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Factorization Unique and Otherwise 1st Edition Steven H.
Weintraub Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Steven H. Weintraub
ISBN(s): 9781568812410, 1568812418
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 3.98 MB
Year: 2008
Language: english
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Factorization
Unique and Otherwise

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CMS Treatises in Mathematics

Published by the Canadian Mathematical Society

Traités de mathématiques de la SMC

Publié par la Société mathématique du Canada

Editorial Board/Conseil de rédaction

James G. Arthur
Ivar Ekeland
Arvind Gupta
Barbara Lee Keyfitz
François Lalonde

CMS Associate Publisher/Éditeur associé

Jonathan Borwein

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Factorization
Unique and Otherwise

Steven H. Weintraub
Lehigh University

Canadian Mathematical Society A K Peters, Ltd.

Société mathématique du Canada Wellesley, Massachusetts
Ottawa, Ontario

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Sales and Customer Service CMS Executive Office

Bureau administratif de la SMC
A K Peters, Ltd. Canadian Mathematical Society
888 Worcester Street, Suite 230 Société mathématique du Canada
Wellesley, MA 02482 577 King Edward
www.akpeters.com Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1N 6N5
www.cms.math.ca/Publications

Copyright 
c 2008 A K Peters, Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice
may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission from the copyright owner.

Tous droits réservés. Il est interdit de reproduire ou d’utiliser le matériel protégé

par cet avis de droit d’auteur, sous quelque forme que ce soit, numérique ou
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dans un système de sauvegarde et de récupération de l’information, sans la per-
mission écrite du titulaire du droit d’auteur.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weintraub, Steven H.
Factorization : unique and otherwise / Morgens Esrom Larsen.
p. cm. -- (CMS Treatises in mathematics)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-56881-241-0 (alk. paper)
1. Factorization (Mathematics). 2. Rings of integers. 3. Rings
(Algebra). I. Title.

QA161.F3W45 2008
512.7 2--dc22
2007049328

Printed in Canada
12 11 10 09 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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To my nephews, nieces, and grandkids:

Wendy, Jenny, and William;

Erica, Jordan, and Allison;
Blake, Natalie, and Ethan

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Contents

Preface ix

Introduction 1

1 Basic Notions 7
1.1 Integral Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Quadratic Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2 Unique Factorization 19
2.1 Euclidean Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2 The GCD-L Property and Euclid’s Algorithm . . . . . . . 31
2.3 Ideals and Principal Ideal Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.4 Unique Factorization Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.5 Nonunique Factorization: The Case D < 0 . . . . . . . . . 60
2.6 Nonunique Factorization: The Case D > 0 . . . . . . . . . 67
2.7 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
2.8 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

3 The Gaussian Integers 91

3.1 Fermat’s Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.2 Factorization into Primes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
3.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

4 Pell’s Equation 111

4.1 Representations and Their Composition . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.2 Solving Pell’s Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
4.3 Numerical Examples and Further Results . . . . . . . . . 127
√
4.4 Units in O( D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
4.5 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

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viii Contents

5 Towards Algebraic Number Theory 143

5.1 Algebraic Numbers and Algebraic Integers . . . . . . . . . 144
5.2 Ideal Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.3 Dedekind Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
5.4 Algebraic Number √ Fields and Dedekind Domains . . . . . 154
5.5 Prime Ideals in O( D) √ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
5.6 Examples of Ideals in O( D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
5.7 Behavior of Ideals in Algebraic Number Fields . . . . . . 178
5.8 Ideal Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
5.9 Dirichlet’s Unit Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
5.10 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

A Mathematical Induction 191

A.1 Mathematical Induction and Its Equivalents . . . . . . . . 191
A.2 Consequences of Mathematical Induction . . . . . . . . . 196
A.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

B Congruences 205
B.1 The Notion of Congruence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
B.2 Linear Congruences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
B.3 Quadratic Congruences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
B.4 Proof of the Law of Quadratic Reciprocity . . . . . . . . . 236
B.5 Primitive Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
B.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

C Continuations from Chapter 2 251

C.1 Continuation of the Proof of Theorem 2.8 . . . . . . . . . 251
C.2 Continuation of Example 2.26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
C.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Index 259

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Preface

In this book, we introduce the reader to some beautiful and interesting

mathematics, which is not only historically important but also still very
much alive today. Indeed, it plays a central role in modern mathematics.
The mathematical content of this book is outlined in the introduction,
but we shall preview it here. It is a basic property of the integers, known
as the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic, that every integer can be fac-
tored into a product of primes in an essentially unique way. Our principal
objective in this book is to investigate somewhat more general but still
relatively concrete systems (known as rings of integers in quadratic fields)
and see when this property does or does not hold for them. We accomplish
this objective in Chapters 1 and 2. But this investigation naturally leads
us into further investigations—mathematics is like that—and we consider
related questions in Chapters 3 and 4, where we investigate the Gaussian
integers and Pell’s equation, respectively.
The questions we investigate here were at the roots of the development
of algebraic number theory. In Chapter 5 we provide an overview of alge-
braic number theory with emphasis on how the results for quadratic fields
generalize to arbitrary algebraic number fields.
We envision several ways in which this book can be used. One way
is for a first course in number theory. In our investigations, we begin at
the beginning, so this book is suitable for that purpose. Indeed, one of
the themes of this book is that one can go a long ways with only ele-
mentary methods. To be sure, the topics covered here are not the tradi-
tional topics for a first course in number theory (though there is consid-
erable overlap), but there is no reason that the traditional topics need be
sacrosanct.
Another way to use this book is for a more advanced course in number
theory, and there is plenty of appropriate material here for such a course.
Indeed, there is far more than a semester’s worth of material here, even for
an advanced course.

ix

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x Preface

In this regard, we call the reader’s attention to Appendices A and B, on

mathematical induction and congruences, respectively. If this book is used
as a text for a first course, much of the material in these two appendices
should be covered. If this book is used as a text for a more advanced course,
these appendices will serve as background.
We have not tried to write a textbook on algebraic number theory in
Chapter 5, but rather to provide an overview of the field. But we feel that
this overview can serve as a valuable introduction to, and guide for, the
student who wishes to study this field, and can also serve as a concrete
reference for some of the general results that a student of this field will
encounter.

Steven H. Weintraub
Bethlehem, PA, USA
August 2007

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Introduction

We shall here be concerned with the circle of ideas that surrounds the
Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic.
First we recall the usual definition of a prime: a prime number is a
positive integer, other than 1, that has no divisors except itself and 1. For
example 2 and 3 are primes, but 6 = 2 · 3 and 10 = 2 · 5 are not.
Then the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic states that every posi-
tive integer can be factored into primes in an essentially unique way. For
example,

1 = 1,
2 = 2,
6 = 2 · 3,
10 = 2 · 5,
15 = 3 · 5,
2499 = 3 · 72 · 17.

By “essentially unique,” we mean unique up to the order of the factors,

so that we consider 6 = 2 · 3 = 3 · 2 to be the same factorization. (Note
that 1 is a special case. We think of it as having an “empty” factorization,
as it is not divisible by any prime.)
As its name implies, unique factorization is a fundamental property of
the positive integers, a property that was known to the ancient Greeks. We
will prove this property, and indeed our proof will follow that of Euclid.
But we will be interested in examining this proof and seeing what makes
it really “work,” with an idea of seeing when we can extend it to more
general situations.
√
For example, let us consider numbers of the form a + b −1 with a and
b integers. It turns out, and we shall prove, that numbers of this form also
have unique factorization. For example, we have the following factorization

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2 Introduction

into primes for numbers of this form:

3 = 3,
√ √
5 = (2 + −1)(2 − −1),
7 = 7,
11 = 11,
√ √
13 = (3 + 2 −1)(3 − 2 −1),
√ √
17 = (4 + −1)(4 − −1).
√
On the other hand, let us consider numbers of the form a + b −5 with
a and b integers. Numbers of this form do not have unique factorization.
For example, we have the following two factorizations of 6 into irreducibles:
√ √
6 = (2)(3) = (1 + −5)(1 − −5).
√
We can also consider numbers of the form a+b 10 with a and b integers.
Numbers of this form also do not have unique factorization. For example,
we have the following two factorizations of 10 into irreducibles:
√
14 = (2)(5) = ( 10)2 .

We have used the word “irreducible” rather than “prime” here as that turns
out to be the correct mathematical language.
In fact, we will prove the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic in a way
that enables us to establish it in many cases, including the two we have
√
mentioned—the ordinary integers, and numbers of the form a + b −1 with
a and b integers—simultaneously.
On the other hand, we will also be able to systematically show that in
many cases, including the two we have mentioned—numbers of √ the form
√
a + b −5 with a and b integers, and numbers of the form a + b 10 with a
and b integers—unique factorization does not hold.
As we will see, instead of unique factorization being the norm and non-
unique factorization the exception, the situation is reversed! It is really
a very special property, though a crucially important one, of the ordinary
integers that the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic holds for them.
Chapters 1 and 2 of this book are basically devoted to proving unique
and nonunique
√ factorization for ordinary integers and for numbers of the
form a + b D. (Here a and b are not always integers, but this is a technical
point we will defer until later.)
√
In Chapter 3, we investigate numbers of the form a + b −1 with a and
b integers. Numbers of this form are called the Gaussian integers. As we

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Introduction 3

have remarked, in the Gaussian integers we do have unique factorization

into primes, but we would like to know what the primes are. Here we
will show that the following is always true (compare the factorizations
above): every ordinary prime that leaves a remainder of 3 when divided by
4 remains a prime in the Gaussian integers, but every prime that leaves a
remainder of 1 when divided by 4 factors into a product of two “conjugate”
primes in the Gaussian integers. In fact, this is closely related to a famous
theorem of Fermat: every prime that leaves a remainder of 1 when divided
by 4 can be written as a sum of two squares. (For example, 5 = 22 + 12 ,
13 = 32 + 22 , 17 = 42 + 12 , but also 97 = 82 + 52 , 101 = 102 + 12 , and
99989 = 2302 + 2172 .)
Actually, we will give several proofs of this theorem. One, due to Euler,
is believed to be along the lines of Fermat’s original proof (which he never
wrote down for posterity). It uses a technique known as composition. An-
other one uses unique factorization to prove Fermat’s theorem quickly and
easily. (It is a bit surprising that this abstract result gives such a concrete
fact, but mathematics is full of beautiful surprises.)
To describe our next objective, we have to get a bit more technical.
The ancient Greeks considered the positive integers, but when we wish to
generalize our investigations, we no longer have the idea of positivity. (We
√
cannot make any sense out of saying that a + b −1 is positive.) So we
have to consider all integers. But when we do, we see that we have typical
factorizations:

6 = (2)(3) = (−1)(−2)(3) = (−2)(−3).

These are different factorizations, but we do not want to consider these

to be essentially different. How do they differ? The answer is that 1 can
be factored as 1 = (−1)(−1) and we are simply distributing the factors
of 1 differently. We give a name to this situation. Factors of 1 are called
units, and factorizations that differ merely because we have redistributed
the units are essentially the same.
We can show that the units in the Gaussian integers are precisely 1,
√ √
−1, −1, and − −1. Then we also have the prime factorization in the
Gaussian integers: √ √
2 = (− −1)(1 + −1)2 .
Here the first factor is a unit, so what we see is that, up to a unit factor,
2 is a square in the Gaussian integers.
In factoring numbers, we do not really care about units, but still it is
an interesting question—indeed, a very interesting question—to ask what

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4 Introduction

the units are. We have given the answer for the Gaussian integers, but we
can ask the same question in other
√ cases as well. Here we ask the question
for numbers of the form a + b D for D positive and not a perfect square.
If D = 2 we have units
√ √
1 = (3 + 2 2)(3 − 2 2),
√ √
1 = (17 + 12 2)(17 − 12 2),
√ √
1 = (99 + 70 2)(99 − 70 2),
√ √
1 = (577 + 408 2)(577 − 408 2).
√ √
Note that a factorization 1 = (a + b D)(a − b D) gives a solution of
the equation a2 − b2 D = 1, and vice versa. Thus the search for units is
intimately related to the search for solutions of the equation a2 − b2 D = 1.
The units above correspond to solutions for D = 2: 1 = 32 − 22 · 2 =
172 − 122 · 2 = 992 − 702 · 2 = 5772 − 4082 · 2. But we can consider this
equation for other values of D as well. For example, for D = 61 we have
the solution
1 = (1766319049)2 − (226153980)2 · 61
and for D = 109 we have the solution

1 = (158070671986249)2 − (15140424455100)2 · 109.

In fact, for any such D there are infinitely many solutions (and hence
infinitely many units). We shall prove this in Chapter 4 where we inves-
tigate the equation a2 − b2 D = 1, known as Pell’s equation. Our proof
is a variant of the cakravala method experimentally developed by Indian
mathematicians between the ninth and twelfth centuries. This is also a
result known to Fermat, and his proof of this result may well have been
along the lines of ours, as our proof uses a method of “composition” very
closely related to our method in Chapter 3. Also, our proof is constructive,
enabling us to find solutions by hand for values of D that are not too large.
The above solutions for D = 61 and for D = 109 were known to have been
found by Fermat (by hand, obviously, since computers did not exist in the
seventeenth century).
Our investigations in Chapters 1 through 4 can be considerably gener-
alized. To use the appropriate technical language, in these chapters we are
considering quadratic fields, and we can consider analogous problems for
algebraic number fields. Indeed, our treatment here parallels the historical
development of the subject. Quadratic fields were investigated first, and
the phenomena that arose there motivated the development of the general

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Introduction 5

theory. This subject is known as algebraic number theory. In Chapter 5

we survey some of the highlights of this subject. As we have seen, unique
factorization of elements holds in the integers Z, but it does not always
hold. While unique factorization of elements is the most straightforward
generalization of the situation in the integers, it is not the right generaliza-
tion. The right generalization is unique factorization of ideals, which does
hold. Therefore in Chapter 5 we will focus (though not exclusively) on ide-
als in general. But we will also provide a wealth of examples, interesting
in themselves, that show how quadratic fields fit into the general case. For
a precise description of the scope of our investigations in this chapter, we
simply refer the reader to the table of contents.
We have three appendices. Appendix A is a careful treatment of mathe-
matical induction, an essential proof technique. Appendix B is a treatment
of congruences. Here we begin with the definition, and proceed through lin-
ear congruences (including the Chinese Remainder Theorem) and quadratic
congruences (including the Law of Quadratic Reciprocity). Appendix C is
a technical one, dealing with some of the more complicated cases of results
in Chapter 2.

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Chapter 1

Basic Notions

In this chapter we introduce the objects we will be studying. First we

introduce the general class of objects, and then we focus on the particular
examples that will concern us.

1.1 Integral Domains

We begin by carefully defining the class of objects we shall be studying.
Definition 1.1. An integral domain is a set R equipped with two operations,
addition and multiplication, that satisfy the following properties:
(1) R is closed under addition, i.e., if a and b are any two elements of R,
then a + b is an element of R.

