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Logical Reasoning A First Course Rob P. Nederpelt
Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Rob P. Nederpelt, Fairouz D. Kamareddine
ISBN(s): 9780954300678, 095430067X
Edition: Revised Edition, 2007
File Details: PDF, 80.72 MB
Year: 2004
Language: english
 Logical Reasoning
A First Course
Revised Edition

Rob Nederpelt
Technische Universiteit , Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Fairouz Kamareddine
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland
Volume 1
Programming Languages and Semantics
Maribel Fernandez
Volume 2
An Introduction to Lambda Calculus for Computer Scientists
Chris Hankin
Volume 3
Logical Reasoning: A First Course
Rob Nederpelt and Fairouz Kamareddine
Volume 4
The Haskell Road to Logic, Maths and Programming
Kees Doets and Jan van Eijck
Volume 5
Bridges from Classical to Nonmonotonic Reasoning
David Makinson
Volume 6
Automata and Dictionaries
Denis Maurel and Franz Guenthner
Volume 7
Learn Prolog Now!
Patrick Blackburn, Johan Bos and Kristina Striegnitz
Volum 8 A Meeting of the Minds: Proceedings of the Workshop on Logic ,
Rationality and Interaction, Beijing, 2007
Johan van Benthem, Shier Ju and Frank Veltman, eds.
Texts in Computing Series Editor
lan Mackie ian.mackie@kcl .ac.uk
 ~

© Individual author and College Publications, 2004.

Revised edition, 2007.
All rights reserved.

ISBN 0-9543006-7 -X
College Publications
Scientific Director: Dov Gabbay
Managing Director: Jane Spurr
Department of Computer Science
King's College London
Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK

Original cover design by Richard Fraser.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted, in any form , or by any means, electronic, mechanical , photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without prior permission , in writing, from the publisher.
Contents

I Logical Calculations 1

1 What is 'logic'? 3
1.1 Aristotle and his 'Organon' 3
1.2 Formal logic . 5
1.3 Exercises ...... 6

2 Abstract propositions 7
2.1 Propositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Abstract propositions and connectives 9
2.3 Recursive definitions of propositions 10
2.4 The structure of abstract propositions 12
2.5 Dropping parentheses 13
2.6 Exercises • • • • • 0 15

3 Truth tables 17
3.1 The conjunction P 1\ Q . 17
3.2 The disjunction P V Q 18
3.3 The negation ,p . . . . 20
3.4 The implication P =? Q 21
3.5 The hi-implication P {=} Q
,
22
3.6 Other notations . 24
3.7 Exercises ...... . . . 25

4 The Boolean behaviour of propositions 27

4.1 Truth-functions . . . . . . . . .. 27
4.2 Classes of equivalent propositions 30
4.3 Equivalency of propositions .. 32
4.4 Tautologies and contradictions 33
4.5 Exercises • 0 • • • • • • • • • • 36
vi CONTENTS

5 Standard equivalences 39
5.1 Commutativity, associativity . . . . . . 39
5.2 Intermezzo: =} and {=} as meta-symbols 41
5.3 Idempotence, double negation . 43
5.4 Rules with True and False 44
5.5 Distributivity, De Morgan 46
5.6 Rules with =} 47
5. 7 Rules with {=} 48
5.8 Exercises .. 49

6 Working with equivalent propositions 51

. properties
6.1 Bas1c . of =val . . . .
51
6.2 Substitution, Leibniz . . . . . 53
6.3 Calculations with equivalence 55
6.4 Equivalence in mathematics 57
6.5 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . 59

7 Strengthening and weakening of propositions 61

7.1 Stronger and weaker . . 61
7.2 Standard weakenings . . . . . 63
73
. B as1c ~
. o f r--
. properties 64
7.4 Calculations with weakening . 66
7.5 Exercises . . . . . . . . . 68

8 Predicates and quantifiers 71

8.1 Sorts of variables 71
8.2 Predicates . .. .. . . . . 72
8.3 Quantifiers . . . . . . . . 75
8.4 Quantifying many-place predicates 77
8.5 The structure of quantified formulas 79
8.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

9 Standard equivalences with quantifiers 85

9.1 Equivalence of predicates . . . . 85
9.2 The renaming of bound variables 86
9.3 Domain splitting . . . . . . . 88
9.4 One- or zero-element domains 89
9.5 Domain weakening . . . . . . 91
9.6 De Morgan for \/ and 3 . . . . 92
9. 7 Substitution and Leibniz for quantifications 94
9.8 Other equivalences with \/ and 3 . . . . . . 95
coNTENTS vii

9.9 Tautologies and contradictions with quantifiers 98

9.10 Exercises .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 101

10 Other binders of variables 103

10.1 Predicates versus abstract function values . 103
10.2 The set binder . . 104
10.3 The sum binder . . 107
10.4 The symbol # . 108
10.5 Scopes of binders . 109
10.6 Exercises . . . . . 110

II Logical Derivations 111

11 Reasoning 113
11.1 The strength and weakness of calculations . 113
11.2 'Calculating' against 'reasoning' . . 116
11.3 An example from mathematics . 117
11.4 Inference . . . . . . . . . 120
11.5 Hypotheses .. .. . . . 124
11.6 The use of hypotheses . 126
11. 7 Exercises . . . . . . . . 127

12 Reasoning with 1\ and =? 129

12.1 'Flags' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
12.2 Introduction and elimination rules . . . . . 130
12.3 The construction of an abstract reasoning . 136
12.4 The setting up of a reasoning . 142
12.5 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . 144

13 The structure of the context 147

13.1 Validity . . .. . . 147
13.2 Nested contexts .
."" . 149
13.3 Other notations . . 150
13.4 Exercises . 153

14 Reasoning with other connectives 155

14.1 Reasoning with -, . . . . 155
14.2 Reasoning with False . . . . . 161
14.3 Reasoning with -,-, . .. . . . . 163
14.4 Reasoning ' by contradiction ' . . 164
14.5 Reasoning with V . . . . . . . . 166
Vlll CONTENTS

14.6 Case distinction . . . 172

14.7 Reasoning with {:} . 174
14.8 Exercises . . . . . . 175

15 Reasoning with quantifiers 177

15.1 Reasoning with V . . 177
15.2 Reasoning with 3 .
15.3 Alternatives for 3 .
15.4 Exercises • 0 •• 0
.
.
.
184
187
196 I
Iii

~
III Applications 199
16 Sets 201
16.1 Set construction . 201
16.2 Universal set and subset . 203
16.3 Equality of sets . . . . . 205
16.4 Intersection and union . 209
16.5 Complement . . . 211
16.6 Difference .. . . 213
16.7 The empty set . 218
16.8 Powerset . . . . . 222
16.9 Cartesian product . 225
16.10 Exercises . . . . . . "''• . 228

17 Relations 231
17.1 Relations between sets . 231
17.2 Relations on a set . . . . 234
17.3 Special relations on a set . . 235
17.4 Equivalence relations . . 238
17.5 Equivalence classes . . 242
17.6 Composing relations . 246
17.7 Equality of relations . 248
17.8 Exercises ...... . 249

18 Mappings 253
18.1 Mappings from one set to another . 253
18.2 The characteristics of a mapping . 257
18.3 Image and source . . . 258
18.4 Special mappings . . . 264
18.5 The inverse function . 272
18.6 Composite mappings . 274
CONTENTS ix

180 7 Equality of mappings 0 0 277

1808 Exercises 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 278

19 Numbers and structures 281

1901 Sorts of numbers 0 0 0 0 281
1902 The structure of the natural numbers 0 0 282
1903 Inductive proofs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 285
19.4 Inductive definition of sets of numbers 0 291
1905 Strong induction 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 294
1906 Inductive definition of sets of formulas 0 299
1907 Structural induction . 302
1908 Cardinality 0 0 0 304
1909 Denumerability 0 306
19o10Uncountability 0 310
19 011 Exercises 0 315

20 Ordered sets 321

20 01 Quasi-ordering 0 321
2002 Orderings 0 0 0 0 323
20 03 Linear orderings 0 327
20.4 Lexicographic orderings 0 329
2005 Hasse diagrams 0 0 0 0 0 0 332
2006 Extreme elements 0 0 0 0 0 335
2007 Upper and lower bounds 0 338
2008 Well-ordering and well-foundedness 0 0 341
20 09 Exercises 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 344
To the reader

