The test has
been a crucial one. Perhaps I will be compelled to go. When one is
conquered, the surrender should be unconditional.”
“That might be true of a woman,” said Marie, “but a man should
resist.”
“And why of a woman more than of a man?” inquired Hugh.
 “A man has greater strength,” she replied. “A woman is all heart
and sentiment, and, while her fortress is a strong one, yet she
expects to be conquered, and once she surrenders, she loves no one
more than her conqueror.”
Hugh thought for a moment and then said, “Yes, I presume that is
the rule.”
“Not the rule, but the condition,” replied Marie.
“But there are rules that govern lives,” persisted Hugh. “Do you
not think so?”
“Perhaps in a commercial sense, but not in love affairs,” said
Marie, laughing. “Now what sort of a rule could possibly have
governed Ethel and her lover?”
“Certainly a poor one,” replied Hugh.
“Are you quite sure, Mr. Stanton, that this Dr. Jack Redfield loves
Ethel as a hero in a novel seems to love his fiancie?”
“The illusion seems to be perfect,” replied Hugh, smiling.
“Do you believe in love, Mr. Stanton?” asked Marie, demurely.
“Yes, I presume there is such a sentiment,” replied Hugh.
“And do you think,” Marie went on, “that true love will endure any
sort of a test?”
“I do not know, I’m sure,” said Hugh.
“Well,” persisted Marie, “what is the test of a man’s love for a
woman?”
“The test,” replied Hugh, “of a man’s love for a woman?” He
looked afar across the valley as if meditatively weighing the question
that has perplexed the sages of all centuries. Finally he said, “A man
not infrequently lies with reckless prodigality to the woman he truly
loves, while to those toward whom he entertains sentiments of
indifference he will confess the truth without clothing it with
sufficient covering to even hide its nakedness.”
“I do not believe in your definition at all,” said Marie, with
heightened color, “and I look upon rules as the most worthless
baggage with which a life can be encumbered. A principle may apply
to all conditions, but a rule is narrow; while your idea of love’s test is
horrid.”
Hugh smiled at her philosophy and looked at the blushing girl with
increasing interest. “You are quite a reasoner, as well as a genius,”
said he, “even if you do not agree with my ideas of the test of man’s
love for woman. May I come tonight and hear you sing and play?”
“You may come,” she replied, “and I will play for you a simple little
melody,—one I have recently learned. You persist in saying I am a
genius; if so, I must be eccentric, and one of my whims is simplicity.”
“I like you all the better for your whims,” said Hugh, gallantly, and,
as he lifted his hat and turned away, he noticed that the compliment
had deepened the color in Marie’s face.
As he walked along the street, still thinking of his conversation
with Marie, he met Bill Kinne-man, riding a bronco. Kinneman called
out to him, “Look ‘e ‘ere, pardner, I thought you agreed not to
browse on my range.”
“What’s the matter with you, Kinneman, anyway?” asked Hugh,
angrily.
“Waal, I’ll jist tell you what’s a-chafin’ me, an’ makin’ me feel a
heap careless,” replied the cowboy. “You want to keep away from
Major Hampton’s an’ quit foolin’ ‘round Miss Marie, my wayfarin’
friend, or you’ll git into a whole lot o’ trouble that’ll result in yer
nach’ally git-tin’ uncorked and spilled.”
“Oh, is that so?” replied Hugh, contemptuously.
“You bet yer life, it’s so,” replied Kinneman, “an’ speakin’ sort o’
quick and hostile-like, you’ve bin stealin’ my thunder, an’ now you
may nach’ally expect to git a dose o’ my forked-tongued lightnin’.”
“You may do your worst,” said Hugh, angrily. “I shall call on Major
Hampton and his daughter as often as I like, as long as it is
agreeable to them. You are a contemptible whelp at best, and as far
beneath Miss Hampton as hades is below heaven, and if she had the
faintest suspicion that you aspired to her hand, she would be so
incensed at your presumption that she would never speak to you
again. Now go on about your business, if you have any, and never
again dare speak to me.”
Hugh turned on his heel and walked briskly away toward the bank,
while Bill Kinneman rode his pony into a side street, muttering dire
vengeance.
As Hugh neared the bank he saw John B. Horton riding madly
down the street. His fiery bronco seemed to have gotten beyond his
control. It reared, pitched, plunged forward, kicked viciously, and
pawed the earth. The cattle king sat in his saddle like a born
equestrian, but it was evident that he was pretty well exhausted.
Presently the pony started swiftly forward into a mad, breakneck
run. When directly in front of Captain Osborn’s bank, the mustang
suddenly shied, reared into almost an upright position, and then, as
its fore feet came down, it “bucked,” made a wicked plunge, and
kicked high in the air. The onlookers, though accustomed to bucking
broncos, were beginning to be alarmed. Another mad plunge, and
still another. Suddenly the saddle-girth broke, and Mr. Horton was
thrown violently from the pony, his head striking against the curb of
the sidewalk. By a strange coincidence, the ugly red scar that Hugh
had noticed at their first meeting was cut open by the fall.
Captain Osborn rushed from the bank, and, with the assistance of
Hugh and others, the bleeding man was carried into the captain’s
private room and a physician hastily summoned.
Before the physician could arrive, a report was circulating on the
streets of Meade that John B. Horton, the cattle king, had been
thrown from a bronco and killed.
 CHAPTER XXXVI.—A STARTLING
REVELATION