(2) Addition is commutative, i.e., if a and b are any two of R, then a + b =

b + a.
(3) Addition is associative, i.e., if a, b, and c are any elements of R, then
(a + b) + c = a + (b + c).
(4) There is an additive identity 0 in R, i.e., there is an element 0 of R
with the property that for any element a of 0 + a = a + 0 = a.

(5) Every element of R has an additive inverse, i.e., if a is any element of

R, there is an element −a of R with the a + (−a) = (−a) + a = 0.

(6) R is closed under multiplication, i.e., if a and b are any two elements
of R, then ab is an element of R.
(7) Multiplication is commutative, i.e., if a and b are any two of R, then
ab = ba.

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8 1. Basic Notions

(8) Multiplication is associative, i.e., if a, b, and c are three elements of R,

then (ab)c = a(bc).

(9) There is a multiplicative identity 1 in R, i.e., there is an element 1 of

R with the property that for any element of R, 1a = a1 = a.

(10) Multiplication distributes over addition, i.e., if a, b, and c are any three
elements of R, then a(b + c) = ab + ac and (b + c)a = ba + ca.

(11) R has no zero divisors, i.e., if a and b are any two non-zero elements
of R, then their product ab is also non-zero. Note that, by taking the
contrapositive, this condition may be equivalently rephrased as follows:
if a and b are any two elements of R with ab = 0, then a = 0 or b = 0.

An important property of integral domains is the cancellation property,

which holds for both addition and multiplication.

Lemma 1.2. Let R be an integral domain and let a, b, and c be elements

of R.

(1) If a + b = a + c then b = c.

(2) If a = 0 and ab = ac then b = c.

Proof:

(1) a+b=a+c
−a + (a + b) = −a + (a + c)
(−a + a) + b = (−a + a) + c
0+b = 0+c
b=c

(2) ab = ac
ab + a(−c) = ac + a(−c)
a(b − c) = a(c − c)
a(b − c) = a0
a(b − c) = 0

But by property (11), a(b − c) = 0 implies a = 0 or b − c = 0. Since we

are assuming a = 0, we must have b − c = 0, so b = c. 

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1.1. Integral Domains 9

Here are some examples of integral domains.

Example 1.3.

(1) The ordinary integers Z form an integral domain. (Indeed, the term
“integral domain” has its origin in this fact.)

(2) The rational numbers Q form an integral domain. Q is just the set
of fractions {a/b} with a and b integers, with the usual addition and
multiplication of fractions. (Note that Q includes Z, as the integer a
is equal to the fraction a/1.)

(3) Fix an integer D that is not a perfect square, and let

√
R = {a + b D | a and b are integers }.

Then R is an integral
√ domain. Let us√examine R a little more carefully.
First, if a = a + b D and β = c + d D are in R, then
√ √ √
α + β = (a + b D) + (c + d D) = (a + b) + (c + d) D

is in R, and
√ √ √
αβ = (a + b D)(c + d D) = (ac + bdD) + (ad + bc) D

is in R. The remaining properties of R follow directly from the corre-

sponding properties of Z, except for the last one, the absence of zero
divisors. We leave this for the exercises.

(4) Fix an integer D ≡ 1 (mod 4) that is not a perfect square, and let
√
R = {(a + b D)/2 | a and b are integers, and either they
are both even or they are both odd}.

We shall abbreviate this condition by saying that a and b have the

same parity. Then R is also an integral domain. This requires more
care.
√
First, if α = a+b2 D with a and b having the same parity, and β =
√
c+d D
2 with c and d having the same parity, then
√ √ √
a+b D c+d D (a + b) + (c + d) D
α+β = = =
2 2 2

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10 1. Basic Notions

and it is easy to check that a + b and c + d have the same parity, so

α + β is in R. Also,
 a + b√D  c + d√D  (ac + bdD) + (ad + bc)√D
αβ = =
2 2 4
and now it is a little more work to check that, in all cases, since D ≡
1(mod 4), ac + bdD = 2e, with e an integer, and ad + bc =√2f , with f
an integer, and e and f have the same parity, so αβ = e+f2 D is in R.
Again, we leave the proof that R has no zero divisors to the exercises.

(5) Let D be a fixed integer that is not a perfect square, and let
√
R = {a + b D | a and b are rational numbers}.

Then R is an integral domain. Once again, properties (1)–(9) of an

integral domain are easy to check and we defer the proof of property
(11) to Example 1.8(5).

The integral domains in Example 1.3(3) look pretty natural, but the
integral domains in Example 1.3(4) look rather artificial. It turns out to
be the case that, depending on the value of D, we sometimes want to
consider the former and sometimes the latter. See the exercises for why
this is the case.
We now make a further definition.

Definition 1.4. F is a field if it satisfies properties (1)–(10) and the follow-

ing additional property:

(12) Every nonzero element of F has a multiplicative inverse, i.e., if a is any

nonzero element of F there is an element a−1 with aa−1 = a−1 a = 1.

Lemma 1.5. Every field is an integral domain.

Proof: Suppose F satisfies properties (1)–(10) and (12). We need to show

it satisfies properties (1)–(10) and (11). The fact that it satisfies properties
(1)–(10) is immediate, as that is part of our hypothesis. So we need only
show that it satisfies property (11). That is, we must show that a field has
no zero divisors.
So let a and b be two elements of F with ab = 0. We wish to show that
a = 0 or b = 0. If a = 0, we are done, so suppose a = 0. Then a has an

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1.1. Integral Domains 11

inverse a−1 , and we see

ab = 0
−1
a (ab) = a−1 (0)
(a−1 a)b = 0
1b = 0
b = 0,

so b = 0 as required. 

Let us make one more definition.

Definition 1.6. An element a of an integral domain R is a unit if a has a
multiplicative inverse. We let

R∗ = {units of R}.

Remark 1.7. Note that an integral domain R is a field if and only if every
nonzero element of R is a unit.

Example 1.8. Let us consider the integral domains in Example 1.3.

(1) Z is not a field. The only elements of Z that have inverses are 1 (where
1−1 = 1) and −1 (where (−1)−1 = −1).

(2) Q is a field. The inverse of the element a/b is (a/b)−1 = b/a.

√
(3) For any fixed integer D that is not a perfect square, R = {a + b D |
a and b integers} is not a field.

√ integer D ≡ 1 (mod 4) that is not a perfect square, R =

(4) For fixed
{(a + b D)/2 | a and b integers having the same parity} is not a field.
√
(5) For any fixed integer D that is not a perfect square, R = {a + b D |
a and b rational numbers} is a field.
To show this, we explicitly
√ find the inverse of any nonzero
√ element
α of R. Let√ α = a +√b D. We define α to be α = a − b D. Then
αα = (a + b D)(a − b D) = a2 − b2 D, so
α a −b √ √
α−1 = = 2 + 2 D = e + f D.
−b D
a2 2 a −b D a −b D
2 2

√
In particular, α−1 is of the form e + f D where e and f are rational
numbers (to be precise, e = (a/(a2 − b2 D)) and f = (−b/(a2 − b2 D))), so

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12 1. Basic Notions

α−1 is an element of R. Thus we see that α indeed has an inverse in R, as

claimed.
For this to make sense we need to know that the denominator is nonzero.
But a2 − b2 D = 0 gives D = (a/b)2 , contradicting our choice of D not a
perfect square.
(Actually, to be totally honest, a perfect square is usually defined to be
the square of an integer, so, with this definition, in order to conclude that
D = (a/b)2 , we need to know that if D is not the square of an integer, it
is not the square of a rational number, and this fact already uses unique
factorization of the integers.)
Also, since R is a field, we conclude from Lemma 1.5 that it is also an
integral domain.
Remark 1.9. Let a and b be elements of an integral domain R with b = 0,
and consider the equation bx = a. This equation may or may not have a
solution, but if it has a solution, that solution x is unique. In this case
we say that b divides a and we write x = a/b. With this definition, the
“usual” rules of fractions hold—see the exercises. (Note that b divides 1 if
and only if b is a unit, and then 1/b = b−1 . In particular, note that in a
field we can divide any element by any nonzero element.)

1.2 Quadratic Fields

√
We denote the field R of Example 1.3(5) by Q( D), i.e.,
√ √
Q( D) = {a + b D | a and b are rational numbers}.
We have imposed the restriction that D not be a perfect square, but
now we want to impose a further restriction: we want D also to be square-
free, i.e., not divisible by any perfect square, except for 1. This is purely to
avoid duplication. For suppose D were not square-free, i.e., that D = n2 D
for some integers
√ n and √ D . Then we would have (as you can check in the
exercises) Q( D) = Q( D ), and we would just be repeating ourselves.
With this restriction, we let
√ √
O( D) = {a + b D | a and b integers}
if D ≡ 2 or 3 (mod 4), i.e., if D leaves a remainder of 2 or 3 when divided
by 4, (i.e., D = . . ., −10, (not −9), −6, −5, −2, −1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14,
15, (not 18), 19, . . .), and
√
√ a+b D
O( D) = { | a and b integers having the same parity}
2

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1.2. Quadratic Fields 13

if D ≡ 1 (mod 4), i.e., if D leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by 4 (i.e.,

D = . . ., −31, (not −27), −23, −19, −15, −11, −7, −3, (not 1), 5, (not 9),
13, 17, . . .).
(Note that D cannot be divisible by 4 = 22 , as we are assuming that D
is square-free.)
√
Definition 1.10. Let D√= 1 be a square-free integer. Q( D)√is called a
quadratic field √ and O( D) is called the ring of integers of Q( D). More
precisely, Q( D) is called a real quadratic field if D > 0 and an imaginary
quadratic field if D < 0.

In computing with quadratic fields, there are some quantities that are
extremely useful.
√ √
Definition 1.11. Let α = a + b D be an element of Q( D). Then its
conjugate α is defined by √
α = a − b D,
its norm N(α) is defined by

N(α) = αα = a2 − b2 D,

and its trace Tr(α) is defined by

Tr(α) = α + α = 2a.

The following properties are crucial.

√
Lemma 1.12. Let α and β be any two elements of Q( D). Then,
(1) α + β = α + β and αβ = αβ;

(2) Tr(α) = Tr(α) and N(α) = N(α);

(3) Tr(α + β) = Tr(α) + Tr(β) and N(αβ) = N(α) N(β);

(4) If N(α) = 0 then α = 0.

Proof: (1), (2), and (3) are easy to check by direct computation, and we
leave them as exercises.
√ We prove (4).
Let α = a + b D and suppose N(α) = 0. Then

0 = N(α) = a2 − b2 D

so a2 = b2 D and, if b = 0, then (a/b)2 = D. But we assumed D was not

a perfect square, so this is impossible. Hence b = 0 and then a = 0, so
α = 0. 

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14 1. Basic Notions
√
Lemma 1.13. For any element x of O( D), N(x) is an integer.
√
Proof: If x = a+b D, then N(x) = a2 −b2 D, so if a and b are integers, N(x)
is certainly
√ an integer. Thus the only case we need to check is that of x =
(a + b D)/2 where a and b are both odd and D ≡ 1 (mod 4). In this case
we write a = 2m + 1, b = 2n + 1, D = 4E + 1. Then N(x) = (a2 − b2 D)/4 =
((2m + 1)2 − (2n + 1)2 (4E + 1))/4 = m2 + m − 4n2 E − 4nE − E − n2 − n
is an integer. 
√
Lemma 1.14. Let R = O( D). Then the units of R are precisely those
elements x of R with | N(x)| = 1.

Proof: First suppose | N(x)| = 1. Then N(x) = ±1. But N(x) = xx. Thus
either xx = 1, in which case x has inverse x−1 = x, or xx = −1, in which
case x has inverse x−1 = −x, so in either case x is a unit.
Conversely, suppose that x is a unit. Then there is an element y of
R with xy = 1. Then on the one hand xy = 1 = 1, and on the other
hand xy = xy, by Lemma 1.12. Thus xy = 1. Multiplying, we see that
xxyy = 1, i.e., that N(x) N(y) = 1. However, by Lemma 1.13, N(x) and
N(y) are both integers. Therefore, we must have either N(x) = N(y) = 1
or N(x) = N(y) = −1. But in either case, we conclude | N(x)| = 1. 
√
Let us use Lemma 1.14 to try to find the units in O( D).

Corollary 1.15.
√
(1) The units in O( −1) are {±1, ±i}.
√ √ √
(2) The units in O( −3) are {±1, ±(1 + −3)/2, ±(1 − −3)/2}.
√
(3) For any other negative value of D, the units in O( D) are {±1}.

Proof: We leave this proof for the exercises. 

√
Thus, we have completely found the units of O( D) when D is negative.
But when D is positive the situation is much more involved. √
So let D be positive. Then, by Lemma 1.14, x √ = a + b D is a unit
exactly when N(x) = a2 − b2 D = ±1 and x = (a + b D)/2 is a unit exactly
when N(x) = (a2 − b2 D)/4 = ±1, i.e., when a2 − b2 D = ±4, where in
the first case a and b are both integers, and in the second case a and b
are both integers having the same parity. (The first case happens for all
values of D, regardless of D(mod 4), while the second case happens only for
D ≡ 1 (mod 4).) Here it is certainly not a priori clear that | N(x)| = 1 has

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1.2. Quadratic Fields 15

a solution, other than x = ±1, and, even if we know there are solutions, it
is completely unclear how to find them.
Nevertheless, let us experiment a bit, by taking small values of D.

Example 1.16.
√ √
(1) Let D = 2. Then N(1 + 2) =√12 − 12 · 2 =√−1 so x = 1 + 2 is a unit
and its inverse is −x = −(1 − 2) = −1 + 2. Since xx−1 = 1, x−k =
(xx−1 )k = k k
√ 1 2 = 1 so√x is also a unit 3for any √ k. So, for example,
√
x = (1 + 2) = 3 + 2 2 is a unit, as is x = (1 + 2)3 = 7 + 5 2, etc.
2

Note that x > 1 so {1, x, x2 , x3 , . . .} is a steadily increasing sequence of

numbers, so in particular they are all distinct. Moreover, we see that
{. . . , ±x−3 , ±x−2 , ±x−1 , ±1, ±x, ±x2 , ±x3 , . . .} are all distinct as well,
giving an infinite set of distinct units in this case.
√ √
(2) Let D = 3. Then N(2 + 3)√= 22 − 12 · 3 = 1 so x = 2 + 3 is a unit
and its inverse is x √= 2 − 3. Again,
√ xk is a unit√for any k, so √ for
example, x = (2 + 3) = 7 + 4 3 and x3 = (2 + 3)3 = 26 + 15 3
2 2

are units. Again, {. . . , ±x−3 , ±x−2 , ±x−1 , ±1, ±x, ±x2 , ±x3 , . . .} is an
infinite set of distinct units.
√ √
(3) Let D = 5. Then N((1+ 5)/2) = (12 −12 ·5)/4 √ = −1 so x = k(1+ 5)/2
is a unit and its inverse is −x = −(−1 √ − 5)/2. Again, x is√a unit
for any k, so for example, x2 = (3 + 5)/2 and x3 = 2 + 5 are
units, and once again {. . . , ±x−3 , ±x−2 , ±x−1 , ±1, ±x, ±x2 , ±x3 , . . .}
is an infinite set of distinct units.