This book introduces you to logical reasoning and its applications. Logic and
logical reasoning have many roles in mathematics and computer science. In
particular, logic can be considered as a foundational science for mathematics
and computer science, but also, logic is a powerful application tool in these
areas. Interest in logic dates centuries back, yet logic has never lost its
influence and charm. In the twentieth century, research took new directions
and logic was used to settle questions related to what can be computed
and what cannot , to what machines can do , and to how efficiently these
machines can do things.
Today, modern logic is considered the basis for establishing correctness
of theories in mathematics, including (mathematical) proofs. Logic is also
an outstanding scientific tool for the development of correct computer pro-
grams.
The book describes the necessary elementary steps in logical reasoning.
The book is self-contained and presupposes no earlier knowledge from you
and only elementary competence in mathematics. The book can also be
followed when you do not specialize in mathematics, but for example in
computer science, while still allowing you to deepen your skills further when
you are a student of mathematics. Anything that is introduced, is explained
in detail. At the end of the book, you will have developed found
·; ,
ational skills
that will enable you to tackle more advanced books on logic and reasoning.
A list of further reading is given at the end of the book which enables you
to learn more about the topics you have selected as your favorites while
reading this book.
The book is divided into three parts. The first gives a general introduction
to logic and the methodology of logical calculations. The logical connectives
and quantifiers are introduced in detail one after another together with their
properties. The truth tables for connectives and the laws of calculation for
connectives and quantifiers are given together with a number of standard
equ ivalences. You can think of a step of a logical calculation to be merely a
xii TO THE READER

rewriting of the logical formula at hand with an equivalent logical formula,

using the given standard equivalences.
The second part starts by discussing advantagBs and disadvantages of log-
ical calculations and presents another method for making logical derivations,
t he so-called reasoning. A reasoning allows a concl usion of an inference to
be derived from everything t hat is available (instead of just from t he for-
mula at hand). And so, the second part gives the laws of reasoning for all
the logical connectives and quantifiers studied in the first part. A partic-
ular style, the so-called flag-notation (or Fitch-style), is used in this book
to express this kind of reasoning. Proofs in t his style are clearly structured
and one is aware at any moment of every formula and fact t hat is available.
The third part deals with applications .of logic in different areas, in par-
ticular: sets, relations, mappings, numbers and structures, and ordered sets.
In this part, you can see the power of logical proofs 'at work' . In order to
establish the desired properties you can now use calculations, reasonings or
an intelligent mixture of both styles. The different proof techniques known
under the name 'induction' are also developed in this part . Throughout,
methods and concepts are illustrated with ample examples and t here are
further exercises which will help sharpen your skills.
After reading this book you know how logic helps you to set up a n indis-
putably correct reasoning and you have seen many applications of how this
can be done. We wish you good luck and much pleasure in the exploration
of the stimulating field of science known as 'logic'.
A word from the authors

The book is, as t he tit le explains, an int roduction t o logic, sets and t he
necessary backgrounds needed in this field for any degree in Mathematics
and / or Computer Science. We introduce the students t o these field from
a very int roductory point of view and we expect t hat, by studying t his
book, the student can develop t he necessary techniques needed to work
with abstract struct ures and correct proofs.
The approach of t he book is to be as informal with the reader as possible,
creating a relationship between t he reader and t he aut hors. Abstract mate-
rial is explained in a friend ly tone without sacrificing the precision needed
to mast er this subject .
In every university, the subject of logics a nd set s is taught as a compulsory
course t o undergraduat es. Most existing books are either too introductory
or cover only one of the topics of the book in det ails. Our book goes in
depth into logic and naive set theory, with ample examples and techniques.
None of t he books currently available for t eaching logics and sets to under-
graduates covers proofs and derivations in such det ails as we do.
This book can be used as a t extbook for an int roductory course at both
t he undergraduate and graduate level. The book will serve as a basis for a
leisurely two-terms course or can be used in an intensive one-term course.
The material of t his book has been used by dr R.P. Ne~e rp e lt as an un-
dergraduate course at Eindhoven University of Technology since 1987 unt il
today and was modified following the students experience with it. Students
following the course are freshmen in the University and they follow the
course in t he first t hree mont hs of t heir first year. There has also been a
long experience in t eaching t he material of t his book to first year classes
of Computer Science at Glasgow University (1 987- 1997), by Professor F .D.
Kamareddine. She current ly uses this material for teaching courses on logic
and formal specifications at Heriot-Watt University whose size varies be-
tween 15 and 65 students.
Both aut hors have taught this subject to large classes, up to 180 students.
xiv A WORD FROM THE AUTHORS

They concluded that this course material is suited for the modern classes
and addresses modern developments.
As special features of the book we mention the following :
• The first way of proving propositions as presented in this book, is the
method using so-called calculations. These calc ulations were coined
by the computer scientist Dijkstra and his group at Eindhoven and
are strongly associated to basic notions in computer science such as
invariants, pre- and post-conditions and to Hoare logic. In this book
we develop an easy method to work with these calculations in a trans-
parent manner, using a format which also provides arguments for the
correctness of the calculation. The method is based on a well-chosen
set of standard equivalences.
• The second method of proving, being a form of what is known as nat-
ural deduction, uses the fl ag notation for proofs. The mathematician
de Bruijn and his Automath group at Eindhoven have exploited it
several decades ago in the first theorem prover which checks books of
mathematics. With such a notation, it is clear which hypotheses are
valid, where they are valid and when they are retracted. This avoids
the possibility of using a hypothesis when it is not valid. These flags
are used in developing and presenting derivations which give proofs
for propositions.
• We believe that both methods of proofs need to be taught and this is
what we do in this book. In addition, we compare and combine these
two methods and present them coherently.
This book contains all the above items in one single manuscript. It
addresses the needs of modern day computer science and mathematics
students.
The book includes many examples, questions, problems and the like. The
concepts are first taught by examples, then by generalizations and then the
student learning is tested by many exercises. All along, the student is asked
to reflect and think about why a certain concept is introduced and why a
certain definition is used .
The purpose of this book is to encourage the student to be inventive and
to develop an abstract mind. So, the student needs to attempt the exercises
without help. If the chapters are studied, then the exercises will be easy to
solve.
We expect the book to be used mainly for undergraduate teaching as we
have used it ourselves. We also expect however that the book be used at
M .,ctar 1"""1" fm Pxamole: (a) in conversion courses for students converting
A WORD FROM THE AUTHORS XV

to computer science and who hence need to learn the material a nd (b) for
IT degrees. In addition, we expect our book to be a valuable reference for
all teachers and researchers in computer science including those working in
industry and who understand the value of form al methods.

Our background
Dr Rob Nederpelt is a senior lecturer in applied logic at t he Technische
Universiteit in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. He was one of the members of
the Automath project at this university. The influence of the 'mathematical
language' Automath, designed by N. G. de Bruijn, on theorem proving
and automating mathematics is widely acknowledged. Rob Nederpelt has
published over 40 art icles and a number of books.
Professor Fairouz Kamareddine is a professor of computer science at
Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since 1980, she has been
involved in teaching many subjects in Computer Science and mathematics.
Fairouz Kamareddine has published over 60 articles and several books.

Addresses of the authors

Dr R.P. Nederpelt, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Dept of Math-
ematics and Computer Science, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The
Netherlands
e-mail: r.p.nederpelt@tue. nl
Professor F.D. Kamareddine, Heriot-Watt University, School of Math-
ematical and Computer Science, Mountbatten Building, Riccarton, Edin-
burgh EH14 4ASQ, Scotland
e-mail: fairouz@macs. hw. ac. uk
xvi A WORD FROM THE AUTHORS

Revised edition

This edition differs in several places from the first edition of 2004, albeit
that the changes are relatively small.
As regards the contents , the changes concentrate on the following items:
• A new Section 4.3 , 'Equivalency of propositions ', has been added.
• In Section 16.9, we added a rule for Equality of pairs.
• In Chapter 20, the lexicographic orderings have been removed from
Section 20.3 and inserted into a new Section 20.4, with a slight extension of
the subject.
• Throughout the whole Chapter 20, "the distinction between reflexive
and irreflexive orderings has been implemented in a more consistent manner.
This has led to a number of changes in the text.
• Slight changes in formulation and paragraph order have been carried
out throughout the book. We also seized the opportunity to eliminate a
number of typo's and small errors.
As to the lay-out of the text in this book, good use has been made of
a new and improved tool for the rendering of flag derivations ('flagderiv') .
One of the many useful options in that package concerns the breaking of
derivations over pages, which enabled us to remove unnecessary white in
many places.

Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to all users who informed them about mist a kes,
typo 's and possible improvements. Their information has been used in the
preparation of this revision.
In particular, we thank Bas Luttik and other members of the staff of the
Computer Science Group of the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven.
Special thanks to Paul van Tilburg and his former co-students, who pre-
pared the versatile fiagderiv package for flag derivations, based on the first
version of Jan Zwanenburg and Erik Poll.
And as a final remark: without the help of the editors of King's College
London (including our contact person J ane Spurr), this book wouldn't have
got the nice appearance that it has now.
Thank you all!
 Part I

Logical Calculations
Chapter 1

•
What IS 'logic'?

It stands to reason

1.1 Aristotle and his 'Organon'

Logic is an old science. Already around 350 B.C., the Greek Aristotle wrote
six collections on reasoning which together became known as the Organon 1 .
The meaning of 'Organon' is approximately 'instrument'. In his Organon,
Aristotle gave a list of fixed irrefutable rules which make it possible to derive
correct conclusions. These rules give a kind of instrument that helps set up
good reasoning.
In those old days, reasoning was - like it is today - of great importance.
He who can reason, is in a state of carrying through convincing arguments
with which he can achieve what he desires. Moreover, with a reasoning-
instrument, one is capable of getting oneself rid of false reasoning, and of
winning arguments against opponents.
As an example of a general rule, we give the rule of Aristotle which later,
in the Middle Ages, became known as 'Barbara' (the three a's in Barbara
refer to the three words 'all' in the rule) :

All K's are L's

All L's are M's
All K's are M's

You should read this as follows:

1 See The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle, a book edited by Jonath a n Barnes and

published by Cambridge University Press in 1995.