F
AR into the night John Horton lay in an unconscious condition,
between life and death. The physician characterized the wound
as an ugly one, and expressed great doubt as to the outcome.
Agreeable to his advice, it was thought best not to move the patient
for a few hours at least; and a comfortable cot was provided, on
which he lay moaning, tossing, and mumbling incoherently. By his
side sat the grim-visaged Captain Osborn, whose heart was tender
with sympathy and solicitude. Occasionally the captain would
exchange a few words with Hugh Stanton, in subdued tones,
regarding the doctor’s orders and the ices that were to be kept
constantly on the wound. The name “Ethel” escaped the patient’s
lips amidst his moaning, and again the words “little Hugh.”
It was after midnight when he seemed to arouse from the
unconscious condition in which he had lain, and began moaning
again and pulling at the bandages on his wound. It required no little
effort on the part of his attendants to prevent him from tearing the
bandages entirely away. Presently he started up as if awakening
from a troubled sleep. He opened his eyes and for a few minutes
looked vacantly at Captain Osborn. Then, in a quick, nervous tone,
he asked, “Where is my canteen and sword?”
“They are all right,” replied the captain, soothingly, “don’t think
anything about them at present. What you need now is quiet and
sleep.”
“Where am I?” the wounded man next asked, and then, without
waiting for a reply, he continued, “Did we whip them or did they
whip us?”
“There, there,” said the captain, gently, “you have a bad wound.
Don’t disturb yourself by trying to think. Go to sleep now, and I will
tell you all about the affair in the morning.”
“Very kind of you, stranger, I am sure,” said Horton. “I have had
all the sleep I care for. I must now join my regiment.” As he said this
he tried to arise from the cot. Both Hugh and Captain Osborn had all
they could do to prevent him from doing so. They persuaded him to
believe that the physician had forbidden undue exertion. The
wounded man lay back on his cot, exhausted from his effort, and
looked at his attendants in half anger, while his eyes lighted up with
the fire of a soldier.
“My duty as a soldier,” he protested, “outranks the order of the
hospital physician. As civilians, you, perhaps, cannot understand
this, but it is imperative that I join my regiment, the Twenty-ninth,
immediately.”
Hugh started to speak, but the old captain motioned him to
silence. “He is badly out of his head,” thought he, “and I must
handle him by strategy.” Perhaps Captain Osborn remembered the
gallant services of the Twenty-ninth Massachusetts regiment, of
which he had been the colonel, and was pardonably proud of his
achievements while defending the flag during the war.
“The Twenty-ninth is all right, comrade,” observed the captain.
“Officers and men behaved like heroes.”
“A glorious report!” cried the wounded man, enthusiastically. “That
repays me for this painful wound on my head, and lying around in
the hospital insensible for I know not how many hours. It was a
grand charge our men made,—right in the face of bristling bayonets,
shot and shell from the ‘gray coats.’ Our captain commanded the
right wing, the second lieutenant the left, while I occupied the
central position, and, in the doublequick charge that we were
making, something struck me on the head, just as our boys crossed
over a little brook, and then—well, I knew nothing more until just
now, when I came to my senses in this improvised hospital.” As he
concluded, he let his eyes wander about the small, dimly-lighted
room.
The captain looked at Hugh, and shook his head doubtfully.
 “Perhaps you would like to send a report to the commander of
your brigade, comrade?”
“Good idea,” said Mr. Horton. “By the way, as we whipped the
‘rebs,’ communication with the North is still open, and I would like
also to send a few lines to a noble little wife away up in
Massachusetts.”
“Let me be your amanuensis,” said Hugh, drawing his chair to the
captain’s table, and arranging some writing material.
“Thank you, sir; are you ready?”
“Quite ready,” replied Hugh.