Remark 1.17. Suppose we have integers a and b satisfying √ the √

equation
a2 − b2 D = 1. We have the identity a2 − b2 D = (a + b D)(a √ − b D)√and
so these values of a and b give a factorization
√ 1 = (a
√ + b D)(a − b√D).
Thus we see that in this case a + b D is a unit of O( D) (as is a − b D).
This equation, a2 − b2 D = 1, is known as Pell’s equation, and has a long
history. A priori it is unclear that Pell’s equation has a solution other than
a = ±1, b = 0 (which just gives the units ±1) but indeed it does. We
devote Chapter 4 to studying Pell’s equation, where we will show that for
any positive integer D that is not a perfect square, Pell’s equation always
has a solution. That is the hard part, but once we have that we will also
show that it always has√infinitely many solutions, and furthermore that the
pattern of units in O( D) is always as in Example 1.16.

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16 1. Basic Notions

1.3 Exercises
Exercise 1.1. Let R be an integral domain and let S be a subset of R that
satisfies the following four conditions:

(1) 1 is in S;
(2) if a is in S, then −a is in S;
(3) if a and b are in S, then a + b is in S;
(4) if a and b are in S, then ab is in S.

(a) Show that S is an integral domain.

(b) Give examples to show that if S satisfies any three of these four condi-
tions then S may not be an integral domain. (Thus you will need four
examples, one for each omitted condition.)

Exercise 1.2. Show that the usual rules of signs hold in any integral do-
main R:

(a) −(−a) = a; (d) (−a)b = a(−b) = −(ab);

(b) −(a + b) = (−a) + (−b); (e) (−a)(−b) = ab.

(c) (−1)a = −a;

Exercise 1.3.

(a) Let R be an integral domain and consider the equation bx = a in R.

Show that if this equation has a solution, that solution is unique.

(b) Suppose that b is a unit. Show that for any a, bx = a has the solution
x = ab−1 .

Exercise 1.4. Recall from Remark 1.9 that if a and b are elements of an
integral domain R, we say that b divides a if there is an element x satisfying
the equation bx = a, in which case we write x = a/b. Show that with this
definition, the usual rules of fractions hold:

(a) b(a/b) = a; (d) (ab)/(ac) = b/c;

(b) (a/b)(b/a) = 1; (e) (a/b)(c/d) = (ac)/(bd);

(c) a(b/c) = (ab)/c; (f) (a/c) + (b/c) = (a + b)/c;

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1.3. Exercises 17

(g) (a/b) + (c/d) = (ad + bc)/(bd); (h) (a/b) = (c/d) ⇔ ad = bc.

(Note that in some cases the right-hand side of the above equalities may
be defined when the left-hand side is not. We mean these equalities to hold
when both sides are defined.)

Exercise 1.5. Let R be an arbitrary integral domain. Show that if α is a

unit of R then αk is a unit of R for any integer k.

Exercise 1.6. Show that R as in Example 1.3(3) and as in Example 1.3(4)

has no zero divisors (and hence is an integral domain).

Exercise 1.7. If D = n2 D√for some integer

√ (or more generally some rational
number) n, show that Q( D) = Q( D ).

Exercise 1.8. Prove Lemma 1.12(1), (2), and (3).

√ √
Exercise 1.9. Let R = O( √ D) and suppose that α = a + b D is a unit of
R. Show that α = a − b D is also a unit of R.
√ √
Exercise 1.10. Let R = O( D) with D > 0 and suppose that α = a + b D
is a unit of R, α = ±1. Show that {. . . , ±α−3 , ±α−2 , ±α−1 , ±1, ±α, ±α2 ,
±α3 , . . .} are all distinct (and hence that R has infinitely many units).

Exercise 1.11. Prove√Corollary 1.15(3): for D < 0, D = −1, and D = −3,

the only units in O( D) are {±1}.
√ √
Exercise 1.12. Let α = a+b D be an element of Q( D). Show that α is a
root of a monic quadratic polynomial (i.e., a quadratic whose x2 coefficent
is 1). Furthermore, express the coefficients of this quadratic in terms of
N(α) (the norm of α) and Tr(α) (the trace of α).

Exercise 1.13. Recall Definition 1.10:

√ √
O( D) = {a + b D | a and b integers}

if D ≡ 2 or 3 (mod 4), while

√
√ a+b D
O( D) = { | a and b integers having the same parity}
2
if D ≡ 1 (mod 4). You may wonder why we made a distinction between
these two cases. The answer is that we want the ring of integers to be
naturally defined in terms of some property that it satisfies. Here is the
property:

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18 1. Basic Notions
√ √
O( D) is the set of elements of Q( D) that are roots of a
monic quadratic with integer coefficients (i.e., roots of a quadratic
polynomial f (x) = x2 + mx + n with m and n integers).
√
(a) Verify that this is true for the following elements α of O( D):
√
(i) α = 3 + 8 6;
√
(ii) α = 7 − 10 11;
√
(iii) α = 2 + 9 5;
√
(iv) α = 4 + 5 −2;
√
(v) α = −6 + 11 −5;
√
(vi) α = 32 + 72 −3.

(b) Show that this is the case in general. That is, show that
√
(i) if D ≡ 2 or 3 (mod 4), then α = c + d D is a root of a monic
quadratic with integer coefficients if and only if c and d are both
integers;
√
(ii) if D ≡ 1 (mod 4), then α = c+d D is a root of a monic quadratic
with integer coefficients if and only if either c and d are both
integers or c = a/2 and d = b/2 with a and b both odd integers.
√
In the text of this book, we treat integral domains of the form O( D).
But many of the statements we make have analogs for polynomials, and
we leave the treatment of the polynomial situation to the exercises. Here
is the first case: Let R be an integral domain. Then

R[X] = {polynomials in the variable X with coefficients in R}

= {an X n + an−1 X n−1 + . . . + a1 X + a0 | ai in R for every i}.

(In considering R[X] you may assume the usual properties of polynomial
arithmetic. The cases we will be most concerned with here are R = Q and
R = Z and indeed for the purposes of this book you may confine your
attention to these.)
Exercise 1.14. Show that R[X] is an integral domain.

Exercise 1.15. Show that R[X]∗ = R∗ (i.e., that the units of R[X] are
the constant polynomials {a} for those values of a that are units of R).
In particular, if R is a field, the units of R[X] are the nonzero constant
polynomials.

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Chapter 2

Unique Factorization

We now embark on the proof that a number of the integral domains we are
interested in satisfy unique factorization. We have written “proof” rather
than “proofs” as it is our goal to establish a framework that will enable us
to come up with one proof that handles all these cases simultaneously. To
be precise, our strategy will be as follows:

Step 1a. Define “Euclidean domain.”

Step 1b. Prove that certain integral domains are Euclidean domains.

Step 2a. Define “Principal ideal domain.”

Step 2b. Prove that every Euclidean domain is a principal ideal domain.

Step 3a. Define “Unique factorization domain.”

Step 3b. Prove that every principal ideal domain is a unique factorization
domain.

Thus, putting all of these steps together, we see that certain integral
domains are unique factorization domains.
The obvious question now is: “Which ones?”√As we shall see, these
include the integers Z, and the integral domains O( D) for some (definitely
not all!) values of D.
Indeed, the first part of this chapter will be devoted √ to the general
argument we have just described, and to proving that O( D) is a unique
factorization domain in many cases. However, once we accomplish that we
will√turn our attention to the opposite phenomenon, and will prove that
O( D) is not a unique factorization domain in many other cases.

19

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20 2. Unique Factorization

We will not be able to settle the issue in all cases, and in fact, in
complete generality the answer is unknown. We will describe our (that is,
mathematicians’) present state of knowledge about this question.

2.1 Euclidean Domains

A Euclidean domain is, roughly speaking, an integral domain in which we
can divide one number by another, obtaining a quotient and a remainder
that is smaller than the divisor. In order to say what smaller is, we must
have a notation of size. We first define this:

Definition 2.1. Let R be an integral domain. Then  ·  is a norm on R if

(1) for every nonzero element a of R, a is a nonnegative integer;

(2) for every two nonzero elements a and b of R,

a ≤ ab.

Remark 2.2.

(1) Note that we do not require 0 to be defined, though it may be.

(2) Note that under this definition it is possible that a = 0 even though
a = 0.

Lemma 2.3. The following are norms:

(1) R = Z and a = |a|.

√
(2) R = O( D) and α = | N(α)| (where N(α) is defined in Defini-
tion 1.11).

Proof:

(1) We need to check both properties of the norm:

Property 1: Certainly if a is an integer, |a| is a nonnegative integer.

Property 2: For any nonzero integer b, 1 ≤ |b|. Then for any nonzero
integer a, by the properties of the absolute value,

a = |a| ≤ |a| · |b| = |ab| = ab.

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2.1. Euclidean Domains 21

(2) This follows from earlier work we have done. Let us see this.
Property (1): We showed in Lemma 1.13 that N(α) is an integer, so
α = | N(α)| is a nonnegative integer.

Property (2): For any β, | N(β)| is a nonnegative integer, and if β = 0,

N(β) = 0. (This is the contrapositive of Lemma 1.12(4).)
Thus for any β = 0, β ≥ 1. For any α, N(αβ) =
N(α) N(β) by Lemma 1.12(3). Thus
α = | N(α)| ≤ | N(α)| · | N(β)| = | N(αβ)| = αβ.


Remark 2.4. Unfortunately, the word “norm” is used to mean two slightly
different things.
√ We called N(α) a norm in Chapter 1. Note that N(α) is
defined on Q( D), may be negative, and need not be an integer. In our
definition here, the norm is required to be a nonnegative
√ integer, and so we
must consider | N(α)|, and only for α in O( D). In this chapter, we will
always use a norm in the sense of Definition 2.1, and we will always denote
such a norm by  · .

Now we can define what we mean by division with a small remainder.

Definition 2.5. An integral domain R with a norm  ·  is a Euclidean

domain if it has the following property: for any element a of R, and any
nonzero element b of R, there is an element q of R (the quotient) and an
element r of R (the remainder) with

a = bq + r and r = 0 or r < b.

Remark 2.6.

(1) This is a familiar property for the integers, which you probably learned
in elementary school: 75 = 17 · 4 + 7, 93 = 11 · 8 + 5, 105 = 23 · 5 + 0.
Nevertheless, it requires proof! We shall prove it momentarily.
(2) Note we are not claiming that the quotient and remainder are unique.
For example, 100 = 3 · 33 + 1 = 3 · 34 + (−2) both work.
(3) Strictly speaking, the definition of a Euclidean domain includes the
integral domain R and the norm  · . We usually say, however, “R is
an integral domain” when the norm is understood.

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22 2. Unique Factorization

Lemma 2.7. The integers Z are a Euclidean domain.

Proof: We are claiming that for any integer a, and any integer b = 0, there
is an integer q and an integer r with a = bq + r and r = 0 or r < b.
For each fixed value of b, we prove this claim by complete induction on
a. We shall prove this claim in the case a ≥ 0 and b > 0 here.
So suppose a ≥ 0 and b > 0. Note then that a = |a| = a and
b = |b| = b.
If a = 0, then a = 0, and this claim is certainly true: a = b · 0 + 0 so
q = 0 and r = 0.
Also, if 0 < a < b, then 0 < a < b and this claim is also true:
a = b · 0 + a so q = 0 and r = a satisfies r < b.
Now assume that this claim is true for all integers a with a  < a.
Consider a. We have just proved this claim if a = 0 or 0 < a < b,
so we may restrict our attention to the case that b ≤ a. But in this
case 0 < b ≤ a so 0 ≤ a − b < a. Set a = a − b. Then we can apply the
inductive hypothesis to a to conclude that a = bq  + r for some r with
r = 0 or r  < b. Substituting, we see that a − b = bq  + r and hence
that a = b(q  + 1) + r = bq + r with q = q  + 1 and r = r . But then also
r = 0 or r < b, as required.
Hence our claim is true for a, and so by complete induction we may
conclude that our claim is true for every a ≥ 0.
Thus, we have proved the lemma in this case. We leave the remaining
cases as exercises. 

The point of introducing the notion of a Euclidean domain is that it

applies in many cases other than that of the ordinary integers. In particular,
we have the following theorem.
√
Theorem 2.8. Let R = O( D). Then for the following values of D, R is
a Euclidean domain:

D = −11, −7, −3, −2, −1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 17, 21, and 29.

Proof: This is a very long proof, so let us begin by describing our strat-
√
egy. We are trying to investigate an algebraic question—when O( D)
is Euclidean—but we will convert this question to a geometric question.
Then we will solve this question, only using basic analytic geometry. The
geometric idea is simple, but we will work very hard at it and obtain our
results. Thus, this proof is an illustration of the fact that often in mathe-
matics one may start with a simple idea and by pushing it hard enough go
a long way with it.

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2.1. Euclidean Domains 23

As we go further, the details—though not the basic idea—get more

complicated. The easiest cases are D = −1, −2, and −3, and the second
easiest cases are D = 2 and 3. We do these cases here. The other cases are
considerably more involved, and we defer them to Appendix C.
Let α and β be elements of R with β = 0. We wish to show that we may
always write α = βγ +ρ where γ is some element of R and ρ is an element
√ of
R with ρ√= 0 or ρ < β. To be concrete, let us write α√= a + b D√and
β = c+d D. Then we may form the quotient α/β = (a+b √ D)/(c+d D).
In general this√quotient will not be an element of O( D) but will be an
element of Q( D). In fact, as we saw in Chapter 1,
√ √ √
a+b D (a + b D) · (c − d D)
√ = √ √
c+d D (c + d D) · (c − d D)
√  c −d √ 
= (a + b D) 2 + 2 D
c − d D c − d2 D
2

ac − bdD −ad + bc √ √
= 2 + 2 D = (e + f D),
c − d2 D c − d2 D

where e = (ac − bdD)/(c

√
2
− d2 D) and f = (−ad
√ + bc)/(c − d D). √
2 2
If it
happens that e+f D is an element of R = O( D), then set γ = e+f D.
Then α = βγ with γ in R, so β divides α and α = βγ + 0 so we simply set
ρ = 0, and we are done.
Usually we will not be so lucky, however, so we turn to geometry in
order to proceed further. We observe √ that e and f are certainly rational
numbers. We now represent γ0 √ = e + f D with e and f rational numbers,
or equivalently with γ0 in Q( D), by the point (e, f ) in the plane. If
D = −1 this is just the usual representation of the complex number e+f i as
the point√ (e, f ) in the complex plane. If D = −1 it is a new representation
of e+f D, but an equally √valid one. Note that the points in the plane that
represent elements of Q( D) are precisely the points (e, f ) where both e
and f are rational numbers. We will call these points Q-points.
Along with this new representation of points we introduce a new metric
(i.e., measure of distance) in the plane. We let (e, f )D = |e2 − f 2 D| and
this measures the distance√from the point (e, f ) to the origin. Note that
(e, f ) corresponds to e + f D. More √ generally, if (s, t) is another point of
the plane, corresponding to s + t √D, then (e,√ f ) − (s, t) = (e − s, f √
− t)
corresponds to the difference (e + f D) − (s + t D) = (e − s) + (f − t) D,
and then (e, f ) − (s, t)D = (e − s, f − t)D is the distance between these
two points. (Remember that we are restricting ourselves √ to Q-points as
those are the points that correspond to elements of Q( D).)