4 CHAPTER 1. WHAT IS 'LOGIC'?

From 'all K's are L's'

and 'all L's are M's'
we can conclude that: 'all K's are M's'.
This is elegant indeed. The rule can for example be applied as follows:
From ( 1) All Scottish are British;
and (2) All British are European;
we can derive (3) All Scottish are European.
This rule only has a say over the validity of the conclusion: from (1) and
(2) conclude (3) . Whether (1) and (2) themselves hold, is not a priority
for the rule. In the above example, (1) and (2) are correct: Scottish are
British, and British are European. But, in the following example, both (4)
and (5) are incorrect. Nevertheless, on the basis of the rule 'Barbara', the
conclusion (6) is still correct: Suppose that (4) and (5) were really true,
then indeed (6) follows!
From (4) All tigers are vegetarians;
and (5) All vegetarians are sea animals;
we derive (6) All tigers are sea animals.
Now we must be careful with these general rules like Barbara: it is nec-
essary that they always hold, no matter what you have instead of the K's,
L's and M's.
Look at the following 'rule':
All K's are L's
There are L's that are M's
There are K's that are M's
This rule might look alright at first sight, but it actually isn't. Look at
the following instantiation of the rule, which gives a counterexample against
its own correctness:
From (7) All Scottish are British;
and (8) There are British which are Welsh;
we deriv e (9) There are Scottish which are Welsh.
This is obviously an incorrect conclusion, because (7) and (8) are correct,
but (9) is not. Hence, it is not correct 'From (7) and (8), to conclude (9)',
because in that case, (9) would have to hold! Therefore, the 'rule' (with the
K's, L's and M's) is not correct in general.

Remark 1.1.1 The word 'logic' comes from Greek. It is the first part from
the Greek expression 'logike techne ', which means: reasoning techniques,
1.2. FORMAL LOGIC 5

the technique {knowledge) of reasoning. The word 'logike' is the adjective

which comes from the Greek word 'logos', which can either mean 'word',
'understanding ' or 'reason'.

1. 2 Formal logic
Logic deals with general reasoning laws , which you can trust. Logical laws
are given in the form of formulas with 'parameters' . When in one such
law, you replace the parameters with something concrete, you get a good
trustworthy reasoning. Look at the law 'Barbara' of Aristotle, given on
page 3 where the parameters K, Land M appear. When you t ake 'Scottish'
instead of K's, 'British' instead of L's and 'European' instead of M's, the
formula is correct. But the formula remains correct when you replace all
occurrences of K, L and M by something else (see the previous section).
Aristotle gave in total19 rules, the so-called syllogism, of which 'Barbara'
is one. Until the Middle Ages , the logic of Aristotle was leading. Only after
then, did the basis of logic change. This was necessary because other condi-
tions began to be imposed in mathematics (an important application area
of logic). In his book, 2 the English mathematician George Boole (1815 -
1864) wrote logic in a way which became known as the two-valued or Boolean
logic. Later, the German Mathematician Gerhard Gentzen (1909 - 1945)
went a step further. He invented 3 a logical system which was connected,
as closely as possible, to the method of reasoning used in mathematics. He
called his logic 'natural deduction' and intended to use it to deduce (derive
conclusions) in a natural way (exactly like man is used to).
Computer science imposes different conditions than mathematics. In
the area of logic, computer science imposes perhaps more conditions than
mathematics. A computer must be told precisely what it should do, up to
the smallest details, otherwise it will not work well. If a mathematician
goes quickly or lightly over some details, his fellow mathematician will still
understand him. However, a computer scientist cannot P.frmit himself to
go lightly over some details. If a program is false or has some holes, it will
not work (' error'!). Or, even worse: it does work, but will not deliver what
is expected. One hopes that one discovers the mistake in time, otherwise
disasters might happen.
In this book, we will not discuss Aristotle any further. His logic, al-
though ground breaking, will no longer be needed because it does not go
2
George Boole: Th e Mathematical Analysis of Logic, being an Essay towards a Cal-
culus of Deductive Reasoning. Cambridge University Press, 1847.
3 Gerhard Gentzen: Untersuchungen ii.ber das logische Schliessen. Mathematisches
Zeitschrift, 1935.
6 CHAPTER 1. WHAT IS 'LOGIC'?

far. Boolean logic on the other hand, will be discussed further (see Chap-
ter 3), and so will natural deduction (Chapter 11 onwards). Both logical
systems have had many applications, not only in mathematics, but also in
computer science:
• Modern logic is used in mathematics in areas that include set theory,
functional analysis, algebra and discrete mathematics.
• Modern logic is important in computer science especially in areas like
programming, database theory, computer architecture and verifica-
tion.
Nowadays, one prefers to use the ten~ 'formal logic' instead of 'modern
logic', in order to express that the general science of reasoning is written as
precisely as possible. This is done with logical formulas, and hence the use
of 'formal'.
Remark 1.2.1 Judges, politicians, philosophers, and also 'ordinary' people
like you and I, use natural language when reasoning. Formal logic attempts
to separate the logical laws from ordinary (spoken and written) language.
This is needed, because language is often too 'rich' in meaning and hence
not precise enough to avoid writing the logical laws in a manner that can
be subject to double interpretations. In the following chapter, we will con-
tinuously make the association with language, in order to explain where the
logical formulas come from. However, when it is a question of precision of
reasoning, logic will dissociate itself /rom language and will often take its
own separate way. This is necessary in order to preserve the consistency,
which is the guarantee that as long as we keep faithful to the rules, we can
never derive an incorrect conclusion. Via this process of doing our best to
avoid ambiguity and double interpretations, both mathematics and computer
science can be made 'trustworthy'. This leads to quality and good products.

1. 3 Exercises
1.1 Check in each of the following cases whether the given rule is correct.
If it is, give arguments to show this. If it is not, give a counterexample.
There are K's which are also M's
(a) All K's are L's
There are L's which are M's
No one K is an M
(b) All K's are L's
No one L is an M
Chapter 2

Abstract propositions

True to the facts

2.1 Propositions
Modern, formal logic has as a basic concept the so-called proposition. This
is a purely technical term, and you must not think of the ordinary English
word 'proposition' ('proposal'), but instead, think of something like a special
kind of a (linguistic) 'sentence'.
What is a proposition? It is a grammatically correct sentence which (at
this moment, at this place, etc.) is either true or false . Here are some
examples of propositions:
(1) It is raining.
(2) There are birds which cannot fly.
(3) 2 + 2 = 5.
(4) 7r is bigger than three.
(5) p2+q2=r2.
Proposition (3) is completely written in the 'language of mathematics'
(and is false in our world) . In proposition (4), ordinary language is mixed
with the mathematical symbol 7r. Sentences in the language of mathematics
(like (3)), or sentences which are mixed with the language of mathematics
(like (4) ), are allowed as propositions.
Note that proposition (5) is grammatically correct, not because of English
grammar, but because of the grammar of mathematical formulas. Moreover,
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 Dalton sat silent. He recalled his own discussions, as a student,
with the young professor setting forth his theories of Biblical
criticism. He remembered how he too had sweated when this
brilliant teacher of his had cast doubt upon the historicity of parts of
the Bible. And he understood to some degree at least the intensity
of the emotions in this boy’s heart. The words of scornful disbelief
that were ready on his lips died there. The boy’s face, the honest,
clear, blue-grey eyes, the pain in them, the anxiety, the doubt, held
back Dalton’s glib disclaimer of faith. He temporised.
“Is what true?” he said.
“Is the Bible true? The story of Adam and Eve, of Joseph, of David
and Goliath—that Psalm, is that true?” Again Paul laid a shaking
finger upon the words that had just been read.
“Gaspard,” said Dalton, “don’t be a darned fool. What has that
psalm got to do with Adam and Eve, and Noah, and the rest of those
old boys? Don’t you know how your Bible is made up? That’s not one
book. That’s a library of sixty-six books bound in one volume, written
by I don’t know how many authors, who lived I don’t know how
many centuries apart—did know once, but I’ve forgotten. The early
parts of the Bible came down to us as fragments of literature
preserved by the Hebrew people, literature of all kinds, folk lore,
songs, political addresses, great poems, letters, theological
discussions, differing in character, content, quality and worth. If you
ask me, Do I believe the Bible is true? I would have to say, Yes and
no. I’m not going to give you a lecture on Biblical criticism just now,
but I want to say this, you don’t need to believe that the man who
wrote the story of Adam and Eve was writing history, in order to
believe that the psalm I have just read is true. Don’t you go
chucking your faith in the Bible till you have studied a lot more about
it. And as to that psalm, your mother believed it, didn’t she?”
“She did,” said Paul, under his breath. “Yes, she did.”
“And she lived by it, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she did.”
 “That ought to be good enough for you. There are millions more
like her in the world today, and they’re all the best people.”
Then silence for some moments, Paul’s face carrying deep lines of
anxiety and doubt and dread. To him it seemed as if the foundations
of life were rocking under his feet. Intently Dalton studied his face,
then in a kindlier tone said:
“Gaspard, listen to me. I am no religious man, but I have studied
these things a bit. That book of yours is a unique book. Some fools
insist on going to it for geology, history and that sort of thing. My
professor said to me once a thing that helped me when I was in the
sweat box of unbelief and all that. He said something like this:
“This is the book of God and man. The heart of it is a noble and
worthy conception of the unseen God—that is its contribution to
human thought and life. It is a Revelation of God, a revelation
steadily growing in clarity till it finds perfect expression in Jesus the
Christ.’
“Oh confound it, Gaspard! God knows there are problems
scientific, ethical, philosophical and religious that no man can solve.
Get hold of the great simple fundamental fact of God revealed and
mediated in the Christ, and let the other things in the meantime go
hang. Our faith is the Christian faith, we are no bally Mohammedans.
It is, as my professor used to say, Christocentric—Christ centered
faith—chew on that and don’t worry.”
Again there was silence for some moments, and then Paul, leaning
forward, said in a voice hardly above a whisper, “Dalton, do you
believe that psalm is true?” With an oath Dalton sprang to his feet.
“Look here, I’m not in the confessional. But,” he shouted, “I do
believe it. In spite of hell, in spite of the devil, I do believe it. And
when I give that up I’ll blow my brains out.”
“Then,” said Paul, sitting back in his chair, with a deep sigh of
relief, “there’s the Keeper you need, Dalton.”
 CHAPTER XXIV