“Hospital near Fortress Monroe.

“To Captain Lyman Osborn, 29th Mass. Inf.:
“Will join the company to-morrow. Am all right with
the exception of a scalp wound, which is somewhat
painful. Have had a good sleep and feel refreshed.
Expect me by noon.
“Your obedient servant,
“Lieut. Hugh Stanton.”

When the wounded man had finished dictating his report he

uttered a moan, and pressed his hand against the painful wound on
his head. Hugh lifted his eyes to Captain Osborn, and saw that the
old veteran’s face was ashen white. The startling revelation had also
dawned upon Hugh, and nis hand trembled violently. Captain Osborn
controlled his feelings, and, with iron-like firmness, remarked,
“Excellent report, comrade, splendid! Now, suppose you dictate a
short letter to your wife, and I will see that it is posted on the north-
bound train that leaves here within an hour.”
Mr. Horton was evidently in great pain. He lay with closed eyes for
a few minutes, as if waiting for the throbbing of his head to cease,
and then said: “Oh, I hope the garbled telegraph reports have not
numbered me among the missing. It would break the little woman’s
heart to read such a report as that in the newspapers.”
 “I am ready,” said Hugh, huskily.
“Very well; say Fortress Monroe—don’t date it at the hospital; it
would only cause her needless anxiety.”
“All right, I will do as you request,” replied Hugh.

“My dear wife Ethel:—Yesterday, June 10th, our

company formed part of a detachment sent to dislodge
the forces under General Magruder, which were
stationed a few miles from here, in the vicinity of
Bethel Church. The battle did not last long, but was
quite severe. I was slightly wounded—nothing serious.
Will report to my company for active service within a
few hours. Have just learned that we completely
routed the enemy, which was, of course, a most
satisfactory termination of the engagement. Every man
of the Twenty-ninth proved himself a hero, for, like
myself, they were fighting for a great principle and for
loved ones at home, and this made their services to
their country a holy crusade.
“When our little Hugh—God bless him!—is older,
teach him that his father was a soldier and a defender
of hearthstones and of the glorious old stars and
stripes. The Bethel Church encounter will doubtless go
down in history as one of the most spirited
engagements of the war.
“Affectionately your husband,
“Hugh Stanton.”