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24 2. Unique Factorization

Let us make some important observations

√ about√  · D . First of all, if
(e, f ) corresponds
√ to an element e+f D of R = O(
√ D), then (e, f )|D =
e + f D. Thus, in our identification of Q( D) with Q-points in the
plane,  · D agrees √ with our norm  ·  on O-points, i.e., α0 D = α0 
for any α0 in O( D). Also, we know √ that α1 α2  = α1  · α2  for
any two elements α1 and α2√of O( D). This is still true if α1 and α2
are any two elements of Q( D). For we see, from Definition √ 1.11 and
Lemma 1.12, that, for any two elements α1 and α2 of Q( D), α1 α2  =
| N(α1 α2 )| = | N(α1 ) N(α2 )| = | N(α1 )| · | N(α2 )| = α1  · α2 . But  · D is
not a norm on Q-points in the sense of Definition 2.1, as for a general Q-
point (e, f ), (e, f )|D need not be an integer. For example, (1/2, 0)D =
1/4. Similarly, it is√not always the case that α2 | ≤ α1 α2 D for α1 and
α2 elements of Q( D), as, for example, (1/2)α2 D = (1/4)α2 D for
any α2 .
√
Now let√us return to our problem.
√ We have α/β = e + f D. Write √
γ0 = e + f D, with √ γ0 in Q( D). Our objective is to find γ = s + t D
with γ in R = O( D) and γ0 − γD < 1.
Let us assume for the moment that we have succeeded in doing so. Then

α = βγ0 = βγ + β(γ0 − γ) = βγ + ρ

where we set ρ = β(γ0 − γ). Then ρD = β(γ0 − γ)D = β · γ0 − γD
and, since γ0 − γD < 1, we have ρD < βD , so we have found values
for γ and ρ that satisfy the conditions of a Euclidean domain. (We are
assuming that γ is an element of R, and then we see that ρ = α − βγ is
also an element of R, and furthermore we see that (and this is the crucial
point!) ρD < βD .)
Hence√we have reduced
√ our problem to √ the problem
√ of showing that √ for
any e +√ f D in Q( D), there is an s + t D in O( D) with (e + f D) −
(s + t D)D < 1. Translating this into our geometric language, we need
to show that for any point (e, f ) in the plane with rational coordinates,
there is a point (s, t) in the plane corresponding to an element of R, with
(e, f ) − (s, t)D < 1.
We will√need to know which points of the plane correspond to elements
of R = O( D), so let us determine √ that now. The answer depends on D.
If D ≡ 2 or 3 (mod 4), then s + t D is in R when both s and t are integers,
so the points in the plane corresponding to elements of R are the √ points
(s, t) with both coordinates integers. If D ≡ 1 (mod 4), then s + t D is in
R when both s and t are integers or when both s and t are half-integers, so
the points in the plane corresponding to elements of R are the points (s, t)

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2.1. Euclidean Domains 25

±2 ±1 1 2

±1

±2

Figure 2.1. The case D ≡ 2 or 3 (mod 4).

with both coordinates integers or both coordinates half-integers. In√any

event, we will refer to the points corresponding to elements of R = O( D)
as O-points.
First, let us consider the case D ≡ 2 or 3 (mod 4). Here the O-points
are points with integer coordinates. Let us divide the plane into regions
consisting of points that are nearest each of these points in the usual metric
on the plane, not in the new metric  · D . We shall call these points
apparently nearest, since they “look” nearest when we look at the plane.
The points apparently nearest the point (s, t) are the points in a square of
side 1 centered at (s, t), as in Figure 2.1.
Next, we consider the case D ≡ 1 (mod 4). Here the O-points are points
with both coordinates integers or half-integers, and the points apparently
nearest the point (s, t) are the points in a diamond with diagonals of length
1 centered at (s, t), as in Figure 2.2.
These regions of apparently nearest points cover the plane, so for any
Q-point γ0 = (e, f ) there is an O-point γ1 = (s, t) to which it is apparently
nearest. (Usually there will be exactly one such point, but if γ0 is on the
border of one of these squares or diamonds there will be more than one
such point. In that case, choose γ1 to be any of them—it doesn’t matter
which we choose.)
Now the distance of γ0 from γ1 , γ0 − γ1 D , is the same as the distance
(γ0 − γ1 ) − 0D from γ0 − γ1 to the origin. (Note we are now using our

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26 2. Unique Factorization

±2 ±1 1 2

±1

±2

Figure 2.2. The case D ≡ 1 (mod 4).

new metric, the one in which we are really interested.) A little thought
shows that we have simply translated (i.e., shifted) the problem to points
apparently nearest the origin, and we can always translate the problem in
this way. Thus, if we can show every Q-point apparently nearest the origin
is within a distance of 1 from some O-point (s, t), this will be true of all
Q-points in the plane, and again we will be done.
Thus, we have reduced our problem to considering the Q-points that
are apparently nearest the origin. We shall denote this region by 0 . Now
the real work begins.

0.5

±1 ±0.5 0 0.5 1

±0.5

±1

Figure 2.3. The case D = −1.

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2.1. Euclidean Domains 27

0.6

0.4

0.2

±1 ±0.5 0 0.5 1
±0.2

±0.4

±0.6

Figure 2.4. The case D = −2.

Now we bring in the analytic geometry. First, we consider the case

when D < 0, and ask for what points (x, y) we have (x, y)D < 1. Now
(x, y)D = x2 − Dy 2 = x2 + (−D)y 2 and since D < 0, −D > 0. Then
(x, y)D = 1 is the equation x2 + (−D)y 2 = 1, which we recognize as an
ellipse centered at the origin with semi-major
√ axis of length 1 along the
x-axis, and semi-minor axis of length 1/ −D along the y-axis. (Actually,
there is one exception. When D = −1, the semi-minor axis also has length
1, and the curve is a circle.) Thus, the points with (x, y)D < 1 are the
points that are strictly inside (that is, inside and not on) this ellipse (or
circle, when D = −1). But now, for D = −1, −2, or −3, every point
apparently nearest the origin is in this region, as we see from Figures 2.3,
2.4, and 2.5.

0.6

0.4

0.2

±1 ±0.5 0 0.5 1
±0.2

±0.4

Figure 2.5. The case D = −3.

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28 2. Unique Factorization

Tracing the argument back, we√see that for √ the Q-point γ0 = (e, f ),
corresponding to the element e + f D of√Q( D), if γ1 = √ (s, t) is the O-
point, corresponding to the element s + t D of R = O( D), apparently
nearest to γ0 , then choosing γ = γ1 we have found an O-point γ with
γ0 − γD < 1, as required, in the cases D = −1, −2, or −3, completing
the proof in these cases.
Now we consider the case D > 0, and again ask for what points (x, y) we
have (x, y)D < 1. Here (x, y)D = x2 − Dy 2 . We recognize |x2 − Dy 2 | =
1 as the equation of two pairs of hyperbolas. The equation x2 − Dy 2 = 1
gives a pair of hyperbolas, one opening to the right and one opening to the
left, having vertices 1 unit to the right and 1 unit to the left of the origin,
respectively, and the equation x2 − Dy 2 = −1 gives a pair√of hyperbolas,
one opening
√ up and one opening down, having vertices 1/ D units above
and 1/ D units below the origin, respectively. (We shall say these two
pairs of hyperbolas are centered
√ at the origin and have semi-major axis
1 and semi-minor axis 1/ D, although those terms are usually just used
for ellipses.) Now the points (x, y) with (x, y)D < 1 are the points with
|x2 − Dy 2 | < 1, i.e., with −1 < |x2 − Dy 2 | < 1, so they are the points
“inside” of these hyperbolas. That is, they are the points in the region
bounded by all four of these curves, consisting of a rectangular area in the
center adjoined by four tails that go apparently infinitely far out toward
the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. (Actually, the exact
direction they go out
√ depends on D. √ To be precise, they go out around the
asymptotes y = x/ D and y = −x/ D.) But for D = 2 or 3, every point

1.5

0.5

±2 ±1 1 2

±0.5

±1

±1.5

Figure 2.6. The case D = 2.

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2.1. Euclidean Domains 29

0.5

±2 ±1 0 1 2

±0.5

±1

Figure 2.7. The case D = 3.

apparently nearest the origin is in this region, as we see from Figures 2.6
and 2.7.
Again, tracing the argument back, we see √ that for√the Q-point γ0 =
(e, f ), corresponding to the element e + f D of Q( √ D), if γ1 = √ (s, t)
is the O-point, corresponding to the element s + t D of R = O( D),
apparently nearest to γ0 , then choosing γ = γ1 we have found an O-point
γ with γ0 − γD < 1, as required, in the cases D = 2 or 3, completing the
proof in these cases as well.
This concludes the argument in the (relatively) easy cases. As we men-
tioned above, the other cases are handled in Appendix C, to which we refer
the interested reader. 
√
We have just proved that, for some values of D, O( D) is a Euclidean
√
domain. In fact, the only negative values of D for which O( D) is a
Euclidean domain are the ones we have given, and we shall prove that now.
Before we do, we will remark that our list √ for positive D is not complete.
Also, it is much harder to prove that O( D) is not a Euclidean domain for
a positive value of D. The problem here is that the “tails” of the hyperbolas
apparently
√ go infinitely far out and so it is possible that some point γ of
O( D) apparently very far away from γ0 will really be within a distance
of 1 from it (or perhaps even closer). We saw some examples of this in the
part of the proof of Theorem 2.8 that appears in Appendix C, but with
more work can come up with very dramatic
√ examples. For example, taking
D = 41, we have that √ γ = 46 − 7 41, which is apparently very far away
from γ0 = (23/125) 41, is actually very close to γ0 . Calculation shows
γ0 − γ41 = 1/250 = 0.004!

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30 2. Unique Factorization
√
Lemma 2.9. If D < 0 and D = −1, −2, −3, −7, or −11, then R = O( D)
is not a Euclidean domain with respect to its norm  · .

Proof: We shall continue to use the language and notation of the proof of
Theorem 2.8. √
To show that R = O( D) is not a Euclidean domain with respect to
its norm, we need only find a point γ0 of 0 that is not within a distance
of 1, in the norm  · D , of any point γ of R, i.e., which is not in the interior
of an ellipse centered at any γ.
First, suppose D ≡ 2 or 3 (mod 4). We are excluding D = −1 or −2,
so √we have D ≤ −5, i.e., |D| ≥ 5. Now each √ ellipse has semiminor axis
1/ −D < 1/2 centered at a point γ = s + t D where both √ s and t, and
in particular t, are integers. Thus, in order for γ0 = e + f D to be in such
√
an ellipse, we must have f within a distance
√ of 1/ −D of some integer.
But f = 1/2 is a distance of 1/2√> 1/ −D from the nearest integer, and
hence any integer, so γ0 = (1/2) −D is a suitable point.
Now suppose D ≡ 1 (mod 4). We are excluding D = −3, −7, or −11,
so we have D ≤ −15, i.e., |D| ≥ 15. Suppose in fact that D = −15, so
|D| ≥ 17. The argument here √ is very similar to the previous case. Each √
ellipse has semiminor axis 1/ −D < 1/4 centered at a point γ = s + t D
where both s and t, and in√particular t, are integers or half-integers. Thus,
in order for γ0 = e + √ f D to be in such an ellipse, we must have f
within a distance
√ of 1/ −D from the nearest integer or half-integer, so
γ0 = (1/4) D is a suitable point.
Thus, we have proved the lemma for every value of D except for D =
√
−15, and our proof does not work in that case, for the point γ0 = (1/4) −15
is indeed within a distance of 1 from γ = 0, as (0, 1/4)−15 = 15/16 <
1. But here we make a different choice of γ0 . Here we choose γ0 =
√
(3/11) −15. If γ = 0, then γ0 − γ−15 = γ0 −15 = (0, 3/11)−15 =
√
135/121 > 1; if γ = (±1/2) + (1/2) −15 then γ0 − γ−15 =
(±1/2, −5/22)−15 = 496/484 > 1; and for any other value of γ we see
that γ0 − γ−15 is even larger (as the difference of the y-coordinates is
larger), so γ0 is a suitable point. 

Remark 2.10.
√
(1) Actually, the complete list of positive values of D for which R = O( D)
is a Euclidean domain with respect to its norm  ·  is known. We state
this result without proof. These values of D are D = 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11,
13, 17, 19, 21, 29, 33, 37, 41, 57, and 73.

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2.2. The GCD-L Property and Euclid’s Algorithm 31

(2) To √
be precise, what we showed is that for the values of D in Lemma 2.9,
O( D) is not a Euclidean domain with respect to the norm √  ·  that
we have defined. This leaves open the possibility that O( D) is a
Euclidean domain with respect to some different norm. We shall not
investigate this question.

Remark 2.11. We are left with a final question: where does the name “Eu-
clidean” come from? The answer is that in a Euclidean domain, we may
perform Euclid’s algorithm. We shall save this for the next section, when
will learn not only how to do it, but also what it is good for.

We close this section by recording a lemma that will enable us to easily

tell when an element of a Euclidean domain is a unit. (Recall from Defini-
tion 1.6 that an element β of R is a unit if there is an element β  of R with
ββ  = 1.) This will provide a generalization of Lemma 1.14. (Actually,
using this lemma would enable us to simplify some of our earlier proofs
slightly, but in the interest of directness we did not do so.)

Lemma 2.12. Let R be a Euclidean domain and let β be any nonzero ele-
ment of R. Then β ≥ 1 and β = 1 if and only if β is a unit.

Proof: For the first inequality, set a = 1 and b = β in Definition 2.11(2) to

conclude that, for any element β,
1 ≤ 1 · β = β.

Now suppose β is a unit, and let ββ  = 1. Then, setting a = β and b = β 

in Definition 2.1, β ≤ ββ   = 1
so combining these two inequalities shows β = 1.
On the other hand, suppose β = 1. By Definition 2.5, we can find
elements q and r of R with
1 = βq + r and r = 0 or r < β.

But by assumption, β = 1, and by what we have just proved, there
are no nonzero elements r of R with r < 1, so we must have r = 0 and
then 1 = ββ  with β  = q, so β is a unit in R. 