“I am afraid Jack is having trouble with his Quarterly Board. He is

very late, and I am sure will be terribly tired, for he has had a hard
day’s work.”
“My dear Mrs. Robinson, don’t worry about your husband. I am
quite sure he will get his own way. You know, he has a gift in that
direction.”
“But, Mrs. Gunning, you know, because Mr. Gunning must have
told you, how slow some of the deacons are to get his point of
view.”
“Never mind, my dear,” said Mrs. Gunning.
Mrs. Gunning was a comfortable person whose ample and billowy
proportions radiated an atmosphere of maternal and cheery good
nature. She had dropped in to spend the evening with her pastor’s
wife, who was not in a condition to be left long alone.
“The Board cannot understand the needs of the Mission,” said the
minister’s wife, “and those people down there need help so badly,
and they are working so hard, with their wretched equipment in that
old shed, to keep things going.”
“I know, my dear. Frank is very interested, and I am sure that he
will he able to do something with the Board. He has often told me of
the work they are doing. He hears about it from young Mr. Dalton.
You know he is in our office. And really it is quite wonderful how the
Mission has got hold of him. He has made friends with that young
fellow, Gaspard you know, who plays our organ sometimes.”
“Oh, yes,” cried the minister’s wife enthusiastically. “Isn’t he a
perfect dear? I think he is a lovely boy. And so shy. I can’t get hold
of him, somehow. But he is doing wonderful work in the Mission, all
the same, with the men and boys. Jack is quite taken with him. You
know, all this summer he has taken those boys for hikes down the
water-side. He camps with them, quite in the Indian fashion—you
know he lived for years among the Indians.”
“So I understand,” said Mrs. Gunning. “I know he is doing Dalton
good. That young man has been keeping straight all this summer. Of
course, he never goes to church, you know, but he is always at the
Mission. Such a clever young fellow—brilliantly clever, Frank says—
but very fast, my dear, very fast. You know what I mean.”
The minister’s wife did not know, but her nod might mean
anything.
“I do hope,” she said, “that the Board won’t be mean about it.
Jack is so very keen about the boys. There! I hear him.” She jumped
to her feet and ran to the door. There followed exclamations and
silences, and Jack came in, triumph written on his face.
“We put it over, Mrs. Gunning! We put it over! Or at least your
excellent husband did.”
“Oh, indeed? And of course you just looked on.”
“Well,” said the minister, “I gave the thing a shove. Gunning will
be along in a minute or two and he will give you the details.”
In a short time Gunning arrived, a big man with a thoughtful,
intelligent face and shrewd eyes with a humorous twinkle in them.
The minister’s wife welcomed him warmly.
“So you did it!” she cried. “It was perfectly splendid of you. We
have just heard from Jack.”
“Heard what?” said Mr. Gunning, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
“Heard all about you and how you put it over.”
“Oh, indeed?” replied Mr. Gunning. “Well, that’s very nice hearing,
I must say.”
After the first cups of tea had been disposed of, the minister’s wife
demanded a full account of the evening’s proceedings from her
husband.
 “Did you have a big fight, Jack? Tell us all about it. And begin at
the beginning.”
“Fight? I should say so. I was backed into my corner and over the
ropes when friend Gunning waded in. And after he got through we
only had to shovel up the remains.”
“Do begin at the beginning, Jack. I don’t like your way of jumping
into the middle of things.”
“Well,” said Jack, “it is a good story, a great story, and I shall give
it to you as best I can. But you ought to have been there to really
get the atmosphere. The proposition I put up to the Board, you see,
was this, that if they would undertake the equipment of a Mission
House I, with my friends down there, would undertake the erection
of a building; I would look after the outside if they would look after
the inside, in other words. Well, I put up the bluff as vigorously as I
could, threw the dare at them and told them to come on.”
“But, Jack,” remonstrated his wife in a shocked tone, “you can’t do
that.”
“So they thought, my dear, and at first they were quite ready to
cover my bet. Of course, when I said equipment they were doubtless
thinking in terms of their ancestors’ ideas, a little cabinet organ and
a few hymn books, rows of benches, with or without backs, some
godly pictures and scripture charts on the walls, costing in all
somewhere about two hundred dollars. I made the diplomatic
blunder of going into details too early in the game. But when in my
enthusiasm I began to elaborate and set down one thing after
another—kitchen and kitchen furnishings, piano, gymnasium, library,
magic lantern, and a nice cosy parlor, with some extras—you ought
to have seen their faces gradually lengthen. By Jove! their chins
were down near their stomachs!”
“Oh, Jack!” exclaimed his wife.
“Well, that is a little extreme, I confess. But you ought to have
seen Busted’s face.” Gunning smiled slowly at the recollection.
“‘And what would all this cost?’ he inquired. ‘Well, not more than
twenty-five hundred dollars,’ I said jauntily. ‘Ah!’ said Busted, and his
tone appeared to settle the whole question.
“In vain I tried to draw a picture of the cosy, cheery, happy home
idea for these waifs and strays of the streets. The chill that settled
down on that Quarterly Board set me looking round for my overcoat.
Then they fell upon it, singly and in groups. Finally old Busted
summed up the case, eulogising the enthusiastic idealism of ‘our
young pastor,’ but reminding the Board that they were business men
and must deal with cold, hard facts in a business way. Then he
proceeded to make his eternal speech upon our congregational
indebtedness, our need of equipment, the cost of operation, music
——”
“Music!” exclaimed his wife. “Goodness knows our music doesn’t
cost very much. Of course we pay our organist—how much, Mr.
Gunning?”
“About seven hundred.”
“Think of it! Seven hundred dollars for the best organist in the
city! Poor dear old man!”
“He is not very strong,” said Mrs. Gunning sympathetically.
“No, he’s not. And if it were not for the help that young fellow
Gaspard has been giving him he would have had to resign six
months ago.”
“What a wonderful player he is!” said Mrs. Gunning. “Of course,
we must keep Mr. DeLaunay, but really you know I enjoy the young
man’s playing very much better.”
“And what happened, Jack?” asked his wife.
“Well, I was gathering myself for a final leap into the arena, with
my resignation fluttering in my hand, when friend Gunning stepped
in, in his usual quiet and effective manner. He made a regular jury
speech. He began by putting a little edge of deeper blue on Busted’s
picture, and then when he was nicely inside their guard he took
them down the Bay on a Sunday afternoon excursion and introduced
them to a camp scene, Indian style, wigwam and camp fire, twenty
boys, young devils from the waterfront, gathered round a young
fellow who was holding them fascinated, enthralled, so much so that
they hardly noticed brother Gunning slipping in among them. What
was he giving them? Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress,’ up to date. The
actual scene I believe was the struggle with Napoleon. ‘I know a
little about artistic speech,’ says brother Gunning, ‘or at least I
thought I did, but this young man was a revelation to me. He had
everything, literary finish, artistic color, religion, all being poured into
the ears and eyes and hearts of these young ragamuffins, the
prospective criminals of our city.’ Dear ladies,” continued Jack in
solemn tones, “he had ’em all gulping, and when he was done the
thing was over.”
“Nonsense!” said Mr. Gunning. “I made my little contribution. It
was really Mickey Dunn that did the trick.”
“By Jove! Mickey came in like a whirlwind,” said Jack. “Mickey was
priceless. Believe me, if the whole thing had been carefully prepared
and staged it could not have been better put on. The climactic effect
was perfect. Little Mickey—you know him, a little Irish runt, with a
brogue you could cut off in chunks—began telling them of the
parental difficulties in his own family with his own rapscallions, three
of them at least of the street Arab age, from sixteen down. ‘Roamin’
the streets they were,’ said Mickey, ‘an’ me whalin’ the life out of
them to get them to Sunday school and to church, till their mother’s
heart was clean bruk for them.’ Then Mickey proceeded to give them
a picture of these rapscallions of his who were going the way
straight to the devil and breaking the hearts of their mother and
father in the process, and how they were gripped by this young
chap. ‘He got them in,’ says Mickey, ‘with a quare sort of Sunday
school, athaletics, an’ boxin’ an’ handspringin’ an’ the loike, and now
they’re off the streets and niver a fear has their mother for them.
Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!’
“When Mickey had got through the atmosphere had risen to the
boiling point. Those old chaps were wiping away the tears, and oh,
b-hoys! the thing was over and done with, and a resolution
enthusiastically passed pledging twenty-five hundred dollars at least
if and when I finish the outside of the building.”
 “Oh, Jack! splendid! wonderful!” cried his wife. She rose from her
place and ran round to Mr. Gunning. “Oh, dear Mr. Gunning! I’d love
to kiss you!”
“Go on!” shouted Jack. “I’ll hold Mrs. Gunning.”
“And now what about your part of the contract?” asked Mrs.
Gunning. “How are you going to get the outside done?”
Jack winked slowly at her. “Ah! I didn’t tell them all I knew about
that. That is a mystery, a great secret. But I will tell you, Mrs.
Gunning, if you give me your solemn promise not to whisper it to
your dearest friend. It is that young Gaspard again. Seems to me,
for a man who doesn’t like my preaching—and he doesn’t, and I’m
not sure that he likes me very well——”
“Oh, Jack! He adores you,” said his wife.
“Well, he regards me as a heretic. But all the same, that young
Gaspard must have some secret mesmeric power with boys and
men. You know he has a job now with Dan Tussock, a contractor—
you know him, Gunning.”
“Know him? Well, rather! I’ve known him for years. You see, I’m
his legal adviser. And I’ve pulled him out of many a hole. He’s a
great old card, but he’s sound at heart.”
“Well, wait a minute,” said Jack. “Young Gaspard, in some
mysterious way has effected some sort of organization which
embraces old Tussock, Dalton and himself. Do you know anything
about it?”
“Well, I know a little,” said Mr. Gunning. “It is a partnership of
sorts. Dalton looks after the legal end of the business, Tussock runs
the work, I don’t know just where Gaspard comes in—he’s time-
keeper, treasurer, pay master—but they’re getting on quite well, I
believe—land clearing, with some real estate transactions thrown in.”
“Real estate?” said the minister’s wife in rather a shocked voice.
“Oh, they are on thoroughly sound lines,” said Mr. Gunning.
“Dalton will see to that. But of course you can’t count on Tussock.
He’s liable to blow up any day. He’s already gone through two
fortunes.”
Jack’s face grew grave. “It is a doubtful proposition, I know,” he
said, “but after all, Gunning, aren’t we all doubtful propositions?
We’re all liable to blow up, each in his own way. We have got to
have some faith, eh? Well, anyway,” he continued hopefully,
“Gaspard began by getting Dalton, an old varsity athlete, working
those boys into some sort of gymnastic exercises. I have watched
him closely, and he’s a master hand with boys.”
“I believe he is,” said Mr. Gunning. “But the reaction upon Dalton
is quite striking. I believe he has quite cut out the drink, and for the
last nine months has kept straight. Of course, I don’t know how long
it will last.”
“You old pessimist!” cried Jack indignantly. “Have a bit of faith, eh?
Why not? Well, as I was saying, Gaspard got Dalton, and then, but
how he did it the Lord only knows—and I mean that, for it is the
Lord’s doing, ‘and wondrous in our eyes’—he got old Tussock down
there. The old boy had nothing to do with his evenings, and Gaspard
shrewdly guessed that his idle moments were his dangerous
moments. So he has got him involved in the Mission enterprise and
in its work.”
“Yes, that has been the ruination of Dan Tussock. He has had
nowhere to spend his evenings except those low-down hotels.”
“Oh, by the way,” interrupted Jack, “Gaspard worked a rather fine
thing there. You know he has struck up a great friendship with the
DeLaunays, father and daughter—quite captured Miss DeLaunay,
who is quite an artist, by the way, and that is something of an
achievement, for she is rather superior. I fancy they were rather
hard up and had some vacant rooms, but however it was managed
Gaspard, Dalton and old Tussock, no less, are all domiciled with the
DeLaunays, where they have comfortable, clean and very congenial
quarters. And that, you see, Gunning, removes Tussock from one of
his danger spots. But where was I? Oh, yes. This young Gaspard got
Tussock interested, got him busy fixing up the old shed, patching
and mending, till one night in disgust Tussock put up a bluff to the
boys, offering lumber and material if they would get their fathers
and big brothers to turn in and do the work. Gaspard nailed him on
the spot, Dalton jumped in, a building organisation was effected,
and I have been holding them back as to building construction till I
saw my way toward the inside equipment. But tomorrow—tomorrow!
ladies and gentlemen—we shall break ground. Hurrah!”
“Praise the Lord!” ejaculated Mrs. Gunning fervently, who was a
good old-fashioned Methodist.
“And before the snow flies the Waterside Mission will be housed in
a beautiful, commodious and well equipped building of its own. That
is, if Tussock, Gaspard, Dalton and Company hold together. I
modestly claim to be a part of the company.”
“The heart of the company,” remarked Gunning.
“Not on your life!” cried Jack. “That’s Gaspard.”
“I do hope and pray they stick to it,” said Mrs. Gunning, earnestly.
“They’re doing awfully well at present,” said Gunning. “Making a
good deal of money, and have excellent prospects of making more.”
“To my mind,” said Jack, “they’re making more than money.
They’re making men.”
The opinions of both gentlemen were soundly based. The firm of
Tussock, Gaspard and Dalton were making money and making it
fast, making it by hard, driving work, transforming uncouth, broulé
land left hideous and unsightly by axe and fire into smooth and fair
building lots for the dwellings of men: fine constructive work; buying
by the acre in the rough, selling by the foot in the finished product,
and multiplying their investment ten, twenty, one hundred fold.
These were the days of the youth of the vigorous, growing Canadian
city, the commercial capital of a great province, situated upon one of
the world’s great harbors and reaching across the wide Pacific for
the trade of the awakening nations of the Orient.
The prospects of the company holding together were perhaps
brighter than many of their friends imagined. The bonds that bound
them each to the others were other than financial. The head of the
firm was Dan Tussock, the organiser and driver of work. With thirty
years’ experience in dealing with men, material and machines in all
kinds of constructive work, he had mastered the secret of how to
apply power to raw material for the service of mankind, which is the
secret of industry, as had few in that bustling, rushing, up-building
province of British Columbia. Associated with him was the young
lawyer, Dalton, a master of all technicalities of his profession, a
shrewd negotiator, an alert watch dog against all such predatory
creatures as had made prey of Dan Tussock during his checkered
and eventful life. With them, the youth Paul Gaspard, inexperienced
in the ways of men, ignorant of affairs, but furnished in rich measure
with the priceless endowments of a clear, high mind, with instincts
for things right and fine, and a heart vastly capable of unlimited
loyalty to a friend, even to the obliteration of self.
Already they had cleaned up and disposed of their first acre of
land at good profit, and were now embarked in a still more extensive
enterprise, the clearing and marketing of a new subdivision of the
city. Besides this, in Tussock’s mind new enterprises were taking
shape, timber limits and lumber mills were visualising themselves;
for Dan Tussock had once been known as one of the lumber kings of
the Pacific coast.
The financial affairs of the partnership, the receiving, banking and
disbursing of moneys, were in the hands of Paul. It had been settled
in joint conference that a certain fixed allowance should be paid to
each of the partners, but nothing without the signature of the
treasurer. And with loyal adherence to the pact, Tussock and Dalton
drew their share and, what was of infinitely greater importance,
were living within their means. Both men had passed their word to
each other and to Paul that during the life of the partnership no drop
of strong drink should pass their lips. To Dan Tussock this involved
no serious self-denial, for that indomitable worker loved doing big
things and while engaged in worth-while enterprises he was in little
danger from the temptations which lay in wait for him during his idle
days. But to Dalton the pledge to abstinence from drink was a
different matter. Day by day and night and day the desperate, dreary
fight went on, and there were nights when but for his environment
he would have given up in despair and rushed out to his old haunts,
seeking relief from the terrific craving that was gnawing like a
vulture at his vitals. In this fight, however, he was more fortunate in
his fighting ground than ever before in his life. First of all, he was
driven with work. In the office with the change in his habits he
found himself entrusted to an ever increasing degree with matters of