It required no small effort on the part of Captain Osborn to control

his agitation at this marvelous revelation. However, he hastily
prepared an opiate that had been left by the physician, and gave it
to the wounded man, who soon after fell into a peaceful slumber.
Then he moved nervously from the side of the cot, and approached
Hugh.
 “My boy,” said he, in a low, trembling voice, “what a revelation! Do
you realize that this man is none other than your father?”
“I do,” faltered Hugh.
“Yes, and by the eternal,” the captain went on, “we will save him.
To think I have failed to recognize my old lieutenant all these years
is a piece of unpardonable stupidity on my part.”
Hugh’s head had been bowed in his hands, while his whole frame
was convulsed with stifled sobs. When the captain ceased speaking,
he stood up before him, and their hands closed in a fervent hand-
clasp.
“God bless you, my old friend,” said Hugh, “you have nothing to
condemn yourself for, but together we are confronting a great
problem. Will he awake from his present sleep as John Horton, the
cattle king, or as Hugh Stanton, my father?”
 CHAPTER XXXVII.—TRYING TO
REMEMBER

C
APTAIN OSBORN had sent word to Mrs. Horton immediately
after the accident, that her husband was detained on some
business matters and would not return home until the
following day. With the gray dawn of morning, he took counsel with
Hugh whether it were better to keep up the deception or
communicate with the family, and tell them of the accident and of
Mr. Horton’s real condition. It was finally decided that the deception
was a necessity, and every effort should be made to keep the facts
from Mrs. Horton. Accordingly, the captain wrote a hasty note to
Mrs. Horton, saying that her husband had been detained on some
important business affairs, and would probably not return home for
several days. As it was nothing unusual for the cattle owner to be
unexpectedly called away in looking after his various interests, his
wife, on receipt of the captain’s note, was not at all alarmed.
Captain Robert Painter, the commander of the local G. A. R. post,
was quietly informed of the situation, and a report was promptly
circulated on the streets of Meade that J. B. Horton had sustained no
serious injuries from his fall. In the meantime, before the morning
sun had climbed above the horizon, strong and willing hands of old
comrades had tenderly carried the injured man, who was still under
the influence of opiates, to Captain Osborn’s home. Captain Painter
secured four old veterans as assistants, and held them subject to
orders in a room adjoining the one occupied by the patient. They
conversed in whispers of the strange revelation, and shook their
heads doubtfully, wondering if the sufferer would recover and be
reconciled to the two lives he had lived.
Captain Osborn and Hugh were constantly by the patient’s
bedside. The physician arrived, and, after a careful examination,
pronounced the symptoms favorable. The fever had been allayed,
while the pulse and respiration were almost normal. When the
effects of the opiates began to wear away, the patient became
restless and presently opened his eyes. “Good morning, gentlemen,”
said he, as he glanced hastily from the face of Captain Osborn and
then to Hugh. “I fear I have overslept,” and he made a motion as if
to arise from the bed.
“I don’t consider it prudent,” hastily interposed the physician,
laying his hand gently on the patient’s head, “I advise perfect quiet.”
“Indeed!” said Mr. Horton, rather brusquely, pushing the
physician’s hand roughly away, “in the absence of the army surgeon
I shall decide for myself.”
“I beg of you, comrade,” interposed the captain, “not to fatigue
yourself, but rest quietly in bed. The colonel of the Twenty-ninth has
been sent for, and will be here shortly.”
“Where is your blue?” asked the patient, while his dark eyes
sparkled with a trace of indignation. “If you are a comrade of mine,
you should be wearing the colors. Perhaps, though, you are too old
for service; you look decidedly grizzled.”
“Very true, Lieutenant Stanton,” replied the captain, “as you say, I
am rather gray and grizzled; nevertheless, I am your comrade as far
as the sentiments of loyalty for the old flag are concerned. Indeed, I
am quite as ready to sacrifice my life in the defense of the stars and
stripes as you have shown yourself to be.”
“You exaggerate the severity of my wound. I assure you it is
comparatively slight. By the way,” he continued, turning toward
Hugh, “did you send my letters?” Hugh nodded affirmatively. “Very
well,” he continued, addressing the captain, “if you are a comrade of
mine you will permit me to dress and be ready to receive my
captain.” The physician caught Captain Osborn’s eye, and made a
sign that perhaps it would be best to humor the injured man’s whim.
The doctor and Hugh withdrew to an adjoining room, but Captain
Osborn remained. The cattle owner assumed a sitting position on
the side of the bed. His coat, vest, and trousers were resting on a
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