2.2 The GCD-L Property and Euclid’s Algorithm

Let us begin by recalling a definition that may be familiar to you in the
case of positive integers: Let a and b be positive integers. Their greatest

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32 2. Unique Factorization

common divisor g = gcd(a, b) is the unique positive integer with the prop-
erty that (1) g divides both a and b; and (2) if d is any integer dividing
both a and b, then d divides g.
We should point out that a priori the gcd may not exist. We are claiming
that there is one and only one positive integer with a certain property, and
a priori there may be no such integer or more than one such integer.
But for the positive integers the gcd does indeed exist and can be found
by taking the common prime factors of a and b. For example, if a = 360 =
23 · 32 · 5 and b = 2268 = 22 · 34 · 7, then g = 22 · 32 = 36. If a = 37 = 37 and
b = 143 = 11 · 13, then g = 1 (as they have no prime factors in common).
If a = 280067 = 229 · 1223 and b = 227168 = 25 · 31 · 229, then g = 229.
This is not really a satisfactory answer, however, because this assumes
unique factorization, which we have not shown yet. In fact, we will use the
gcd to prove unique factorization, not the other way around. (It is also not
really satisfactory from a practical viewpoint either, since this method of
finding the gcd requires us to factor a and b into a product of primes, and
this is not so easy, unless a and b are small.) Moreover, we will see that we
have a gcd in any Euclidean domain. Thus, since we have already shown
√
that O( −1) is Euclidean, we can consider elements of that ring.
For example, if a = 23 − i and b = 24 + bi, then g = −1 + i. This
comes from the prime factorization 23 − i = (−1 + i)(2 − i)(7 + 2i) and
24+6i = −(1+i)(−1+i)(3)(4+i), and as difficult as it may be to find prime
√
factorizations in Z, it is more difficult to find them in O( −1). (Actually, I
have exaggerated here to make a point. We will develop a lot more theory,
√
which will tell us how to do prime factorization in O( −1), and we will
see that it is not too much more difficult than in Z.)
What we shall use is not only the property that elements α and β of
R have a gcd, but in addition, that the gcd can be written as a linear
combination of α and β. That is, if γ is the gcd of α and β, then there are
elements δ and ε of R with γ = αδ + βε. For example,

36 = 360 · 19 + 2268 · (−3),

1 = 37 · 58 + 143 · (−15),
229 = 280067 · (−73) + 227168 · 90,
−1 + i = (23 − i)(−6 + 5i) + (24 + 6i)(4 − 6i).

Even given the prime factorizations of the numbers involved, it is no sim-

ple task to find a linear combination that yields their gcd, as the above
examples show.

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2.2. The GCD-L Property and Euclid’s Algorithm 33

We will develop an algorithm, known as Euclid’s algorithm, and we will

see that Euclid’s algorithm provides an effective way to find the gcd of α
and β (without having to factor them first), and as a byproduct yields an
expression γ = αδ + βε of their gcd γ as a linear combination of α and β.
For example, α = 1123456789 and β = 876543210 have gcd γ = 1, and
furthermore
1 = 1123456789(356396689) + 876543210(−456790122).

(I have no idea what the prime factorizations of 1123456789 and 876543210

are.)
But, far more important than the practical aspect, we will be able to
prove using Euclid’s algorithm that, in this situation, it is always possible
to express γ as γ = αδ + βε, and this theoretical result will be the key to
proving unique factorization.
With these examples in mind, we get to work.

Definition 2.13. Let R be an integral domain and let {αi } be a set of ele-
ments of R, not all of which are zero. Then an element γ of R is a greatest
common divisor (gcd) of {αi }, γ = gcd({αi }) if

(1) γ divides each αi ,

(2) if ζ is any element of R that divides each αi , then ζ divides γ.

In general, a gcd may or may not exist. We shall soon explore the
question of when it does. But for the moment, let us assume that a gcd
does exist and explore the consequences of that assumption.

Lemma 2.14.

(1) Let γ be a gcd of {αi } and let ε be any unit of R. Then γ  = γε is also
a gcd of {αi }.

(2) If γ and γ  are any two gcd’s of {αi }, then γ  = γε for some
unit ε.

Proof:

(1) By the definition of a unit, there is an element ε of R with εε = 1.

Then γ = γ1 = γ(εε ) = (γε)ε = γ  ε . Thus, γ divides γ  and also
γ  divides γ. With that in mind, let us check that γ  satisfies both
properties of a gcd.

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34 2. Unique Factorization

Property (1): Since γ  divides γ and γ divides each αi , γ  divides

each αi .

Property (2): Since ζ divides γ and γ divides γ  , ζ divides γ  .

(2) By the definition of a gcd, γ divides γ  , so γ  = γε for some ε, and,

again by the definition of a gcd, γ  divides γ, so γ = γ  ε for some ε .
Then γ = γ  ε = γεε so 1 = εε and hence ε is a unit. 

Still assuming that a gcd exists, we have the following important

definition.
Definition 2.15. If {αi } has a gcd of 1, then {αi } is relatively prime.

The next lemma shows we can “factor out” a gcd.

Lemma 2.16. Let {αi } have a gcd of γ, and for each i, write αi = γαi .
Then {αi } is relatively prime.

Proof: We must show that 1 has the two properties of a gcd of {αi }. Now
1 has property (1) of a gcd of {αi } as 1 certainly divides each αi .
Suppose now that ζ is any element of R that divides each αi . Then γζ
divides each γαi . But γαi = αi so γζ divides each αi . By property (2) of
a gcd of {αi }, we have that γζ divides γ, and hence ζ divides 1. Thus we
see that 1 also has property (2) of a gcd of {αi }, so we conclude that 1 is
a gcd of {αi }. 

It is sometimes convenient to have a stronger condition than that in

Definition 2.15. For further reference, we define that now.
Definition 2.17. If {αi } is a set of elements of R such that any two distinct
elements of this set have a gcd of 1, then {αi } is pairwise relatively prime.

To see the distinction between these two definitions, let us consider the
set of integers {6, 10, 15}. This set is relatively prime, as it has a gcd of
1, but is not pairwise relatively prime. Looking at pairs of elements, we
see that 6 and 10 have a gcd of 2, that 6 and 15 have a gcd of 3, and that
10 and 15 have gcd of 5. Thus in this set, no two distinct elements are
relatively prime.
We have been proceeding a bit hypothetically, assuming a gcd exists
and exploring the consequences of that assumption. Now let us turn to the
question of when a gcd actually does exist.
We shall formulate a stronger property than the mere existence of the
gcd, and investigate that.

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2.2. The GCD-L Property and Euclid’s Algorithm 35

Definition 2.18. An integral domain R has the GCD-L property if the fol-
lowing is true:

(1) Every set of elements A = {αi } in R, not all zero, has a gcd γ, and

(2) it is possible to write the gcd γ as a linear combination of the elements

of A, i.e., there are elements {βi } of R such that

γ= αi βi .

This is a very important property, as we shall see, but GCD-L is not

standard mathematical language.
Remark 2.19. In this definition, A = {αi } may be infinite. In that case, we
(implicitly) require that only finitely many of {βi } be nonzero, as otherwise
we would have an infinite sum, which would not make sense.

Here is our main theorem. First, we will give a very short and slick (but
nonconstructive) proof of this theorem. Then we will give a constructive
proof that will lead us to Euclid’s algorithm.
Theorem 2.20. Every Euclidean domain R has the GCD-L property.

First Proof: Let R be a Euclidean domain with norm ·, and let A = {αi }
be any set of elements of R not all of which are zero.
Let S be the set of all linear combination of the elements of A,
 
S= αi βi | each βi is in R, and only finitely many βi = 0 .

Observe that S contains each element of A, as for any value of i we

may write αi = αi · 1. (That is, we write αi as a linear combination of the
elements of A by choosing βi = 1 and βi = 0 for i = i.) In particular,
since not all of the {αi } are zero, S contains at least one nonzero element.
Let
S  = {nonzero elements of S}.
Now let T  be the set of norms of the element of S  ,

T  = {α | α is in S  }.

The set T  is a nonempty set of nonnegative integers, so by the Well-

Ordering Principle has a smallest element t. Let γ be an element of S  with

γ = t. By the definition of S  , γ is a linear combination γ = αi βi0
for some elements {βi }. We claim that γ is a gcd of {αi }. To see this, we
0

must verify the properties of the gcd.

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36 2. Unique Factorization

Property (1): γ divides each αi . Actually, we shall prove that γ divides

each element of S. Since, as we have observed, each αi is
in S, that shows what we need. To see this, let α be an

arbitrary element of S. Then, by definition, α = αi βi for
some {βi }. Since R is a Euclidean domain, we know we can
write
α = γδ + ρ
for some δ in R and some ρ in R with ρ = 0 or ρ < γ.
Substituting, we see
  
αi βi = αi βi0 δ + ρ,

and solving for ρ we find


ρ= αi (βi − βi0 δ),

which we recognize as a linear combination of {αi }, i.e., as

an element of S. On the one hand, by our choice of ρ, we
have that ρ is an element of S with ρ = 0 or ρ < γ.
On the other hand, by the definition of γ, γ = t is the
smallest norm of any nonzero element of S, so there are no
elements ρ of S with ρ < γ. Hence, the only possibility
for ρ is ρ = 0. But, substituting, this gives α = γδ, and so γ
divides α.

Property (2): If ζ divides each αi , then ζ divides γ. To see this, observe

that since ζ divides each αi , we may write each αi = ζθi for
some element θi of R.
We know

γ= αi βi0 ,

so, substituting, we find

  
γ= ζθi βi0 = ζ θi βi0 ,

and hence we see that ζ divides γ. 

We shall build up to our second proof gradually.

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2.2. The GCD-L Property and Euclid’s Algorithm 37

Definition 2.21. For A = {αi } a set of elements of an integral domain R,

not all of which are zero, let

D(A) = {ζ in R | ζ divides each αi in A}.

Remark 2.22. We observe that D(A) is a nonempty set, as it contains the

identity element of 1 of R. (Certainly 1 divides every αi .) Referring to
Definition 2.13, we also observe that A has a gcd if and only if there is
some element γ of D({αi }) divisible by every element of D({αi }), in which
case γ is the gcd.

Our next lemma shows that we may modify a set of elements A =

{α1 , α2 } in a controlled way without changing D(A).

Lemma 2.23. Let α1 and α2 be any two elements of R, and let δ be any
element of R. Set α2 = α2 + δα1 . Then D({α1 , α2 }) = D({α1 , α2 }).

Proof: Let us set D = D({α1 , α2 }) and D = D({α1 , α2 }). We want to

show that these two sets are the same, and we show this by showing that
every element of D is an element of D and vice-versa.
First, suppose that β is in D = D({α1 , α2 }). Then β divides α1 , so
α1 = βε1 , and β divides α2 , so α2 = βε2 , for some elements ε1 and of R.
But then α2 = α2 + δα1 = βε2 + δβε1 = β(ε2 + δε1 ), so β divides α2 . Hence
β is in D({α1 , α2 }) = D .
The argument in the other direction uses the identical logic. Suppose
that β  is in D = D({α1 , α2 }). Then β  divides α1 , so α1 = β  ε1 , and
β  divides α2 , so α2 = β  ε2 , for some elements ε1 and of R. But then
α2 = α2 − δα1 = β  ε2 − δβ  ε1 = β  (ε2 − δε1 ), so β  divides α2 . Hence β  is
in D({α1 , α2 }) = D. 

Here is another lemma about changing sets in a (different) controlled

way. Note that at this point we do not want to assume that every set of
elements of R, not all of which are zero, has a gcd. (To be sure, we proved
that in Theorem 2.20, but we are building up to a second, independent
proof of that theorem here.) So we include the assumption that the sets A
and {α , γ} each have a gcd as part of our hypothesis.

Lemma 2.24. Let A = {αi } be any set of elements of R, not all of which
are zero, and suppose that A has a gcd γ. Let α be any element of R. If
{α , γ} has a gcd γ  , then γ  is also a gcd of the set A = {α } ∪ A. (In
particular, the set A has a gcd.)

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Other documents randomly have
different content
that, the woodsmen had not referred to the matter since they asked
to see the weapon with which the shooting was done.
"No; the dogs don't belong to none of us nor the sheep, neither,"
answered Daily. "Do you see them letters on the critter's head all
mixed up together? That's Holmes's mark, and them dogs or any
others are welcome to kill all the sheep he's got, for all we care. We
don't like him none too well, for he harbored that detective till we
told him to shove him out, and he would be one of the wardens if he
wasn't afraid. Matt'll be staving blind mad when he hears of it, and
mebbe you'd best keep outen his way when you get started, for he'll
make you pay ten times what the critters was fairly worth. He sets a
heap of store by them, for he brought 'em up here for watch-dogs to
tell him when there was anybody coming to his shanty."
"Did you say Matt would be mad?" asked Joe, with a strange look on
his face. "Matt who? What is his other name?"
"His whole name is Matt Coyle," replied Daily.