importance, and after office hours the affairs of the new company so
fully occupied his time and engaged his energy that he was only too
glad when night came and he yielded himself to the comfort and
cheer which his new home with the DeLaunays afforded him.
That home, after an exhausting day of work and struggle with the
gnawing craving for drink, from which he was never wholly free, was
to him a very gate of Heaven. There he found clean and cheery
comfort, the charm of bright and cultured companionship, and
music, always music, for which fortunately he had an absorbing
passion. From many an hour of despairing conflict he was saved by
the DeLaunay piano under the manipulations now of the old master
when he was in form and again of Paul when he could spare the
time. A royal evening there was at least once a week, when the old
organist who had taken charge of Paul’s musical development would
seize upon the young man and take him through a book of Mozart’s
duets. Or, if Dan Tussock was in his corner with a pipe and
appearing too terribly bored with what he called “high falutin’ noise,”
Paul would go through a collection of reels, strathspeys and jigs,
which would set Dan’s pulses jumping and his feet shuffling time.
There were other evenings when Dalton would give an hour to the
overseeing of Paul’s engineering studies, for that young man was
hard at work for examinations; or it might be to the discussion of the
newest works on Biblical criticism, furnished by Rev. John Wesley
Robinson.
But for four nights of the week and for every Saturday afternoon
the DeLaunay household had made itself responsible for the
Waterside Mission.
 In Dan Tussock’s philosophy of life, success in that lifelong
struggle against the unsleeping foes that dogged the footsteps of his
friend Dalton and himself was bound up with three fundamental
essentials, in his own words, “somethin’ to work at, somethin’ to
work for, and a friend that keeps a-climbin’.” To these Paul had
suggested a fourth, without which the others would prove
ineffective, “a Keeper.”
Paul, however, was a chap who never talked religion. His religious
faith was that of a child, unspoiled by convention and untrammelled
by formulæ. His reading and his talks with Dalton had helped him
through a dark and terrible passage in his spiritual experience,
helped him back to his faith in his Bible, a faith more intelligently
based than formerly and therefore more in touch with the work-a-
day problems of life. His faith in the reality, in the friendliness of
God, his mother’s God, the God of his childhood days, had never
been touched. He was forced to acknowledge his inability to get
much out of the sermons of the young and brilliant preacher of the
First Methodist Church. They were too academic for him, they left
him cold and doubting. But in the preacher’s talks to the Mission folk
and especially to the boys and the men Paul found something to
“chaw on,” as Dan Tussock said. The preacher was more human,
more real, more vitalising, more in touch with the practical things of
life. Tussock’s summing up of the difference between the pulpit
discourses and the Mission talks, after he had tried both and
rejected the former, was accepted by Paul as satisfactory: “In church
he looks like he’s earnin’ his money. In the Mission he’s after the
boys.” But Dalton would have none of this. “Get out, Tussock,” he
said. “Robinson is all right. He has all sorts of fools to handle. In the
pulpit he deals with a lot of highbrow theorists and a lot of dyed-in-
the-wool hard-shell old time Methodists, who need a jolt now and
then to remind them that they are alive. In the Mission he has his
coat off, fighting the devil and hell, and, as you say, he’s after the
boys.”
By the end of the summer the new Mission house was opened,
free of debt, and splendidly equipped for its work. At the opening
function, by skilful and united team play on the part of the preacher
and Paul, Dalton found himself forced to occupy the chair, to the
great advantage of the meeting, while Dan Tussock, to his confusion
and disgust, found himself “floor manager and general push of the
show,” as he afterwards declared to his friend, Miss DeLaunay, who
had come to be his confidante and who had assumed a sort of
maternal responsibility for the big-hearted, simple-minded, lonely
man.
This important bit of work safely accomplished, and the work on
the subdivision being fairly under way, Paul came to Tussock with a
request for a month’s leave of absence.
“A month, eh?” said Tussock. “Why, sure thing!”
“I want Dalton, too,” said Paul.
“Dalton? Both of you?” said Tussock, aghast.
“Mr. Gunning is going to take over our work.”
“Oh, all right. You’re free. Where are you goin’? Shootin’ trip?”
“No. I am going to pay some of that twenty-five thousand. Dalton
doesn’t know he is going yet.”
“Well, you sure are some manager!” said Tussock. “Yes, certainly,
go. You have earned your holiday, and I guess you’ve got enough to
pay most of your twenty-five thousand. What about it?”
“Oh, that’s all right, thank you. I can make a fairly substantial
payment.”
“Well, if you want any help, you know where to go, Paul. I owe
you a lot more than money can ever pay.”
That night Paul handed all the papers he had taken from Sleeman
to Dalton, with his father’s red book. “I want you to go through
these for me,” he said. “I am anxious to get clear of this mortgage
and everything else.”
Dalton took the papers and spent an hour over them, becoming
more and more indignant as he mastered their contents. The day
following he went to the Bank of Montreal and continued his
investigations. To him the whole affair was absurdly simple.
 “Who is this Sleeman?” he asked Paul, when he was ready with his
report.
“A neighbour of ours, with whom my father had dealings.”
“A philanthropist, I judge, a friend, and a gentleman, eh? Let me
get into grips with him!” said Dalton savagely. “We’ll bring blood out
of his heart!”
“I don’t want his blood,” said Paul shortly. “I could have had that. I
want to get this mortgage cleaned up.” And thereafter Paul
proceeded to give the story of his father’s transactions with
Sleeman, as far as he knew them. Dalton listened with set lips and
gleaming eyes.
“I should like very much to see this gentleman.”
“You’re going to see him,” said Paul. “You and I leave for the
Windermere tomorrow. I’ve got a month, off for both of us from
Tussock, and Gunning is to look after our affairs.”
Dalton gazed at him in amazement. “You sure have your nerve! A
month’s holiday! You’re one smooth boy, all right.”
“Yes,” continued Paul coolly, “there are some guns at home, and
some sheep on the mountains. You’ll go, won’t you, Dalton?”
“Oh, boy!” cried Dalton. “Will I go? This thing, without the guns
and the sheep, would bring me, but the two together—well! I’m with
you, boy, all the way!”
“We may go up north into the Athabasca,” continued Paul. “I told
you about my brother and sister up there. I may bring them back
with me.”
“Well, I’ll be darned!” said Dalton. “Anything else in view? What
about Alaska? And the Pole? But, ‘lead on, Macduff,’ I’m with you all
the way and back. By the way, how much money have you for this
mortgage business?”
“I was going to ask you about that. I’ve about five thousand
dollars cash and, without counting up, I guess about twenty
thousand invested.”
“A lot more than that,” said Dalton, “if my figuring is right.”
 “I intend,” continued Paul, “to pay all I can on this mortgage.”
“Look at this, Paul,” said Dalton, flourishing a paper under his
eyes.
“What does this mean?” asked Paul, after he had read it, gazing
blankly at his friend.
“It means, boy, that from the sale of certain chattels, five
thousand dollars was realised and deposited by Colonel Pelham to
your credit some six years ago, which, with interest, amounts now to
just about six thousand dollars.”
Paul continued to gape at him. “Six thousand dollars! If I had only
known! But,” he added quickly, “I’m glad I didn’t know. If I had
there would have been no firm, Tussock, Gaspard and Dalton, and I
should not have found two of the best friends a man ever had. We’ll
turn this in too on the mortgage. We ought to be able to almost
clean it up.”
“Not if I know it!” cried Dalton. “This Sleeman is a robber. By Jove!
I’ll make him cut down this thing to bare bones before I’m through
with him. No fifteen thousand dollars of mortgage money for him—
the old skinflint! He takes a mortgage for fifteen thousand, pays
your father ten thousand, keeping five thousand back for interest.
Ten per cent., prepaid! Oh, we’ll get him. Then, there’s a bundle of I
O U’s which he holds, nearly two thousand dollars more, which I
suspect have been already met, if your father’s red book is correct,
and it has every mark of being a most exact record. I say, Paul!
What about paying what you can on this mortgage and having the
rest transferred to the company and getting the thing out of this
robber’s hands?”
“Could that be done, Dalton?”
“Sure, it can be done. I’ll see Tussock about it.”
 CHAPTER XXV

By the end of the fifth day the two young men were nearing the
end of their ride through the Windermere Valley. They had made the
trip in leisurely fashion, for the weather was superb and every hour
was one of supreme delight; furthermore, their mounts, secured
from a livery barn at Golden, were none of the best. As the sun was
making toward the horizon the riders topped the crest of a long
incline, from which the lofty tops of the fir trees of Pine Croft could
be seen.
“Hold up, Dalton,” cried Paul. “There among the firs is Pine Croft,
and your eyes are resting upon the finest bit of mountain scenery in
all British Columbia; my father, who had seen the best, used to say
the finest in the world.”
Dalton sat entranced. His vocabulary of wonder and admiration
had long ago been exhausted.
“I wish I had saved up a big adjective or two,” he said. “Your
father must have been right, for anything finer is beyond my powers
of imagination.”
“Pine Croft Ranch sweeps up over those hills on the left,” said
Paul, “and about five miles down the river. Every mile, every yard, is
dear to me, how dear I never knew till this moment. Do you wonder
I love it?”
“Paul,” said Dalton slowly, “I’d spend my last dollar if necessary in
helping you to redeem it. We will get that old robber and make him
come through. Never fear.”
“Let’s go,” shouted Paul, digging his spurs into his nag.
 “Hurrah! I’m with you,” cried Dalton, and down the long incline
they sped at a perilous pace. A perilous pace it proved for Paul, for
at a little dry waterway his beast struck some loose stones, stumbled
and pitched headlong, hurling Paul far before him, head first, upon
the stony road, where he lay in a huddled heap.
Dalton hastened to him, laid him out upon his back and proceeded
to put into operation such methods of resuscitation as he had often
practised on the football field. But there was no response from the
unconscious Paul.
“Good Lord!” he cried, looking wildly about. “He’s dead.” He
sprang to his feet, caught his horse, and was about to mount, with
the idea of seeking help at the Pine Croft Ranch, when he heard the
sound of horse hoofs and, turning, saw coming down a line which
they had passed a rider cantering toward the road. With his fingers
to his lips he sent forth a piercing whistle and stood waving at the
rider, who immediately swung into a gallop. “A girl, by Jove!” he said
to himself. “And a corker.”
“An accident, eh?” she inquired, leaping from her horse. “Why, it’s
Paul!” The girl flung herself down by him and took his head into her
lap. “Oh, is he dead?” she cried, lifting a pale and terror-stricken
face to Dalton. “Here! Why do you stand gawking there? Get water.”
“Where(?” gasped Dalton, gazing about wildly.
“Follow that lane to a well and bring a bucketful. And for Heaven’s
sake move!”
Flinging himself on his horse, Dalton followed the direction pointed
out, found the well and a bucket standing beside it and dashed back
with the bucket half full of water. A dash of water in his face, a deep
sobbing breath, and Paul opened his eyes, gazed without recognition
at the face hanging over him and closed them again.
“Paul! Oh, Paul!” cried the girl in an ecstasy of fear. “Speak to me!
Don’t you know me?”
Again Paul opened his eyes, let them rest a moment on the girl’s
face, then said with a quiet smile, “Hello, Adelina!”
 “Oh, Paul,” cried the girl, drawing up his head to her breast, while
the tears came flowing from her eyes, “I was afraid you were dead.”
Her voice seemed to arouse him. “Dead! What’s wrong with me?”
he said, sitting up and swaying stupidly.
“Lie still,” ordered Adelina sharply. “Don’t move for a few minutes.”
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” said Dalton. Adelina caught the look
which Paul flashed up at his friend. Her face flushed scarlet, but
Dalton remained gravely serene.
“You stay there where you are till I tell you to move,” commanded
Adelina imperiously.
“Quite right,” said Dalton heartily. “Stay right there.”
“And perhaps you might feel if any of his bones are broken,” said
Adelina severely, flashing an indignant look out of her lustrous eyes
at that young man.
“Oh, certainly,” said Dalton, grabbing hold of a leg. “That’s all
right, eh, Paul?” he inquired, manipulating that member of his
anatomy gingerly.
“Oh, get out, Dalton. My bones are all right. Nothing wrong with
me. I have often been pitched like this before. So have you,
Adelina.”
“Have seen ’em killed, too,” said Adelina, with a shudder. “But
thank Heaven you’re not that,” she added with a little laugh that
somehow did not go with her pale face and strained tone of voice.
“Now let me up, Adelina. I’m fit enough,” said Paul, raising himself
on his elbow. Adelina put her strong arms under his shoulders and
helped him to his feet.
“Come in and rest for a bit, Paul,” she said. “I don’t think you
ought to go on. Besides, there is no one at home to look after you.”
But Paul could not bring himself to accept her invitation. Nor
would he insult her by seeking to make excuse, for he knew that she
knew the reason why he would not enter the Sleeman abode.
“I am quite all right, Adelina, and Dalton and I wish to get settled
down in our quarters tonight.”
 Adelina made no reply, but she made little effort to hide her
disappointment.
“Let me carry the bucket back for you,” said Dalton. “Shall we
walk?” he added, taking the bridle of her horse.
“No,” said Adelina. “I hate walking. And you don’t need to come.”
But Dalton insisted upon riding home with her.
“Why didn’t you go in with her, Paul?” said Dalton on his return.
“She was quite cut up by your refusal, I could see—quite grumpy
with me. I was not on her horizon, in fact. Stunning girl she is, old
boy. Who is she, anyway?”
“Why, Dalton, I must have had my senses knocked out! That’s
Adelina Sleeman.”
“What! Old Sleeman’s daughter? Good Lord, what a beastly fix!”
“Fix? She is a fine girl, one of the best,” said Paul.
“And I’ve got to put the screws to that—to her father tomorrow.”
“Let’s go on, Dalton. We will attend to that tomorrow.”
“Takes all the satisfaction out of my trip,” grunted Dalton. “Must
go over this case again.”
“Don’t see why. All you want is justice.”
“My dear boy, you haven’t grasped the niceties of the legal
profession. There is justice and justice. And there are various
methods of obtaining justice. I have been cherishing a fond
expectation of seeing that old robber squirm and wriggle like a bug
on a pin. But now—well, you can’t get any pleasure from seeing your
prospective father-in-law squirm.”
“What the deuce are you talking about?” exclaimed Paul.
“Just what I have been saying. We have parted from the future
Mrs. Richard Dalton, unless she’s pre-empted. By Jove! old boy, what
about you? Begad! are you in there? Great Heavens! Now that I
think of it, she was rather terribly broken up over your supposed
demise. Jove, that explains everything—her grief, her rage at me,
her curt dismissal. Say the word, old man, and I back off the scene,
hiding my wounds, smiling a twisted smile, I believe it is, set lips,
serene face, while a vulture gnaws at my inwards. Oh, I’ll play the
game——”
“Oh, you bally ass,” said Paul, mounting his horse, “cut it out! We
were boy and girl together.”
“Ah, that’s the fatal fact,” groaned Dalton.
“Don’t be an idiot. She does not care a hoot of a horned owl for
me, in that way, I mean. You are free to make old Sleeman your
father-in-law, for all I care,” said Paul with a grin. “But she is a fine
girl, all the same, mighty good sport.”
“Hold! No need for trumpets on that motif. Through all the
corridors of my soul they are sounding her praises. But you—you!
Honor bright now! Are you out of it? Once and for all. Your hand on
it, old man, I mean it,” said Dalton, pulling up horse and reaching
out his hand to Paul.
“Honor bright! Go in and win your father-in-law, for all I care,” said
Paul.
“Oh, darn the father-in-law!” said Dalton, with a grimace. “But
thank the Lord you don’t marry your father-in-law. All right. She may
turn me down. Doubtless will on my first attempt. But hear my
solemn vow—well, never mind. Now for plan of campaign. Tomorrow
we approach the old villain. But stay! He must have some redeeming
qualities to be the father of a girl, a goddess, by Jove! like that. I
shall set myself to discover them. Never fear! I am still your lawyer
and shall handle your case with all fidelity and zeal, but with the soft
pedal, my boy, the soft pedal. I shall smile and smile and make him
think I am saving him from the clutches of stern retributive justice.
Those I O U’s, for instance, according to your father’s record, have
obviously been met. It will be mine to suggest that by some slight
aberration of memory that fact has escaped him. He will fall on my
neck with gratitude. Jove! I’m surrendering a lot of fun, but she’s
worth it. Must recast my brief, eh?”
“Well, that’s your job, and good luck with the girl, Dalton. Here we
are at Pine Croft. A lonely place, old man, but such as it is you are
welcome. Here is Tom. Hello, Tom! All fit?”
 “Good! Good!” grunted Tom, running toward Paul and grasping his
hand. “Little chief come again!”
“Tom is one of my father’s old friends, Dalton. Taught me all I
know about the woods and things in them. Tom, my friend, Mr.
Dalton.”
“Huh! Good! Good man!” said Tom, giving Dalton a keen look and
offering his hand.
“You are all right, Dalton. Tom is careful with his friendship.”
“Mighty glad to have Tom for a friend,” said Dalton, shaking the
old Indian’s hand warmly.
“How is supper, Tom?” said Paul. “Any prairie chicken? Partridge?”
“Huh! Chicken! partridge! deer!”
“Great Cæsar’s ghost! Tom, you don’t mean to say you’ve got all
that?” cried Paul.
“Huh!” grunted Tom, delighted. “Plenty, plenty on mountain.”
“Oh, I say, old boy! What about four o’clock tomorrow morning,
eh?” said Paul.
“Tomorrow? No! Business first. Tonight and tomorrow to business.
After that I’m your man. By the way, does the young lady by any
chance handle a gun?”
“Handle a gun? Rather! At least, she could six years ago.”
“Paul! Paul!” said Dalton solemnly. “What have I done that the
gods should so order my lot?”
After supper, while Paul and old Tom went over the guns and the
hunting gear and made all preparations for a week’s hunt, Dalton
buried himself in his papers, seeking to discover how he might utilise
the soft pedal without injuring his case, with the result that before