CHAPTER XV.
MR. HOLMES'S WARNING.
THIS was a surprise, and for some reasons it was a most
disagreeable one. Of course Joe Wayring and his chums were not
sorry that their old enemy, Matt Coyle, had escaped with his life
when the canvas canoe was snagged and sunk in Indian River, but
they were sorry that they had stumbled upon him in this unexpected
way. Beyond a doubt Matt's failure to make himself master of the six
thousand dollars that had been stolen from the Irvington bank,
taken in connection with the loss of all his worldly goods and the
imprisonment of his wife and boys, had had an effect upon him, and
if such a thing were possible, Matt hated Joe and his friends with
greatly increased hatred. The fact that the boys were in no way to
blame for his misfortunes would not make the least difference to
Matt Coyle. His bad luck began on the very day he made the
acquaintance of the Wayring family, he looked upon Joe as his evil
genius, and the young wheelmen knew well enough that unless they
got out of the Glen's Falls neighborhood before Matt learned they
were there, they would surely find themselves in trouble of some
sort.
"His whole name is Matt Coyle," repeated Daily. "He was the best
guide, boatman and hunter down the Injun Lake way, but for some
reason or other the rest of the men who were in that business didn't
take to him, and so they clubbed together and drove him out. That
wouldn't have been so very hard on Matt, for Ameriky is a tolerable
big country and there's plenty of places for a guide and hunter to
go; but they had to go and smash up everything he had so't he
couldn't stay. They even took all his money and his rifle and clothes
away from him, and turned him out to starve. He made his way up
here by accident, and he's been living with us ever since. He's a
good chap, and when he told me his story, I said to him that if I was
in his place, I wouldn't sleep sound till every man and boy who had
had a hand in mistreating me was burned outen house and home.
Why, he lost six thousand dollars in hard money, Matt did; all the
savings of years of honest work."
"But he knows a way to get it all back and more too," said one of
Dave's partners. "We expect him home with some of the boys to-
day, and when he comes we'll all be rich."
"Spence, you talk too much for a little man," said Dave, sternly.
"Matt won't take it kind of you telling all his secrets. He warned us
all not to say anything about it."
"Fellows, we must be going," exclaimed Joe. "I know that everything
these men have to say is full of interest, but listening to stories will
not take us to our journey's end. By the way, how far is the railroad
from here? I mean the one that runs through Dorchester?"
"Fifteen miles, or such a matter," answered Daily. "But you couldn't
never get there. The woods is so thick you couldn't take them
wagons through. Your best plan is to stick to the road. Where did
you say you was going to stop to-night?"
"If we stay here much longer we'll have to stop in town," replied
Joe. "We don't want to do that, so we shall keep going and get as
close to a level country as we can before the dark overtakes us.
Good-by."
This was a moment that all the boys had been looking forward to
with many misgivings. Would Daily and his men permit them to
leave when they got ready? was a question that had often shaped
itself in their minds, and which would now be answered in a very
few seconds. To their immense relief the men who had been ready
to shoot them half an hour before, showed no disposition to molest
them or their property. They might be thieves and law-breakers, but
they were not highwaymen. They said "So-long" very cordially, and
saw the boys mount and ride away.
"Now here's a mess, or will be if we don't make the best time we
know how before night comes," said Arthur, when the first turn in
the road took them out of sight of Dave Daily and his friends. "I
don't know when I have been more astounded than I was when that
outlaw pronounced Matt Coyle's name."
"Didn't that juryman say that he believed Matt would some day turn
up alive and as full of mischief as ever?" said Roy Sheldon. "And
didn't we say that the Glen's Falls neighborhood would be just the
place for him if he were on deck? Well, he's here. He must have had
a time of it tramping all the way from Sherwin's Pond through the
woods. But then I suppose he is used to such things."
"He is at home wherever night overtakes him," said Arthur. "But I
shouldn't think he would stick to the woods when there were so
many roads handy."
"Wouldn't he want to keep out of sight of the officers who were
looking for the money he was known to have in his possession? So
those six thousand dollars were the fruits of his honest toil, were
they? And Matt was the best guide, boatman, and hunter in the
Indian Lake country? That's news to me."
"It's news to all of us," answered Joe; "but, to my notion, there's
worse behind it. Where has Matt been with those men who are
going to make the Buster band rich when they return?"
"That's so," exclaimed Arthur. "Where has he? I noticed you inquired
the distance to the railroad, and that made me think you were
disturbed by the same suspicions I was. Do you believe Matt and his
crowd were down there, and that they had anything to do with the
rock we found on the track?"
"I don't know what else to think," replied Joe. "It was the way those
men acted rather than what they said that aroused my suspicions.
Matt has been rich once, that is to say, he has had the handling of
more money than he will ever make by his own labor, and isn't it
natural to suppose that when he lost it he set his wits at work to
conjure up some plan to get more? A man who will do the things
Matt Coyle has done and threatened, will do worse if he gets the
chance. It's time that fellow was shut up. The next time he tries to
wreck a train he may be successful."
This was all the boys had to say on the subject, but it was easy
enough to see that they had resolved to put an officer on the
squatter's track at the first opportunity. But then there was Tom
Bigden, with whose doings I was by this time pretty well acquainted.
Would they want him disgraced by the revelations Matt would be
sure to make if he were brought before a court to be tried for his
crimes? As Roy Sheldon afterward remarked, a big load would have
been taken off Tom Bigden's shoulders if Matt Coyle had never been
born.
As soon as Daily and his men had been left out of sight Arthur
Hastings began making the pace; and he made it so rapid that
scarcely twenty minutes elapsed before they passed through an
open gate and drew up before the back door of Mr. Holmes's house.
They knew it when they saw it; and as they looked at all the
evidences of thrift and comfort with which it was surrounded, they
wished most heartily that Daily and all the rest of the Buster band
might be brought to justice and that speedily.
"Boys, we'll not put this fine property in jeopardy by stopping here,"
said Joe, in a low tone. "We'd be worse than heathen if we did, and
Mr. Holmes ought to kick us off the place for hinting at such a thing.
Good-evening, sir," he added, touching his cap to a gray-headed
man in his shirt sleeves who just then came around the corner with
a bucket of water in his hand. "Have you a pitcher of milk to spare,
and can you give us a good big lunch to eat along the way?"
"Oh, yes, I can do that," replied the man, whose countenance grew
clouded when he saw the boys getting off their wheels, but
brightened again at once when he learned that they did not intend
to ask him for lodgings. "Plenty of milk and provender to spare, but
no beds made up."
"Mr. Holmes, we understand you perfectly," Joe hastened to reply.
"We know just how you are situated, we sympathize with you, and
we wouldn't stay in your house to-night if we knew your doors were
open to us. We met Daily up the road a piece."
"You did?" exclaimed Mr. Holmes. "And did you tell him you were
going to stop here?"
"We simply told him we should stop somewhere in town long
enough to buy a glass of milk or beg a drink of water, and he raised
no objection to it. I think you ought to know that Matt Coyle's dogs
have been on the warpath again, and you have lost another sheep.
Daily said it was in your mark."
"That's too bad; too bad," said the old man, who had long ago
ceased to hope for better times. "If they keep on they will kill all my
stock. The members of the Buster band don't always go into the
woods after meat now. The pastures are handier, and a sheep, calf,
or nice young heifer is easier to shoot than deer. We can't prove
anything against them, and are afraid to prosecute if we could."
"Those dogs will never kill any more sheep for you," said Roy. "They
wouldn't give us the road and we shot them. They're deader than
herrings."
I noticed that Roy always said "we" when speaking of this little
circumstance. If anything unpleasant grew out of it, he did not mean
that his friend Arthur should bear all the blame or take all the
punishment. Mr. Holmes's face grew bright again, but he showed a
little anxiety when he asked:
"Did Daily see you do it, or does he know anything about it? Then I
am surprised that he didn't make you pay for the dogs. Say," he
went on, in a more guarded tone, "where are you going to stop to
night?"
Joe answered that they intended to camp in the woods, and hoped
he could furnish them grub enough for supper and breakfast the
next morning.
"Of course I'll do that," said Mr. Holmes. "But take my advice and
don't light a fire. The owner of the dogs you shot is a savage. He
gets around at night as well as in the day-time, and since he came
here last fall, he has put more mischief into the Buster band than
they ever had in them before, and that was quite unnecessary. They
never thought of shooting stock for their own use before he went
among them, but they often do it now. They seem to take delight in
breaking open every door that is fastened of nights, no matter
whether they want to steal anything or not. I'd give something to
know positively what that man Coyle intended to do with the spades,
crowbar and axes he took out of my tool-house the other night."
"What do you think he meant to do with them?" inquired Arthur, who
thought from the way the man spoke that he had his suspicions.
"I'm almost afraid to speak it out loud, for it don't seem possible that
any man can be so wicked," replied Mr. Holmes. "The lawless acts of
the Buster band have driven nearly everything away from us, but
we've got the post-office left, and last night I got my weekly papers
out of it. In one of them I read that a terrible railroad accident had
been averted by the coolness and courage of a wheelman who rode
across a trestle in the dark to warn the engineer of an approaching
train that there was a rock on the track."
"He rode over a trestle in the dark?" exclaimed Roy, who, impatient
as he was to hear what else Mr. Holmes had to say, could not resist
the temptation to torment Joe Wayring. "Now that's what I call
pluck."
"That is what the papers call it too," said Mr. Holmes. "Well, when
the trainmen came to look into things they found that that rock
didn't get upon the track by accident, but had been dug out of its
bed on the top of the bluff and rolled there. Since then that bluff has
been examined by detectives in the employ of the railroad, who
found there a couple of spades, an axe and a crowbar all marked
J.H. Those are the initials of my name, and they are on every tool
I've got. They're in New London now, and if I thought anything
would come of it, I would run down and look at them. If they are
mine, that man Coyle was the leader of the gang who tried to wreck
the train. At least he stole the tools, and I say he is the leader
because the Buster band never would have thought of such a thing
if he had not put it into their heads."
"How do you know he stole your tools?" asked Roy, in some
excitement.
"Because I saw the prints of his feet in front of the door of the shop.
They're as big as all out-doors, and his shoes are so nearly torn to
pieces that it is a wonder to me how he can keep them on. Mebbe
it's a little thing to build so much upon, but I know I am right," said
the old man, earnestly. "If you could see that track once you would
recognize it again the minute you saw it."
Now, when it was too late to make amends for the oversight, Roy
Sheldon proceeded to take himself severely to task for not making a
closer examination of those big footprints he had seen about the
rock. If Matt Coyle's track was there he could have picked it out from
among the rest, for hadn't he and his companions taken a good look
at it on the night Mr. Swan "surrounded" Matt's camp, and Matt crept
up in their rear and stole all their boats? That "hoof" of his, as Mr.
Swan called it, had "given the squatter away" on one occasion, and
seemed in a fair way to do it again. Evidence that Matt was one of
those who had tried to wreck the train was accumulating with
encouraging rapidity. No doubt he and his gang had expected to
bring a rich harvest out of that gulf after the sleeping passengers
had been plunged into it, and that was what Daily's companion
meant by saying that Matt would make them all wealthy when he
came back. But what would they say when they learned that he had
not brought a cent with him?
"Of course it is not my place to offer advice, Mr. Holmes," said
Arthur, at length, "but I really think it would be a good plan for you
to go to the city and look at those tools. If they are yours you can
say so, and may be the means of breaking up this nest of ruffians.
There'll be a detective sent up."
"But I don't want one sent here," exclaimed Mr. Holmes. "I'd be
afraid to have him around, for the minute he went away I'd lose
everything I've got."
"He need not come near you," replied Arthur.
"And he need not come on a wheel, either," added Joe. "If he does,
he may get some innocent tourist into trouble. Let him be a tramp or
a fugitive from justice, if you please."
"That's the idea," interrupted the old man, excitedly. "Young fellow,
your head's level. That would be his game, if he would only consent
to play it, for fugitives and tramps are the ones the Buster band
always receive with open arms."
"That is what I thought. Well, they have a good one now, and what's
more, they must like him, for Daily said Matt was a fine fellow; or
something like that," soliloquized Joe. He did not utter the words
aloud, for he wasn't sure it would be prudent to tell Mr. Holmes that
he and his two friends were better acquainted with Matt Coyle than
anybody in the Glen's Falls country. If they could help it, the boys did
not mean to tell who they were or where they came from, for fear
that the information might reach Matt's ears in a roundabout way.
He was glad when Roy said:
"Haven't we stayed here about long enough? If we want this to be
our last night in the mountains we had better take to the road
again."
"I guess you had," replied Mr. Holmes, reluctantly. "I never was
guilty of so inhospitable an act before, except when I showed Daily's
letter to the detective who was stopping with me and asked him
what I had better do about it, and I would not be guilty of it now if I
could do as I pleased. Remember my advice and go to bed in the
dark; for if you don't I am afraid you will have visitors before
morning."
The boys promised to bear the matter in mind, at the same time
assuring the old man that it was no hardship for them to sleep out
of doors, and Mr. Holmes hurried away to get the pitcher of milk and
have a supper and breakfast put up for them. Being apprehensive
that some of the Buster band might be on the watch, hoping to
collect some damaging evidence against the farmer that would
warrant them in burning his house, Joe Wayring and his friends did
not once venture across the threshold, although often urged, but ate
a lunch and drank their fill of milk while sitting on the back steps.
When the boys offered to pay for being so royally entertained, Mr.
Holmes would not listen to it. By putting it out of the power of those
sheep-killing dogs to do any more mischief, they had done him and
all the rest of the law-abiding men in the settlement a kindness, and
he wished they could stay there for a week so that he and his
neighbors might show them how grateful they were for it. If any
citizen of that region had shot those dogs, he would have been
homeless before another week had passed over his head.
"I hope that Matt will not think that a citizen did do it, and proceed
to wreak vengeance upon some one against whom he happens to
hold a grudge," said Roy, as they moved swiftly out of the gate and
turned down the road. "I still think that if Mr. Holmes and a few
determined men would wake up and go about it in earnest, they
could put an end to this reign of terror. I can't see why they don't try
it."
But there was one thing that Roy and his friends did not know, and
Mr. Holmes had forgotten to speak of it. There was not a single
building in Glen's Falls that had a dollar's worth of insurance upon it.
The risks had all been canceled at the breaking out of the war of the
Rebellion, and there had been none taken there since. This was one
thing that made Mr. Holmes and his neighbors so very timid.
The town of Glen's Falls was a dreary looking spot, as the boys
found when they came to ride through it. There was a forest of fine
shade-trees on each side of the wide principal thoroughfare, but
there was grass instead of walks under them, and the buildings
behind were rapidly falling to pieces. The evidences of former
prosperity that met their eyes on every hand proved that there had
once been money and brains in the place, and that it would have
amounted to something before this time if Dave Daily and the rest of
the Buster band had been out of the way. They slaked their thirst at
a pump on the corner of a cross-road and continued on their way
without meeting a single person. If it had not been for an occasional
head they saw through the windows of some of the houses they
passed, they would have said that the town was deserted.
Their guide-book told them that the road that led from Glen's Falls
through the mountains to the low country beyond was so plain it
could not be missed, and perhaps it was when the man who wrote
the book passed that way on his wheel; but it was not so now.
Roads there were in abundance, and they all ran down hill in the
direction the boys wanted to go; but they were filled with
obstructions, and no particular one of them showed more signs of
travel than another.
"I'd like to see the fellow who says he had a mile of the best of
coasting along this road try his hand at it now," said Roy, seating
himself on a log and cooling his flushed face with his cap while he
waited for one or the other of his friends to go ahead and take the
lead. "I'm tired out, and if I was sure it would be quite safe to do so,
I should be in favor of going into camp."
"I don't believe he ever came along this road," said Joe. "We've got
a little out of our reckoning, that's all."
"And not only are there no cows near by to give us a drink of milk,
but we wouldn't dare go after it if there were, for fear of that villain
Matt Coyle," groaned Roy. "Doesn't it beat you how that fellow keeps
turning up?"
"And at the very time he isn't wanted," chimed in Arthur. "If you
want to stop, all right; but don't let's stop here. I think it would be
safer to go into the bushes and hide. I don't much like the idea of
passing the night without a fire, but I confess that what Mr. Holmes
said frightened me. I wish we might get a hundred miles away
before Matt comes home and hears that his watch-dogs have been
shot."
The others wished so too, but they hadn't energy enough to go any
farther that night, and besides the appearance of the road ahead of
them was discouraging. It ran down a steep bank until it was lost
among the trees and bushes as its foot, and probably there was
another bank just as rough and steep on the other side of the brook
which ran through the gully. They made the descent, and there they
found a stream of water so sparkling and cold that the sight of it
was more than they could resist. They carried their wheels into the
bushes, making as little trail as possible, and at the distance of ten
or fifteen yards from the road found a camping place; or, rather, a
thicket that would be a nice spot for a camp when some of its
interior was cut away so that they could spread their blankets. They
did not use their camp-axes for fear that the noise they would
necessarily make in chopping away the brush would serve as a guide
to some one they did not care to see. They worked silently with their
knives, and at the end of half an hour had as comfortable a camp as
a tired boy would wish to see, if there had only been a cheerful fire
to light it. They ate their supper in the dark, took a refreshing bath
in the brook, and then lay down with their blankets about them and
their loaded pocket rifles close at hand. This was the first time they
had found it necessary to adopt this precaution, and they hoped it
would be the last.
About an hour after my master's regular breathing told me that he
had fallen fast asleep, I was startled by hearing voices a little
distance away. I could not tell which direction they came from, but I
knew they were men's voices, and that they were angrily discussing
some point on which there seemed to be a difference of opinion. I
was still more startled when Arthur Hastings raised himself upon his
elbow, shook Joe Wayring roughly by the shoulder, and whispered in
his ear:
"Wake up, here. Matt Coyle's coming."
"Where?" asked Joe, who was wide awake in an instant.
"Coming along the very road we'd had to go up if we'd climbed the
hill on the other side of the brook," replied Arthur. "Do you hear
that? They're stopping for a drink. Reach over and give Roy a shove.
Be careful to put your hand on his mouth for he is apt to speak out
when he is suddenly aroused."
Be careful maneuvering on Joe's part Roy was awakened without
betraying his presence to the men, who had by this time halted at
the brook, and then the three boys sat up on their blankets and
listened.

CHAPTER XVI.
TWO NARROW ESCAPES.
"I TELL you I feel so savage that I could bite a nail in two an' not
half try," were the first words that came to the ears of the listening
wheelmen. They were preceded by a long-drawn sigh of satisfaction,
such as a thirsty boy sometimes utters when he has taken a hearty
drink of water. "Seems to me that I can't turn in no direction no way
but I find them oneasy chaps at my heels to pester the life out of
me. They're to blame for me losin' them six thousand dollars of mine
that I worked hard fur, dog-gone 'em."
How the boys trembled when that harsh voice grated on their ears.
It was Matt Coyle's, sure enough. They had heard it so often that
there could be no mistake about it.
"They was the ones that blocked this little game of mine, an' sent
me an' the fellers hum empty-handed when we thought to come
back rich," Matt went on, growing angrier and raising his voice to a
higher key as he proceeded. "I seen 'em as plain as daylight; an'
now I come hum to find that they've been here an' shot them two
dogs that I was dependin' on to keep the constable away from my
shanty. Did anybody ever hear of sich pizen luck?"
"If you saw them there at the rock, what was the reason you did not
drive them off so't the train could run into it?" inquired another
familiar voice,—in point of fact, the voice of Dave Daily. The boys
were surprised to know that he was there, and wondered if he had
come out to meet Matt and put him on their trail. If he had, what
was his object in doing it? Did he want to see them punished for
shooting those savage dogs, or did he want to have them robbed?
"You say you and your crowd worked hard to get that rock down the
bluff and onto the track, and yet you sot there in the bresh and let
one single boy turn you from your purpose, which was to bust up
the train," continued Daily. "He must have been alone, for you say
yourself that one of his friends went one way and t'other went
t'other to tell the engineer to watch out. Why didn't you go down
and pitch him into the ravine?"
"What would have been the good of doin' that, seein' that Joe an'
Arthur had already went off?" demanded the squatter, with some
show of spirit. "An' don't I tell you that he had a pistol or something
in his hand."
Daily uttered an exclamation of impatience.
"'Twasn't a pistol nor nothing of the sort," said he. "It was a little
pop-gun that wouldn't hit the side of a barn nor shoot through a
piece of card-board. Before I would say that I was scared by a little
thing like that I would go off and hide myself; wouldn't you,
Spence?"
"Them pop-guns was big enough an' ugly enough to kill them two
dogs of mine, an' I ain't got no call to face sich we'pons," retorted
Matt, who, as you know, always took care to look out for number
one. "An' here we've been hidin' around in the bresh fur most a
week, fearin' the officers, when we might as well come hum to onct.
That's another thing that makes me mad. I do wish I could get my
two hands onto them boys fur a little while, an' you fellers here to
help me. I'd larrup 'em so't they wouldn't ever come nigh here agin,
I bet you."
"I don't know whether you would or not," replied Daily. "I kinder
liked 'em, and as long as they ain't officers—"
"That's so," interrupted Matt. "But they're jest the chaps to put the
constables onto your trail an' mine. That's their best holt. Didn't you
say that if you was in my place you wouldn't rest easy till everybody
who had had a hand in mistreatin' you had been burned outen
house an' home? Well, them are three of 'em."
"Now why didn't you say so?" demanded the chief of the Buster
band.
"If we'd only knowed that, we'd a kept 'em for you," added Spence's
voice. "Wouldn't we, Dave? Now that I come to think of it, the
youngsters never told us who they was or where they come from,
and we didn't think to ask them."
"They'd a lied to you if you had," said Matt, and the boys judged by
the sound of crunching gravel that he was pacing back and forth
across the road like some caged wild animal. "That's the kind of
fellers they be; an' now I'll tell you what's a fact: If you don't help
me ketch them fellers an' hold 'em so't they can't get away till we
get ready to let 'em, this country of your'n will be thick with officers
afore two weeks more has gone by. That's the way it was down to
Injun Lake."
"And this is what we get by taking you in and feeding you when you
was nigh about dead, is it?" exclaimed Daily, in angry tones. "I bet
you that the next tramp who comes this way will be kicked out
before he has time to tell his story. You've brought some of our boys
into trouble by talking them big notions of your'n into their heads,
and telling how easy it was to smash a train and get thousands of
dollars outen the pocket of the folks—Ugh! I can't bear to think of
what fools we made of ourselves by listening to you. Now you clear
yourself, before we make an end of you for good."
"I come here 'cause I had to go somewhere, didn't I?" said Matt, in
tones that were fully as angry and fierce as Daily's. "I'm sorry
enough I done it, for you're not the men I took you for. You're willin'
to stand here with your hands in your pockets an' let them rich folks
tell you what an' when you shall eat."
"No, we ain't," roared Daily. "We're free Amerikin citizens, and we
don't allow nobody to tell us what we shall do."
"Well, then, what makes you talk to me that-a-way?" cried Matt. "I
come here to help, an' I've told you of more ways to bother the folks
who want to make laws for you than you would have thought of in
ten years' time. As fur puttin' that rock on the track, nobody
suspicions who done it, an' we laid around in the bresh so't the
officers, if any happened to be here, shouldn't see us comin' from
t'wards the railroad. I'm free to say that I didn't want to go down to
the track alone an' face the we'pon that Sheldon boy had in his hand
(I knowed him dark as it was), but I offered to go if any one would
go with me; an' they wouldn't. Ask 'em if it ain't so."
This proved to Roy Sheldon's entire satisfaction that he had done the
right thing when he pulled his pocket rifle from its case, shoved a
cartridge into it, and prepared to defend himself if the train-wreckers
thought it best to attack him. It seems that they did watch him and
discuss plans for getting him out of their way, but some of the timid
ones among them saw the light reflected from the nickel-plated
ornaments on his rifle, and could not muster courage enough to
show themselves.
"Nobody don't suspicion that we put the rock on the track," repeated
Matt, "an' that ain't why the officers will come here. You're the one
who done the mischief—you, yourself. As soon as one of them boys
began to let on that they knowed who you was, you showed them
all the letters an' things you writ for the papers, an' talked to 'em like
they was friends of your'n. You will find yourself in trouble all along
of that nonsense, if you don't do what I say."
"That puts a different look on the matter," said Daily, in a much
milder tone, "and, Matt, I'm sorry I jawed you that-a-way. Fact of it
is, I couldn't help it. We've been in a power of trouble and trib'lation
ever since them rich folks down to Washington sent for us to go and
fight their war for 'em, and then went and made laws against
shooting deer and ketching trout, and we've got pretty well riled up.
What do you think we had best do?"
"Nab them boys fust an' foremost," said the squatter emphatically.
"That's the fust thing; then, after I have had my satisfaction outen
'em, by tyin' 'em to a tree an' larrupin' 'em with hickories, like I
would have done with that there pizen Joe Wayring if them friends
of his'n hadn't come up an' rescooed him—after I've done all that, I'll
take a day off an' think what we'll do next. One thing is sartin: them
boys must not be let go out of these mountings till their mouths has
been shut about the Buster band in some way or 'nuther."
"Ketching of 'em is going to be the hardest part of the whole
business," remarked Spence. "They skum along right peart after we
let them go, and I b'lieve they are plumb outen the mountings by
this time. If they are—"
"But they ain't, I tell you," Matt Coyle interposed. "It don't lay in no
steam injun, let alone a bisickle, to get outen these mountings
betwixt five o'clock an' dark. They're camped summers between here
an' Ogden, an' all we've got to do is to circle round to our usual
lookin'-out place an' stay there till we see 'em comin'; then we'll run
down an' stop 'em. When I get my hands onto 'em they'd best watch
out, fur I feel jest like poundin' 'em plumb to death to pay'em fur
stickin' that innercent ole woman of mine in jail. An' the boys too;
the very best, honestest an' hardest workin' boys that any pap ever
had. They're likewise shut up all along of that pizen Joe Wayring an'
his rich friends."
These words were followed by the strangest sounds the boys had
ever heard. If they had not known Matt Coyle as well as they did,
they would have been sure he was crying.
All this while the men (and there seemed to be a large party of
them) had been taking turns drinking at the brook; and having
quenched their thirst they started on again with a common impulse,
not along the road, but up the stream on whose right-hand bank the
boys were encamped. There could be no doubt of it, for there was
no longer any crunching of gravel under the heels of their heavy
boots, but the bushes snapped and swayed, and the voices came
more distinctly to their ears. Matt Coyle was the one who did most
of the talking. He did not seem to take his failure to wreck the train
so very much to heart, but he bewailed the loss of his dogs, whose
good qualities could not be enumerated by any one man, and asked
who would warn him now if the officers came to his shanty some
dark night to arrest him.
"They are coming this way as sure as the world," whispered Roy,
drawing his feet closer to him and placing an elbow on each knee so
that he could have a dead rest with his rifle. "Why don't the fools
stick to the road? It's easier walking there than it is in the bushes."
"This is no doubt a short cut to their hiding-place," replied Joe.
"Stand together, fellows, and we'll show them what we are made of.
We'll give them fair warning, and if they are foolish enough to
disregard it, they will have to take the consequences."
"That's what's the matter," whispered Arthur, cautiously moving a
little closer to his friends. "I'm afraid, but I'll never be tied to a tree
and whipped; they can bet on that."
I can not begin to tell you how frightened I was as I stood there and
listened to the voices and footsteps of those desperate men who
were every minute drawing nearer to our place of concealment.
Remember, I was utterly helpless. However good my will may have
been, I did not possess the power to do the first thing to aid my
master in the fight which I firmly believed would be commenced in
less than ten seconds. And bear another thing in mind: If the young
wheelmen were found there, and were overpowered and taken
captive, the shooting of Matt Coyle's worthless dogs was not the
only thing for which they would be punished. They knew Matt's
secret. They knew that he and some of his party had tried to wreck
a train. They had talked about it where the boys could plainly hear
every word they uttered. Of course Matt would know it, if he found
them there in the bushes, and what would he do? How would he go
to work to "shut up their mouths," as he had spoken of doing? I
assure you this thought was enough to make even my steel nerves
shake; and I believe it must have passed through Joe Wayring's
mind and frightened him, for I heard him say, in a scarcely audible
whisper:
"It's do or die, fellows. That villain will be wild with rage if he learns
that we heard all he said to Dave Daily. If the worst must come, be
sure of your man before you shoot."
That moment's terrible suspense is something I never shall forget;
then the reaction came, and I felt as if I were going to fall in a heap
like a piece of wet rope. There was a tolerably well-beaten path
along the bank of the brook, but it was on the other side. Dave Daily
and his gang of villains followed it, and that was all that saved us. If
there had been a spark of fire on our side the brook as big as the
end of your finger, I should have had a different story to tell. I was
so confused that I could not pay any attention to their conversation,
but I counted them as they passed along in Indian file, and when at
last they were out of hearing and Roy Sheldon spoke, I knew his
count agreed with mine.
"Thirteen," was all he said; and then he lay down on his blanket and
probably looked as nerveless as I felt.
"And at least half of them must have been with Matt," added Arthur
Hastings. "I know it took six or seven men to roll that bowlder out of
the ditch and place it on the track. Great Scott! Wasn't that a narrow
escape!"
"I'd like to know how we shall come out to-morrow," said Joe,
anxiously. "That 'looking-out place' that Matt spoke of must
command a view of the road along which we will have to go to get
to Ogden, and if we do not mind what we are about, Matt will meet
and stop us there."
This was another thing the young wheelmen had to worry over, and
taken in connection with the vivid recollection of the exciting scene
through which they had just passed, it effectually banished sleep
from their eyes for the rest of the night. And daylight was a long
time coming, as it always is when anxiously waited and watched for.
They ate breakfast as they had eaten supper—in the dark—and
when the birds began singing picked up their wheels and struck out
for the road, which they found to be quite as bad as it looked on the
previous evening. The first hill they encountered was a hard one, as
they knew it was going to be, and when they gained the top they
had to go down again on the other side. Of course the woods were
about as dark as they could be, and it was anything but pleasant for
the leading boy to feel his way while trundling his wheel beside him.
But the fear of Matt Coyle's wrath and the hope of passing his
"looking-out place" before the sun arose, drove them on, and to
such good purpose that, by the time they could see to ride, they
found themselves on a smooth, well-traveled highway. They did not
stop to ask one another whether or not it was the road they wanted
to find. It led away from the mountains, and that was all they cared
to know.
"Away we go on our wheels, boys," sang Joe; and suiting the action
to the word he sprang into his saddle and set out at a lively pace.
"Now, Matt Coyle, come on. It would take a better horse than you
ever did or ever will own to stop us."
"But a stick thrown into the road might do the business for us,"
suggested Roy.
"You don't suppose Matt knows that, do you?" said Arthur. "Does
anybody see anything that looks as though it might be used for a
lookout station?"
Nobody did. There was nothing to be seen but a cultivated field on
the right hand, a thickly wooded hill-side on the left, and a farm
house in the distance. True there was a high, bald peak a little to the
left of the hill over which the road disappeared, but it was all of ten
or fifteen miles away, and a man stationed on its summit would have
needed a good glass to make us out. At least that was what Joe
Wayring said, and then he dismissed all fears of Matt Coyle from his
mind, and made a motion with his hand as if to throw open the
breech of his pocket rifle, which he had thus far carried in readiness
for any emergency that might arise, and remove the cartridge; but,
on reflection, he decided to wait a little longer. It was lucky he did
so, and that his companions followed his example.
If the Buster band really had a "looking-out place" anywhere within
sight of the road I don't know it, but I do know that by taking short
cuts through the mountains they managed to reach the highway in
advance of us, for when we reached the top of the hill of which I
have spoken, and the wheelmen were about to stow the rifles in
their cases preparatory to a coast, Matt Coyle and Dave Daily
suddenly stepped out of a thicket on one side of the road, and as
many more ruffians arose from behind the fence on the other. They
were about thirty yards away, and although all except Matt carried
guns in their hands, I was relieved to see that there was not a club
or stone among them. They supposed that all they had to do was to
form across the road, call upon the boys to halt, and they would be
obeyed.
"Them's the fellers—the very chaps I've been a-lookin' fur," yelled
the squatter, shaking his fists in the air and striking up a war-dance
in the middle of the road. "Now I'll have the whole on you, an' there
won't be nobody to interfere when I—"
"Full speed, boys," said Joe, in a low tone. "Hold fast to your guns
and be ready to stop if anybody gets unhorsed. It's our only chance.
Get out of the way," he cried, flourishing his cocked rifle above his
head with one hand while he guided me with the other. "Get out of
the way or we will run you down. If we strike you, you are dead
men."
It never occurred to Matt and Dave to ask each other what would
become of the boys themselves if their headlong progress were
suddenly stopped, and neither did they linger to try the experiment.
The three Columbias fairly whistled through the air; and when Matt
saw that his peremptory orders to halt were disregarded, and that
we were charging down upon him with apparently irresistible force,
he scuttled out of the way with the greatest haste, and Dave Daily,
the terrible man who hid in the woods and shot at officers unawares,
was not an inch behind him.
"Look out for them pop-guns," he yelled.
"Yes, look out for them," shouted Arthur. "They're death on all sorts
of varmints."
In less time than it takes to tell it the danger was over. Moving
abreast and going at almost railroad speed we flew down the hill,
and the way was clear. I caught just one glimpse of Matt Coyle's
scowling and astonished face as we sped by, and that was the first
and last time I ever saw him. After that I did not wonder that my
master and his friends were resolved to fight to the death and take
any risks rather than fall into his power, for if I ever saw an evil face
I saw it then. But the man who carried it around with him was a
coward, and so was the leader of the Buster band, who was afraid of
the pocket rifles. If those handy little weapons had brought their
owners into difficulty, they had also assisted in getting them out of
it.
Being afraid to apply the brakes the boys regulated their speed with
the pedals as well as they could, and when the foot of the hill was
reached they stopped and looked behind them. There was no one in
sight.