they went to sleep he had his new campaign fully planned.
“It’s all right, Paul,” he said. “We will get him all the same, but
with considerably less suffering to the old sinner.”
“I am not anxious to make him suffer, Dalton. I have got over that
a bit. He will get all he deserves, but not from me,” said Paul.
 “Paul, you are a long way better man than I am,” said Dalton.
“When I see what you have lost through that old devil’s crime, I tell
you I see red. And I can’t understand how you take it as you do.”
Paul sat silently smoking for some minutes, looking into the fire.
“It is because of what all this brings back to me, Dalton, that I am
able to keep my hands off him and perhaps one day—to forgive him
—not yet, not yet—but perhaps some day. That’s my mother’s chair
you are sitting in——No! No! Sit down; I want you to sit there,” he
added as Dalton sprang up from the chair. He rose and took from a
side table a Bible. “This was her Bible, Dalton,” he said, his voice
vibrating with emotion. “I am going to read her last lesson to me.”
Dalton laid his pipe down while Paul read to him the immortal words
which have set for men whose hearts are hot with the passion for
vengeance the ideal of the Master of mankind. “I say not unto you
until seven times, but until seventy times seven.” Then, turning the
pages to the story of His Passion, he read again, “Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do.”
“I have not arrived yet, Dalton, at the mountain peak, God knows.
For seven years I have been funking it, as utterly beyond me. But
tonight I glimpse it far up in the clouds. Here my mother learned to
forgive, here my father found forgiveness, and here I begin to feel
how much I need forgiveness. There’s a lot of humbug in me,
Dalton.”
“Oh, darn it all, Paul, cut that out, unless you want to condemn
me to hell straightway.”
“I’m not thinking of you. Every man must work this out for himself
and in his own relations. There is that man near me here I have long
wanted to kill. As God is above, Dalton, I have waked up at night in
that far North country, wet with sweat, my hands clutched in the bed
clothes, my heart pounding with the joy of choking to death the man
who brought about my father’s death. Tonight in this room I feel
myself in the presence of my mother and in His presence Who was
more to her than all in the world, and that’s saying something, for
she loved greatly. I feel mean and contemptible. Her last words
were, ‘Tell Daddy till seventy times seven.’ Dalton, I have been
saying the Lord’s Prayer night and morning for seven years, and
every time dodging the issue under a pretence that in seeking
vengeance I was only seeking justice. Justice is not hatred, bitter,
hot, heart-racking hatred. Justice is a holy thing, with its foundation
in the heart of the Eternal God, and lies next to mercy. I have been
a self-deceiving hypocrite. Never in these seven years could I have
gone to Sleeman and said, ‘Sleeman, I only seek justice upon you.’ I
knew I wanted more than that. God help me! I wanted to feel my
fingers in his throat and see his eyes turn back in his head. That is
the test of religion. I believe in God, I hold the thought of Him close
to that of my mother, I know Him, He has stayed by me all these
years—and yet—and yet—” he paused abruptly. “That will do for just
now, Dalton. I have been a wicked fool. I am seeing things a bit
differently tonight.”
Dalton was standing aghast all this time. This was a new Paul to
him, not the cool, controlled, self-contained man he had known and
esteemed, but a man shaken with passions deeper than he had ever
seen in any human being. His face was white, his eyes ablaze with a
light that goes only with madness, his sinewy hands were opening
and shutting in convulsive clutchings. It was easy to believe that
those fingers could tear life from any man’s throat.
“Good God, Gaspard! I never dreamed you had this thing in you.
Look here, old chap, I suggest you let me settle this thing tomorrow
with this man. I mean—I think—well, what’s the use going through
all this thing as you must when you see him? Besides, I can handle
this without you.”
Paul threw himself down in his chair and with shaking fingers
began filling his pipe.
“That’s all about that, Dalton,” he said in a voice still trembling. “I
think I shall take your offer. It just occurs to me—what would you
say if I went off and left you alone to handle this thing, and I went
north to Fort Reliance for my brother and sister? I could do it in
about two weeks. You could potter about here with Tom. There’s
good shooting. What do you say?”
 Dalton sat smoking, his mind working swiftly. It would be a good
thing for Paul to be out of the way for a few days. It would be rather
lonely for himself, of course, but there flooded before his mind’s eye
a vision of flashing black eyes and curving lips, altogether alluring.
There were possibilities in the new situation.
“A good idea, Paul,” he said enthusiastically. “I would only hinder
you on that trip north. And when you returned we could still do a bit
of a shoot, eh?”
Long into the night they talked over their new plans, coming at
last to the determination that in two days Paul should set off on his
northward trip, leaving Dalton to conclude his business with Sleeman
alone.
They were still lingering over a lazy breakfast when a cheery call
from the hill at the rear drew them out of doors, to find Adelina, a
radiant vision of picturesque loveliness, superbly mounted and
vibrant with life.
“Ah! our patient is apparently happily convalescent,” she cried,
waving them a salute.
“And able to partake of some slight nourishment, as I can testify,”
replied Dalton, his eyes glowing with the admiration which he took
no pains to conceal.
“Then what do you say to a preliminary survey of the beauty spots
of our little valley, eh, Paul?”
“I am tied up with some matters demanding attention, but if you
can take Dalton off my hands I shall be more than grateful,” said
Paul.
“Ungrateful beast!” said Dalton. “I too have matters of grave
importance demanding my instant attention, but I fling them to the
winds in the presence of such an opportunity.”
“Gratitude is one of the rare virtues, Mr. Dalton,” said Adelina,
hardly looking his way. “I can understand Paul’s pre-occupation. But
really, Paul, can’t you postpone some of this business for a day at
least?”
 “Awfully sorry, Adelina. As a matter of fact, I am getting ready for
a trip to the north to see my brother and sister.”
“Your brother and sister? Oh, yes, of course. And where are they?”
“Up at Fort Reliance at a mission school. I may bring them back
with me.”
“Bring them back?” she said, astonished. “What can you do with
them here? But that’s none of my business,” she added hurriedly.
“You can’t give me—you can’t take this one day off?” She turned her
horse about so as to hide her face from Dalton, who moved away to
admire the view of the valley, and bent slightly over her saddle
toward him.
Paul came over to her and, with his hand on her horse’s neck,
looked steadily into her eyes. “It is awfully good of you, Adelina,” he
said, “but I don’t believe I ought. You know—you see——”
“Ought!” said the girl, and for her life she could not quite keep the
bitterness out of her voice. “I know when you put that horrid word in
that there is an end to all persuasion. I suppose you know Peg is
home,” she added, her eyes holding his as she waited for what she
expected and dreaded to see in them. Her expectation and her
dread were not disappointed, for quickly though Paul turned his
head he was not quick enough to hide the leap of light into his eyes,
nor with all his steadiness of control could he prevent the swift grip
of his fingers in her horse’s mane. She sat back straight in her
saddle.
“Peg? Home? I thought she—I thought they were still in England,”
he said in a low tone.
“You will hardly pass through the valley without seeing her, Paul,”
said Adelina, smiling down at him uncertainly.
“No, I would not do that. I must see them.”
“And your business? Your pressing business?” said Adelina, still
smiling.
“My business?” said Paul gravely. “The Pelhams are our oldest
friends.”
 “And dearest?”
“And dearest, Adelina,” he said, regarding her with grave, kind
eyes. Then after a slight hesitation, “Is her—is the young man with
her?”
Adelina’s face was full of pity. “Yes, Paul, he is here.”
“I want to see him too,” he said.
“I’m afraid—Paul—you are too late,” she said, once more leaning
down toward him, with a rush of warm emotion in her eyes.
He was too simply honest to pretend ignorance of her meaning. To
his immense surprise her words came like a heavy blow to him. He
held himself rigidly quiet for a moment or two.
“Too late!” he muttered, looking far across the valley. “I don’t
know. I’m not sure—of myself. I wish I were sure. I don’t know.
But,” here he straightened his shoulders, “I will know today. She was
such a child, Peggy!”
Adelina sat very still on her horse, regarding him intently.
“Good-bye, Paul,” she said abruptly, her voice low and a little
unsteady. “And the best of luck.”
Her voice recalled his eyes from the far hills.
“What? Oh, thank you, Adelina,” he said, taking her outstretched
hand in both of his. “You are a good fellow.”
“So are you, old chap,” she said, pulling her hand away. “And now
I shall take charge of Mr. Dalton, if he will have me.”
“Gratefully, humbly, eternally, now and forever more, amen,”
fervently said Dalton, coming back to them.
“Sounds satisfactory, doesn’t he, eh, Paul?”
“You will find him entirely so,” said Paul, with emphasis. “But be
careful of him. Don’t put him over the jumps too soon.”
“I’ll take care of him,” said Adelina with a grin. “He looks fragile.”
“I am,” said Dalton. “I feel myself going all to pieces.”
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” said Adelina, with a saucy toss of her
head.
 From the front door Paul watched them ride down the drive,
Dalton mounted on Paul’s cow broncho.
“Sits his horse well,” he said, his eyes on Dalton’s well knit figure.
“He is a man and he has won out. But, by Jove, he will need to be a
man to be worthy of her, if he can get her.” He turned back to the
house. “Tom,” he called out, “will you please have Dad’s horse for
me this afternoon? I am going for a bit of a ride.”
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