The Run for Safety.

"That was another tight squeak," said Roy, holding fast to his wheel
with one hand and fanning himself with the other, as he always did
when a halt was made, "and nothing but Matt's ignorance and
Dave's brought us through. Well, I don't know that we are to blame
if they didn't have sense enough to throw something in the road in
front of us."
The excitement for that day was all over now, and I was very glad of
it. The road being good and the coasting places frequent, we bowled
along at a lively pace, and at four o'clock in the afternoon rode into
the village of Ogden, where we halted for the night. One of the
loungers on the porch was reading aloud from a weekly paper which
had but just arrived with news that was no news to city people by
this time. Of course the work of the train-wreckers was given a
prominent place, as well as a lengthy notice. As I leaned against the
porch and listened, I asked myself what those loungers would have
said if some one had told them that the three dusty boys who had
just disappeared through the doorway were the ones who brought
the efforts of the train-wreckers to naught. Roy and Arthur respected
Joe's wishes, and never, in any one's hearing, spoke of what he had
done that night.

CHAPTER XVII.
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.
FROM the morning Joe Wayring and his friends left Ogden up to the
time they wheeled over the old familiar road that led into Mount Airy,
not a single thing happened to mar the pleasure of their trip. I do
not mean to say that the roads were always good, or that they were
never weather-bound; for those petty annoyances fall to the lot of
every tourist, he expects them, and knows how to make the best of
them. But they found no more train-wreckers along the route, nor
were there any Buster bands or Matt Coyles to be afraid of. They
spent many a night in camp; their pocket rifles brought them all the
young squirrels they cared to eat; they encountered tramps on
nearly every mile of the way, and although they never had the least
trouble with these social outcasts, they listened to a story from the
lips of two of them that interested them exceedingly, and proved to
Roy Sheldon's entire satisfaction that the clear-sighted Joe Wayring
had hit pretty close to the mark when he declared that Roy's
presence aboard the White Squall had not been brought about by
accident.
Their destination was Plymouth, a little sea-port town situated on a
bay of the same name. They spent a day roaming about the
wharves, looking at everything there was to be seen, especially the
ships, which would hardly have attracted more than a passing notice
from them, had it not been for Roy's experience in New London
harbor. They went aboard of one, looked all over it, marveled at its
strength and more at the power of the winds and waves which could
so easily make a wreck of man's best handiwork. They turned up
their noses at the dingy forecastle, smelling of tar and bilgewater,
and wondered how any one could bring himself to bunk in it during
a long voyage.
"I would much rather sleep on a bed of hemlock boughs," said Joe,
"and go out in the morning and catch my own breakfast from the
sparkling waters of a lake or brook, and serve it up on a piece of
clean bark. If I had been in love with the sea when I came here, I
would be all over it now."
"It's rough, isn't it?" said Roy, as he and his companions went down
the gang-plank to the wharf; and he trembled all over when he
thought how near he had come to being carried to distant countries
against his will. "The little I saw of a sailor's life while I was on the
White Squall convinced me that the officers are more to be dreaded
than the forecastle. They can be as brutal as they please when they
are out of sight of land, and there's no law to touch them."
"There's law enough," answered Joe, "but the trouble is, a sailor
man can't use it. Suppose he has the officers of his vessel arrested
for cruelty while he has the rest of the crew at hand to prove it
against them. They are put under bonds, but the case is postponed
on one pretext or another, and while that is being done, how is Jack
going to live? Of course the minute he gets ashore he makes haste
to spend his wages, and when his last dollar is gone what recourse
has he but to ship for another voyage? Then the case is called, and
there being no one to prosecute, the captain and his mates are
discharged and go aboard their vessel to play the same game over
again."
"That's about the way those light-ship men put it when I threatened
to have Captain Jack punished for kidnapping me," said Roy. "That
may be law, but it isn't justice. I wonder where the White Squall and
Tony and Bob are now."
"I shouldn't think you would care," replied Arthur. "I know I
shouldn't if I had been treated as you have."
"I don't much care what becomes of the ship and her officers, but I
am sorry for the crew. I tell you that Tony and Bob were shanghaied
the same as I was."
Becoming weary of Plymouth and its surroundings at last, the boys
took the road again, this time with their faces turned toward Mount
Airy. They went back by a different route, as they intended to do
when they set out; but they had another reason for it now. Money
would not have hired them to return across the mountains and take
their chances of capture by Matt Coyle and the Buster band. Now
that they could think over their adventures with calmness, they were
surprised at the ease with which they had slipped through those
ruffians' fingers. They knew they couldn't do it again, and they
would have gone home by rail rather than try the mountain route a
second time. There was one thing about it, Arthur repeatedly
declared: The man who wrote their guide-book must be posted so
that he could warn wheelmen to keep away from Glen's Falls until
the mischief-making squatter and his new allies had been arrested
and lodged in jail.
On the afternoon of the second day after leaving Plymouth, the boys
came suddenly upon a couple of tramps who had halted under the
shade of a tree by the road-side to eat the bread and meat they had
begged at the nearest farmhouse. But these men were not like the
other tramps they had seen. They were sailors on the face of them,
and looked out of place there in the country so far from salt water.
Roy Sheldon was sure there was something familiar about them, and
hardly knowing why he did so, he called out, as he moved past
them, "Bob, Tony," whereupon the men jumped to their feet and
stared hard at him without saying a word. They were evidently
frightened, and would have taken to their heels if they had seen the
least chance for escape.
"I declare, I believe they are Tony and Bob," said Roy, who was
utterly amazed at the effect his words had produced upon the
tramps; and turning about, he rode back to the tree under which
they stood. "How in the name of all that's wonderful did you get
stranded here?"
"Is—is it Rowe Shelly?" one of the men managed to ask.
"Yes, sir, they are Tony and Bob," exclaimed Roy, getting off his
wheel and nodding at his companions. "Dusty as they are, I know
them. What's the matter?" he added, as the men began backing
away as if they did not want him to come any nearer. "You are not
afraid of me, are you? I am not a ghost, and neither am I Rowe
Shelly, although my name sounds somewhat like his, and I have
been told that I look like him. I am a different boy altogether. Now
let's have the straight of this thing before we go any farther. I saw
you carried to sea on the White Squall. How did you escape from
her, and where is she now?"
"At the bottom of the ocean," replied one of the men; and the boys
thought from the way he spoke he was glad to be able to say it.
"At the bottom of—" began Roy, incredulously. "Serves her just right.
She had no business to—but everything goes to show that you took
me aboard of her on purpose to have me kidnapped. What have you
to say about it? Sit down and eat your dinner. You can talk just as
well, and you act as though you were very hungry."
"So we are, sir," said the one whom Roy had picked out, and who he
afterward addressed as Tony. "We never done such a thing before,
sir, but we had to come to it. It's no use trying to hide the truth any
longer, for it has come out on us. Yes, sir; me and Bob did take you
aboard that ship on purpose."
"There, now," cried Joe, indignantly, while Arthur Hastings looked
and acted as though he wanted to light.
"But what object did you have in doing it?" continued Roy. "Who put
you up to it—Willis?"
"He's the very chap, sir: but we've been punished for it, and we
hope—"
"You've nothing whatever to fear from me, if that is what you want
to say," interposed Roy, who was impatient to get at the bottom of
what was to him a deep mystery. "You know how I got away, and
here I am, safe and sound. Your actions proved that you did not
think you were going to be shanghaied yourselves—what are you
looking for?"
"You're right we didn't know it, sir," answered Tony, who pulled out
his ditty-bag, and after a little fumbling in it drew forth a piece of
soiled paper which he handed to Roy. "That, sir, is the letter I took to
Cap'n Jack that night. If I had only known what was writ onto it, me
and Bob would have kept clear of that ship, you may be sare. The
cap'n dropped it on deck shortly after you went overboard, and I
made bold to pick it up without saying a word to him about it. I
thought it would come handy some day. Read it for yourself, sir, and
you will see that me and Bob was innocent of any intention of doing
the least harm to you, sir."
"Didn't you know that I was going to be kidnapped?" exclaimed Roy,
almost fiercely. "You did. Everything goes to prove it; but you
thought you could get me into trouble and slip off the ship without
getting into trouble yourselves."
"Not a bit of it, sir," said Tony, with so much earnestness that Roy
was almost ready to believe him. "Read that paper, and then I will
tell you just what was said and done in my house on the beach while
you was fast asleep up-stairs."
The letter, which bore neither date nor signature, ran as follows:

"Captain Jack Rowan:—Knowing that you have been delayed

nearly three weeks waiting for a crew, I send you three men
who, I think, will be of use to you. Two of them used to be
sailors, but the other is green and will have to be broken in. Ask
no questions, but take them along.
A Friend."

Roy Sheldon was so surprised that he could not speak again

immediately. He leaned his wheel against the tree, looked first at
Tony and then at his friends, and finally sat down on a convenient
bowlder.
"Seems to me that there letter clears me and Bob of everything
except taking you aboard the White Squall when we didn't want to
do it," said Tony, after a pause. "We was as innocent as babbies of
what happened afterwards."
"If you didn't want to do it what made you?" demanded Joe.
This brought Tony to the story he had to tell; and as I believe I can
make it clearer to you than he did to Joe and his friends, I will tell it
in my own language.
Rowe Shelly's guardian, who was fond of the water, kept a swift
sailing-vessel as well as a steam yacht, and Tony and Bob Bradley
belonged to it. The colonel furnished them a house, gave them
regular employment during the yachting season, and in the winter
time permitted them to make what money they could by shooting
water-fowl at the lower end of the island for the New London
markets. They knew nothing whatever of the colonel's private
affairs. They had heard a good many rumors.
"I want to say a word right there," interrupted Roy. "Where did those
rumors come from?"
The boys had seated themselves on the ground on each side of the
sailors, who ate their dinner as they talked. Tony acted as
spokesman, but his brother jogged his memory with a word now and
then. The former could not say where the rumors came from, but
the mischief was all done by an old sailor, who settled on one of the
uninhabited islands in the harbor and went to fishing for a livelihood.
Rowe Shelly chanced to run athwart his hawse one day while sailing
about in his boat. He talked with the old fellow for more than two
hours, and when he came home he exploded a bomb-shell in his
guardian's ear. In other words, he told the colonel that there was no
relationship between them; that he had no business with the money
he was squandering; that his father had not been lost at sea, as the
colonel affirmed; that he was still alive, and so was his mother; that
they lived in Chelsea, Maryland; and that he was going to them as
soon as he could get off the island.
"I know that was a sassy way for him to talk to the man who had
always been so good to him, seeing that he hadn't no better
evidence than an old sailor-man's unsupported word to back him
up," said Tony, "but the way the colonel acted satisfied Rowe at once
that there was more'n a grain of truth in what he had heard. The
first thing he done was to take away the boy's boat, and shut him up
on the island as close as if it had been a jail, and his second, to get
rid of the fisherman. How he done it nobody seems to know; but he
wasn't never seen again, nuther by Rowe Shelly nor nobody else.
But the mischief had been done, and the first thing we knowed,
Rowe Shelly couldn't be found. How he got off the island nobody
couldn't tell, but he and his bisickle was gone. They was gone for
more'n two weeks; but Willis, who acts like he was as big a man on
the island as the colonel himself, follered him up and ketched him
with the help of detectives."
"How did this fisherman happen to know so much about Rowe's
father and mother?" inquired Arthur.
"He was shipmates with 'em; lived next door to them in some town
down South," replied Tony. "He knowed the little boy, Rowe Shelly,
and used to trot him on his knee and tell him stories of furrin parts,
and he knowed well enough that there was some sort o' hocus-
pocus about it, or the colonel wouldn't never had that money the old
grandfather left. You see it sorter hurt the old feller when Cap'n
Shelly, who was his only child, married a widder with a growed-up
son against his will, and it hurt him, too, to have the cap'n keep on
going to sea when he didn't want him to; and so he said that the
cap'n shouldn't never have a red cent of his money. But when
Grandfather Shelly found that he'd got to pass in his checks, and
that the dark river was waiting for him, he gives in and willed all the
money to the cap'n, provided he would settle down on shore."
When this happened, as you have already heard, Captain Shelly was
at sea. His ship, the Mary Ann Tolliver, was lost, and as nothing was
heard from him or any of the crew everybody supposed that all
hands had been lost with her. This was the opportunity for the
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